Akeem “Iking” Bateman & Diane Rankin

“ If I had not met Dr. Rankin, I think I would have been a normal kid doing bad things in the neighborhood,” Akeem “Iking” Bateman, a freshman at Beaumont High School, said of his mentor Diane Rankin.

The two were paired through the Discovering Options PREP program. Dr. Rankin encouraged Iking to develop his natural acrobatic skills and helped him get involved in the Circus Day Foundation. Iking performs regularly with the St. Louis Arches tumbling team and even got the opportunity last summer to spend two weeks performing in Israel.

Iking’s story and his achievements serve as a perfect example of the success that Discovering Options strives to bring to all at-risk kids in the St. Louis area. For every great success story like Iking’s there are hundreds of at-risk youth just like him that could benefit from the programs that Discovering Options offers, but are unable to participate due to limited funding.

Former Discovering Options protégé Akeem “Iking” Bateman now performs as member of the St. Louis Arches tumbling team.