The House Gillette Helped Build
February 1, 2012
Maribeth Johnston’s description made it easy to imagine the bustling activity that was Janet Gillette’s Comstock Park athletic office for 20 years.
Gillette and her secretary’s desks, piled with shelves of labeled and color-coded binders. A wall-sized white board calendar marked with sports activities for the next two months. Floor to ceiling shelf units, labeled cubbies and a copy machine loaded with paper of various colors. Trophies on shelves awaiting their turn in the school’s display case.
And then there were the two most telling images of Gillette’s legacy during four decades as a part of Comstock Park schools. On other walls were hundreds of pictures of students, athletes, coaches and staff. And in the center of the athletic office were two large work tables, usually occupied by student volunteers stuffing envelopes, organizing and counting uniforms or taking any on other task to help out.
“Her attention to detail, service for others and devotion to make every event ‘special’ is what endears her to the people in our school system,” wrote Johnston, who recently finished her 24th season as the school’s volleyball coach, in a letter of recommendation for the MHSAA’s Women in Sports Leadership Award. “The athletic office is a wonderful place. But the person who makes it all happen is Jan Gillette.”
Gillette attended Comstock Park, came back as a teacher and coach, and retired in 2010 after spending her final 19 school years as athletic director. She is the 25th woman to be recognized with the WISL Award for exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics. The award will be presented during Sunday’s Women In Sports Leadership Conference banquet at the Lexington Lansing Hotel.
“One of my quotes that people always hear is there’s no greater privilege in life than to have an impact on a young person. I got to do that every day,” Gillette said. “And they impacted my life as well."
A 1973 graduate of Comstock Park, Gillette began coaching at the school just a year later. A four-sport athlete in high school, she eventually coached girls tennis, softball, volleyball and middle school basketball while also joining the district’s teaching staff in 1977 after attending Grand Rapids Community College and Grand Valley State (playing two sports at the former). Gillette then served as the high school athletic director beginning in 1990.
Under her leadership, Comstock Park served host to numerous MHSAA postseason tournaments, including 15 Lower Peninsula Track and Field Finals and multiple Girls Competitive Cheer Finals. Gillette also was active with the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, serving as a presenter at numerous conferences and developing a coaches handbook.
“Few administrators have such a long record of hosting MHSAA Finals, evidence again of Janet Gillette’s drive to contribute not only at Comstock Park, but to high school sports on a larger scale,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “Her involvement with female athletics dates back nearly to their inception. Jan’s impact will continue to be felt for years to come, and her contributions set a high standard for administrators in the future. We’re proud to honor her with the Women In Sports Leadership Award.”
Girls sports have evolved the most since Gillette first joined the athletic scene. Back then, seasons were only eight weeks, and volleyball, bowling and softball were not yet sponsored by the MHSAA. “To see what we have now, it’s just awesome,” Gillette said.
She is a member of the Comstock Park Athletic Hall of Fame, and has been recognized as Regional Athletic Director of the Year by the MIAAA, Athletic Director of the Year by the Michigan Competitive Cheer Coaches Association and the West Michigan Basketball-Football Association, and Comstock Park Employee of the Year in 2004. She also received the MHSAA’s Allen W. Bush Award in 2006 for her service to high school athletics.
In the community, Gillette has served as a coach in the Northwest Little League and been active with the Alpine Baptist Church as an AWANA Director and a Sunday School teacher.
“Mrs. G” hardly has disappeared from the school scene. She still manages the school’s volleyball tournaments and cheer invitationals, and the 250-person effort that makes the Division 3 Track and Field Final happen each spring.
She’s the first to credit all of those helpers, as well as the school boards, principals and superintendents who led the district during her career.
“I love Comstock Park. I love the community. I grew up there, and my dream was always to become a coach and a teacher,” Gillette said. “I didn’t want to do anything else because of the impact my teachers and the staff had on me, and the coaches.
“To go back to your own home town, what better could there be?”
Past Women In Sports Leadership Award recipients
1990 – Carol Seavoy, L’Anse
1991 – Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 – Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 – Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 – Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 – Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 – Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 – Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 – Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 – Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 – Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 – Suzanne Martin, East Lansing
2002 – Susan Barthold, Kentwood
2003 – Nancy Clark, Flint
2004 – Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, Grand Rapids
2005 – Barbara Redding, Capac
2006 – Melanie Miller, Lansing
2007 – Jan Sander, Warren Woods
2008 – Jane Bos, Grand Rapids
2009 – Gail Ganakas, Flint; Deb VanKuiken, Holly
2010 – Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2011 – Ellen Pugh, West Branch; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
PHOTOS courtesy of Comstock Park High School.
Westland John Glenn's Polk Passes 500 Coaching Wins, Looks Forward to Future
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
February 21, 2023
If you can’t beat them, join them.
When Bill Polk was a high school wrestler at Dearborn High School, he lost his last match – at the MHSAA Finals – to a wrestler from Westland John Glenn.
Now, 30 years later, Polk is racking up wins on behalf of John Glenn as the Rockets’ varsity wrestling coach. Earlier this season, Polk collected career victory No. 500 and sees no end in sight for his ultra-successful wrestling career.
“I still have the passion,” said Polk. “About 15 minutes after we lost in the Regionals, I was meeting with our assistants and talking about camps and jotting down our lineup for 2023-24.”
Polk has been a fixture at John Glenn since graduating from Olivet College and landing a teaching job with the Westland district. Wrestling played a role in that as well.
“The head coach that was leaving contacted me and asked if I would be willing to come in,” Polk said. “We got into a conversation about it, and I talked him into staying a little longer and helping me out. It was nice he stuck around for two years and gave me the reigns.”
His first season as head coach at John Glenn was 2000-01, when the team went a modest 9-6. The Rockets won 17 matches both of the next two winters and 27 in 2003-04.
“I thought I would be winning state titles in a couple of years,” Polk said. “I had no clue of the intricacies it took to do such a thing. It’s been a good journey.”
John Glenn has made five trips to the MHSAA Team Finals, reaching the final four once.
And, Polk added, “there have been about a dozen times where we were one match away.”
He’s done a masterful job of putting together a great foundation at John Glenn.
“It’s not easy. It took 10 years before we had our first final eight appearance. There’s a lot that goes into building a program – changing the culture, building a youth program, getting everything set in the summer. It took some time for all of that and to get buy-in.”
The sport has changed dramatically during his 25 years of coaching, from the year-round training to the tremendous impact that youth wrestling has had on the sport across the state.
“Wrestling has changed so much since then,” he said. “About 20 years ago, you took a few kids to camp and had some summer open mats. Now, the kids are coming into ninth grade ready to wrestle. It’s phenomenal. Our youth program has 90 kids involved. I couldn’t imagine that 20 years ago. What youth wrestling has grown into is absolutely crazy.”
Polk has always welcomed his former wrestlers back to contribute to the program, from youth to junior high to the varsity level. In fact, nearly all of the assistant coaches and youth coaches wrestled for him.
“The group I have now, for the most part, all wrestled for me, were super successful, are young guys and they know the system,” Polk said. “I’m there and part of it, but I’m more or less invisible now. They know what they are doing and are super passionate about it and do an outstanding job. I’m very fortunate with that.”
John Glenn won its 18th District title this year under Polk but lost 36-27 to Temperance Bedford in a Division 1 Regional Semifinal. The Rockets and Mules seem to run into each other every year, and there have been some great state tournament battles.
One of Polk’s signature dual meet wins was against the Mules.
“The first year we finally beat Bedford was huge,” Polk said. “That was a big one. That was the 2008-09 season. That was a statement that we made it and our team was known as a competitive team. The best part about that is we’ve been able to maintain that and stay near the top. We really haven’t had a lot of down years from there.”
At first, Polk’s 500th career win came and went without anyone noticing. He saw a local newspaper report about a coach that had won match No. 400, and his assistant coaches began asking how many wins he had. That was about 14 wins after No. 500, which came Dec. 14 against Dearborn Edsel Ford.
“I told those guys not to say anything and, of course, they made a big deal out of it,” he said. “It’s nice. It’s a good milestone to hit. I just didn’t want it to distract from the task at hand. I kind of feel like a small-town celebrity now. The community was pretty excited about it.”
His 2021-22 team won 32 matches, as did his 2009-10 team. This year’s squad went 29-6.
His record now stands at 522-145.
It’s fitting that he has won so many dual meets, because dual meets are one of his favorite parts about the sport. Twenty or so years ago, dual meets made up only a fraction of the season, but today they are a big part.
“It’s my favorite part – the research that goes into trying to bump guys around to win those big meets,” he said. “It’s a chess match. It’s part of what makes it fun.”
The atmosphere surrounding a big dual meet or quad, he said, can be electric.
“You can’t substitute that environment,” he said. “The team aspect is my favorite. Everyone is involved, from your all-staters to your first-year ninth graders. They can all be there and be part of it, not just four or five guys.”
Polk has coached six Individual Finals champions and nearly 90 placers as well.
As a college wrestler, Polk qualified for the nationals three times at Olivet and was team captain his senior season. It was sometime during his junior year that he realized he wanted to remain with the sport after college.
“I just started thinking I wanted to be involved,” he said. “I didn’t know it at the time or what, but coaching was something that started interesting me. I hadn’t been involved in the sport for very long at that time. I wasn’t a youth wrestler or anything. I’m still very passionate about it.”
Polk just turned 49. He has no plans to step away from coaching anytime soon.
“I love it. I’m fortunate to be in a good place surrounded with good people. I’m still having fun. I still really enjoy it,” he said. “I’m going to keep going. I don’t know if I will be one of those guys who are in it 40-50 years, but I’m going to go for a while.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTO Westland John Glenn coach Bill Polk holds up a banner honoring his 500th victory. (Photo courtesy of the Westland John Glenn athletic department.)