With the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in the news, social studies teacher Dan Gilleran reached out to his longtime friend and Ukrainian native, Dmitry Koublitsky, to visit his classes on Tuesday, March 8.
Dmitry — who goes by the nickname Dima — attended Mr. Gilleran’s sixth hour AP European History class and seventh hour Exploring Global Issues, with Bridget Cooley’s AP European History class joining in during seventh hour.
Koublitsky was born and raised in Ukraine which, up until he was 18, was still known as the Soviet Union. He grew up bilingual, speaking both Russian and Ukrainian as a child. He has lived in the United States since 2001, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2006, but retains his Ukrainian citizenship.
He told the students, “With all that is going on in my land, with Russia unleashing all-out war for the first time on this scale since World War II, this is the first time when I can say honestly I am Ukrainian and proud. Not just loyal, not just respectful, but proud because I am observing that resistance my fellow Ukrainians are putting to Russia, the largest country in the world.”
While he admits he was not always a fan of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who, “all his professional life was a comedian, an actor, a clown,” he now views him as a “great statesman” and “the leader we always needed in Ukraine and never had.”
Dmitry grew up in the western region of Ukraine near the border of Poland. He still has family members in this region he checks on regularly, including his father, stepmother, sister, niece and 96-year-old grandmother. For now, his family is safe, but things change hourly, he noted. The biggest adjustment they are facing, he noted, is mental, emotional and psychological.
“There are air raid sirens that go off a couple times a day, but the bombs are not falling,” he said.
Other areas of the country are not as fortunate, with cities completely bombed and charred, the “unimaginable depths of destruction” similar to what took place during WWII.
Admitting his own bias as a Ukrainian citizen, Koublitsky urged the students to seek their own information before forming an opinion about what is happening in his country.
“I don’t know you, but Mr. Gilleran and I have been friends for 20 years,” he said, “so with him as your teacher, I know that you are taught how to think and how to think critically. Regarding what is going on in my land, if you are interested, start with TV networks on all sides of the spectrum.”
He also recommended watching BBC as well as European networks available on YouTube to get a perspective from all angles to gather and synthesize this information.
When asked what he most wanted people to know, he said, “I would like people to know that Ukraine, my land, is literally fighting, bleeding and dying not just for Ukraine, but for Europe and the collective west. By the same token, they are fighting for the United States.
“Americans and other people from other nations of the democratic world may know very well what freedom is,” he added, “but it is my fellow Ukrainians who now know and have experienced what freedom costs.”
Open for business: Maire hosts Mini Society Market Day
Third graders in Cailin Micks and Michelle Maison’s classes at Maire Elementary School learned some economic lessons as they prepared to open the doors of their mini-businesses on Wednesday. Customers included Principal Ryan Francis, teachers, staff members, classmates, and even a few visitors from central administration, who were given Saint Bucks or Banana Bucks from the individual classrooms to make their purchases.
Selections during Maire’s Mini Society Market Day varied from beauty services to homemade products such as foam slime, key chains, action figures, original artwork and more.
Maxwell Rury selected origami to sell “because it’s a fun way to use paper and your mind,” according to his sales pitch.
His competitor, Miles Owens, named his business Origami Tsunami.
“I chose to sell origami because origami is cool and I would buy it myself,” he said. He used his iPad to learn step-by-step instructions.
“You can use origami creatures to make you happy when you’re sad and make you not bored,” he added.
Olivia Limage decided on stress balls because her market research indicated they were a top seller last year.
“When you are angry, you can use this stress ball and you can take it anywhere,” she said.
Another popular item at this year’s market were bracelets. Some top sellers were made out of beads; others, known as “banana bracelets,” were constructed out of rubber bands.
Thomas Rockers wrote a series of books for sale, including an illustrated tale called “We Survived the Snow Day of 2022.” Another top seller was the Magic Wars I and II series. Along with bookmarks, purchasers had the opportunity to win a golden ticket as an incentive to buy.
Students were given a $10 budget and created their products within that budget. They also were allowed to use items from home. In addition to products or services, they were responsible for creating advertisements and logos.
The business owners also had the opportunity to be consumers, as each was given Saint Bucks or Banana Bucks to spend.
When to close their own doors was up to them and with this decision came some opportunity cost, according to Miss Micks.
“If you close early, you may lose some sales,” she pointed out. “But if you close too late, you may lose out on the opportunity to buy.”
The day after the market, the students determined their profits and conducted a business analysis to decide what they would have changed either to increase profits or increase sales.
The teachers were grateful to the customers who took time out of their day to visit their students’ stores.
“The students were so excited to share their goods or service,” said Ms. Maison. “They have been working very hard and practicing for many days.”
“My students were thrilled to have adults come to their shop,” Miss Micks said. “I was grateful they got to use their confident voices and sell their item through their pitch and talking about how they made their goods.”
Superintendent Jon Dean referred to the shopping experience as “the highlight of my day.”
South student playwrights named semifinalists
Grosse Pointe South students participated in the Wharton Center’s 2021-22 Young Playwrights Festival, with English department chairman Harry Campion serving as the sponsoring teacher.
Among the scripts submitted, 12 semifinalists were selected, including the following six from South:
· Eleanor Campion, “Medea at Colchis”
· Anne Davey, “After Hours”
· Dante Deschaine, “A Shakespearean Rivalry”
· Roarke Kemp, “Trip of a Lifetime”
· Thaddeus MacKrell, “The Storm”
· Lyla Paschke, “Murder and Cranberry Jam”
The semifinalists will have the opportunity to work with a Michigan State University Department of Theatre faculty mentor for individual assistance to discuss ways to revise and resubmit their scripts. Six finalist scripts will be selected after a second reading.
The six finalist plays may be viewed at a public performance on Saturday, May 14, at 2 p.m. in the Pasant Theatre, followed by an award and recognition ceremony to honor finalists and semifinalists. Saturday’s performance is open to the public and free of charge, with non-reserved seating. Doors open at 1 p.m.
Congratulations go to the playwrights and all the English faculty at South for their teaching and mentoring efforts.
Alumni Through the Decades
Our 100th anniversary series on GPPSS alumni continues
RJ Ronquillo
Grosse Pointe South High School
Class of 1994
RJ Ronquillo grew up in a musical household. His father played piano, guitar, saxophone and drums, and instruments were readily available at their home. At around age 6, RJ took piano lessons along with his older sister. When he was 8 or 9, he learned drums.
“I finally picked up the guitar when I was 9 or 10 years old,” he said. “It kind of stuck.”
His first guitar hero was Marty McFly from the 1985 movie Back to the Future. RJ says he was inspired by his performance at the end of the movie of “Johnny Be Good.”
“That was the first real song I ever played,” he said.
RJ attended the Grosse Pointe Academy from preschool through eighth grade, forming his first band with friends. His freshman year at Grosse Pointe South High School, his first hour class was jazz improvisation. While he never imagined this “would have been a music class in any school setting at the time,” he found it inspiring, as it allowed him to jam with other students.
He met a lot of fellow musicians that year who have remained his friends to this day.
From there, his musical interests expanded into his out-of-school life, from private guitar lessons to playing with his band of friends, to learning on his own.
After graduating from Grosse Pointe South in 1994, RJ attended the University of Miami in Florida, entering as a music engineering major, but switched to studio music and jazz once he realized his heart was more into performance and playing music.
After graduating, he remained in the Miami area for a while, playing in cover bands at weddings and clubs and working his way up to touring and recording. He has worked for nearly two decades as a professional musician.
RJ’s first touring gig was with a reggae band called Inner Circle, known for a theme song on a popular TV show and a few other hits in the 1990s. RJ toured with them for a few years and then other opportunities fell into place. He learned in college that touring and recording opportunities were more readily available for versatile musicians, so he learned all types of popular music, including rock, country, Latin, reggae and R&B — “pretty much everything except classical music,” he explained.
While RJ still goes on the road occasionally to perform when the right opportunity comes up, he mainly quit touring in 2018, opting instead to create music in his in-home studio. He and his wife, Kristina — who met through musical ties while RJ was playing in a rock band in Los Angeles — settled in Nashville with their two dogs, Jolene and Charo, in 2015.
“I’ve kind of transitioned from being a touring guy to staying home and making content for different guitar companies and accessory companies and making YouTube videos for them,” he said. “It’s a perfect match being able to stay home, work in my home studio, and basically play guitar every day, which was the end goal.”
For young people seeking the path of a professional musician, he stresses the importance of networking.
“The landscape of the music industry has changed drastically since I got into the game so it’s hard for me to say what works now,” RJ said, “but I think ultimately the advice I always give to people is to meet as many other people as possible because you never know down the road, they could turn into a producer or an artist or a musical director. They might end up calling you or recommending you. Meet as many people as possible and become friends with them and make as many contacts as you can. That’s how it worked for me. My name got passed around and I started getting phone calls and recommendations. Nowadays it might be a little different, but it might be easier because of social media. YouTube and Instagram are ways to get heard.
“Just getting in front of people is the big thing,” he added.
Find RJ on YouTube and on Instagram @rj_ronquillo.
More alumni profiles are available on the Grosse Pointe Alumni & Friends website.
Stay up to date with transition services
Check out the latest edition of Transition Trender, a newsletter featuring GPPSS Special Education Transition Services. Read about the soft skills secondary special education transition students learn on the job, pre-vocational skills built through their microenterprise business, a special educator spotlight on Sheila Doss, and more.
School Pointes is a publication of the Grosse Pointe Public School System. To submit story ideas or Pointes of Pride, email info@gpschools.org.