Teachers Healers AND
Dr. Scott Shisler brings rapid care to Thumb at Aspire Rural Health System
Mark Birdsall
AssistAnt Editor
Dr. Scott Shisler has been caring for Thumb residents for more than two decades. He said he’s made a lot of friends in that time, which is one of his favorite parts of his job.
Recently, Shisler began coordinating rapid care services at Aspire Rural Health Services’ Bad Axe Family Healthcare, located at 684 N. Port Crescent St. Shisler arrived in the Thumb as a senior resident in 2002. He’s board-certified in emergency medicine as well as internal medicine and previously oversaw the emergency department at what was once known as Huron Medical Center and Huron Memorial Hospital, among other roles as Thumb healthcare provider.
“I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do when I grew up, so I did a fiveyear program to do both
internal medicine as well as emergency medicine,” he said.
He and his wife, neurologist Dr. Joanna Kala, have two children. Their daughter Julianna is following in her parents’ footsteps and is currently in her second year at Central Michigan University in its health sciences program. She has an eye on becoming a physician’s assistant.
Shisler described his daughter as a “people person” who has worked as a nursing assistant, helping to feed and dress and tending to patients’ personal needs, to get a sense of what it’s like to care for people.
“When you can do that, then that makes the rest of medicine so much easier,” Shisler said.
Son Tristan is in his senior year at Bad Axe High School, and Shisler was delighted to say Tristan had just been accepted at the University of Michigan, where he’ll study mechanical engineering.
Shisler credited his
wife for passing down her study habits to their children and praised her for her ability as a mom and a physician.
“I’m better known as Dr. Kala’s husband because she sets the bar so high for the rest of us as far as taking care of people that she challenges us as providers to be better,” he said.
Shisler said he’s excited about being a part of Aspire Rural Health System’s growing network of caregivers and their multitude of services and said the Bad Axe facility has a great staff that’s ready to make the Thumb a healthier place to live and work.
If there’s one thing Shisler wants his patients to take away from their visits, it is to get and stay active and avoid the sedentary lifestyle that’s become prevalent, especially since the pandemic.
“I just want people to know we’re here for them,” Shisler said. “In their time of need, or even if they just need a physical, we’re here.”
Dr. Scott Shisler has worked as a healthcare provider in the Thumb for more than 20 years and is now overseeing rapid care services at Aspire Rural Healath System’s Bad Axe Family Healthcare. (Aspire Rural Health System/Courtesy Image)
From Greece to Michigan: Teacher John Ioannidis’ unique journey
Jhyrah delapp stAff WritEr
Even though John Ioannidis is a native Michigander, he had an interesting route back to the state. Once he was back in Michigan, Ioannidis made the most of the opportunities presented to him.
Ioannidis, a Unionville-Sebewaing Area High School English teacher, was born in Saginaw. However, once he was only a few months old, his family moved to Greece, where they were originally from.
“Living in the village, I would equate it to living back in the early 1900s,” Ioannidis said.
“We didn’t have electricity or running water. Our task was to help my great uncle, who didn’t have children, tend to his livestock. It was a simple life, we didn’t have televisions or anything like that. I remember the day we came back, seeing running water, electricity, color television was just amazing to me.”
Even though life was simpler in Greece, Ioannidis stated he still had very fond memories of the country. However, when his family moved back to America, they returned back to Saginaw. It was a big adjustment for Ioannidis because in Greece he had learned a bit of English, but not to the extent the language is used here.
Anyone who has been through junior high school knows how socially intense it can be. It was a culture shock for Ioannidis coming back to
America and having to learn English to catch up.
“For me it was music that helped me learn English so well,” Ioannidis said. “I started playing guitar at a very young age and, when we came back to the states, I learned a lot more as far as the language and pronunciation of words. I tried to lose my accent by singing songs and learning the lyrics.”
Some of Ioannidis’ favorite artists to listen to growing up were Elvis and the Beatles. He always tried to listen to whatever was the newest music at the time.
“I always wanted to play music, it was probably my first love,” Ioannidis said.
“In ninth grade, I got into my first band with just some friends just playing around in the garage. By my senior year, we had kind of really started honing in those skills, but unfortunately at that point we kind of went our separate ways, with college and things of that nature.”
Ioannidis went to Saginaw Valley State University for his undergraduate and Marygrove College for his master’s degree.
“While I was at college, I was anxious to play music and formed a band with another classmate of mine,” he said. “We went through a number of bass players and drummers till we finally found the guys that we thought we could work together. We stayed together for almost 10 years playing in nightclubs and various locations in Michigan.”
Ioannidis’ band name was Toyz and they were a
classical rock band. Toyz performed in places all over Michigan including Saint Charles, Lansing, and the Upper Peninsula.
“I had already started working here and I was still playing in the band,” Ioannidis said. “Sometimes we would play five nights up in Cheboygan. I’d leave school Tuesday, get up there Tuesday night, play, get done at 1 a.m., drive home, sleep for two hours, then come here and teach. After class that Wednesday I’d go right back up there again and play.”
Recently, Chuck Arnold, principal of USA High School, organized faculty who were former musicians to have a surprise concert for the students. Ioannidis said the last time he had played live before this was in 1995. In the rag-tag band put together, Ioannidis was the lead singer and guitarist.
“Even though I was born here I look at myself as a kid from Greece,” Ioannidis said. “From not knowing the language and just giving my best effort I could sleep at night with no regrets because I’ve given it the best shot. So even here at school, I try to tell the kids to do the best that they can. Whenever you give your best shot and put your best effort into something, you never know what can come out of it. When I look back at the days with the band and all those years on the road I have no regrets.”
Born in Michigan but raised in Greece, John Ioannidis returned to the U.S., overcoming language barriers through music. Now an English teacher, he reflects on his past as a rock musician and the lessons he shares with students.
(Jhyrah DeLapp/Huron Daily Tribune)
Harbor Beach women lead Kids Kloset to support local children in need
Three women in the Harbor Beach community step up to answer the needs of children. Lindsey Talaski, Regina Wruble, and Lynn Siemen are integral pieces to Harbor Beach’s Kids Kloset. This is a program that provides primarily clothing and personal hygiene items free of charge to the community.
Talaski, born and raised in Marlette, went to Saginaw Valley State University for her bachelor’s and master’s degree. She has been the special education teacher at Harbor Beach High School for 13 years now.
As the lead of the program for the past eight years, her main duties are to retrieve donations, wash and dry them if needed, then organize them on the different racks. She also searches for funding and resources for Kids Kloset while getting the word out about the program.
“Sometimes kids need their clothes washed while they’re here at school, so we make sure that they get taken care of,” Talaski said. “I like the relationships that I can build with my students, because I work with a smaller group of students. It’s rewarding to see them grow over the four years that we get to work together. I try to meet their needs where they’re at, to get them where they want to be. Being a part of Kids Kloset, I get a greater understanding of the challenges that some of our families’ face. It helps me be an advocate for those that are in need and gives me joy from giving back.”
By providing the basic needs of the kids, Talaski says they can focus more on their education and well-being instead of not having clothes, shoes, or hygiene products. Talaski got involved with the program because of previous work she did with former home school liaison, Bob Wruble, over the years. In the late 1990s, a local Presbyterian church took over and started hosting Kids Kloset, and gradually Bob’s wife, Regina, got involved. She was pivotal in returning the program back to Harbor Beach Community Schools to give it more
space to grow.
“After being placed in a few different rooms, we were in the shop area, and it needed to be reorganized,” Regina said. “Lindsay Talaski came to me and said that she would like to help teach her kids some life skills. She would have her kids help me sort the donations, organize, and wash up the clothes that came in. We have so many special things in there, and if people can make ends meet a little bit better by getting some help by Kids Kloset it just makes me happy.”
Regina, a Harbor Beach native, has passed the torch
to Talaski as the lead of Kids Kloset. However, she is still very much involved in the program. Regina tries to make her way up to the high school once a week to help keep things tidy.
As Kids Kloset grows so does the number of people involved with it.
Lynn Siemen, also a Harbor Beach native, is a worker for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services who has been assigned to Harbor Beach schools for the past 11 years. The MDHHS has a program called Pathways to Potential, and because of changes to it in the past year Siemen
has been allotted more time to get involved.
“We worked with the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to do a backpack program,” Siemen said. “The backpack program only served kids in kindergarten through fifth grade, totaling potentially 48 students served. By switching our program from the backpack program to the food pantry, there were more families we could reach. Now we’re able to service every family who has a student enrolled in Harbor Beach Community Schools.”
Not just making sure the kid’s bellies are full, Siemen
for the last 10 years has given out new winter coats annually to some of the children in the fall who may be lacking one.
“Several years ago, I had given one little girl in the second grade a new winter coat,” Siemen said. “I tried it on her and when it fit, I said, ‘OK, let’s cut the tags off.’ She looked at me and hugged my legs because she never had a winter coat with tags before. I had tears in my eyes, I didn’t realize that a winter coat with tags had that much of an impact on a student.”
From left to right: Lynn Siemen, Lindsey Talaski, and Regina Wruble. These three women lead Harbor Beach’s Kids Kloset, providing free clothing and essentials to local children, helping them focus on education and well-being. (Lindsey Talaski/Courtesy Photo)
Jhyrah delapp stAff WritEr
Meet Kirsten Hunt-Grass: The driving force behind nurse education at McLaren Thumb
nities. She said it was her constant drive to keep learning that eventually awarded her the clinical educator job.
Amongst all the hustle and bustle that takes place inside McLaren Thumb Region Hospital’s four walls, one woman has taken it upon herself to continue expanding and developing her knowledge, not just for her patients’ benefit, but to help create the next generation of nurses.
Kirsten Hunt-Grass, BSN, RN, CEN, SANE-A, is also a clinical educator for McLaren Thumb Region, a relatively unheard-of but necessary role to keep nurses and hospital staff from becoming stagnant.
According to Hunt-Grass, the role of a clinical educator is to help fellow nurses or nursing students with their education by ensuring they are all up to date on the required job skills.
“A clinical educator assists mainly nurses with their education and skill competency to keep them up to date on (things like) resuscitation, basic life support, advanced life support, trauma nursing or emergency pediatric nursing, making sure that they get the classes and assistance they need,” she explained. “I also hold competency and skills days to make sure that they are within standard for practice and with any updates or changes in practice I make sure that the staff is aligned and educated to keep them where they need to be to provide the best care for our community.”
Hunt-Grass has worked at McLaren Thumb Region Hospital for 22 years, originally starting out as a nurse aid working the midnight shift to put herself through nursing school. During those 22 years, Hunt-Grass spent the majority of the time working as a E.R. nurse but continued to pursue more educational opportu-
“I have spent the majority of my time as an ER nurse with a lot of extra education. I received my national certification in emergency nursing, I first started taking multiple certification classes and enjoyed the extra knowledge,” she said. “After being there for so long, the clinical educator position had been vacant. I was actually approached by our CNO and asked if I would consider that position based on my wealth of knowledge and experience in healthcare and my willingness to learn more things and help every department, not just the emergency room.”
One of the classes HuntGrass teaches as clinical educator is a CPR certification class that is open to the public to participate in. Her classes take place at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays once a month at McLaren Thumb Region Hospital, with the cost being $50 per person. Sessions include education, testing and a BLS card.
Hunt-Grass explained that during her courses, participants watch educational videos that review what to do in an emergency where someone needs CPR. Along with the videos are handson learning opportunities through live demonstrations and practice to ensure participants are using the correct techniques. At the end of the course, participants take a handson test and a written exam. Once both tests are passed, participants earn their certification, which remains good for up to two years.
Anyone is able to sign up for Hunt-Grass’ community CPR class, but she highly recommends anyone interacting with children to become certified.
“I honestly think it’s
good for anybody to be able to take because you never know what could happen in any situation,” Hunt-Grass said. “But I highly recommend coaches, teachers, anyone who is an overseer, like 4-H has mentors that are adults that are usually parents of the kids in 4-H, I recommend they do (it). Really just anybody because an emergency situation can occur anywhere at any time and the faster that person receives CPR, the higher likelihood they have of recovering.”
She went on to say that CPR certification is important to help keep our fellow community members safe.
“I have seen (CPR) do amazing things, and with certification and having had the class and practice, people aren’t as afraid to step in and try to help,” Hunt-Grass said. “It could not only be their friend or family member but my own and I always want what’s best for our community, it doesn’t matter who it is. And sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone no matter age or fitness level, so it could be a child, a teenager, an adult, a parent, a grandparent. You never know who it could affect and the more people that know how to intervene and help, the better off we are as a community.”
The complete list of dates for Hunt-Grass’ community CPR classes is listed below:
• Wednesday, February 19, 2025
• Wednesday, March 19, 2025
• Wednesday, April 16, 2025
• Wednesday, May 21, 2025 Wednesday, June 18, 2025
For any questions about the community CPR certification classes or to sign up, contact Corinna Kranz at 989-269-2882 or Corinna. Kranz@McLaren.org.
Kirsten Hunt-Grass, BSN, RN, CEN, SANE-A, is also a clinical educator for McLaren Thumb Region, a relatively unheard of but necessary role to keep nurses and hospital staff from becoming stagnant. (Rick Coulter/Courtesy Photo)
In a hands-on session, Kirsten Hunt-Grass
Music, family at center of life for new Laker teacher
Mark Birdsall AssistAnt Editor
Ever since she graduated from high school in Gaylord, Lora Aldrich’s life has revolved around two things: her family and music.
Mom to four kids, she worked as a hairstylist after moving to the Thumb about 16 years ago to raise a family, which grew to include four children who would attend Laker Schools.
When the opportunity to serve as a substitute music teacher arose last year, Aldrich jumped at the chance. When that opportunity became a chance to be the full-time music teacher, everything fell into place.
“I just love the kids,” she said. “I care for them.”
If there’s one thing she wants her students to learn from her, it’s to find their ability to believe in themselves.
“The most important thing that music has brought me and my own children is confidence, the ability to do things that you didn’t think you could do and to push through insecurity or fears and perform,” she said.
Growing up, Aldrich took part in choir, her main concentration, and played oboe in the concert band and flute in the marching band. She said she’s now grateful for the opportunity to instill that love of music in her students.
She has taught private
music lessons for 15 years and has been a professional musician for 10 years. She also plays the piano and guitar and is a singer-songwriter, performing for the public for the past five or six years and producing a couple of albums of original music.
“That’s kind of what I do for fun now,” she said.
For Aldrich, music has always been a big part of her life. When she isn’t teaching or being a mom, she performs with a musical act known as the Classic Women of Country. They’ve performed in front of large crowds in places such as Frankenmuth and the Shell in Bay City’s Wenonah Park, opening for classic rocker Joan Jett on one occasion.
“They packed it out
pretty good, too,” she said. With her two oldest children having graduating from Laker, she said her younger children have quickly grown accustomed to having mom going to school with them in the morning. She said her son is especially happy to pay her a visit during the day because she usually has a good supply of snacks on hand.
A self-described coffee “enthusiast,” Aldrich said her interests outside of school center on her family. They love to spend time outdoors, she said, going camping and sitting around a bonfire. She said the family’s new puppy, a boxer-pitbull mix named Layla, also provides a great deal of joy.
From city kid to FFA leader: Victoria Yackle’s vision transforms student futures
katy snodgrass
Victoria Yackle, Bad
Axe’s FFA adviser and agriscience teacher, helps her students prepare for whatever their future may hold by instilling important life and leadership skills in them, along with teaching the agriscience curriculum.
Yackle first joined the FFA in 1998 when she signed up for her first agriscience class at Harbor Beach High School to help her win a contest.
Yackle was inspired to join agriscience to participate in a floriculture competition because her mother is a florist, and she spent considerable time working in her mother’s flower shop. After just one competition, Yackle was hooked.
“I was a city kid, I lived in town and I was the only girl in my (agriscience) class my first year,” Yackle explained. “My teacher was just really neat, he was a very oddball, but he saw right away with me like, ‘Oh, you live in town, you can come and water the greenhouse on the weekends.’ He had me do extra stuff that normal kids wouldn’t, like feeding chickens and that just sort of got me into it.” She went on to serve as her FFA chapter’s vice president, president, and secretary. She also served Region III as a regional representative her senior year and ran for state office.
After high school, Yackle continued to pursue agriscience in college, receiving a certificate in agricultural industries from the Institute of Agricultural Technology at Michigan State University. She then switched over to the fouryear program at MSU and received her Bachelor of Science in agriscience and agribusiness management before transferring to Saginaw Valley State University, where she studied biology and education.
Yackle acknowledged that while she always knew she wanted to be a teacher, she took a bit of a longer and less traditional route to get there.
“Initially when I went to MSU that was my plan was to become a teacher, but at the time it was extremely hard to get into the college of education at Michigan State,” she explained. “So, I kind of had to do the twoyear program then go into the four-year program.”
Yackle then balanced teaching agriscience at Unionville-Sebewaing Area Schools in the morning then student teaching at Laker Schools in the afternoon for a year before taking a break from teaching for about four years.
In 2015, Yackle was hired at Bad Axe Public Schools to run the FFA chapter after it was shut down in 2001.
“I was very lucky,” Yackle said about getting hired at Bad Axe. “If it were me coming back now, I would have a hard time getting a
job because when I came back, a lot of the teachers who were there were starting to retire. Now, we’re all young and we’re all about the same age.”
Since reviving the program 10 years ago, Yackle has made a strong and dedicated effort to ensure her students develop the necessary soft skills in life in addition to learning the agriscience curriculum.
“We have our (agriscience) curriculum that we cover, so for me that’s botany and zoology. We have agribusiness, we do some environmental, and then the large component that’s different is we do leadership which they call career readiness skills.” she explained.
Some of these skills include public speaking, researching, parliamentary procedure and collaboration.
“Our main goal in our agriscience programs is that we’re teaching them about agriculture but we’re also teaching them those really good leadership skills that they can use in any career.” Yackle said.
She went on to say that students should not be afraid to branch out and try different things in agriscience because there are lots of opportunities and different careers within the field.
“The nice thing about agriculture, from when I started to now, is there so many opportunities in it,” Yackle said. “So many things that people don’t
think of, like who would think you could be in the financial bank industry working with loans? Or I have a cousin that works in Harbor Beach at Corteva and she’s got the (agriculture) background. There’s just so many openings.”
Yackle’s ongoing commitment to her students ensures that her influence will extend beyond the classroom, preparing them to seize diverse opportunities and carve successful paths within the ever-expanding field of agriculture.
Lora Aldrich took over as Laker Schools’ music teacher at the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year.
(Courtesy photo)
With a focus on leadership and life skills, Victoria Yackle inspires students at Bad Axe Public Schools as an influential agriscience teacher. (Katy Snodgrass/Huron Daily Tribune)
Local PA Emma Will returns to Caro to address healthcare shortage
Jhyrah delapp stAff WritEr
One of Scheurer Health’s newest physician assistants, Emma Will, is excited about the opportunity to serve a community that’s near and dear to her.
Will was born and raised in Caro, and attended Caro High School. However, before ever leaving for college, at Central Michigan University for her undergraduate and Central Michigan University for physician’s assistant school, she knew what she wanted to do.
“One of the things that drove me to go into healthcare is because I did grow up in this area and there’s a shortage,” Will said. “Even before I became a physician’s assistant, or went to college, I knew one thing I wanted to do was come back to the area and provide healthcare here.”
Will graduated from PA school in August of 2024 and was hired at the Scheurer Primary Care in Pigeon in the same month. As she begins to build up her clientele, she wants patients to know she is very determined and qualified to give them premier healthcare.
“I’m a new grad and fresh out of school and some people might be a little hesitant about that” Will said. “However, I feel like I know a lot of the newer guidelines better than some, because the information is still fresh in mind. I would say the biggest thing that I pride myself on is really taking time with patients. I try
to listen to what they are telling me, while also kind of look at them overall and not put up blinders focusing on one thing.”
While Will knows she is qualified for her profession, she also knows that that she still has a lot to learn from experience on the job and other healthcare workers at Scheurer Health.
“Working at Scheurer, I’ve already realized it has a very good support system,” Will said. “One of the biggest things that has already taught me a lot is the experience from a lot of the other physicians, MPAs and MPs that I get to work with. They’ve seen a lot more things than I have. Not only have they been here longer, but it’s nice to get more of an opinion from someone who has been doing it for a while.”
Life for Will isn’t all healthcare, she says being physically active is a big part of her life, as well as creative projects.
“I’m really into fitness, and it is something I’ve always been into,” Will said. “Especially in the summertime, I like to go for runs, and stuff like that. Something I’m trying to get back into more since I have some more time on my hands now, is doing more craft activities, such as knitting and crocheting, and I like to paint as well.”
Will says a marathon is most likely not in her future, but a triathlon might be. In high school Will said she completed the event, that composes of a 5K run, 750-meter swim, and a 20K bike ride.
Emma Will, a Caro native and recent grad, joins Scheurer Health as a PA, eager to provide quality care and make a difference in the community. (Emma Will/Courtesy Photo)