Watching a living legend in American sports such as Andre Agassi in a commercial ad driving a KIA Sorento through the Australian outback and then in another ad driving a school bus for kids is heart-warming. For in the latter, Andre Agassi, without completing a formal education himself when he decided to pursue professional tennis, portrays a modest driver sending off the kids to school in a school bus that has the mark “Andre Agassi Academy” emblazoned on its side.

Andre Agassi started out his professional twenty-one year tennis career at sixteen years old and eventually earned worldwide fame for winning eight Grand Slam titles for singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal for singles. At the end of his career in 2006 however, he continued what Andre Agass passionately dreamed about — to continue his efforts with the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which he founded.

Andre Agassi decided to open a K-12 public charter school through the fund-raising activities of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation. The Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy (AACPA) opened in August 2001 in Las Vegas with its mission to provide free quality education for children and youth at risk in the most neglected areas of the city. These children are prone to accidental deaths and suicide, high dropout rates and gang-related violence. AACPA offers these kids an opportunity to stay in school and train them to become responsible adults.

On its official website, the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation supports eleven other projects that are related to the holistic development of the underprivileged youth. The Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation carries out an annual fund-raising activity called “Grand Slam for Children,” which is a musical concert with famous music and entertainment personalities as its performers. The 13th Grand Slam for Children was held recently on October 11, 2008 at the Wynn Las Vegas.