![Nicole Carter is pictured in a collage of photos with students she serves as Novi principal.](/sites/default/files/2024-03/240304_Carter_2H2.png)
Novi Principal, Past MHSAA Council VP Carter to Receive Inaugural Hampton Award
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 4, 2024
Nicole Carter grew up in a family of educators, aspired to become one herself, and has dedicated her career to providing opportunities in all facets of education – including educational athletics – to all students through her vision and inspiration. To celebrate Carter’s continuing contributions especially to underrepresented groups in school sports, she has been selected as the inaugural honoree of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Nate Hampton Champion of Progress in Athletics Award.
The Hampton Award was created by the MHSAA’s Representative Council to honor Nate Hampton, who retired in 2021 after serving in education and educational athletics for 50 years, including the last 32 years as an MHSAA assistant director. Honorees have championed the promotion and advancement of opportunities for women, minorities and other underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, while serving as an administrator, coach, official, educator or school sports leader in Michigan.
Carter, in her 10th year as principal at Novi High School, was selected as the first recipient of the Hampton Award by the Representative Council at its Fall meeting in December and will be recognized during the Boys Basketball Finals on March 16 at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
“As an advocate and strong proponent of athletics, I understand wholeheartedly the impact they have on the whole child,” Carter said. “This is a surreal moment for me, and I’m truly honored to be the recipient of this award, keeping in mind the impact Nate Hampton had on athletics in the state of Michigan over several decades – it’s very humbling.”
Carter began at Novi in 1999, teaching for eight years before moving into administration as dean of student activities for three years and then assistant principal for three. She became principal with the 2013-14 school year and leads a staff of 140 in educating more than 2,100 students.
While leading one of the state’s largest and most highly-regarded high schools – and one of Michigan’s most diverse, with her students’ families speaking more than 70 languages at home – Carter has provided her expertise through several more efforts. She served four years on the MHSAA Representative Council, from 2019-23, and as its vice president for the 2022-23 school year. She has served on the MHSAA’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and volleyball and classification committees, and presented at the annual Women In Sports Leadership Conference on social and emotional skill building. She also has served as president of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association.
“Nicole Carter serves with the mindset of providing opportunities for all students as the principal at one of the largest and most diverse high schools in Michigan, and students statewide benefitted from her leadership during her time as part of the Representative Council and Executive Committee,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “No matter the topic or details of a situation, Nicole looks at it from a rational point of view in deciding what’s best for kids. She continues to emphasize that academics must be the highest priority in a student’s education, and she can provide that perspective with a wider lens as someone with a strong background in and understanding of the role of athletics.”
Service through education is a tradition in Carter’s family. Her grandfather Charles Butler Nuckolls served as a principal in Kentucky for 40 years prior to desegregation. Her father Gene Nuckolls also spent 40 years in education, including as principal of Saginaw High School and assistant superintendent for Saginaw Public Schools, while Carter’s mother Shirley Nuckolls dedicated 40 years as a teacher, assistant principal and guidance counselor within the Saginaw district.
Carter’s selection for the Hampton Award is something of a full-circle moment for her family. Gene Nuckolls hired Hampton as supervisor of athletic and physical education for Saginaw Public Schools in 1987.
Carter was named Michigan High School Principal of the Year in 2022 by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) and Michigan Association of Student Councils and Honor Societies (MASC/MAHS). She additionally has been recognized as a Diversity Champion as part of The Community House honor roll recognition program, and was selected as an African American Educator of the Year by the Michigan Lottery in 2016. She also was recognized in 2017 by the Oakland County Coordinating Council Against Domestic Violence.
Drawing from her athletic background and perspective, Carter noted that she strives to be a coach and mentor – as well as a teacher of teachers and students as principal at her school.
She also has continually looked to create inclusive opportunities during her tenure, citing Novi’s Special Olympics Unified Sports program as a significant point of pride for the school.
“I always lead from the lens of equity and inclusion and accessibility, and I’m always trying to identify opportunities for students to find their place,” Carter said. “Ensuring every single student in our school has a sense of belonging is one of my top priorities as principal.”
Carter is a 1993 graduate of Saginaw Heritage, where she played basketball, soccer and softball. She earned bachelor’s degrees in political science, with a minor in English, and secondary education from Michigan State University in 1999 and her master’s in curriculum and instruction from MSU in 2001. She also has an educational leadership degree from Oakland University. Carter taught civics/economics and U.S. government and politics at Novi before moving into administration.
PHOTOS courtesy of Novi Community School District.
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2020 Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 21, 2020
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2019-20 school year, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, have been announced.
The program, in its 31st year, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament.
Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 800 scholarships have been awarded.
Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, six female and six male; eight scholarships will be awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships will be awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships will be awarded to Class D student-athletes, two female and two male. In addition, two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in its classification, and could have more than one finalist. Midland Dow has four finalists this year while Cass City and Ann Arbor Pioneer each have three. Seventeen schools each have two finalists: Ada Forest Hills Eastern, Battle Creek Lakeview, Caro, Chelsea, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, Fowler, Grosse Ile, Haslett, Hastings, Holland, Ida, North Muskegon, Petersburg Summerfield, Richland Gull Lake, St. Johns, Three Oaks River Valley and Troy Athens.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.5. There are 86 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but one of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 424 schools which submitted applicants, 12 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,491 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the MHSAA Website.
The applications were judged by a 66-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 4, Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 11 and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 18. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the MHSAA Division 3 Boys Basketball Final, March 28 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale) and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
2019-20 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
GIRLS CLASS A
Alexandra Montgomery, Ann Arbor Huron
Lydia Valtadoros, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Lara Janosz, Bloomfield Hills
Madelyn Crandell, Byron Center
Morgan Cooper, Hartland
Brenna Bailey, Haslett
Kaitlyn Stid, Holland
Lucy Borski, Holland West Ottawa
Mónica Ruiz, Holly
Kayla Wolma, Hudsonville
Eliza Alushi, Livonia Stevenson
Ericka Asmus, Marquette
Sasha Konovalenko, Midland Dow
Maddie Sermak, Okemos
Kylie Ray, Pinckney
Anusha Tekumulla, Port Huron Northern
Jayne Flynn, Richland Gull Lake
Grace Foster, Richland Gull Lake
Raegan McNamara, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Rachel Gamm, Rockford
Erin Middleton, St. Johns
Elizabeth Saunders, Traverse City Central
Shaelie McClain, Troy Athens
Lauren Tarnowsky, Waterford Mott
BOYS CLASS A
Vaughn Hajra, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Owen Rennich, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Skyler Sebring, Battle Creek Lakeview
Vikram Strander, Battle Creek Lakeview
DJ Dixon, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice
Jack Spamer, Brighton
Nate Sesti, Clarkston
Caleb White, Detroit Catholic Central
Luke Sayler, Dexter
Logan Canada, Fenton
George Graham, Grosse Pointe North
Nathaniel Holcomb, Haslett
Jonah Gilmore, Holland
Tej Kothari, Jenison
Shadrach Cunningham, Lansing Waverly
Sean Anderson, Midland Dow
Saketh Kamaraju, Midland Dow
Anish Middha, Midland Dow
Brandon Liu, Northville
Malcolm Gaynor, Portage Northern
Ben Boss, Saginaw Heritage
Peter Apostol, St. Johns
Davis DiGiovanni, Troy Athens
Ethan Price, Warren Cousino
GIRLS CLASS B
Alicia Kanai, Ada Forest Hills Eastern
Baylee Martens, Battle Creek Pennfield
Delaney Wesolek, Bay City John Glenn
Eleanor Kwartowitz, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Olivia Prodin, Chelsea
Elizabeth Norris, Corunna
Tara Keller, Frankenmuth
Grace Beardsley, Gladwin
Hannah Fulmer, Grosse Ile
Hannah Johnson, Hastings
Elizabeth Hovest, Ida
Sheridan Leinbach, Lansing Eastern
Katelynn Ceccacci, Ortonville Brandon
Abbey Almeda, Plainwell
Katherine Topoleski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Faith Schafer, Williamston
BOYS CLASS B
Gabriel Hassan, Ada Forest Hills Eastern
Brice Austin, Alma
Jacob Herman, Berrien Springs
Jack Fairman, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Isaac Joslyn, Caro
Trevin Phillips, Caro
Joseph Norwood, Chelsea
Chris Lilly, Croswell-Lexington
Ben Lankfer, Grand Rapids Catholic Central
Lucas Kopp, Grosse Ile
William Roosien III, Hastings
Samuel Beach, Hillsdale
Alex Mitchell, Holland Christian
Hunter Assenmacher, Ida
Jorden Sowash, Owosso
Andrew Innerebner, Sault Ste. Marie
GIRLS CLASS C
Anna Laurenz, Breckenridge
Alanna Mayer, Bronson
Makayla Fletcher, Clinton
Madelyn Koski, Ishpeming Westwood
Lauren Schnicke, Kent City
Kayla Moore, Madison Heights Bishop Foley
Grace Tylutki, Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central
Isabella Santiago-Lindsay, North Muskegon
Ellie DuVall, Ottawa Lake Whiteford
Ellary Pachulski, Saranac
Allyson Kemp, Unionville-Sebewaing
Olivia Bowman, White Cloud
BOYS CLASS C
Hutson Hohlbein, Adrian Lenawee Christian
Gabriel Seir, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Jared Gottschalk, Beal City
Kendall Anthes, Cass City
Sandyn Cuthrell, Cass City
Drew Markel, Cass City
Giovanni Basanese, Iron Mountain
Jack Pedlar, Lake City
Riley McKenna, Lakeview
John Hayhurst, North Muskegon
Brendan Dafoe, Petersburg Summerfield
Noah Dusseau, Petersburg Summerfield
GIRLS CLASS D
Teegan Dawson, Bellaire
Josie Koenigsknecht, Fowler
Colleen McCarthy, Onekama
Emma Engler, Peck
Kaitlyn Bricker, Pellston
Isabel Mossel, Plymouth Christian
Samantha Teachworth, Portland St. Patrick
Emma Springer, Three Oaks River Valley
BOYS CLASS D
Tony Piggott, Fowler
Ramy Abueita, Genesee
Alex Sutten, Marion
Lesley Armah, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
Adam Paga, Petoskey St. Michael Academy
James Storey, Pickford
Bryce Opie, Suttons Bay
Matthew Schmidt, Three Oaks River Valley