MPS Board passes ‘Return to Learning Plan’

By a 5-2 vote Aug. 10, the Marshall Public Schools Board of Education passed the district’s “Return to Learning Plan” that will have most students in the classroom at the start of the 2020-21 school year which begins Aug. 26.

On June 30, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued her Executive Order 2020-142 and shared Michigan’s Return to School Roadmap. The Roadmap is aligned with Michigan’s Safe Start Plan, using the “six phase approach” as a basis for reopening schools.

The Roadmap provides requirements, recommendations and guidance unique for each phase under which schools may operate. As such, Whitmer requires each district in Michigan to submit a Board approved “Preparedness and Response Plan” to the local ISD on Aug. 17, and then to the Michigan Department of Education to be approved on Aug. 19.

Most of Michigan, including Marshall, is in Phase 4, which allows for in-person schooling with varying levels of safety protocols or a combination on in-person instruction and online instruction. In Phase 4, high levels of safety protocols would be implemented, and school grounds would be closed to outside groups and visitors.

If Michigan were to go back to Phase 3, then all instruction would be required to be conducted online.

The proposal the board considered and approved has K-5 students in class Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week, with Wednesday being a virtual or online learning day.

For grades 6-12, half of all students would attend class on Monday and Tuesday, while the other half would attend Thursday and Friday with three days each week serving as an online learning.

All K-12 students are required to wear masks.

A recent, second parent survey indicated a 76% response rate, a rate Superintendent Randy Davis called “pretty strong.”

Those wanting virtual learning only totaled 29.8% across the district and 70.2% stating they wanted some level of in-person instruction.

All MPS students will be supplied with a laptop and students who chose the virtual-only option must stay with that option for the entire first semester before deciding to go back to in-person classes.

Prior to the vote, Superintendent Randy Davis gave a rundown on the proposal the board was to consider for in-person classes.

He spoke of area school districts receiving guidance from the Governor’s office through executive orders and the Calhoun County Public Health Department.

Davis said he other area superintendents meet weekly with Calhoun County Public Health Department Health Officer Eric Pressell to receive updates on the COVID-19 situation in the county.

“We hear from the ground at the health department what’s going on and if there are any unusual upticks,” said Davis. “For the past 59 days …we have not been above 3% in our seven-day average of positive cases. That’s a huge statistic and many times are under 2%. On Aug. 8 we were at 1.7% for the seven-day average. If it were over 4%, that would be the first time a flag would go up for the Health Department to start looking at other factors that may indicate something is going on and there’s an untick or increase in risk or in community spread.”

The number of positive cases per million in the county has fluctuated but has remain relatively low in recent weeks, said Davis.

“That has gone up and down since March,” said Davis. “The last time we were above 40, which is the benchmark for a red flag going up…was 42.5 positive cases per million on July 16. Since that time, we have gone below 40 per million. In fact, we are at 22.3 cases per million as of Aug. 8.

“We all agree those are the benchmarks we will look for. And if the Health Departments in any way feels there is any community spread or unusual circumstance or higher risk, they would then make the recommendation to us regardless of what phase we are in, to let us know that we should probably move to remote [learning].”

If that were to occur, Davis said MPS would have about seven days to get ready to completely move to remote learning.

“I am just really pleased the Health Department is giving us that direct guidance and feedback and will make a direct interaction when they need to,” said Davis.

Trustee Amanda Lankerd asked Davis on how the district planned to “maintain the rigor” for students in grade 6-12 going to in-person classes only two days a week.

“The rigor and relevance is going to be there,” said Davis. “It’s a continuation…every day is going to be another instructional day with another lesson plan tacked on and scaffolded on top of what they’re learning all the way through the week. Whether you’re in front of the teacher in person or if you are remote, that’s still going to be a continuation of learning all the way through.”

Davis noted that older students can tap in to do work from home when they best can tap in and be focused versus having students in front of a computer to simulate a school day.

“Synchronous instruction all day long puts the student in position to learn for six hours straight to mirror what they experience in the classroom and that’s not something we want to see,” said Davis. “That’s not a very good plan of action. So, we want to make sure there is a lot more flexibility, but they’re not being held accountable for anything less that what they would in any kind of in person or face to face [class].”

Socially distancing students in classroom would mean most class sizes would be in the 18-20 range at a maximum.

For example, based on the size of the classrooms at Harrington Elementary, with students 6 feet apart, would mean 19 students per room.

“What we have to remember for elementary and why we are doing four-day in person and one day remote is that they will be in cohort groupings,” said Davis. “We are going to try and teach those kids in cohorts as much as we possibly can so we can have accountability in case something should come off in regards to a COVID positive.”

Davis cited Health Department data that had when you have cohort grouping at the elementary level and you have social distancing and masks, you don’t have individual students connecting with individual students from more than 15 minutes at a time from less than 5 feet away.

“If they have masks on, they have social distancing, they’re in cohort, they’re not spending up close and personal time with each other, and they’re washing hands frequently… all of that is mitigating pretty good in regards to safety,” said Davis. “Is it absolute? Nothing is absolute, but it is the strongest practice we can put in place.”

Many teachers, noted Davis, have gone through Google certification to teach students online.

Trustee Richard Lindsey, who voted no on the plan along with Lankerd, said he “struggled” with the idea of sending students back into the classroom at this time.

“I appreciate everything the administration has done…I’m still struggling with what it looks like to be in the classroom with the children,” said Lindsey. “I understand that we’re hoping this is what’s going to happen, but I can’t see it in reality. I’m in a profession (legal) where the courts remain closed, but are starting to reopen, but I don’t trust adults to be together in large groups and we’re going to put teachers into this situation…I feel like if we waited a little bit longer and let some other people have some experience, then we can learn from what they do as opposed to putting our teachers into those positions and students into those positions.”

Trustee Shawna Gamble noted that “this is a very difficult decision for the seven of us to have to make.”

“We just hope that we are able to make the right decision for all of our kids,” Gamble added.

Board President Bill DeSmet agreed that this was a difficult decision to make.

“It’s virtually impossible to make everybody happy and give everybody something they are looking for,” said DeSmet. “I continue to be impressed with Randy and his team have put in front of us, trying to give every option we can to families and do everything we can to prepare students and teachers…I appreciate the fact that we are giving families two options and they do have solid choices to be able to make as far as what’s going to be the best fit for their family.”

The Board did pass unanimously the virtual learning aspect of the curriculum in the event the district goes back to Phase 3.

“This is to make sure we have all the flexibility that we need to be able to use all of our classes in a remote way,” said Davis.

Derek Allen, who is a parent of a fifth grader, said he was “naturally worried about the possibility of children returning to school in-person being a cause of an increase in infections in our community.”

“However, I am also worried about my son and other students in the district being able to learn as much virtually as they would in the presence of the high caliber teachers we have throughout our buildings,” said Allen. “With that said though, I have a great deal of confidence in Marshall Public Schools’ leadership to ensure that no matter what, my son and others receive the quality education they need and deserve while also taking every possible step to ensure their safety.”

Ginger Obermyer, who has a second grader, said she is “a little nervous” about sending her child to school during the pandemic.

“I feel Marshall Public Schools has prioritized the health, safety and emotional well-being of our family,” said Obermyer, who also has a GSRP student “I am thankful MPS has given us choice - whether we choose to do in person or online is up to the families and students unique needs. I have chosen in person and I am excited for him to get back to some stability and socialization with friends and the MPS staff.”

Aislynn Melton, who has three daughters who will be returning to in-person classes (two of which were on the cover), said sending her girls back to school was not an easy decision to make for she and her husband.

“I have been so undecided about them going back to school in-person,” said Melton. “I’m still not 100% sure I’m making the right choice. In-person is what my husband and I have decided would be the best fit for our girls. We feel they need the social interaction with their peers and the physical presence of their teacher. I would have preferred them easing into the school year at the elementary level, possibly going two days a week, like the middle school and high school for the first semester. However, I am happy that Marshall has worked to provide options for families.”

Sarah Mannes has a third and fourth as well as a seventh and 11th grader in MPS and she noted that she and her husband did not choose the in-person option for their kids.

“We were able to work out a work-from-home situation with his job and decided to try and keep our kids home for at least the first semester,” said Mannes. “We believe our kids would do much better at school, in their classrooms. However, with how this pandemic has been, we had to base our decision on what we think is best for them.”

She added that she “hopes and prays” the return to school will work out.

“It seem to have started out being a good idea,” said Mannes. “However, with current trends, it seems like the chance for exposure may increase and then what? All of these at-school kids are going to be forced home, and it just seems this would be yet another disruption for them. There is no easy answer here. I believe people are doing what they believe is the best for their family and their lifestyle, but I worry that all of this energy and hard work the school and staff have put into getting schools back up and running will be for too small of gains.”

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Former elementary school turned condominium one of private residences featured in 2022 Home Tour

By Seth Berry • September 10, 2022

Get to know MPS Superintendent Becky Jones as she looks ahead to the new school year Marshall Public Schools Superintendent Becky Jones said she has always had a passion for wanting to work in education. Even though her master’s degree is in business from Spring Arbor University, Jones originally went to school at Eastern Michigan University to be a special education teacher when she was an undergraduate before making the switch to the business field. “I always wanted to work in some sort of line in education and be a part of the school system,” Jones said. “My aunt was a special education teacher in an early childhood role and she worked for Jackson ISD. That was part of the reason why I wanted to go to school to be a special education teacher when I started. I ended up changing and I’m not 100% sure why I changed, but it’s interesting that I ended up into the system in the career path of doing that.” After Jones graduated from EMU, she landed a job in Jackson as a business manager for a construction company before being hired at Jackson County Intermediate School District in business operations. Jones has been in the school system ever since her time at Jackson County ISD before coming over to Marshall Public Schools, where she served as the director of business operations for the district for eight years. Jones said the relationships she built over the eight years in that role has helped her transition into the superintendent role. “I think with how I am as a leader and how I am as a person, I like to build a lot of personal relationships,” said Jones. “So I think that’s just something that has come natural for me over the eight years, I’ve just always built really good relationships with the people that I work with. I care about the people, I care about families, I care about our students. It didn’t seem unnatural for me to fill into the role of interim, because it was something I wanted to do.” Jones was appointed interim superintendent in May 2021 after the departure of former Superintendent Randy Davis. After eight months, the Marshall Public Schools Board of Education unanimously agreed to hire Jones into the permanent role. When reflecting on when she officially was hired into the permanent role, Jones commended the many who have supported her during the process and said she feels honored to now be serving in the role. “I think that educating people’s children and educating our youth is a very important role,” said Jones. “It’s an honor and a blessing in how I look at it.” Jones added that she is driven and inspired by being able to serve two communities, being students and families in both Marshall and Albion. “When I look at the district as a whole, I look at it as serving two communities,” Jones said. “Obviously we have an interesting history as a school system with bringing Albion into the system and serving both Albion and Marshall. That to me alone, just having the two communities that we get to serve, is a wonderful thing. Both communities have a lot to offer when you look at it. There are a lot of great people, leaders and businesses that are really supportive of the school system and really supportive of our kids. That’s one of the many benefits of this role.” Jones added she is also inspired by being able to serve the students as a whole and being able to interact with them and the teachers who are involved in their learning development. “Also the kids and the interaction with the kids. We get to go out to buildings and interact with the kids and interact with the teachers,” Jones added. “We have a wonderful staff in the district. When I look at the role, I don’t look at it as a superintendent role, I look at it as ‘I get to work with these amazing people who work for Marshall Public Schools and I get to meet all of these wonderful community members.’” In a March article from the Battle Creek Enquirer, former Board President Richard Lindsey acknowledged Jones played a key role in the annexation of the Albion School District and Marshall Public Schools in 2016. Jones further explained how she was involved in that process. “I walked alongside Dr. Davis when annexation happened,” she said. “I sat in all the meetings, went through all the financials and worked on all those things and what it would look like. So I was right alongside working through the annexation piece of it. Through annexation, there were a lot of people that care about both communities and about wanting to make sure that all of our kids have equal opportunity and equal access to good education. To me, in my eyes, that’s the one thing that matters, is equal access to kids for education.” As superintendent, there are both challenges ahead for Jones along with some things that she is excited about in terms of plans the district is implementing going into the school year. “I’m really excited about our strategic plan,” Jones said. “I think it’s really important for organizations to have a vision for what they are working towards. And I think that we’ve clearly written out what our vision is as an organization. I’m really looking forward to putting that in place.” As far as challenges go, Jones brought up being able to educate students in a post-pandemic world and focusing on providing support for students and families on what they need to further their education in light of all the disruptions that took place in schools during the past two years. “I think we still have a lot of challenges post pandemic when we’re looking at children and we’re looking at education,” Jones said. “We as a district need to sit down and focus on where our kids are at and where we need our kids to be in terms of education. So, I think for this year it’s really going to be a huge focus on what support we can give our families and the things we can do to really get our kids educated and where they need to be in a post pandemic world.” Another challenge in Jones’ eyes is how to put a new bond on the table and how to get community members to support one this time around. Last November, a $45.6 million bond was voted down by a 2 to 1 margin. She also mentioned the school’s sinking fund millage that she said will be on the ballot for voters this November. “We have $75 million worth of needs,” said Jones. “We obviously had a failed bond attempt and those needs haven’t gone away. So we’re going to have to go back out to the community in looking at a bond and (figure out) what we need to do. We need to sit down and talk about where we’re at with that. Another thing is with our sinking fund millage. That is set to expire and we’re going to be putting a renewal on the November ballot. It is a renewal but it’s not going to be worded as a renewal, because we’re going to add in security and technology services for that. So we’re really going to have to get out there and communicate effectively with the communities about that.” When Jones’ time is done at MPS, whenever that may be, she said she just hopes for both communities to look at the school district and be proud of what it represents. “I want both communities to be proud of their school system,” she said. “I want Marshall Public Schools serving both Marshall and Albion communities and for it to be a choice district for those communities. I want them to be proud of the work we do here and how we educate their kids.”

‘I want both communities to be proud of their school system’

By Seth Berry • August 11, 2022

Get to know MPS Superintendent Becky Jones as she looks ahead to the new school year Marshall Public Schools Superintendent Becky Jones said she has always had a passion for wanting to work in education. Even though her master’s degree is in business from Spring Arbor University, Jones originally went to school at Eastern Michigan University to be a special education teacher when she was an undergraduate before making the switch to the business field. “I always wanted to work in some sort of line in education and be a part of the school system,” Jones said. “My aunt was a special education teacher in an early childhood role and she worked for Jackson ISD. That was part of the reason why I wanted to go to school to be a special education teacher when I started. I ended up changing and I’m not 100% sure why I changed, but it’s interesting that I ended up into the system in the career path of doing that.” After Jones graduated from EMU, she landed a job in Jackson as a business manager for a construction company before being hired at Jackson County Intermediate School District in business operations. Jones has been in the school system ever since her time at Jackson County ISD before coming over to Marshall Public Schools, where she served as the director of business operations for the district for eight years. Jones said the relationships she built over the eight years in that role has helped her transition into the superintendent role. “I think with how I am as a leader and how I am as a person, I like to build a lot of personal relationships,” said Jones. “So I think that’s just something that has come natural for me over the eight years, I’ve just always built really good relationships with the people that I work with. I care about the people, I care about families, I care about our students. It didn’t seem unnatural for me to fill into the role of interim, because it was something I wanted to do.” Jones was appointed interim superintendent in May 2021 after the departure of former Superintendent Randy Davis. After eight months, the Marshall Public Schools Board of Education unanimously agreed to hire Jones into the permanent role. When reflecting on when she officially was hired into the permanent role, Jones commended the many who have supported her during the process and said she feels honored to now be serving in the role. “I think that educating people’s children and educating our youth is a very important role,” said Jones. “It’s an honor and a blessing in how I look at it.” Jones added that she is driven and inspired by being able to serve two communities, being students and families in both Marshall and Albion. “When I look at the district as a whole, I look at it as serving two communities,” Jones said. “Obviously we have an interesting history as a school system with bringing Albion into the system and serving both Albion and Marshall. That to me alone, just having the two communities that we get to serve, is a wonderful thing. Both communities have a lot to offer when you look at it. There are a lot of great people, leaders and businesses that are really supportive of the school system and really supportive of our kids. That’s one of the many benefits of this role.” Jones added she is also inspired by being able to serve the students as a whole and being able to interact with them and the teachers who are involved in their learning development. “Also the kids and the interaction with the kids. We get to go out to buildings and interact with the kids and interact with the teachers,” Jones added. “We have a wonderful staff in the district. When I look at the role, I don’t look at it as a superintendent role, I look at it as ‘I get to work with these amazing people who work for Marshall Public Schools and I get to meet all of these wonderful community members.’” In a March article from the Battle Creek Enquirer, former Board President Richard Lindsey acknowledged Jones played a key role in the annexation of the Albion School District and Marshall Public Schools in 2016. Jones further explained how she was involved in that process. “I walked alongside Dr. Davis when annexation happened,” she said. “I sat in all the meetings, went through all the financials and worked on all those things and what it would look like. So I was right alongside working through the annexation piece of it. Through annexation, there were a lot of people that care about both communities and about wanting to make sure that all of our kids have equal opportunity and equal access to good education. To me, in my eyes, that’s the one thing that matters, is equal access to kids for education.” As superintendent, there are both challenges ahead for Jones along with some things that she is excited about in terms of plans the district is implementing going into the school year. “I’m really excited about our strategic plan,” Jones said. “I think it’s really important for organizations to have a vision for what they are working towards. And I think that we’ve clearly written out what our vision is as an organization. I’m really looking forward to putting that in place.” As far as challenges go, Jones brought up being able to educate students in a post-pandemic world and focusing on providing support for students and families on what they need to further their education in light of all the disruptions that took place in schools during the past two years. “I think we still have a lot of challenges post pandemic when we’re looking at children and we’re looking at education,” Jones said. “We as a district need to sit down and focus on where our kids are at and where we need our kids to be in terms of education. So, I think for this year it’s really going to be a huge focus on what support we can give our families and the things we can do to really get our kids educated and where they need to be in a post pandemic world.” Another challenge in Jones’ eyes is how to put a new bond on the table and how to get community members to support one this time around. Last November, a $45.6 million bond was voted down by a 2 to 1 margin. She also mentioned the school’s sinking fund millage that she said will be on the ballot for voters this November. “We have $75 million worth of needs,” said Jones. “We obviously had a failed bond attempt and those needs haven’t gone away. So we’re going to have to go back out to the community in looking at a bond and (figure out) what we need to do. We need to sit down and talk about where we’re at with that. Another thing is with our sinking fund millage. That is set to expire and we’re going to be putting a renewal on the November ballot. It is a renewal but it’s not going to be worded as a renewal, because we’re going to add in security and technology services for that. So we’re really going to have to get out there and communicate effectively with the communities about that.” When Jones’ time is done at MPS, whenever that may be, she said she just hopes for both communities to look at the school district and be proud of what it represents. “I want both communities to be proud of their school system,” she said. “I want Marshall Public Schools serving both Marshall and Albion communities and for it to be a choice district for those communities. I want them to be proud of the work we do here and how we educate their kids.”

Marshall Country Club celebrating centennial year with multiple upcoming events

By Seth Berry • August 11, 2022

In February of 1921, while what would eventually become the Marshall Country Club was being organized, 70 acres on the south shore of Lyon Lake was purchased for the golf course. That summer was spent by members raking stones, tearing down fences and leveling off and cleaning land while Harold C. Brooks, the club’s first president, hired golf architect Tom Bendelow of Chicago to help design the course. The following year, Brooks erected the club house that was planned by his architect friend Howard Young of Kalamazoo. A breezeway connected the club house with a pro shop and the country club was up and running. There have been a few changes made to Marshall Country Club over time, including the course being renovated into an 18-hole course from a nine-hole course in 1972. But 100 years later, the country club is still serving area golfers, with numerous events on tap as MCC celebrates its centennial year. Director of Communications Nancy Card said she believes Marshall Country Club’s ability to adapt over time has allowed the golf course to stay open even during ever-changing times. “It (country clubs) used to be much more formal,” said Card. “It used to be the ‘good ol' boys club.’ It used to be a high stakes kind of a thing. And now, through the evolution of all of these years, it’s interesting to me to see how creative we’ve had to become in order to continue to operate in the new world. It’s so different and we can’t operate like we used to back then. Just watching the changes and the evolution and how things have made us who we are today, that’s very important. And it’s so exciting to see how people are consumed with this. They really love our country club.” According to a 2019 article from Business Insider , country club memberships dropped 20% from 1990 to 2014. The number of clubs are also diminishing, as there were over 5,000 member-owned full-service golf and country clubs in the U.S., according to the article. By 2017, that number had fallen to about 3,900. MCC used to be a strictly private country club, but over time has morphed into a quasi-private, quasi-public course, with a restaurant, Lyon Lake Grill, that is open to the public. Feef Dillon, a member of the centennial celebration committee, said offering a warm environment has been one of the main keys to making the country club a successful operation. “I think we have to have a welcoming environment that welcomes all walks of life,” said Dillon. “Female, low and high income, we have to make it affordable for people to want to be here and make it worth their while and offer activities that are appealing to people. Long gone are the days where you could write off your country club membership. It used to be that companies would foot the bill. That’s no longer the case. Now we have to find ways (to gain members) and the relationships make it happen.” Tom Duffey, an MCC Board member and past club president, added it’s not only the friendships that are created, but the community environment that has made the country club a special place for him and many others. “This is a great place for family activities,” Duffey said. “We have both Marshall golf teams here, Homer golf teams, Albion College, Olivet College. I brought my kids out to play and now I’m bringing my grandkids out to play. It’s just a friendly, nice place to bring kids. You’ll see a bunch of kids out here hitting balls. It’s just a nice place to come out to.” The COVID-19 pandemic brought tough times to many businesses across the country, and MCC was no exception. House Manager Sarah Coco has been at MCC for four years and said while there have been some difficult times to get through, she did not ever want to leave because of her passion for the country club and seeing how much it matters to so many people she interacts with. “This is my first time working at a country club and it is different than any other restaurant, bar or hospitality place that I’ve ever worked at,” said Coco. “It was pretty challenging during COVID in that situation to get creative with how to be open, how to serve the members. It was a struggle, a huge struggle. You kind of step back and think ‘why am I doing this? You could go anywhere right now and get a job.’ But for me, I can’t do that because this place just means so much to so many people that it becomes special to you.” Vicki Knickerbocker, another member of the centennial celebration committee and MCC member said the country club is special to her in many ways, from building friendships to simply giving her and her husband a hobby. “I think it’s very important for both myself and my husband because it gives us something to do,” Knickerbocker said. “We could be working in our yard or doing something (else), but we’re outside and it’s beautiful out here. My husband is out here (frequently). I’m here maybe a couple days a week, but if it wasn't here where (would we be)?” To date, MCC has held monthly celebrations to honor its centennial year. On Aug. 13, two golf tournaments and a dinner will be held at the country club. The first tournament of the day is for current and past members only and will begin at 8:30 a.m., while the second tournament—a four-person scramble, is open to anyone and is set for an approximate 1:30 p.m. start time. Both tournaments have limited spots available. The centennial dinner is open to the public and tickets are currently on sale. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets can contact MCC. There will also be a raffle drawing that event organizers hope will be held that night, where ticket holders will have a chance to win a variety of prizes, with the top prize being a free membership to the country club. MCC will conclude its celebrations on Oct. 1 with “100 years of fun” and standup comedian Dave Dyer, an event that will also be open to the public. “We want people to know that we are celebrating, why we are celebrating and that we invite them to come and celebrate with us,” Card said.

Community gathers at Tee-Ball Garden in Albion for statue, plaque dedication

By Seth Berry • July 4, 2022

Jerry Sacharski was a recreation league director in Albion who pioneered T-ball as an organized youth sport in 1956 because he couldn’t stand to turn away young children with the desire to play baseball. Sacharski passed away in February of 2009, but his memory has lived on, which was apparent on June 25 when well over 100 community members came together at Tee-Ball Garden in Albion, where a new T-ball statue and historic plaque was unveiled under the leadership of the Restore Our Coke Sign: Bring Art and History Downtown campaign team. Many of Sacharski’s former players and their families were present to celebrate the event, along with members of the Sacharski family, including Jerry’s three sons—David, Michael and William. Following the ceremony, current T-ball players played a short game in Victory Park near Hannah Street, which was followed by an “Old-Timers” game. John Sims, one of Sacharski’s former players who spoke at the ceremony, expressed appreciation for his former coach and the impact he left on him and many others who played for him growing up. “I go down to that field and I can see him (Sacharski),” Sims said. “I think everyone who played “pee-wee” ball with him remembers him. We have very few people in our lives as young people who make a mark like that. I’m 70 years old and I still remember that guy with very great kindness. He was good to us.” Sims also cited a 1960 T-ball exhibition game, when Sacharski took him and other pee wee players to Michigan State University to put the sport on display in front of a TV audience as the game was videotaped by a local television station. In 2000, the video was accepted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y. Sacharski was also a teacher with Albion Public Schools for nearly three decades. His son David said his father was great at teaching the fundamentals of the game and brought his teaching qualities to the baseball field. “My dad wanted the kids to learn the fundamentals of baseball while playing T-ball, which was sometimes called pee wee ball,” said David. “Notice the word ‘fun’ in fundamentals. He wanted the kids to have fun and at the same time, learn basic skills. Being a teacher, he made T-ball a classroom activity on grass.” William, another of the three Sacharski sons, said he was one of the original 60 T-ball players in Albion. He remembers the summer of 1956 when “everything changed” in terms of how the game of baseball was played when he was a young boy. “The whole game that we played changed,” said William. “As a 7-year-old kid, we actually got to go up to bat and we actually got to hit the ball (instead of getting walked or striking out). You could take a stance and that ball was sitting there on the tee and you could just kind of drive through it. There were no free passes, there were no strikeouts. Every play, something happened. Just like Dave said, after a while, your fundamentals and your skills (improve) because you’re not standing around.” Michael is the oldest of the Sacharski boys and said he was an umpire during the first T-ball game in June of 1956. He thanked everyone who showed up to the event and commended all who helped his father make the sport successful. He told a story about his father after Jerry retired from school teaching when he was in Hawaii that embodied the type of person and coach Jerry was. “I think the second spring he was there, he ambled up to the park that was near our home, because they were staying in our home,” Michael said. “And he ambled up in the park, and in Hawaii they have springtime youth baseball. He was sitting around on a picnic table watching how teams were practicing on the various fields and he did that a few times. Finally, one of the coaches of one of the teams—the players would have been T-ball players here, but they had (the pitcher) throw the ball, they don’t hit it off the tee—the coach said ‘I’ve seen you here, do you know anything about baseball? Would you like to help coach?’ And he said ‘yes, I will do that.’ The name of the team was the Padres, and they were already 0-3 and by the end of the season, they were I think about 12-3 and took the championship. He never told anybody who he was or where he came from. And to this day, the coaches, the players, the parents—have no idea who this guy was.” Janet Domingo and Linda Kolmodin lead the Coca-Cola team and led the effort for the new plaque and statue at the Tee-Ball Garden. The garden is a cooperative venture with the Calhoun County Land Bank and Albion Community Foundation. Money was raised for these art installations and additional landscape improvements through a matching Patronicity campaign through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, according to a press release that ran in the ad-visor in the June 25 edition. Donated funds were held by an Albion Community Foundation. Other completed projects included the iconic Coca-Cola sign restoration and the new Malleable Mural celebrating Albion’s long foundry history. “This is the completion of our three (main) projects,” said Domingo. “Many years ago, when I was working at the hospital, I made a video about Albion. I named it, ‘Small Town, Big Heart.’ Well, the town’s a bit smaller (now), but it hasn’t changed. As a result of a very successful campaign, we were able to continue with our goal to bring art and history downtown. We’re not quite done yet. We have a couple other small projects in the works. Thanks again to everyone and to everyone who supported us.”