Can a basketball court become bigger than the sport? It can when the court represents a collaborative effort to inspire students and a community. And that’s the story at Coleman A. Young Elementary.
Summer enrichment is free for Wayne, Macomb and Oakland county students.
- Longtime Coleman A. Young Elementary School volunteer Janice Goldman funded a new basketball court for the school.
- The court features a mural by Detroit artist Phillip Simpson, also known as The Smile Man.
- Goldman was inspired by the students and staff at the school, and the court is meant to be a space for the community.
Named after Detroit’s longest-serving mayor, Coleman A. Young Elementary School has been educating Detroit students since 1982.
But along the way, the school, located at 15771 Hubbell in the Belmont neighborhood, which serves students from Pre-K through fifth grade, also has managed to inspire people from outside of Detroit.
Janice Goldman is a prime example.
A former family physician, Goldman discovered a new family when she began volunteering at Coleman A. Young in 2012 through the school’s relationship with the National Council of Jewish Women. Before long, as she read to classes and pitched in as a tutor, while helping students tap into the power of reading, Goldman began to establish her own special relationships.
“Honestly, before I came here, I didn’t think I was great with kids, but I have continued to volunteer at Coleman A. Young because of my interactions with the students and staff,” said Goldman, who came to Detroit with her family in 1998 when her husband Howard, a real estate attorney, started a new job. “From the very beginning, everyone has been so welcoming, so supportive, so touching and moving.”
Because Goldman has been repeatedly touched and moved by her Coleman A. Young family, she was inspired to take steps that will encourage movement, fellowship and fun at her favorite school for many years to come. Once all of the steps were executed, and with a big assist provided by a generous inheritance from Goldman’s late father — Ralph Silver — Coleman A. Young’s students, staff and the surrounding neighborhood were the recipients of a new, one-of-its-kind, outdoor basketball court. And that special court was unveiled to the community during a joyous program outside the school on the afternoon of June 3.
“Janice Goldman has been in this school volunteering longer than I have been the principal!” Melissa Scott proclaimed to a cheering crowd consisting of students, teachers and other Coleman A. Young staff; retired DPSCD principals, and representatives from DPSCD’s leadership team, including Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, as she set the tone for the court-opening celebration. “Janice was a tutor. And then she became just another family member and a friend. Then she became just in love with us. And it’s not enough money in the mint that will show how grateful we are for everything she has done for us. Janice is the best partner and volunteer in all of DPSCD and we love her.”
Indeed, a spirit of “love” seemed to prevail across spaces near the court, such as when special education teacher Deborah Myers-Mack carefully laid out a blanket and then carefully planted an umbrella into the ground minutes before the ceremony began to provide some extra comfort and relief from the heat to a small group of younger students that were taking in the excitement.
“The students I’m with here are nonverbal and sometimes they just need that little extra one-on-one attention so that they can enjoy things like everyone else,” Myers-Mack explained, while speaking over the smooth sounds that were being played by another friend of the school, “Vibeman” John Davis, on the vibraphone. “All of the children here are a part of this community, and they’re not just a part of the community, they’re a huge part of it. Today shows that people care about our school as a place where our students learn and have fun, and it also shows that our community is still growing and thriving.”
Standing a couple of arm lengths away from Myers-Mack was Muskegon native Jonathan Walker, who now proudly calls himself a Detroiter, while identifying with the needs of the city’s youths as a member of the Coleman A. Young family.
“Every day when I leave to go home, kids are already starting to come to this playground who want to play basketball or get on the swing set, and Ms. Scott keeps everything open so the community can use this beautiful playground, which is really big for the city,” said Walker, a first grade teacher who is popular with the entire student body because he was formerly dean of students. “The community has taken care of this area; that’s a beautiful thing. And this is also a place where the kids practice our school’s six core values — grit, integrity, kindness, love, self control and team — which stands for teamwork makes the dream work.”
Walker also made note of the words “Go Beyond” that appear on the new basketball court. And the person who combined uplifting messages with vibrant colors and a diverse collection of smiles to transform the court into a dramatic mural — intended to inspire every person that sets foot or even eyes on it — is Phillip Simpson, affectionately known by many Detroiters as “The Smile Man.”
“This (creating the court) was a dream come true for me,” said Simpson, who was speaking as his “civilian” self before he transformed into his Smile Man persona later in the program to the delight of kids and adults. “It took a couple of weeks, and even some of the kids helped, and now it’s done for the community. I just want to spread some joy; that’s what it’s all about. And for every kid that uses the court, I want the art to inspire them.”
In addition to letting a few of the Coleman A. Young students contribute to the basketball court mural, Simpson, an admirer of muralist Curtis Lewis, whose work appears inside of the school, also welcomed creative input from Janice Goldman throughout the process. For Goldman, working with The Smile Man was part of a long collaborative journey that began in June 2022, when Goldman made up her mind that she wanted to create a special playground space for students and a neighborhood that she has come to love. During the journey, which also has allowed Goldman to honor her father — a lover of basketball who worked as a referee to help pay for his college education — she has received help from other people and institutions in the community that share her vision, including Summer in the City co-founder Ben Falik; Seth Helfman, president of City Contracting Services, and the Detroit Pistons.
Through it all, the 65-year-old Goldman, also known as Aunt J at Coleman A. Young, says she was always mindful of the special qualities possessed by the students that inspired her to often step outside of her comfort zone to turn her vision of the court into a reality.
“You always get a different perspective from the students because of their sincerity,” explained Goldman, who has created several education-themed parody music videos with students that have been widely viewed across social media platforms dating back to “Booktown Funk” in 2015 and continuing with “CAY,” a parody of “APT” by Bruno Mars and Rose, which premiered at Coleman A. Young on June 3. “The students are always very open and real. And they should never be underestimated.”
Janice Goldman should not be “underestimated” either, which she demonstrated on the morning of June 6. While reflecting on all of the special times she has shared with her Coleman A. Young family, Goldman was momentarily at a loss for words as she was trying to explain precisely how she would like the new basketball court to impact students. Suddenly, words came to her, but not in her normal speaking voice. Instead, the words flowed in the form of a rap that she shared with a cheering audience at the court-opening celebration.
And while the busy week may have sapped some of the energy that Goldman had earlier the week, the message she conveyed Friday morning, and her passion for Coleman A. Young students came through loud and clear: “Work on your body and work on your mind. Don’t be discouraged, you’ll get there in time. Make them both strong and keep them both kind. Work hard, play hard, you’ll be just fine.”
Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.