This article originally appeared in the Allegan County News and has been republished with permission. If you are an Allegan Public Schools graduate and would like to be featured in an article, contact our Communications Director.
By LESLIE BALLARD
Allegan County News
What do Jaycees, trombones, animal science, chinchillas, roller derby and St. Bernards have in common? Kayleigh Gratz, AHS Class of 2012.
Joining the Jaycees was a natural step for Kayleigh, whose childhood memories of her parents’ Jaycee involvement was a big part of her decision to join the Allegan chapter in 2017. She became a board member the following year and president in the years 2020 and 2021. Many of the projects she chaired won the Allegan chapter awards, including national awards for the chapter for the first time in about 15 years.
Kayleigh was also recognized for her leadership as she won outstanding local president for two years and went on to national consideration for the most outstanding president in 2021. She served as a district director for JCI Michigan in 2022 and won the award for most outstanding district director. This year, she is serving as JCI Michigan’s Membership Vice President. She is also a dual member in the neighboring South Kent chapter.
She enjoys participating in the various Jaycee events such as the ALEgan craft beer festival at the fairgrounds (June 3rd) that also features bands and BBQ food trucks. They also host an annual Easter egg hunt, adopt families in need at Christmas, maintain the flags downtown for various holidays, serve beer at the fair concerts, partnered with Allegan Speak Up! to put together the first Pride event, and hosted Dog Days of Summer at the Riverfront Splash Pad, an event to highlight and fundraise for Wishbone Pet Rescue, Beyond Bones, and Paws with a Cause.
An extra perk of being a Jaycee is getting to meet members all over the state, country, and globe. She was able to meet with a Swiss Jaycee chapter while touring Switzerland in October with a fellow alum from the MSU Marching Band.
Being a member of the MSU Marching Band had long been Kayleigh’s goal: “I knew when I was little that I’d be going to MSU because both of my parents went there.”
Kayleigh’s favorite teacher, band director Ms. Mack, had played trombone in the Spartan Marching Band, and taught Kayleigh how to play the Spartan fight song on her trombone when she was in 7th grade. “She was a big influence in my life. I don’t think I would have had all the opportunities to develop the skills to get into MSU band without her.”
She can’t say enough about Mack and her AHS Marching Band experience. “It’s a really rigorous band program. We went to state every year and were in the higher-level competitions as a Michigan Competitive Band Association band. Ms. Mack went over the top!”
When more technical levels of playing were needed in 10th grade, Mack lined up different instructors to work with Kayleigh. Guest conductors such as college music professors would work with the AHS marching band and provide feedback before competitions. She also got to meet John Madden, who was then the Director for the Spartan Marching Band.
Kayleigh played in every solo and ensemble competition possible, participated in multiple honor’s bands, attended brass camp, and even played with the Grand Rapids Symphony for their “76 Trombones” celebration as a junior, the youngest musician there.
So she felt ready when she made the cut for the “very competitive” program made up of 300 students. Kayleigh is one of three Allegan graduates to qualify for the Spartan Marching Band. She performed at the Rose Bowl in 2014, something her mentor had done in 1988, and was a member of the Spartan Brass pep band. When she did her freshman band initiation, a traditional march across the MSU campus, Miss Mack was there.
During the summers, she would return to Allegan and help instruct at band camp.
Being in the Spartan Marching Band also gave Kayleigh opportunities to travel. She traveled to 11 states and Washington, D.C. and performed in the Cotton Bowl and at tournaments like the 2015 Final Four. With a band mate, she also traveled to China for spring break one year.
She still plays with the MSU alumni band, most recently on campus after the shooting that took the lives of three students. She says the shooting really brought the reality of these tragedies home to her. “As we played, I thought ‘I had classes in that building’ or ‘we used to hang out there’.”
At MSU while earning a B.S. in Animal Science, Kayleigh studied abroad in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. She also had a summer internship on a dairy farm in France. In addition to being a member of the Dairy Club, she competed in MSU dairy competitions and went on to represent MSU in National Dairy Challenge, a competition in evaluating farm management. She also was a member of the MSU Driving Club, driving draft horses, was employed at the MSU swine farm, and worked on many dairy-related research projects.
Her interest in dairy farms came naturally as her father grew up one. “I spent summers visiting the family farm, and I loved that. We also visited a lot of different farms. I was in 4-H and Hopkins FFA during high school and showed pigs, goats, and rabbits at the fair.”
From graduation until May ‘21, Kayleigh worked at a large pig farm in Hamilton, as an animal caretaker. “I like working with livestock in a farm setting.”
She now works as an anatomical pathology technician in a bio-pharma lab, a third-party testing facility, where they perform safety and efficacy assessments for drugs prior to clinical trials. “I like the research component. It’s more aligned to my degree and is also hands-on.”
Which bring us to the chinchillas. Kayleigh, one of three registered breeders in MI, has a herd of 70-80 chinchillas. They give her the chance to use her agriculture and animal science background as she tries different genetic combinations. Annually, she visits two high schools’ FFA programs with chinchillas and speaks about raising them and the history of chinchilla ranching.
She bought her first chinchilla while in college from a breeder in Lansing. She helped out in his chinchilla barn on occasion and one of the perks was free supplies. Kayleigh also had the chance to go to chinchilla shows and make contacts with other breeders. During the summer of 2021, she was the herd manager on his farm.
“They’re cool little animals. Sassy! They don’t like to be cuddled.”
“You also don’t need a lot of land or money to raise chinchillas, and I can handle the workload myself. I have friends who help out sometimes – they think it’s cool.”
Her interest in roller derby also began at MSU. “I started doing it right before the Rose Bowl as a way to get in shape. I thought I needed to get my stamina up, and my mom encouraged me to do it.” She played on an East Lansing team for two years, eventually spraining her ACL. “I didn’t want to injure myself so that I couldn’t do marching band, so I gave it up.”
“Now my job is less physically demanding and practice works well with my schedule. It’s another way to exercise and I prefer team activity.” She is now relearning with a team in Kalamazoo.
“Ever since I was eight, I have owned and loved St. Bernards,” and she plans to import one eventually. While in Switzerland, she went to the Natural History Museum in Bern, where the legendary Barry is displayed, and Barryland, a museum dedicated to all things St. Bernard. She currently has two Saints: Moose, who is recognized in town often, and Minka, a new adoptee.
Kayleigh now lives in Allegan. “I like being in a small town, and my job is fairly close. I know everybody, and my dad’s family is tight knit.”
In 2020, she bought the house she grew up in from her mother, and her dad has since moved in with her as the house was “way too big to live in by myself.”
“Allegan is a lot different now – a lot more downtown activities, more options, more for people to do,” she said, citing the 3rd of July, Rolling on the River, Bridge Fest, the Social District, Tantrick’s activities, Jaycee events, and so on. She has good memories from her years in the Allegan schools. “I spoke Spanish for 60-70% of my day at my old job, and I learned it all from the Spanish program in high school.”
Ed Spicer, an elementary teacher at North Ward, was “heavily involved in young adult (YA) literature.” He and Nancy Hascall hosted the Galley Group, a club that received proofs of novels and reviewed them. “It was amazing to give direct feedback to the author,” she said.
Her AP Literature teacher, Nancy Hascall, asked her students to write a letter to a favorite author. Kayleigh chose New York Times bestselling author Libby Bray. Bray emailed Spicer when she received the letter. She said she had been going through writer’s block, and Kayleigh’s letter reminded her of why she wrote and helped her get on with her writing. Later, at the Tiger Tales Literary Contest banquet, Kayleigh received a box of signed Bray books.
She was also a member of the varsity quiz bowl team, going to state competition at MSU her junior and senior years. While attending MSU, when the Allegan team was on campus for state, she went to watch the matches and reunite with Ms. Boes.
She recalls projects such as Miss Copper’s assignment in which students took on the role of diverse historical figures who participated in a video debate.
Choosing a decade and finding a song from that decade and then describing the significance of that song to the era was something from Mr. Munn’s AP World History class that she liked as was Mrs. Hunziker’s Greek city-state competitions.
Now Kayleigh is looking forward to traveling more and growing in her Jaycee career- she has aspirations to become state president someday, and if elected, would be the first JCI Michigan president to be from the Allegan chapter, which is one of the oldest in the state.
