Editorial: Team took vision of championship to this community

At the Dec. 13 meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education the coach of the BHS championship football team and his players explained how they took the vision of a championship to the Belleville community.
Coach Jermain Crowell said they worked on their personal skills and while they all wanted to win, they made sure their attitudes were in the right place.
He said they asked, “Can we make the community proud?” and worked to do so. One player told the board they concentrated on making the people on the right and left sides of them proud.
Crowell said while he lives in Detroit, he loves the community of Belleville and the spirit of “Bellevillians.”
Athletic Director Joseph Brodie said he gathered up the grade point averages of all the students in the high school athletic program and found they had a combined 3.2 GPA. That made him and the board very pleased.
It was mentioned that these football players are probably not going to spend their adult years earning a lot of money playing football, so their education must be emphasized so they can have a good life.
The school board agreed that while athletic triumphs are nice, the important thing is academics and a work-together attitude to make everybody proud. The community is very proud of these boys.