Teachers healers & February 20, 2021
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Teachers & Healers
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20,2021
michigansthumb.com
Kelly Durr works to improve students who fall behind ROBERT CREENAN robert.creenan@hearst.com
Kelly Durr might look imposing, but if you ask his students at the Ascent High School in Bad Axe, he might be one of the most fun and understanding teacher you will come across. Durr has been a teacher with Ascent High School for the past 10 years, teaching subjects like algebra 1 and 2, geometry, physics, physical science and physical education. He graduated from Bad Axe Schools, went to Alma College, then got his first teaching job at the Harbor Beach School District before returning to the Bad Axe School District. While Ascent is located next to the other schools that make up the Bad Axe School District, it takes in students from all over Huron County who are behind on the school credits needed to graduate.
The students usually have smaller class sizes, between 12 and 15, than the other school districts and are afforded more one-on-one time, which helps build the relationship between the teacher and students to the point where the teachers can tell if something is going wrong in their home lives. “Whether good or bad, a lot of these kids have unique life experiences,” Durr said. “It’s a lot more interesting of a day.” Durr’s education style keeps things in a way that does not overwhelm his students or beat them to death with the material. He tries to keep things light and fun in the classroom and be approachable for his students not just with their assignments, but for other issues they may be having. “The biggest challenge is meeting the kids at the level they are at, which is true of See DURR page 3
Kelly Durr, a math, science, and physical education teacher for Ascent High School in Bad Axe. (Robert Creenan/Huron Daily Tribune)
McLaren Thumb’s new doctor finds a home in the Thumb PAIGE WITHEY paige.withey@hearstnp.com
Dr. Olivia Thiel took her position as a family physician with McLaren Thumb Region in October of 2020. (Courtesy Photo)
As a family physician, Dr. Oliva Thiel dreamed of being a small-town doctor in a rural area who would care for a community and become immersed in it. After growing up
in the suburbs of Trenton, she always knew that wasn’t where she wanted to stay. “I had never been to the Thumb prior to looking for a job, but when my husband and I came here, it just felt right,” Thiel said. “It feels good to be back in Michigan, closer to
family.” “My husband, Andy and I are excited to raise our daughter here, close to the lake,” she added. Thiel went to SVSU for her undergrad before attending Wayne State School of Medicine. Before moving back to
the Thumb, she finished her residency at the Mayo Clinic in La Crosse, Wisconnsin. She began her current role as a family physician at McLaren Thumb Region in October 2020. See THIEL page 6
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Teachers & Healers
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2021
Candie Felton couldn't see herself doing anything but teach ROBERT CREENAN robert.creenan@hearst.com
Candie Feltner, a middle school math and english teacher with Caseville Public Schools. Feltner carries her supplies on a cart in between classes, which all Caseville teachers have to do this year. (Robert Creenan/Huron Daily Tribune)
Ever since Candie Feltner could remember, she wanted to be a teacher. She even pretended to be one in elementary school. Now Feltner is into her fourth year teaching middle school math and English at Caseville Public Schools and her 13th year of teaching overall. Prior to coming here, the Hartland native taught in South Carolina and at Charyl Stockwell Academy in Howell. She ended up in Caseville after her husband took a job at Thumb Plastic. “I thought Harland was small until I moved to Caseville,” Feltner said. “When we moved back to Michigan, there was a time where I was thinking about maybe becoming something else," she said. "There wasn’t really anything else I want to do. I love teaching.” Feltner’s classes usually include a lot of group work, where the class works on assignments in groups of about four or five. Groups are then called up to talk about the book the class is reading or if they need help with anything. This year at Caseville, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of kids going between classrooms to learn from teachers, the teachers go to the different classrooms while the kids remain stationary. Feltner, like other teachers in the district, must carry around all of her teaching supplies on a cart she wheels around the school. The way she teaches changed this year too, having a short amount of time to prepare for each class and a lot less inter-
action with her students than normal, including less group work. For the times she has gone virtual, her classes use Google classroom. “You kind of have to look at teaching where at any moment, you could go virtual,” Feltner said. “So you have to be prepared for that. It's like tomorrow in class we’re going to do this, but in the back of your head you have to think, we might not be in class tomorrow, so how can I make sure we can do this virtually?” Aside from students not being able to interact with those in other grades, there are also scheduled bathroom breaks during instruction time, where for 10 minutes during the class, the teacher has to take students to the bathroom. Feltner said that since classes are only 60 minutes, that takes up a big chunk of time. Still, some things about teaching do not change. Feltner still finds the most challenging part of teaching is finding lessons that students would find engaging and relevant. “If they are not interested in it, they are not going to do it,” Feltner said. “So I make sure to find novels they would want to do and activities they would be interested in, because if they are interested, they will do it.” Like other teachers, the best part of Feltner’s job is dealing with young people every day who for the most part have smiles on their faces every day. “The best part might be when they finally get it, that bulb goes off when you’re trying to teach them,” Feltner said. “That’s the part I enjoy most.”
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DURR Continued from page 2 any school,” Durr said. “You might be a sophomore or junior on paper, but where are they math-wise? At a ninth, 10th grade level? Even seventh or eighth? If they don’t have the basework of seventh or eighth grade math, it's ridiculous to expect them to do 11th, 12th grade stuff.” The students can also have a hard time seeing the value of what they learn, so Durr tries to incorporate everyday things into the work, which can be hard to do at times. “There’s not a lot of algebra 2 math that pops up on a regular basis,” Durr said. Durr feels that the most rewarding part of being a teacher is when students are working on a subject for a few days and then it finally clicks in their head for them, even if it lasts only for a few seconds. “They appreciate what we've got here,” Durr said. “Most students value their fresh start and the staff here.” Ascent can take in students from ninth to 12th grade, through Durr said that is skewered more toward 11th and 12th graders as the school wants to have a sample size of their high school experience to see what their problems are. The maturity level of the students is also an issue. “You bring in a freshman who is 15 and you have seniors who are 19, close to 20 trying to finish, that’s a big maturity gap,” Durr said. Generally, when a student is accepted into Ascent, they finish their high school careers here, with the very rare occasion of going back to their old school. Since Ascent started, it has given out over 100 diplomas to students who might not have gotten one otherwise. “There’s a lot of kids who would not have a diploma if we didn’t exist,” Durr said.
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Teachers & Healers
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20,2021
Amanda Cook is a dedicated medical professional ROBERT CREENAN robert.creenan@hearst.com If you are looking for a medical worker who has dedicated themselves to helping care for their home, look no further than Amanda Cook. Cook currently works at Harbor Beach Community Hospital as a nurse practitioner, starting her medical career there in 2009 as a registered nurse. With that position, Cook worked in many of the hospital’s departments, like the emergency room, the intensive care unit, obstetrics, and medical-surgical, along with administrative duties. All the while Cook was working on her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, which she completed in 2014. She completed nurse practitioner school at Saginaw Valley State University in 2017. A lifelong Huron County resident, Cook was born and raised in Ruth and graduated from Harbor Beach schools.
She and her husband call Harbor Beach their home. “I had a few family members struggle with health conditions,” Cook said, adding that the health field has always intrigued her. “I like helping people, that’s what I wanted to do.” As part of Harbor Beach Community Hospital’s family practice, Cook works to treat all different sorts of ailments. Her specialties at the moment are doing wellness exams for children and family planning and women’s care. “That’s what I like about my job, it's not the same thing all the time,” Cook said. “There’s quite the variation.” The worst and best parts of Cook’s job come from her work with patients. She said the worst is when she has to break negative news to someone and the best part is helping patients get better. “They come to me with a problem and if I can help them though it and see the end result, it's rewarding to me,” Cook said.
Harbor Beach Community Hospital did go through a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic that started last year, as Harbor Beach was for a time one of the worst affected areas in Huron County. Some members of the staff did contact the virus and have to quarantine, but have since returned to work. Cook herself did find herself COVID-19 positive in early December, where she had to quarantine with her family for two weeks. She was able to return to her job just before Christmas. For Cook, the pandemic did not change too much about her job, but the office had to change how it operated in order to keep everyone safe. The staff had to make sure to space patients out, limit the traffic they get, and adding certain physical barriers in order to prevent the virus’s spread. “It’s about taking care of people though all times, and this is no different,” Cook said.
Amanda Cook, nurse practitioner for Harbor Beach Community Hospital (Amanda Cook/Courtesy Photo)
Bishop settling into role as new Hills and Dales VP of patient services Christie Bishop MARY DRIER For the Tribune Although a career change can be somewhat daunting, Christie Bishop knew immediately she wanted to be part of the Hills and Dales General Hospital staff. “During my employment interview, I knew this is where I belonged,”
said Bishop, who was hired in October 2020 as the hospital’s vice president of patient services. “They are in health care for the right reasons — the patients. “They really care about the patients and their safety, and that their employees are happy. If you have happy employees, you have happy patients. That spoke to my heart.” As the vice president of patient services at the hospital, Bishop oversees all of the hospital’s nursing staff. She oversees the nurses who work in the emergency room, in the surgical area, pre- and post-operations, dietary,
and the quality department. Between all of the various departments, she oversees about 150 employees. According to Bishop, one of the things that impressed her about Hills and Dales was the friendliness she met for the first time, and the dedication of the staff. “During a tour of the hospital, there wasn’t a person that didn’t say, ‘hi,’ and that it was nice to meet me,” said Bishop. “They are super friendly and they were happy to be there.” “It is nice to work in a place where employees are appreciated,” she
added. “In some past experiences, I didn’t always feel that. Everyone here is very down to earth.” That friendliness is what drew her to her new position, and is part of her management philosophy and style. She meets every day with the COVID coordinator to make sure operations are running smoothly and to make sure the vaccines are ready to go for the patients who have appointments to get a vaccination. The vaccination priority is for senior citizens over the age of 65 and some frontline workers.
“We have the Moderna vaccine, and the health department uses the Pfizer vaccine,” she explained.“We are ready for Pfizer. We have been helping the health departments when they get the Pfizer vaccine and for Huron and Tuscola health departments that use that.” Bishop has an extensive nursing background, which will be an asset for the hospital. Before taking the position at the Cass City hospital, she was the patient service director at McLaren Bay for three years, and before that she was at the Huron Medical
Center in Bad Axe where she was director and chief personnel officer for five years. She has a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and is three classes away from earning a masters degree in nursing administration. Also, her position in Cass City is closer to her home in Marlette. She is originally from Beaverton. Her husband is a commander at the Suffrage Air Force Base. Their daughter and son-in-law are in the Air Force, and they have a son who is in the process of basic training for the Air Force.
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Teachers & Healers
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2021
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Scheurer nurse practitioner proud to serve her native community PAIGE WITHEY paige.withey@hearstnp.com
After growing up in the Thumb, Jennifer Jones is proud to serve her native community through her role as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Scheurer Primary Care in Bad Axe. (Courtesy Photo)
After helping to care for her grandfather who was diagnosed with cancer when she was a teenager, people began to encourage Jennifer Jones to become a nurse. Now, years later, she is caring for her community as a family nurse practitioner at Scheurer Primary Care in Bad Axe. “I started watching the nurses who cared for my grandfather, and I was hooked,” Jones said. “I enjoy caring for people, making them feel better, teaching them about their illness and how to take care of themselves.” Jones was born and raised in the Thumb. After attending Ubly Elementary, she went on to graduate from Deckerville High School. She received
her LPN and RN graduate degrees from St. Clair County Community College and completed her nurse practitioner degree from Chamberlain University in Illinois. Now, she has found her place at Scheurer. “This is my home,” Jones said. “For years, on the way to Caseville, I would drive by Scheurer and every year they were building something or expanding on.” “I would always hear how great Scheurer Hospital was and when I toured the hospital, the staff kept telling me how lucky they were to work there; I knew this place must really be special,” she said. “I feel blessed to be able to join the Scheurer family and love that we are all working together toward the same goal of providing
exceptional healthcare to our friends, family, and neighbors.” According to Jones, as an organization, Scheurer believes in the better health, better life philosophy. Scheurer allows her to take time with her patients and give them the individualized care they need to get them to their better health. “The most rewarding aspect of my job is making someone feel better,” Jones said. “Taking that one step further is when I have done my job so well that they trust me enough to care for their friends and family.” “That’s when you know you’re doing a good job,” she added. “No one is going to trust you with their kids, mom, or dad if you are doing a mediocre See JONES page 7
North Huron English teacher is a poet at heart MARK BIRDSALL mark.birdsall@hearstnp.com Richard Wilson was first inspired to write poetry during a trip he took to Europe shortly after leaving the U.S. Navy. Wilson, who served on a ship in the South China Sea during the Vietnam War, was 22 and alone on the trip. He remembers he felt a need to express the thoughts and emotions he felt as he visited places filled with history and culture. Since he had no traveling companion, he decided to express himself through poetry. Now, almost 50 years later, he works to share his appreciation of poetry with his English students at North Huron High School. Wilson, a lifelong resident of Elkton, entered teaching at the age of 55, when he found the demands of his work as carpenter became too physically demanding. After working as a substitute teacher, he attended Saginaw Valley State University part-time and
obtained his teaching certificate. He landed a job at Port Hope, where he taught for eight years until he eventually moved over to North Huron. As an English teacher, Wilson said he appreciates the preciseness poetry requires of those who write it. “It really sharpens your focus on language and vocabulary and sound, and that makes you a better writer,” he said. Wilson said it can be a challenge to get teenagers inspired about poetry, and that’s why he uses song lyrics to gain their interest. He said people can have preconceived notions about poems, and he likes to offer examples of how they can be used to tell stories as well as convey emotion. He mentioned a song by music legend Bob Dylan, a ballad entitled “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts,” which Wilson said “reads like a Western movie,” one filled with characters focused on revenge and longing. “You can basically throw the rules of grammar right out the window when
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you write poetry,” he said, laughing, which is something “the kids like because they hate grammar.” That’s why he finds it particularly rewarding when one or two of his students inevitably express a new-found appreciation for poems. He said he enjoys it when a student who was in a previous class of his asks whether poetry will be included in his course that year. Another of Wilson’s passions is hiking. For him, it’s a solitary pastime that can last for a month at a time. His current favorite place to hike is the Wind River Range in northwestern Wyoming, which is filled with spectacular views of majestic mountains and clear, blue skies. “The thing about the mountains is, they humble you,” he said. “It awes you. The value is, it puts everything into perspective, and it gives you a tremendous sense of peace and calm, and that’s invaluable, especially in the world that we live in.”
North Huron High School English teacher Richard Wilson, seen here in a selfie taken in the Grand Tetons, has two big passions in his life: hiking and poetry. (Courtesy Photo)
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Teachers & Healers
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20,2021
USA teacher began career hoping to make an impact MARY DRIER For the Tribune Having a good teacher can have a major impact on a student’s life. That fact is what drew Gary Vansumeren to be a teacher in the Unionville-Sebewaing Area School District. “I had a couple of great teachers during high school that I respected a lot by the way they interacted with the students,” said Vansumeren, whose students call him Mr. V. “Also during my senior year in high school, I coached a youth softball team. That experience was very rewarding. It lets me work with kids and I enjoyed that.” Vansumeren, who is from Essexville, attended Delta College for two years before switching to Central Michigan to complete his education. He has a bachelor’s degree and was a science major with a physical education minor. “I was told when I started out wanting to be a teacher that the best way to get a job was either teaching math or science," he said. "I started taking math classes but didn’t like it and switched to science." He has been a teacher for 32 years. Nearly all of those years have been with the USA School District. “I did some long-term substituting teaching in Bay City, but did my student teaching at USA in 1988,” he said. “That got my foot in the door here. I’ve been here since 1989.” During his first 10 years with the district, he taught fifth- and eighth-grade students. The first eight years he taught a variety of subjects. “I taught everything where there was a need,” he said. “When the middle school was built onto the high school, I started picking up some high school
classes to teach. Mostly now I have seventh- to 12th-grade students, and I teach all physical education classes." “I’m extremely fortunate to be a full time physical education teacher," he said. "Being a PE teacher is more my personality.” At one time or another over the years, Vansumeren taught all of the science classes at the middle school, but not at the high school. Besides being a teacher, he also coached varsity football from 1990 to 2008. As for becoming a coach, he said the best coach he had was his father. “I was always involved with sports throughout my life and my best coach I ever was my dad," he said. "I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I always felt that as a coach you could have a greater impact on the student-athletes' lives." “Truth be told, they had a much greater impact on my life than I did on theirs," he said. “I never wanted to let the kids down.” Besides coaching football at USA for 20 years, he also coached varsity track for nine years, coached seventh- and eight-grade basketball for six years, and junior high track for one year. During his coaching career, the district won two state titles in football in 1998 and 2004, and were runners-up in 2005. Plus, there were several league championship wins in both football and track. Outside of school, he coached Little League baseball for 12 years, Pony League baseball for four years and youth football for seven years. “I gave up coaching here (USA) because of a conflict with my sons' schedules," he said. "When I was here See VANSUMEREN page 8
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Teachers & Healers by Jesenya Curtis Ascent High School is one of a small handful of alternative high schools in the Thumb. Ascent was designed as another chance for many students to embrace learning from another viewpoint. Our students would like to thank the staff members at Ascent for the many opportunities we are given. We would like to thank Ms. Simon for being the most courageous and understanding lab teacher around. She spends countless hours advising and guiding multiple students throughout the day. Many refer to her as more than a teacher, but also as a life-long friend. We would like to thank Mrs. Swartzendruber for being the most gifted and open-minded art and photography teacher to exist. She is always willing to look at every aspect in order to accomplish everyones’ goals. Many couldn’t describe her without mentioning her kind and generous attitude. We would like to thank Mr. Durr for being the most down-to-earth and calming spirit in the building. He is always finding different methods or going the extra mile to fully ensure we are understanding his material. Many can’t thank him enough for his hilarious jokes and fantastic singing.
Gary Vansumeren is a full-time physical education teacher in the Unionville-Sebewaing Area School District. Also, over the years he has coached several sports as well. (Courtesy Photo)
THIEL Continued from page 2 “I love the variety of my job because it challenges me, piques my curiosity, and is very rewarding,” Thiel said. “I am thankful that McLaren supports my passions in being a full spectrum family doctor.” “I love how each town in the Thumb has something different to offer, with its own local family shops and restaurants,” she added. “The community supports its own.” Growing up, Thiel wanted to be a veterinarian with a love for health science and animals. Her career path changed in the eighth grade when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the young age of 37. “With four young children, it was a very difficult time for her and our family,” Thiel said. “As the oldest and with my interests, I was able to go to her appointments with her.” “She was lucky to have very wonderful physicians who took great care of her,” she added. “I realized if I could provide that type of care for someone else’s mother or family member, what an honor and privilege that would be, and I never looked back.” According to Thiel, practicing medicine in
a smaller area involves a more personal experience, where you can run into your patients at the grocery store and share more of your lives with each other. “I think servicing an area like the Thumb allows physicians to better care for someone, when you know what their family, job, and homes are like,” Thiel said. “I love being able to practice full spectrum medicine here, in a big city with so many other specialists and doctors to fill individual roles, a family physician might not provide pregnancy or hospital care.” Thiel and her husband recently welcomed a new baby girl, who is now 2 months old. Spending time with family remains her number one priority. Although the pandemic makes it challenging, Thiel and her family are trying to be active as new members of the community. “I love how the community has rallied around their own in these difficult times,” Thiel said. “The pandemic has made it more difficult to immerse myself in the community with safety measures but in time, I hope to be able to explore more, become more involved, and meet
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more people.” Professionally, the pandemic has affected the way Thiel has started a new job and tries to build her practice. “Being on the front lines has been an honor, but it is also difficult, and I want to recognize the other essential workers who risk their lives on a more regular basis than me,” Thiel said. “I feel very thankful to now be vaccinated to prevent spreading this disease to my patients or my patients or my family members.” Personally, Thiel found out she was pregnant just before the pandemic started. “It was difficult to go through a pregnancy during a pandemic and at times I felt like I was missing out on milestones and memories because of it,” Thiel said. “I miss being able to see friends and family and to have them meet my daughter.” “Everyone is making sacrifices and hopefully someday we will be able to do those things safely again,” she added. Thiel encourages students interested in pursuing a medical degree to find what drives them in the field of medicine and hold onto it. “The road is long and testing at times, but if you can stay focused on that driving passion, you will always remember that your work is helping others and making a difference,” Thiel said. “Remember that you are only human, and you cannot do it alone.” “Find a mentor in training that you trust and can turn to for support and find colleagues that build you up, help you celebrate your triumphs and commiserate in the losses,” she added. “It will help lighten the emotional and physical load when you need it.”
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Ubly teacher’s interest in JONES Spanish language proved to be life-changing
Continued from page 5
MARK BIRDSALL mark.birdsall@hearstnp.com To say the Spanish language has had a significant impact on the life of Ubly high school teacher Aaron Mueller would be an understatement. Mueller said he was going through his mail one day more than 20 years ago when he came across a postcard for master’s degree program at the University of St. Louis’s Madrid campus. Mueller was a young teacher in Racine, Wisconsin, and he said he was used to tossing most of the voluminous junk mail educators typically receive straight into the trash. There was something about that postcard that caught his interest, and he responded to it. Little did he know that another teacher, a Michigan woman named Kara, would also respond to it. They both would enroll in that program, meet and eventually marry. He would move to Michigan and take a job with Ubly Community Schools, where he teaches Spanish, world history and current events. He said he and his wife, who teaches Spanish at Caseville Public School, are “full-fledged” Spanish teachers “to the umpteenth degree.” They were married in a Spanish-language ceremony, they’ve hosted Spanish exchange students and travel to Spain when the opportunity arises. It’s fully ingrained in their lives, and it’s something they like to share with others in the hope that it may encourage them to possibly expand their horizons, as well. “We try to inspire others to appreciate culture and language that’s different than what we already have,” he said. Of course, there was no way Mueller could have known what Spanish would do for him personally, he does know that the ability to speak and write the language can be a useful skill that will serve his students well in the future careers, no matter what career path they choose.
To say the Spanish language has had a significant impact on the life Ubly high school teacher Aaron Mueller, seen here coaching the Bearcats volleyball team in 2019, would be an understatement. (Tribune File Photo) Mueller said Spanish classes aren’t as “hard of a sell” as they used to be as the economy expands beyond the borders of the United States, not to mention the fact they are required for college-bound Michigan high school students. Ubly has a number of businesses that send employees to Mexico, he noted, and at least one of these companies has reached out to him about providing instruction to workers who may travel to facilities in Spanish-speaking countries. Additionally, many of his students plan to work
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care office. Although they were unable to hold a grand opening ceremony to show off the building built by the Thumb workforce, Jones’ emphasized that the men and women who built the newest office did a phenomenal job. “The pandemic has been challenging because initially, there was so much we didn’t know about COVID,” Jones said. “Trying to make medical decisions and give advice was tough for everyone from the CDC down to our individual practices.” “Personally, I am just like everyone else; I would love to go out to ear, see a movie, and actually conduct business without having to wear a mask or wait months for appointments,” she added. “It has been tough watching my teenagers struggle not being able to see their friends.” With her oldest daughter being 17, Jones is empathetic of those who feel their final memories in school are being robbed from them. “The challenges of virtual school are just that, challenging,” Jones said. “I have a strong appreciation for our teachers and school staff, I cannot imagine how difficult this has been for them.” “I am hopeful that we will be able to enjoy this summer not wearing a mask and attending all of the great events the Thumb has to offer,” she added.
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job.” As a native of the Thumb, it holds a special place in Jones’ heart. “The communities within the Thumb are so close knit,” Jones said. “It seems like everyone is connected to each other in some way.” “In the city, people are just patients; I would not see my patients at the grocery store or football games like I do here,” she added. “In the Thumb, my patients are my community members, neighbors and friends, and it means more when you are invested in caring for people you know.” Jones embraces the additional roles of a small-town nurse practitioner. She and Dr. Nguyen proudly sit on the sidelines for the Bad Axe Hatchet football team. “We never want to see the players get hurt, but we are happy to be there if and when they need us,” Jones said. Jones’ mission has always been to work with people. In medicine, practitioners know which medications treat high blood pressure and use that knowledge to help their patients, but Jones also recognizes that each person and their lifestyle are unique. It’s just as important to talk to patients about themselves and what is unique about their life as it is to know about their medical history. “Together, we can come up with a plan to treat an individual’s illness that incorporates what is important to
them with treatment that works best for that patient,” Jones said. “It’s easy to say, ‘don’t eat salt, exercise more, and take this pill for high blood pressure,’ but it’s a lot tougher for some people to do.” “I discuss food habits, lifestyle, and past medication use with my patients,” she added. “I want to go through all their potential options and make the decision together on what their treatment plan will look like, because that’s going to help people be more successful while taking ownership of their health.” For students interested in pursuing a similar field of study, Jones encourages them to get exposure in any way they can. Every experience can teach you something and help along the way. “Don’t be afraid about the cost or the time it will take, just start somewhere,” Jones said. “If you have a desire to care for people, there is a place for you.” Outside of work, Jones enjoys watching her daughters play sports and Michigan nature. Currently, she has been snowmobiling in her spare time and in the summer, likes going to the lake and camping. Jones said her family is a 4-H family. She is the proud mom of an FFA member, supporter of the local travel softball team, and volunteers at the Hatchet football games. Despite the pandemic, Jones has been a part of the unveiling of Scheurer’s Bad Axe primary
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in agriculture, and the ability to speak Spanish will likely prove useful in the future. In his role as a teacher of history and especially current events, he said it’s his goal to challenge his students’ beliefs, whatever they happen to be. “Certainly, we’ve had a lot to talk about,” he said. He finds that students in 2021 are most concerned about life returning to normal after it was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic that started almost one year ago.
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VANSUMEREN Continued from page 6
coaching football, I would miss my sons’ games. I made a decision after coaching 20 years to make my sons a priority.” He went from being varsity football coach to being involved with the youth programs in Bay City to be with his sons. “I miss being a coach a lot," he said. "Coaching is a lot different nowadays than it was 10 to 15 years ago. Especially, with all of the guidelines now from the state.” Being a coach builds a different connection with students then being a teacher. And, being both a teacher and a coach makes the connection even stronger, he said.
“I miss the contact with the kids that you get being a coach that you don’t get in the classroom," he said. "It’s not the same as what you get with athletics. It’s a different kind of connection. In being a coach, there is a special bond with kids. I miss that." “I’m a competitive guy so I do miss the games when coaching," he continued. "It is a high energy job and after a while it kind of wears you out.” Vansumeren also enjoys working out. He competed in some squat contests, but not in body building. Because of that, he took a few of his students under his wing in weight lifting. He showed them the right way to lift weights. Working with a few students lifting
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weights snowballed into several in a short time. “We had a state champion powerlifter last year, John Harder, but I’m no longer involved in that,” he said. “I don’t body build," he said. "I still work out. I will lift until I die. Doing that is my stress reduction. I’m kind of high strung. I lift on a consistent basis because it calms me.” In fact, lifting weight has become a family tradition. “The last 10 to 12 years I’ve lifted weights with my sons," he said. "They are all active lifters. It’s awesome that I get to lift with my boys every night.” Vansumeren’s sons are Mason, 26, Michael is 22, and Matt, who everyone calls “Moto,” is 18.
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