Sunlight reflects on the front doors of an inner city high school. A graphic in the lower left corner reads "Cleveland, Ohio." We hear student athletes grunting and groaning in voiceover.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Cleveland, Ohio
BOY: Ooh!
COACH: Yo, one minute. One minute.
ALL: [grunting]
The athletes sit in a row on a bench in the school gym, grunting as they pass a heavy weight down the line. A teen boy speaks in voiceover.
BOY: We're creating a bond as a team and a brotherhood.
The students deadlift barbells and walk forward across the gym floor.
BOY: Go. Come on. Come on.
A teen lifts weights at a squat rack as the voiceover continues.
BOY: We push each other to the max.
The students crowd together and chant next to the climbing wall.
BOY: One, two, three!
ALL: Hard work!
A billboard outside the school reads "Safe Schools For Cleveland Children. GINN ACADEMY." Inside, students do squats on the gym floor, lift weights, and race up bleachers as Ted Ginn speaks in voiceover.
TED GINN: Ginn Academy is an innovative school that--it's all boys. You get a chance to raise them to be men.
Ted, in a blue track suit, watches the teens exercise. One of them addresses him.
BOY: How you feelin', grandpa?
A close-up of athletic shoes slamming into the bleachers as the teens do a timed workout. Ted speaks to the camera.
TED: I'm Ted Ginn, Sr., founder and director of Ginn Academy.
A man shouts and a row of teens release their left feet from the bleachers and switch with their right feet.
MAN: Switch!
Ted claps as he watches the workout at the bleachers. The teens sprint from the bleachers across the gym floor. Ted begins speaking in voiceover, then to the camera, as a blue graphic identifies him in the lower left.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Ted Ginn, Sr.
Ginn Academy - Founder
TED: But it's been a community person, a lifesaver, being in a position to make a difference, leave an impact in people.
A closeup of athletic shoes against tile. Then a man shouts and teens race down a school hallway.
MAN: Set. Go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Move!
BOY: Pass 'em up.
Scenes of students racing down the hall and stretching. The camera lingers on two boys running in slow motion past a row of black lockers. Ted speaks in voiceover, then to the camera.
TED: Track is one of the best sports of all. Tracks develops spiritually and physically and mentally and socially. It forms their character.
The students congregate in front of some vending machines, catching their breath. One rests his hands on his knees.
TED: Nothing hurts that bad.
A boy lies on the floor, groaning.
BOY: Ah.
TED: Get up, man.
Ted addresses the camera in an intersection of the school hallways. Red tape divides the halls into two lanes. Teens jog past Ted in the foreground and background.
TED: So we're practicing in the hallway because it's too cold outside, and we don't have an indoor track or indoor facility. So we got to make do with what we got. We need all the equipment; we need facilities; we need weights; we need it all.
He continues in voiceover. The students sprint to the end of a hall as the scene fades to black.
TED: Times are hard. And it's hard for the inner city.
Somber music plays as students jog through a school hallway in slow motion. The scene dims, and white text appears onscreen.
ON SCREEN TEXT: The team is without necessary
track equipment like
starting blocks and hurdles.
Much of it is damaged or
has been stolen.
Ted speaks to the camera. A montage shows a brick apartment building with broken windowpanes, a dilapidated house with a crumbling porch, and rows of snow-covered houses in a poor area of Cleveland.
TED: I have to deal with a kid leaving the school, walking out there, and then he see a boarded-up house, or he see some junk on the street and stuff-- he got--that--that knocks out what you put in at the end of the day. They lose confidence. They lose hope like this. That's why I can't miss a day. I got to be there.
Dea'sean Evans, in a Nike headband and black athletic shirt, speaks on the school steps. A blue graphic, lower left, identifies him.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Dae'sean Evans
Ginn Academy - Sophomore
DEA'SEAN: Yeah, when I was younger, I grew up in the projects. All night, I heard violence.
Jalen Foster leans against a black locker and speaks to the camera. A blue graphic, lower left, identifies him.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Jalen Foster
Ginn Academy - Senior
JALEN: I recently had a house fire about, I would say, one or two months ago. And it's been hard. I've been moving back and forth.
Dea'Sean continues.
DAE'SEAN: I chose the Ginn Academy for a better future, so I could have a better, like, goal in my life, better scholarships. So I can move my family and myself out of Cleveland.
An aerial shot of Cleveland in wintertime. Student athletes gather in the hallways and stretch. Dae'Sean speaks in voiceover.
DAE'SEAN: I still been coming to practice because it's the only way I can get away from it all. It's really therapeutic.
Ted addresses the students.
TED: The last race and the last workout of the day is the best one. That's when you're tired. You gotta push yourself to the limit. You know, 'cause you--we see something that you don't see. You know, you got to have faith that you can become great.
The students walk in single file in the gym, now dressed in formal slacks, shoes, and button-up shirts. They clap in unison. Ted, in a brown suit, claps with them. Tom Sullivan, in a black suit, speaks to the camera. A blue graphic at left IDs him.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Tom Sullivan
UnitedHealthcare - Executive Director of Northern Ohio
TOM SULLIVAN: Coach Ginn is a legend in the Cleveland community. What we try and do is identify areas in the community where we can make the biggest difference.
The students sit on the bleachers to watch a ceremony, dressed in their formal clothes emblazoned with a red "GA" logo. Tom speaks in voiceover.
TOM: A big part of what he's inspired in all of the students, not just the athletes--but in all of the students-- is to, you know, embrace the moment, to make a difference.
Now, the students gather behind a podium in red and gray athletic uniforms. A man brings over a large cardboard rectangle, revealed to be a check from UnitedHealthcare. Tom holds it, surrounded by smiling students. He speaks in voiceover through a montage of students laughing and applauding.
TOM: What I would like to present to Coach Ginn and to the Ginn Academy is a check for $12,500 that will be used for your Track and Field Team for equipment and for travel expenses.
Ted gives a speech at the podium. He turns to address Tom directly.
TED: It's always an honor to be recognized for the work that you do. I'd like to thank you on behalf of us. Thank you.
TOM: Thank you, Coach.
Thank you very much.:
Upbeat music plays over footage of a brand new outdoor track around the football field. Ted speaks in voiceover.
TED: Continuing to be able to keep hope alive is my duty. It's my job. It's my calling.
The scene dissolves to a shot of students jogging together through a school hallway.
TED: It's not for the sport. It's for the development of their lives. And that's what I love about it.
The scene fades to white, and the blue UnitedHealthcare logo appears in center screen.
ON SCREEN TEXT: UnitedHealthcare®