The winner of “Big” Al Szolack’s annual essay contest at Pleasant Valley Elementary School (PVS) was honored at the Harrison Township school board meeting on June 22.
Szolack – a former pro basketball player – is a state-certified substance abuse counselor who visits PVS every year to talk to students about the dangers of smoking, vaping, alcohol and illegal drugs, as well as mental-health issues. Students in fourth to sixth grade address those issues by writing about how they can avoid substance use and their reasons for doing so.
This year’s winner is sixth-grader Norah McMichael, who will get a free week at Szolack’s summer basketball camp.
“Every year,” Szolack explained, “I have an essay contest, and it’s kind of funny because two years ago, Addison, this young lady’s (Norah’s) sister … won the contest. What she did with it (the prize) was, she passed it on to somebody who was less fortunate, to have a free week at my basketball camp.
“When a kid does that, it’s a heck of a credit to the parents, and it’s also a heck of a credit to the schools.”
Norah McMichael was unable to attend the meeting so she was represented by her grandfather, Daniel Gavin, the subject of her essay. He is a former drug and alcohol addict who has been sober for 30 years.
Gavin read the essay aloud to the board members.
“When my grandpa was a young man,” Norah wrote, “he took drugs. He was influenced to do drugs and alcohol by his friend. His friend offered him drugs while doing alcohol. This hurt him, his family and friends. My mom did not know where he was for days on end. She did not know if he was coming back that day or in a few days. It was very scary for her.
“He did this for years,” the essay continued. “But when he almost passed away, he decided to seek God for healing. It was a slow, long and hard process, but he got better. I’m very grateful for this. Because had he not chosen to change his life, I would have never met him.”
“I was my granddaughter’s age when I chose the wrong friends in school,” Gavin recalled at the board meeting. “I was athletic, playing sports in high school, and then things started unraveling as I dabbled more into drugs and alcohol.
“Had there been a program, like what Al does, for me, there would have been a different outcome.”
McMichael’s essay hit close to home for Szolack. After his basketball years were over, he became a cocaine addict, a habit he formed after the death of his mother and continued for seven years until it nearly claimed his life. Now Szolack uses his personal experience to help kids avoid the same mistakes he made and help others on the road to recovery.
“I’m still going out speaking to churches,” he noted. “I’m speaking to different organizations, (at) the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, in schools. I’ve traveled far, like to Naples, Florida, just trying to make a difference.
“Trying to make the world a little bit better when I leave than when I’m here.”
Daniel Gavin (left) reads his granddaughter Norah McMichael’s winning essay, in which she wrote about her grandfather’s own battles with drugs and alcohol.
