Drew Kisskalt coaches two sports at Grosse Pointe North and teaches in a self-contained classroom at Parcells Middle School, but what he most looks forward to is his time on the court with his students coaching North’s Unified Basketball team.
The Unified Basketball league is part of Special Olympics Unified Sports, formed as a collaboration between Special Olympics United Champion Schools and the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Since its debut in the district in January 2020 — the league took a hiatus in 2021 due to COVID-19 — it brings together students from the categorical classrooms at Grosse Pointe North and Grosse Pointe South and their general education peers — known as “team partners” — during weekly practices and a schedule of games. Other teams in the league are Sterling Heights High School and Clawson High School, which unfortunately had to withdraw due to COVID-19.
“I love my students and players very much, but Unified Basketball is special,” Drew said. “The pure joy that this sport brings my players is something that anyone can see when they attend one of our games. I often joke with family and friends how much my face hurts from smiling after a game, win or lose. In years past, students that would qualify for the Special Olympics did not have a school-sanctioned sport to be a part of. Unified Sports has changed that and I am so glad that I get to be a small part of it.”
South’s Unified Basketball team is coached by longtime coach and retired physical education teacher Stephen Zaranek, special education teacher Jill Harrison, and adaptive P.E. teacher Kathy Smith.
Jill and Kathy agree one of the highlights of the program is it gives students in the special education program the opportunity to experience being a part of a team. This includes a sense of camaraderie, traveling on a bus, being included in morning announcements and on the TV monitor, decking out at school in spirit wear, and enjoying a post-season celebration.
“The kids are over the moon,” Kathy said. “It’s the feeling of being a part of the team.”
One of Jill’s students, for example, came in to the classroom with his jersey on over his clothes before the first game.
“That’s how excited he was,” Jill said.
Their parents are equally thrilled, she added, because they have the opportunity to see their child supporting their school and being cheered on by members of their own school community.
Kathy, who is new to South this year — she replaced 38-year veteran Zaranek — worked previously as a recreational therapist at Clawson Public Schools. One of her personal goals when she assumed the role was to get the team back up and running. This involved completing grant paperwork — the funding goes toward uniforms, equipment, transportation, food and spirit wear — and assembling the coaches and team partners.
While three athletes and two partners are on the court for each team at all times, “the partners serve the role of an encourager,” Kathy explained. “They tell them where to be and to put their hands up. They may make rebounds and help, but they don’t shoot. They focus on the athletes shooting.”
One of the team partners, Kamryn Richards, was responsible for finding a sponsor for the uniforms; her uncle, Michael Nolan, is the CEO of the Florida-based Positive Behavior Supports Corp. She also designed the logo for the team’s spirit wear. For her initiative, Kamryn was featured as part of South’s “Who’s Your Blue Devil” program, which recognizes students who go above and beyond. Also recognized for her dedication to the program was freshman Lucy Tull.
In addition to bringing the community together, the program provides multiple benefits to all involved, Steve Zaranek says.
“For our athletes, the team provides a sense of belonging, a sense of contribution, and a sense of fulfillment,” he said. “As the season moves along, relationships are built, the kids work hard, and each teammate learns to understand the importance of teamwork. They become aware that they are part of a bigger picture — the team — and that they each play an important role in making it all work.
“The kids learn that their Unified team is an extension of what they learn in school and at home and the coaches are reinforcing the same principles learned at home and in the classroom,” he added. “Above all, the kids learn that they can work hard and have a lot of fun along the way.”
“Unified Basketball has given students like mine the opportunity to feel like they are just like any other athlete or student at North.”
— Drew Kisskalt, MiCI teacher at Parcells Middle School
The program also is directly in line with all three focus areas of the new GPPSS Strategic Plan, particularly in cultivating a robust and equitable educational community where all learners are empowered to reach their unique potential (Focus Area 1), providing learning opportunities that allow students to acquire the attitudes, values, knowledge and skills that prepare them to be contributing members of society in the real world (Focus Area 2); and developing and nurturing strong connections among schools, families and the community to broaden opportunities for student learning and growth (Focus Area 3).
Drew agrees with the benefits Unified Basketball provides.
“The players have a sense of dignity and belonging from participating in this sport,” he said. “They can increase their social and behavioral skills while showing off their athletic talents on the court.”
Highlights of the program for Kathy include its focus on community, youth leadership, whole school engagement, and “bringing students together and giving them an opportunity outside of the school day — something that they feel connected to.”
The program also brings an awareness to the broader community, drawing everyone together in support of the program. From making balloons and signs and enlisting the choir to sing the National Anthem to finding an announcer for the game, “I love that everyone is willing to come together to make this a special opportunity for all,” Kathy said.
“To be in a packed gym for a North vs. South rivalry game, with cheerleaders, fans holding signs, people cheering on the student athletes and everything else great that comes from these games feels so amazing,” Drew said. “You can clearly see the joy and pride that our athletes feel as well. For our players, inclusion is something that we always push for. Before Unified Sports in high school, there were only so many options for that to happen. Unified Basketball has given students like mine the opportunity to feel like they are just like any other athlete or student at North. These emotions and memories are something that will stay with these students forever. I think this sport also helps others increase their compassion and understanding of others. This is definitely a sport that no matter what, everybody wins.”
Watch the rematch between North and South at the next Unified Basketball game at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27, in the main gym at South.
South DECA Club advances to states
Sophie Schuetze joined DECA her freshman year at Grosse Pointe South because her brother, Charlie, a three-year veteran at the time who made it to the international competition the year before, encouraged her to join.
Three years later, Sophie, now a junior, is co-vice president and is “very thankful for his advice.” South’s DECA club competed on Saturday, Jan. 8, at Lake Orion High School against many other schools in their specific role play events. Named district champions, the students will move on to states on March 10 to 12.
DECA, formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a not-for-profit career and technical student organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.
“DECA is a great way to build communication and quick problem-solving skills,” Sophie said. “I have strengthened my ability to formulate ideas in a short time and present them confidently. I have also met many peers from across the state and connected with my own classmates on a more personal level.”
To prepare for the State Career Development Conference in March, Sophie plans to read over past case scenarios and review practice tests. She also will rely on her past two experiences at the state competition to give her an edge.
Senior Regan McDonald, who is a co-president along with PJ Wortman, joined DECA her sophomore year.
“I had no experience with public speaking or business, but I wanted to challenge myself,” she said. “As I had hoped, that first year definitely was a challenge. However, it was needed. I learned essential soft skills like problem solving and persuasion. On a more technical side, my understanding of finance and business grew.
To prepare for states, Regan plans to review past exam questions. As her event the past three years has been Financial Consulting, she is confident in her understanding of the material.
“Last year I had the honor to compete at DECA Internationals,” Regan said. “While it was virtual due to the pandemic, the experience was invaluable. I was able to network with different chapters across the country, and discuss membership tactics. I owe a lot to the support DECA has provided me. I’ve found my confidence, made lifelong friends, and defined my career path. I speak honestly when I say I have no idea where I would be without it. DECA is such a great opportunity for high schoolers.”
Among the advantages it affords, she added, is that it is “useful in the real world.” Moreover, the national organization provides generous scholarships for college-bound seniors.
Members of DECA who will compete at the state level in March are Alex Tigges, PJ Wortman, Victoria Vorhees, Sophie Schuetze, Ryleigh O'Donoghue, Daniel Nugent, Colin Burke, Brady Kennedy, Billy Rauh, Meredith Tiderington, Paul Kaminski, Braden Vogel, Lucy Fry, Elizabeth Peberdy, Jack Bouton, Stevan Musicki, Adelina Parikh, Olivia Walz and Regan McDonald.
DECA adviser Erin Moretz, who also is Co-Op coordinator and a Career and Technical Education instructor at South, is proud of these students.
“The kids worked really hard and their hard work obviously paid off,” she said.
Alumni Through the Decades
Our 100th anniversary series on GPPSS alumni continues
Kristin Button Wright
Grosse Pointe South High School
Class of 1988
Kristin Wright doesn’t remember a time in her childhood when she didn’t accompany her family to Grosse Pointe South at least once a week.
Her father, Bob Button, a South teacher and adviser to the student newspaper, The Tower, from 1966 to 1994, took her and her younger brother to basketball games, football games, and school concerts regularly.
“Our whole family life revolved around the high school,” she said.
Kristin attended Defer Elementary and Pierce Middle School. By the time she went on to high school, she already felt at home. Seniors on The Tower staff took her under their wing, treating her “like a little mascot,” she said.
During her time at South, her father was named National Teacher of the Year, adding to his legendary status.
“People always ask what it was like to go to high school with your dad, and I always say I don’t know how to answer that because I never went to high school without my dad,” Kristin said.
While she refused on the first day of her freshman year to drive to South with her father, choosing to assert her independence and ride her bike from Buckingham in the Park instead, she quickly “realized that was ridiculous.”
“He was so popular as a teacher that a little bit reflected back on me,” she said. “Students loved him and the students who loved him the most were kind to me, too.”
She did draw the line on enrolling in his journalism classes or participating on The Tower staff, however.
“I lived in fear of having him grade my papers in front of me in the family room in front of the TV,” she said. “Again, I needed that independence. I have thought many times in my adult life that I should have been a teacher and I would have been good at it. But he was such a giant in that field, I didn’t think that I could measure up to the success that he had.”
At the same time, she benefited from his writing expertise, as her father passed on to her at home the same writing skills he taught in the classroom, she said.
This continued up until his death on Dec. 23, 2021; when Kristin started writing fiction around age 40, her father was her copy editor, marking up her manuscripts with a red pen, just as he did for his students each night in the family room all those years ago.
After graduating from South in 1988, Kristin majored in history at Michigan State University. Initially she planned to pursue television broadcast production, viewing it as a more practical field of study.
Her AP U.S. History teacher, Mary Miller, now deceased, was the major influence behind her decision to change her major.
“She was such a brilliant teacher,” Kristin said. “She made history sound like gossip. It was just riveting how she told stories like it was something that happened at a party the night before. I don’t know how she did it, but if I was going to be a teacher, that is how I would do it. She was probably my favorite teacher at South.”
After graduating from MSU in 1992, Kristin worked for a while before attending the University of Michigan Law School, graduating in 1997. From there she headed to a firm in Washington D.C., and completed a federal clerkship before going into private practice at a small town in Virginia, where she handled legal affairs from criminal proceedings to divorce and child custody.
The move to Virginia made sense for Kristin personally as well as professionally, as her parents had moved there during her first year of law school.
While still working full time — for the last 15 years, she has been a staff attorney for Campbell County, Virginia — Kristin started exploring creative writing. As her two sons — Austen, now a high school senior and Matthew, a junior — became more independent, she discovered she had time for her writing, even if it was in her car while waiting for one of her boys to finish soccer practice.
Eventually she found an agent and then a publisher. Her first novel, a small press romantic suspense novel titled Lying Beneath the Oaks, was published in 2019. She later found a larger publisher, an Amazon imprint, to publish a duology of legal thrillers. The first one, The Darkest Flower, came out in 2021 and the sequel, The Darkest Web, is due out in April.
All the while, her father was her biggest fan and continued to edit her manuscripts with his red pen.
Kristin’s advice to high school seniors is to not expect to “have it all figured out in high school. You can find your way to what you’re meant to do in its own time. Life is long. You get a lot of chances to be who you want to be.
“Getting to go to Grosse Pointe South is a gift,” she added. “The preparation there is honestly second to none. I don’t think I realized while I was there just how astonishing it was.”
This first dawned on her when, having taken advanced placement English classes at South, she passed out of MSU’s requisite freshman English class.
“The girls on my floor used to bring me their papers to read,” she said. “I realized I had not appreciated the rigorous grounding I got at South because these girls had not gotten the same at their high schools. They had not been taught to write like I had. Kids who go to South are extremely fortunate to have the education that they have.”
Go to kristinbwright.com to learn more about her fiction.
Community Partner Spotlight: Beaumont
A generous underwriting gift from Beaumont may lift the spirits of Grosse Pointe Public School System employees and community members who take advantage of a mental wellness program known as Mood Lifters. There are three options for participation:
A group designed specifically for GPPSS employees. This begins on Monday, Feb. 7, at 3:45 p.m. Interested staff members should check their email for a message from info@gpschools.org for more information.
A group for young professionals, in particular those ages 22 to 32. This begins the week of Jan. 24. Please contact Neema Prakash at epicinterest@gmail.com for more information.
General groups that are available to all who live within the Beaumont service area. To sign up for free with a Beaumont-sponsored group, go to moodlifters.com and under the Beaumont section, use Consumer Group ID Code ML R22 when prompted.
Mood Lifters, developed at the University of Michigan, is described as the Weight Watchers of mental health. This weekly online program is shown to reduce anxiety, depression and stress, and increase happiness and joy.
What is unique about the program is that, unlike traditional therapy, it is run by people who have found the program to be helpful to them and is designed to give people the skills to help themselves.
“Mood Lifters helped me navigate the challenges and stresses of the last two years,” said one educator who completed the program. “The tools I learned in the program helped me be more aware of my own thoughts and focus on the things I could control. Because I was in a better mental place, I was better able to support my students and family through uncertain times.”
These Mood Lifters groups will be delivered through Zoom, providing the added convenience of being able to do it from the office, classroom or home.
School Pointes is a publication of the Grosse Pointe Public School System. To submit story ideas or Pointes of Pride, email info@gpschools.org.