The Ripple Effect

A dozen boys ages 10 to 12 mill around the Kalamazoo College buffet, piling scrambled eggs, sausages, biscuits, fruit onto their plates. It is 7:30 a.m., and even the college kids aren’t up this early. The boys carefully bring their full plates through the nearly empty cafeteria into the Stone Room. But it is what comes after breakfast that is the best part of their morning — a chance to learn lessons that could bring success in life.

The boys are dressed in shirts and ties, some in suit jackets. Their hair is carefully combed. Their notebooks are open and ready to be filled, sharpened pencils placed beside them. The names and faces of these boys change every year, but they come from King-Westwood Elementary School. And just like all the groups of boys before them for the past 32 years, these boys come to the Breakfast of Champions twice a month to listen to a chosen inspirational speaker. 

Jim Hess, 70, stands tall at one side of the room, watching, smiling. Hess is the mastermind of the program, which has been a heartfelt passion for him since his days as a coach at King-Westwood. 

“We had that great principal, Pat Coles-Chalmers, back then,” Hess says. “She was so good to our kids. I had been coaching at Western Michigan University for eight years, and she talked me into coaching the sixth-grade basketball team. I saw mentoring groups out there. Sometimes they were too big, so the focus got lost. What I also saw was that some of these mentoring groups labeled kids. They were either academically talented or they were considered at risk. Our kids, what they all are, are champions.”

Hess credits Coles-Chalmers and Gary Van Stearn, then head of maintenance at Northeastern Elementary School in Kalamazoo, with the inspiration for Breakfast of Champions. Known as the “mayor of Northeastern Elementary,” Van Stearn established a sixth-grade basketball program called Morning Basketball. The boys thrived under his leadership, excelling in both academics and sports.

“The lure for the boys was their love of basketball. but they had to be performing in school and behaving in school, and he taught them about teamwork. I saw the impact he had on the kids, and I wanted to do something like that at Westwood,” Hess recalls. “Between Pat and Gary, those were my two motivating factors.”

‘No labels’

As Hess and Coles-Chalmers talked about the mentoring program they wanted to establish, they set parameters. The group would be small, just 12 participants. It would be only for boys — Hess says that it seemed that there were more mentoring programs for girls at that age than boys. The group would be intentionally diverse economically, racially and socially. The boys would be chosen by their teachers and principals, those who knew them best.  

“No labels on these boys,” Hess says. “Pat and I also decided the kids would have to wear a shirt and tie when they attend the program. The philosophy behind that is to dress for the job you want, not the job you have. They have to take notes and then share them with their parents. If they get their notes signed, they get paid $1. If they forget, they don’t get paid, because that’s the real world. If they get their notes signed every time, they are put into a drawing to win $50.”

The boys are told they must be on time — there is but one chance to make a first impression. Miss a program and that means being out of the program for good. Boys are expected to be at their doors, ready to go, when the driver arrives to pick them up.

“Our motto has been: Get up, dress up, show up,” Hess says. “We tell them they have to be an active participant and an active listener. Always keep your eyes on the speaker. We remind them, ‘What if the speaker said one thing that could change your life forever, but you weren’t paying attention?’”

‘Try new things’

With breakfast finished, the boys are seated with notebooks open and pencils in hand, their speaker for the day, Kalamazoo College President Jorge Gonzalez, takes the floor. He strolls from one end of the table to the other, smiling and making eye contact with each and every boy. 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he says. “This is your home. You are welcome here at Kalamazoo College to attend sports games, theater, whatever interests you, and you can return when you are ready for college. Now, let me tell you what brought me here and how important education has been for my journey.”

Education was a risk, Gonzalez says, because it meant leaving the comfort and security of his home and family in Mexico,  but it was a risk that opened doors for him. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Mexico, Gonzalez wanted to improve his English skills and see more of the world so he came to the United States to earn a master’s degree and doctorate in economics.

“So many doors opened to me because of education and because I took some risks,” he says. “Be proud of where you come from, but don’t be afraid to try new things.”

The boys ask Gonzalez about some of the places he has traveled. In turn, he asks the boys if they know what the Kalamazoo Promise is — and they do. A boy pipes up: “It means we can go to any college in Michigan tuition-free!”

“Yes! You are so lucky!” Gonzalez says, nodding. “What college? You decide. There are so many amazing schools out there. But you know … Kalamazoo College is the best.”

He laughs, and the boys grin back at him. 

Taking a more serious tone, Gonzalez concludes, “We know what we do here changes people’s lives. Education can change your life.”

Over the years, Breakfast of Champions participants have listened to speakers from all walks of life, such as Jim Heath, retired president of Stryker Instruments; Brady Hoke, former football coach for the University of Michigan; Victor Green, assistant chief of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety; Von Washington, executive director of the Kalamazoo Promise; Ed Montgomery, former president of Western Michigan University; Mark Riley, Kalamazoo College tennis coach; and Bill Manns, CEO of Bronson Healthcare. 

‘Never give up’

Some of the speakers were among the boys themselves when that age. Sebastian Jackson, 38, entrepreneur and founder of The Social Club in Detroit, is one of those.

“I was one of those boys at that table,” Jackson says. “I lived in Kalamazoo from sixth grade through high school. When I first met Coach Hess playing basketball, he taught me it wasn’t all about my scoring as many points as I could. It was about helping my team to be better.”

That and many other lessons — including to never give up on his dreams and to have the flexibility to revise and update his dreams along the way — Jackson learned as a Breakfast of Champions participant.   

“We learned to never give up on ourselves or our peers or our family,” he says. “Coach would say, ‘Prepare to learn.’ And we did.”

Jackson went on to study journalism at Wayne State University. And while he dreamed of owning apublication of his own, he discovered a second passion. 

“I loved the business side of things more than writing,” he says. “When I was a kid, around 15 years old, I started cutting hair with my dad’s clippers in the garage to make some money. I charged $5 for anyone to come to the garage, but $8 if they had me come to them. I cut my own hair first to practice, and it turned out pretty good, so that gave me confidence. The second cut, well, that wasn’t so good, but I remembered that lesson: ‘Don’t give up.’”

Cut after cut, Jackson’s skills improved. In college, he put a poster on his dorm room door advertising his barbering skills. When a resident advisor told him he couldn’t run a business in the dormitory, he bartered free cuts for the advisor in exchange for silence. Deal. 

Then another deal popped up. 

“A barbershop on campus shut down, so I submitted business plans to the university to take over the space,” Jackson recalls. “On my fourth try, they said yes.”

Jackson and his wife, Gabrielle, now own The Social Club, offering haircuts and hair treatments in an elegant space that appears, indeed, to be more social club and community meeting place than corner barbershop. They also offer their own line of hair and skincare products, called Saint Martin. 

About a decade ago Jackson shared his success story at Breakfast of Champions. 

“That was in 2014 or 2015, and I hope to come back again soon,” he says. “I talked to the boys about the school experience and the importance of excelling academically. I told them to choose something and become an expert in it, own your job experience. I talked to them about becoming an entrepreneur.”

In his next talk, Jackson says, there may be some revised lessons to pass along.

“That first time I was very optimistic,” he says. “Now I am more realistic. Entrepreneurship is very risky, but I want to tell the boys that for every success story, there are a great many failures that come first. You learn along the way. Learn, and while you are learning save as much as possible to get through the tough times while you reach for success.”

Like father, like son

Breakfast of Champions has been Jim Hess’s baby from the beginning. He lines up the speakers and, with a volunteer driver or two, arranges transportation to get the kids to Kalamazoo College for the meetings. 

Attending the meetings alongside Jim Hess is his son Kevan Hess, 37, who, like his father, is an associate broker at Jaqua Realtors. Kevan, who was a Breakfast of Champions participant, has not only followed in his father’s career footsteps but plans to take over running the Breakfast of Champions.

“My current career relies on me having a broad network and meeting new clients on a constant basis, so this program taught me how to make a memorable first impression and what it means to be a professional,” the younger Hess says. “It also taught me to connect with a diverse group of acquaintances and find our similarities.

“The value of this program can be found in a few different parts. The first lies within its wide variety of speakers. These speakers come from all different backgrounds, and it’s fun for me to watch different students connect with different speakers based on their message. The second portion of value in this program is that it gets the students on a college campus, and for many of them it’s their first time. This exposes them to college life and helps them realize that it’s definitely within reach, especially with the Kalamazoo Promise in place.”

The elder Hess nods in agreement. “Another part of this program is to show the kids how big this world is, not how small it is,” he says. “All those possibilities are there for them. It opens the door up for those kinds of things when they hear these speakers and talk to them. And you have to earn that. That’s the other thing. That’s why they have to be on time and clean up their own messes here after breakfast and say please and thank you and be kind to people. So many of the speakers we have talk about kindness.”

That has been one lesson Billy Reinholt, 11, has garnered from the program this year. 

Billy, who aspires to go to Michigan State and to be a professional NBA basketball player or maybe a teacher, is also looking ahead for his 4-year-old brother. 

“I hope my little brother gets in this program someday too,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun. Another of my goals, whether I become a famous basketball player or not, is to give back to my community.”

Looking ahead

Kevan Hess, too, is looking to the future. As he thinks about what he would like to take forward for the Breakfast of Champions, he reflects on what the program taught him.

“My favorite memories as a participant were the feelings of responsibility and accountability that came with being part of an exclusive and diverse group of young men. That age group is such a critical time in development, so having a sense of confidence brought on by dressing up and building a network of important community members made that transition to adolescence much easier. You never quite knew which speaker you might resonate with the most, so it was fun to hear what each speaker had to share and what path they took to get their current position. Additionally, sharing this experience with classmates and friends made it all the more enjoyable.”

But Jim Hess isn’t quite ready to give up the reins of Breakfast of Champions. It is apparent that he enjoys working with the boys way too much to walk away at this point. He says he hopes to stay with the program until Kevan’s son Charlie can participate, about four years from now. For Hess, it is all about the ripple effect the program has in the community, and he hopes to keep tossing that stone into the water. He also hopes similar programs will spring up for boys from other schools. 

“If we can inspire other people to change a small portion of where they are, that is what we hope to have ripple out from us,” he says. “Do all you can with what you have in the time you have and in the place you are. For me, this is what I can do. It’s where I live, it’s the time I have, and it’s the place I am.”