HEADLINES
Despite Economic Woes, Michigan District Helps These Kids Keep Their Eyes on the Ball
By Ryan Gray Once known as “the Refrigerator Capital of the World,” Green-
ville, Mich., has fallen on especially hard economic times since the Electrolux factory was closed in 2006 and relocated to Mexico. Tat move alone affected some 3,000 local jobs, a big hit for a
town that has a population of a little more than 8,000. Factor in that automotive supplier Tower Automotive a Cerberus Capital Management company, closed its local plant and Federal Mogul in nearby Southfield has cut back its operations, both as a result of the troubles in Detroit over the past year, and things have got- ten pretty tight.
At one time, local school children were able to raise enough
money to purchase the Fighting Falcon glider plane that was used during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II. But to- day, there’s little extra money to do much of anything. “Our county, I think, has one of the highest unemployment
rates in the country,” said Joe Knight, director of transportation for Greenville Public Schools. “Tere’s a lot of poverty, so we’re trying do everything we can to help the kids.” Te district buses about 2,500 of the total 4,000 students on
two tiers of routes, one for kindergartners through fifth graders and the other for sixth graders through high school. Te latter group is especially at risk when it comes to a lack of after-school programs, and many of them go home to empty households be- cause their parents are working two jobs or they are commuting to and from nearby Grand Rapids. Earlier this year, a group of the district’s 20 full-time bus drivers began discussing how to give opportunities to these students, who after school can spend far too many hours by themselves. Te goal was to not only keep them out of trouble but to also brighten their spirits and give them a sense of belonging. But what could the drivers organize, and where could they take the kids? It was right after Christmas and still very cold in Western Michi-
gan. One of the drivers, Gayla Schachtele, is a volleyball fan and mentioned to her fellow drivers that the sport might make for a
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