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Vol. 55, No. 10
grcc_collegiate@yahoo.com
March 30, 2011
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Grand Rapids YouthBuild Program awarded $1 million
The program is
set to help low
income youth
between the ages
of 16 and 24
By Becky Spaulding
News Editor
YouthBuild, a program
that partners Grand Rapids
Community College, Habitat for
Humanity of Kent County and
Bethany Christian Services to
help prepare would-be troubled
youth for their future, was
awarded a $1 million grant this
month by the U.S. Department of
Labor.
YouthBuild helps young
people who might otherwise
slip through the cracks gain the
educational and occupational
skills that are necessary for a
successful future, said U.S.
Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis,
in a recent press release. At
the same time, these youngsters
make valuable contributions to
their neighborhoods through
community service projects and
the construction or renovation
of affordable housing.
Initially, Grand Rapids
Community College, through the
Leslie E. Tassell M-TEC program,
provided staff to Habitat for
Humanity of Kent County for
YouthBuild for GED completion
and a 36-week building trades
program. There are some
changes to the program that
will be announced in the near
future, however, according to
Construction Trades Manager
Brian Shultz.
Habitat for Humanity pays
GRCC the tuition necessary to
allow them to take construction
training courses, and the grant
will allow them to continue this
practice.
GRCC and Habitat for Humanity
of Kent County had a working
relationship even before the
YouthBuild program began.
Habitat has had a partnership
with GRCCs Tassell M-TEC for
about six years and it has been
a growing success ever since its
start, said Jessica Anderson, Data
and Communications Coordinator
at Habitat for Humanity of Kent
Program offers players second chance
The football team, lead by Coach
Tony Annese, serves as a home for
players to improve on and off the eld
By Austin Metz
Editor In Chief
See Grant, page 4
The football program under
Coach Tony Annese at Grand
Rapids Community College has
become a place for players to
surround themselves with a
positive support group to ensure
future success on and off the
football eld.
I believe in second chances,
Annese said. My obligation is
to talk to our leadership and get
as much information about what
happened to get them in trouble.
Sometimes I feel that they dont
deserve a second chance.
Richard Haley just nished
up his second year as a GRCC
football player and he used the
community college as a place to
improve his grades and overcome
personal issues.
As a freshman in high school
I had a 0.7 GPA, Haley said. My
coach served as my father gure
throughout high school and after
that year my GPA was always
above a 2.5.
Although Haleys grades
continued to improve, he still
needed a 17 on the ACT to be
accepted into Cincinnati to play
football.
I took the ACT four times and
got a 16 on the rst three and
nally got a 17 the fourth time,
Haley said. However, because of
my scores on the English portion I
was not able to go to Cincinnati.
My coaches encouraged me to
come to Grand Rapids Community
College so I could get my grades
up and play somewhere after two
years, he explained.
It was at GRCC that Haley
began to turn his life around.
The team made me realize
how serious I needed to be about
my future, Haley said. The
coaches are on you to get good
grades but a lot of people still
fail because of not going to class,
smoking weed or other issues.
Before his sophomore season
that Haleys character was tested
more than his academics.
My uncle and my cousin
passed away in the same week
and then my other uncle was
shot 19 times by an AK-47 but
survived, Haley said. I now
play for them because I feel they
are alive through me. Im trying
to take a negative and turn it into
See Second, page 19
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a positive.
Coach Annese and his staff start
working with players as soon as
they arrive on campus to ensure
that students coming from suspect
backgrounds ranging from academic
to criminal to even personal and
family issues know what is expected
of them.
Criminal situations players on
last years team have been involved
in range from felony weapons
charges, armed robbery charges, drug
possession charges and DUIs.
We like to make the players very
clear about what we expect, Annese
said. These players are often in a city
by themselves for the rst time so we
spend about 40 hours in orientation
to get them prepared to be college
students.
The rst way this is done is through
the Grand Rapids Raider Football
Success Handbook.
The handbook, which is handed
out to each player at the start of the
season, contains everything from
the top 10 reasons for players to fail,
overall expectations for each player
and also assignments players are
required to do throughout the year.
Also included in the handbook is
what Annese called an Individual
Improvement Plan.
To the best of my ability I try to give
players thought-provoking questions
that make them think, Annese said.
Young people need to sustain a focus
and this touches on everything from
spiritual to academic.
Casey Therriault is a former
quarterback at GRCC who has
experienced this rst hand. Therriault
spent six months in jail for involuntary
manslaughter but was given a second
chance on the football team.
I was contacted by the coaches
to come down for summer practices
and it kind of went from there,
Therriault said. Coach Annese has
good judgment of character and he
allowed me on the team.
Football became a form of escape
for Therriault.
What helped me was actually
getting on the eld and not having to
worry about the off-the-eld issues,
Therriault said, who is now playing
at Jackson State. No one ever asked
me about my off-the-eld issues and
the supporting cast of coaches and
players helped.
Phil Lewis is another former player
who struggled academically but was
given the tools he needed to succeed
at GRCC.
For me, the mandatory study tables
helped a lot, Lewis said, whose
struggles were more academically
based. I was able to get the help I
needed with reading, writing and
math.
Having struggled with reading and
writing throughout his educational
career, it was the one-on-one tutoring
as well as the support of the coaches
that made all the difference.
I became very close with Curtis
Andrews and Tim Johnson, Lewis
said. They recruited me and were
very helpful in helping me succeed.
Lewis was quick to emphasize the
impact Coach Annese had on him not
only as a player but also as a person.
If Coach Annese sees you have
talent and are a good kid, he will help
you get a tutor, Lewis said. To him,
its about being a good person and a
good player.
The other motivator for Lewis,
who has moved on to play at Toledo,
was simply looking around at other
players.
I would see past teammates in
class failing and complaining and
that makes me work harder, Lewis
said. Community College is the last
chance for most of these guys so I
used that as motivation.
While Annese has had success with
players, there are still the exceptions.
We have had to dismiss a player
but its a case by case thing, Annese
said. These players today are dealing
with circumstances that I never had
to deal with.
Often times these players are
worshipped at the high school level,
Annese said. I hear players all the
time saying, My community blew
my head up. We need to make sure
students dont lose their perspective
of why they are here.
Football program provides athletes a second chance
The reason why the players are
there is laid out on one of the rst
pages of the Success Handbook.
The rst goal coaches have for their
players is to earn their associates
degree.
Our purpose as a coaching staff and
an institution of higher education is
for you to commit to excellence in all
your personal, academic, and athletic
endeavors, said Coach Annese in his
opening letter to players.
Having awarded many players a
second chance, Annese has seen both
the positives and the negatives.
There are issues all the time but
that is why you do it, Annese said.
You get broken hearted with the loss
of players and I have had people not
make a life out of themselves who
could have.
Ariel Christy/Collegiate
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2012 Michigan Community College Press Association Judging Form

Place of award:

First Place Second Place Third Place Honorable Mention

Category: Sports feature

Headline/title of entry: Program offers players second chance

Contestants name: Austin Metz

College name: Grand Rapids Community College

Judges comments: This is a really nice piece, and Coach Annese sounds like a really
nice guy. I like that you provided details about how he sets expectations for his players,
and I like that you got quotes from players about how those expectations have helped
them. I also like that you spoke with a number of people for this story: Coach Annese,
some of his current players and some of his former players. You left me with just a
couple of unanswered questions: Why does Annese believe so strongly in second
chances? (Did someone give him a second chance once?) And how have these
second chances paid off for these players once they were out of school?

All in all, though, a terrific story. Well done.

pcm