Alumni Spotlight - Kenneth DeGraaf, Class of 2012

Ken DeGraaf Alumni Spotlight 1Which schools did you attend? What year did you graduate?
I have been in the Lamphere School District ever since pre-school. I started off at Lessenger, then switched to Hiller for Kindergarten. I then went to Page and Lamphere where I graduated in 2012.


Where do you live now?  
Cresson, Pennsylvania 






Tell us about what you've been doing since graduation:
After graduation I headed to Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan, where I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Sport Management and was a student-athlete on the men's bowling team. I graduated top of my class and was named the Outstanding Business Student of the year in 2016 upon graduation. 


I am currently completing my first year of my MBA at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. I found an opportunity to serve as an assistant coach via graduate assistant status to their NCAA Division 1 Women's Bowling Team. It is one of the best moves I have ever made and the team is doing extremely well, currently ranked 15th in the nation and are on our way up.

Ken DeGraaf Alumni Spotlight 2Towards the end of my time at SHU, it hit me that I had an entrepreneurial side to me that I was dying to bring out. Luckily, I found two great co-founders in my life by the names of Andrew Alisa (Chief Technology Officer) and Cole Paczas (Vice President) that shared that same ambition I do. Together, we founded RecruitUS LLC, which is a sports organization that aims to get high school athletes of lesser profile sports an equal opportunity to get recruited to the collegiate level at an affordable rate. I currently serve as the President of the organization. We are about to host the 2017 RecruitUS Collegiate Bowling in Sterling Heights this April, which is paced to become the largest single college bowling recruiting event in the world. 

I encourage everyone to follow us on Facebook (RecruitUSLLC), Twitter (@RecruitUSLLC) and check-in to our website (www.recruitus.net) to follow-up with what exciting news are coming out of this company ran by three Lamphere School District Alumni.

Additionally, we will be hosting a company launch bowling fundraiser Sunday, March 5th at Bowl One Lanes in Troy, Michigan from 6:00 - 9:00 PM. It is $30 online or $40 at the door which gets you three games of cosmic bowling with music, pizza, pop, participant giveaways, and raffle prize drawings. A lot of Lamphere alumni have already signed up so it would be great to see some more come out as we would love to share this milestone with the Lamphere community.

All registration can be completed online at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/recruitus-llc-launch-bowling-fundraiser-registration-27064596938

Ken DeGraaf Alumni Spotlight 3Tell us about your family and/or hobbies:
I am the youngest of seven between me and my half siblings. Four of them attended Lamphere under the last name Boyle (Jennifer, Ashley, Katie, Emily), so a lot of people did not even know we were related. My other two siblings (Karen & Paul) come from my dad's side and grew up in the Kalamazoo area. I am still very much in contact with all of them and they have been great support systems.


For the most part my hobbies revolve around sport. I was a tri-athlete at Lamphere as a cross country runner, basketball player, and track athlete in addition to bowling in competitive leagues and tournaments on weekends. Despite currently living in Pennsylvania for grad school, I still actively follow the four professional Detroit sport franchises and Michigan State athletics. Besides sport, however, I am an active movie watcher and traveler which I find myself doing more and more now as both the President for RecruitUS LLC and as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division 1 Level. 

How did your years at Lamphere affect your life?
Words cannot express how grateful I am for Lamphere. I am a strong believer that your youth is where many of your beliefs and values are developed. Lamphere provided me with a family I will remain in touch with for life with. I'm not just talking friends, but even old teachers and staff still remain in contact with me ever since the day I graduated.


Perhaps most importantly, I am grateful for the diversity found in the Lamphere School District. Especially at Hiller Elementary, but even beyond that. Growing up with people of different ethnicities and cultures certainly forced me to open my eyes to the world around me at very young age and understand different cultural perspectives. Where I live in Pennsylvania is a predominantly caucasian population and I can't imagine having a childhood here that would be that closed to the very foundation of this country, diversity. 

The sports at Lamphere also gave me the discipline and patience to succeed beyond the course, court, and track. I have to give a special shoutout to Corey Stedman who served as my Freshman basketball coach in addition to being my varsity track & cross-country coach. He served as a father figure of sorts for me when my dad was laid off from the auto-industry and had to take a job on the west side of the state for a good amount of my high school years. We still remain close to this day, and that is a perfect example of the family atmosphere Lamphere creates. Jackie Gilmore is another teacher that helped shape me into the person I am today for the better. You just get an overall vibe at Lamphere that everyone wants to see you succeed and feel like the coaches, teachers, and staff are your biggest cheering section behind you at all times. It is that mixture of support, family, and diversity that makes me proud to be a Lamphere Ram.

If you had a message for current Lamphere students what would it be?
Don't sell yourself short. We used to joke about the term "YOLO" in high school as a trendy slang word, but how true has that become? You get this one life to make it everything you want. Don't be afraid to take that risk. There are no guarantees when you take a risk, but there is guarantee if you don't. The guarantee that you will be left all your life wondering "What if? What if I took that risk?" That's my challenge to you. Take that risk. Don't live a life of What if's.