The Pioneer Press October 29, 2021 by The Pioneer Press

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NEWS OPINION FEATURE

October 29, 2021

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SPORTS ADVISER

Mike Schmitt

Dearborn High School’s Head Principal from 2016-2021 Adam Martin receives promotion to Executive Director of Student Achievement.

Editor-in-Chief: Zayna Jaber Feature Editor: Sadie Wojtowicz Sports Editor: Carter Peet News Editor: Eva Beydoun Photo Editor: Zayna Jaber Ad Editor: Jazmin Ward Media Editor: Hussein Baiz

By: Zayna Jaber, Editor-in-Chief To dedicate oneself to others, commit and administrators to collectively and collaboratively serve others, and lastly, to support what is best for one develop processes and develop a culture that leads to another in order to improve and build on together better opportunities for kids,” Martin said. are the characteristics of a unionized marriage. DHS Assistant Principal Kelly Dear has been working After serving for almost six years with full in the district for 10 years as assistant principal, this dedication and leading by example, Dearborn year being his eleventh. He joined DHS the same High School’s Head Principal is now parting ways year Martin became the school’s head principal. with DHS. During the August 2021 School Board “He has been one of the best leaders I’ve meeting, Adam Martin, Head Principal of DHS, worked with. He shows respect for everyone and was announced Executive Director of Student allows everybody else to lead in their own way,” Dear Achievements. said. “He does that by setting an example of what a Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent, leader should be and what the process should be, not Dr. Glenn Maleyko, said Martin’s leadership and mandating it, but demonstrating it by example.” determination to work with the students and for the Dear said his admiration for his superior Writers: students is what qualified him for the position. increased as Martin proved his honest intentions Alex Ahmed “He’s an outstanding administrator,” towards the staff and the students. Mohammed Alali Maleyko said. “I would not be hiring him into one “I have the greatest respect for that man,” of the top positions in the district if I did not feel a Malak Alayosh He said. “If he asks me to do something to help the highly outstanding person, leader, and he’s all about school and help our students, I know it’s coming Hadeel Antar students first.” from his heart and it’s all about you guys, and I’m Hussein Baiz Martin said taking on DHS was necessary for going to do it because I know it’s coming from a great Celine Bazzi his growth as an administrator. place.” Tulene Diab “I needed Dearborn High, and I think at the Dear recalled a particularly funny incident same time Dearborn High needed me, so it was like Abdulkarim Farhat during his time with Martin. The moment took place the perfect marriage,” he said. “The relationships and in Martin’s office, in which Martin unintentionally Natalia Galindez the work that I’ve done here with the kids and the set off a pepper spray can which had been previously Rawan Hamka parents, that’s a special time in my life for sure.” confiscated from a student. Husyan Hamoud Martin said that although leaving DHS is “I can’t remember which assistant principal Mohmed Joubah heartbreaking, he is looking forward to improving confiscated the pepper spray from a student, and I Zahraa Kabbani the building from a different position. don’t remember whether or not he was just trying “It’s going to be hard to leave, but I’m also Rawan Kareem to figure out how the device worked, but he set it off excited about what the next opportunity is. I get to in his office. All of a sudden, we just had this pepper Ali Kdouh still see and support Dearborn High in a different spray smell through the entire office complex. It Brendan Lahay way,” he said. “I’m also looking forward to what was totally accidental, but it was one of the funniest Aidan Oakley impact I might be able to have at a different level as [moments]. I think I laughed for three days.” Alyssa Osada well.” DHS Assistant Principal Carol Cizek joined Martin will oversee Dearborn High School, Hassan Sobh the administration team at the start of the 2018-2019 Edsel Ford High School, Fordson High School, and school year. Zaid Waili the Fordson Feeder track (the elementary schools “When I moved here, I came from Stout. While I was and middle schools that “feed into” FHS). very well connected with the staff, I may not have IG: @thepioneerpress “My hope is that I’m going to be able

Web: dhspioneerpress.net

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October 29, 2021.

Opinion

School Identification Becomes Mandatory

Photo: Husayn Hamoud Junior Alex Ahmed shows his student identification card at the entrance, in order to get in to the home football game on Oct. 22, 2021. “My friend was able to get in even though he didn’t have his ID, because Mr. Maher, whos standing at the entrance, knows him,” he said. The football team lost to Plymouth Canton by a final score of 44 to 43.

Staff Writter Rawan Hamka

ttending football games under the Friday night lights has become somewhat of a right of passage at a large number of high schools across the country. Every football season, individuals gather to support their school; however, some people attend while not being from that school. Multiple incidents have occurred this season during DHS home football games, specifically at the pink out game; which was the last straw for administration to finalize the student ID mandate. This month a new policy was put in place which requires all high school students to show their student ID cards in order to gain admittance into any DHS home football game. Before opinions can be made, we need to reflect on the reasons why this rule was created. DHS head principal, Adam Martin said that this policy was created because of capacity, safety, and security. It is an understatement to say that Dearborn High has a small student section. Sometimes the audience must stand near the concessions since there is no room. Safety

and security are also reasonable since if an altercation were to ever occur with individuals who don’t attend DHS, they wouldn’t feel obligated to cooperate with administrators who don’t administrate them. Like I said, these reasons are reasonable. If I go to a DHS football game, I would hope to find seats that will allow me to watch the game in a comfortable manner. If everyone is welcome to our games, then the chances of watching and enjoying the game are very slim. Most individuals who come to our games that don’t go to our school come to see other people; unlike them, we go to support our school and spend time with those who attend DHS. Now the final reasons, safety and security. We all know how unsafe gatherings with a large number of people can be; not only because of covid but also the intentions of those entering. If there are even more people coming then it can be even more dangerous and personally I would rather it be a limited amount of people than more. Yes, the new rule can be tedious since there are people from other schools that I would love to see at the games but then again doesn’t everyone else? ‘What types of people will be there that I am unaware of and what are their

intentions?’ Clearly this rule prohibits entry from all non-DHS students; however, there is an extent to that. Henry Ford Early College is a program for students of Wayne County and has roughly 150 students in the whole program combined. Since it is a very small program, it does not have a sports league. HFEC students then rely on the other high schools for sporting events. Administrators decided to continue on gurareenting HFEC students adminence to DHS home football games as long as they show their early college ID. This addition to the policy is a relief since I am close with many HFEC students; nonetheless, if I am close to them or not, it still gives DHS students some of the same people they were surrounded by before the rule went into place. Clearly it is not the same thing, but it is still something. DHS and FHS are both facing the same recurring issues in their student sections; which made them both share the same ID policy. At the end of the day, this policy is in effect to structure student behavior and hopefully one day it’ll be removed. Until then, we need to be mindful of our actions in order to obtain what we currently desire when it comes to games.

News

October 29, 2021

Photo: Zayna Jaber

Newly appointed Executive Director of Students Achievements, Adam Martin passes down the Student First legacy to Zenia Jebril, new Head Principal of DHS. wanted to move, and so I came and told him point blank because I can be very blunt, and he was very compassionate. He said, `I understand, let’s just see how things go,’” Cizek said. “About eight weeks after I’ve been here, he walked up to me at a football game and he goes, ‘So, how are we?’ and I said ‘We are not that bad. I like it here.’” Cizek said she has noticed Martin’s commitment to ingrain himself in the DHS community. “In what I have seen, he has really worked on developing a compassionate relationship with the teachers, with students, and with the parents,” Cizek said. “He has a mindset that it’s not always top-down where he makes the decision. It’s a collective decision, he asks for opinions and wants feedback for the whole of the building to be better. He really cares what everyone thinks, and when push comes to shove if he needs to make that final decision he will, but he wants it to be a collective idea that everyone buys into. “ Cizek said that her expectations for him are to continuously make progress and improve the place he sets foot in. “To improve wherever he goes like he has done when has been here,” Cizek said. “My grandfather was someone who’d say, ‘you leave a place better than when you came to it’ and I think he really does that. and I think that’s one of the reasons why I really respect him.” Christopher Minor, Graduation Specialist at DHS, has known Martin since 1996-1997. They both used to attend the University of Michigan football games together. “Mr. Martin trusts people, not every

leader is like that. Some leaders trust authority, he is not like that he believes in people, so he tries to empower people,” he said. “He did a lot of changes in his first couple years that really [were] student driven because students sat with him and talked, and he trusts people, so he was willing to do somethings that hadn’t been done for a while. Pep rallies for example. Pep rallies did not exist for quite a while until Mr. Martin came, and Mr. Martin said, ‘Look I didn’t plan on doing pep rallies, but students came, and proposed ideas and I trust people and I felt like this is where the students want to go, and I was comfortable letting them lead the way. ´¨ Breanne Martin, Martin’s wife, said she noticed that her husband was mostly influenced by the warm welcoming community. “By far this is his favorite school he’s ever been in. The school, community, and the students have been by far the [best],” Breanne said. “I feel like it’s the community that has been the impact, when he made it to Dearborn high because like I said it is such a good community.” Current Head Principal at O.L. Smith Middle School, Zeina Jebril, was appointed to the position of Head Principal of DHS when it was announced at the school board meeting on Oct. 11, 2021. Jebril said she is looking forward to working with DHS staff and students once again, but this time it will be in a different capacity. “I’m excited about this opportunity here at Dearborn High, “Jebril said. “I already know a lot of the families here because I was here five years ago, as Assistant Principal with Mr. Martin.”

Jebril worked as Assistant Principal of DHS the same year Martin was hired to join the administration team at DHS. She has served in the position of Head Principal of O.L. Smith from 2017 until the start of this current school year. “I believe in being a public servant, leading by example, and being a role model to everybody that you lead, whether it’s students, teachers,” Jebril said. “I’m very supportive. I like to breed other leaders which means that I put people in situations where they’ll become successful leaders themselves and I support them through the process.” Jebril said her ninety-day goal is to establish relationships with staff and students, and overall observe the environment to be able to expand on what DHS already has. “There are excellent things happening here at Dearborn High, so I just want to build on what you guys already have,” she said. “I need to observe a lot of what’s going on to know exactly what it is that I want to focus on moving forward, but I think there’s an excellent foundation that’s in place right now.” “He’s an excellent leader, and I feel like I learned a lot from him. He has a good sense and a good handle on the things that are happening in his building. He gets to know the different individuals that he is working with,” Jebril said. “He also gets to know the teacher’s as well because all of that is a key to moving the building forward. He leads by example, and I think he’s an excellent leader, and Dearborn High was very lucky to have Mr. Martin lead for the past six years here.”

5 Feature

Many things throughout time, so

October 29, 2021

change

it only makes sense that after a year’s time not being in school in person, all of the students have gone through great physical and emotional changes. Walking around the school seeing all the new old faces for the first time back has been one of the highlights of many peoples’ years! We know that we all have changed, and had a few strugles last year, but how exactly? Well we spoke to students around school and got their interesting takes!

J u n i o r Shereen Wazne

S e n i o r Bella Fisher

New Year, New Rules, and New Faces!

By: Sadie Wojtowicz & Jazmin Ward Feature Editor & Ads Editor

Sophomore Adam Rahal said,“For me before online learning I used to be really insecure of myself because I was very overweight,... I lost a lot recently and I got more fit which I am happy about.” . Sophomore Giselle Akouni said“A lot of people have told me I have changed a lot mentally, I was very insecure and self conscious, I don’t know I just hated the way that people perceived me as a weak individual...Now they know I will stand up for myself, I am self confident and I know my worth. And it’s a good feeling,”.

Junior Shereen Wazne said that DHS has changed how they teach to make the students more comfortable. “I feel like a lot of teachers are taking the fact that we were in quarantine for over a year and they’re taking that into consideration while giving us our work. Also they’re teaching us even more because we missed a lot of our work while online, so they’re reviewing everything.” Wazne said. Senior Bella Fisher spoke on how virtual learning last year affected her family. She expressed her feelings on being a senior in person this year! “It’s our senior year, it’s cool, I was so relieved, my brother graduated online so that kind of sucked and he missed prom so I thought we were going to. But now we got our senior year back.” said Fisher.

Junior

H u s s i e n Both boys Junior Hussien Alwashah and Abe Dabaja expressed how they changed and how the past year effected them. Junior Hussien Alwashah “I changed a lot of my thoughts and how I feel about things. When I was a freshman I thought so differently.” . Senior Abe Dabaja “I changed a lot.. I stopped seeing my friends during Covid…”.

Alwashah

Senior Abe D a b a j a

Sports

October 29, 2021

R O A D HOME E TH Former DHS football captain comes back as football head coach

Bio

By: Hassan Sobh and Carter Peet

Photo: Vanessa Grignon

Alex Grignon gets ready for his season at Michigan Tech university as the tight end coach. Grignon went to Dearborn High School Grignon attended Northern Michigan University and played football for the Wildcats. Grignon played Free safety, Strong Safety and Outside Linebacker Northern Michigan University is a D2 school Grignon did not get a full ride, he got a parttime scholarship. Grignon has been married for 11 years Has 3 kids Grignon was the Grad assistant for Northern Michigan University Lincoln Park High School- Defensive/Offensive coordinator and Co head coach South Lyon High School- Offensive coordinator Walled Lake Western High School- Head Coach Michigan Tech University- TE coach Dearborn High School- Head Coach

lex Grignon gets the call for a job, something he has always wanted to do. A dream of his, a career he always wanted. A place he knows and grew up in. After the first conversation over the phone with the school, he knew that that job was suited for him. “Getting the call from DHS was exciting. I was currently with Michigan Tech University and just left being the head coach at Walled Lake Western,” Grignon said. “I would not have left the college level at that time for any job aside from Dearborn High School. I have lived in Dearborn my whole life and coaching career and never had the opportunity to join the staff. I knew I wanted it from the first conversation.” Grignon said that growing up his life revolved around football. “Growing up with a father who was a head coach or coordinator at the high school level was very special,” Grignon said. “I spent my summers at football practice for as long as I can remember. The smells of the locker room, equipment rooms, weight rooms, wet grass during early practices, I can still smell them all. I woke up in the mornings on weekends and my father was hard at work with legal pads covering the kitchen table and old VHS’ stacked up for film; and all day he worked.” Coach Grignon went to DHS as a kid and is excited to return and coach for a program that

helped him grow. “I am excited to be back. I was born and raised in Dearborn, went to Dearborn High, played here and had success here. I am looking forward to getting Dearborn Football to be competitive in our league and Metro Detroit, while at the same time giving our students the phenomenal experience I enjoyed being a Dearborn High Football Player.” Grignon said. Coach Grignon thinks that all the players that his dad coached, he learned things from those players. “Seeing all of my fathers players throughout my life, their leadership, their hard work, their passion, I wasn’t just watching it, I was learning it. Grignon said. “I saw what good players on good teams did and how they carried themselves, they were heroes to me. I saw how bad teams carried themselves and how players on those teams let opportunities go by the wayside.” Grignon’s dad Jamie said that he loves coaching with his son, and it is a special moment. “It is always special to be able to coach where you played in high school. Coaching with him now after having coached him here at Dearborn High is pretty cool for me as well. We’ve coached at three high schools together now, and being back home at Dearborn High together is by far the best experience we’ve had.” Jamie Grignon said.

Sports

October 29, 2021

Photo: Husayn Hamoud

Alex Grignon talks to his team during the homecoming game against Wayne Memorial HS. The Pioneers have a playoff game Friday, October 29, 2021 against Brownstown Woodhaven. Former head coach Johnathon Powell wanted Coach Grignon as a coach for the varsity football team. “I did recommend Coach Grignon. I think he’s great, he’s hardworking, he knows football, he treats the kids well, and that’s why I think he should be the coach. I think they got lucky to have Coach G.” Powell said. Powell resigned from head, so he can have more time with things outside of football, putting in 10 years of dedication and love for Dearborn High football. “It was really hard and the main thing was just my overall health and my family. That’s a bigger priority to me than coaching,” Powell said. Powell served as assistant coach for two years and then was promoted and served as head coach for the following eight years. “I needed to find time for me and my family. My son is starting tackle football and I needed to find more time for myself and my family.” Powell said. Mustafa Khaleefa is one of Grignons assistant and offensive line coaches. He said that he’s learned a lot from Grignon about coaching. “I’ve learned how to game plan and truly be a coach. It’s different when you are a player.” Khaleefa said. Khaleefa also comes back to DHS after playing football for the pioneers for 3 years and is excited to come back.

“It feels awesome being able to give back to my community. Sharing what I’ve learned at the collegiate level is important.” Khaleefa said. DHS Athletic Director Jeff Conway said Grignon was a great fit for Powell’s successor with traits like loyalty to his team and respect for the players and other coaches. “There isn’t a single point that stood out, but rather he was the top candidate since he stood out in all of those areas,” Conway said. Conway also said that Grignon was highly wanted by DHS for his time there and his past experience at DHS. “A Dearborn High alumni who played football here, played in college, had previous successful head coaching experience at the high school level. Had college coaching experience, already knew and had worked with many of our players in the past, well known and well respected within the community, an excellent teacher of the game”. Conway said. Grignon is optimistic to be back at DHS and coach the pioneers and bring DHS back to its full potential. “This position will positively impact me because I love Dearborn High. I love the city of Dearborn and look forward to helping our program grow to reach its potential,” Grignon said.

Photo : Alex Muller

Coach Grignon, Jamie Grignon and Grignons son celebrate after their win against fordson. Dearborn High beat Fordson Friday October, 15 with a close score of 13-10, snapping their 4 game losing streak.