'Hearts' Focus Includes Action Planning
November 12, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
As most of Michigan’s high school athletes move inside this month for the start of winter sports, many will take part in a program introduced to Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools this fall that assists coaches and students in preparing for the possibility of a health emergency during their after-school practices and events.
Prior to the start of this 2015-16 school year, the MHSAA sent every member school the “Anyone Can Save a Life” emergency action plan authored by the Minnesota State High School League and the Medtronic Foundation. The program instructs schools to assemble teams made up of coaches and their students that will act in the event someone suffers sudden cardiac arrest or another emergency medical situation.
“Anyone Can Save a Life” suggests a game plan that establishes four teams on every level of every sport in a school – a 911 Team, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) Team, AED (automated external defibrillator) Team and Heat Stroke Team. The groups are made up of coaches and their students who will be in close proximity to all after-school activities.
It’s another valuable tool as the MHSAA begins work on the fourth piece of its eight-year “4 H’s” health and safety emphasis. The next two school years focus on Hearts to go with efforts over the last six years centered on Health Histories, Heads and Heat issues faced by MHSAA athletes. This fall, for the first time, all varsity head coaches at MHSAA member schools were required to have CPR certification – another means by which athletic personnel can work to counter the random, unpredictable nature of sudden cardiac arrest.
“There is something we can do. We can be prepared. We can develop emergency plans, display AEDs and deliver CPR. And, like any good sports teams, we need to practice our preparations,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “’Anyone Can Save a Life’ can help schools revise or revitalize their existing emergency plans in ways that engage team members in planning, practice and execution. This could help save lives now and also convey important lifelong life-saving lessons to students involved on these teams.”
Students are a vital component to having a successful emergency action plan. They will be put in position to call 911, meet the ambulance at a pre-determined access point, locate the nearest AED, make sure immersion tubs are filled for hot-weather practices, and for those who are trained, to assist with CPR. Coaches identify students at the beginning of the season and prior to an emergency taking place, and provide them with the details of the job they are assigned so they will be ready to assist in the event of an emergency.
The “Anyone Can Save a Life” plan was sent to schools nationwide with assistance from the National Federation of State High School Associations and the NFHS Foundation. Click for information on "Anyone Can Save a Life."
“The ‘Anyone Can Save a Life’ initiative promotes the need to have and to practice planning for different kinds of emergencies,” Roberts said. “The result can be a fresh, comprehensive emphasis on preparing for emergencies well before they occur and then responding with more confidence when those emergencies inevitably happen. It is the perfect link between the last two years when we focused on heat illness and the next two years when we focus on sudden cardiac arrest.”
This fall’s focus on “Hearts” began in the wake of 122 Michigan schools receiving recognition this spring as HEARTSafe by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan Department of Education, American Heart Association, Michigan Alliance for Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death of the Young and the MHSAA.
Public Act 12 of 2014 requires all schools (grades kindergarten to 12) to have a cardiac emergency response plan in place. This MI HEARTSafe School designation recognizes 122 schools that have taken steps above and beyond to prepare to respond in the event of a cardiac emergency, and is awarded for a period of three years.
In order for a school to receive MI HEARTSafe designation, it must perform at least one cardiac emergency response drill per year, have a written medical emergency response plan and team, have current CPR/AED certification of at least 10 percent of staff, have accessible, properly maintained and inspected AEDs with signs identifying their location, and ensure pre-participation sports screening of all student-athletes using the current physical and history form endorsed by the MHSAA.
Schools that meet all requirements are able to apply for the MI HEARTSafe School designation each year. Click for information and for a list of designated schools.
2026 MHSAA Bush Awards Honorees Exemplify Dedicated Service in Several Roles
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 30, 2026
Athletic administrators must balance multiple roles no matter the size of their school districts or numbers of sports they direct, and St. Ignace’s Don Gustafson, Brethren’s Jason Kemler, Grand Rapids’ Jolinda Lucas and Greenville’s Brian Zdanowski have thrived while shouldering wide-ranging responsibilities to provide first-rate athletic experiences for their students.
Their dedication to school sports and those athletes – both locally and statewide – made them clearly deserving recipients of 2026 Allen W. Bush Meritorious Service Awards as selected by the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Representative Council.
Al Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to school athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to people who are giving and serving locally, regionally or statewide without a lot of attention. This is the 35th year of the award.
Gustafson has taught at his alma mater St. Ignace since 1982 and continued even after retiring from administration in 2021. In addition to his classroom work, he served as assistant athletic director his first three years, then athletic director for four, as junior high principal from 1994-2005, high school principal from 2005-11 and superintendent for the next decade.
He’s also been an MHSAA-registered game official since 1978, working six Finals in football, one in basketball and numerous in cross country, in addition to several more postseason events during his time officiating seven sports. He was named to the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) Hall of Honor in 2021 as an official and “Friend of Basketball.”
Gustafson served on the MHSAA Representative Council from 2015-21. The Michigan State University grad also has served on St. Ignace’s city council, taking time away only during his tenure as superintendent.
“Don Gustafson’s contributions to school sports span nearly half a century and have included everything from behind-the-scenes support to being considered one of the state’s top game officials and a valued voice on our Representative Council,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “He has long been a knowledgeable and positive voice impacting not only the Upper Peninsula but our community statewide.”
Brethren High School athletic director Jason Kemler recently completed his 20th year with the Kaleva Norman Dickson school district, where he has hosted several MHSAA Tournament events in a variety of sports including Regionals in track & field both at the high school and middle school/junior high levels. He’s also served on multiple MHSAA committees including the Junior High/Middle School Committee.
Kemler has done extensive work as well as part of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA), serving as a regional representative, historical records chairperson and co-chair of the middle school/junior high committee, and also co-chair for the MIAAA’s 60th and 65th anniversary celebrations. He was named the MIAAA’s Region 3 Athletic Director of the Year in 2023.
Kemler is a graduate of Dansville High School and Albion College and received his teaching certificate from Michigan State University and master’s from Central Michigan University. He also serves as a captain for his local fire department.
“Jason Kemler’s stamp is all over the Brethren athletic department and community as a whole, as he’s embraced all of the roles that go with serving at a small school – teaching physical education and history and coaching as well as serving as athletic director and representing his school in significant ways among his colleagues statewide,” Uyl said. “His commitment and dedication are fine examples of what the Bush Award seeks to recognize.”
Lucas also has made an outsized impact at the middle school level during her 14 years serving in multiple roles for Grand Rapids Public Schools, including as middle school athletic director, director of all GRPS elementary sports and as athletic director for Grand Rapids University Prep Academy, whose students compete for either Ottawa Hills or Union High School. She has served on the MHSAA Junior High/Middle School Committee, contributing to an increasing emphasis at that level, and was selected as a meet manager for inaugural MHSAA Cross Country and Track & Field Regionals for junior high/middle school athletes.
Also a teacher at University Prep and an MHSAA-registered official the last six years for track & field and cross country – and the last two for volleyball – Lucas has served as sportsmanship chair for the MIAAA and as part of the MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award Committee, and on the board for the Michigan-based Academy of Sports Leadership. She was named the MIAAA’s Region 14 Athletic Director of the Year in 2022.
Lucas graduated from Hobart (Ind.) High School and has a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health from Indiana State University, a master’s in educational leadership from Indiana University, and earned her certified athletic administrator designation from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA). She is a Red Cross instructor and has served on the GRPS health and physical education leadership team. Prior to coming to Grand Rapids, Lucas served in multiple athletic administration roles in Indiana, where she also taught for 24 years and earned a 30-year coaching and multiple 20-year service awards.
“Jolinda Lucas has brought a special dedication to our junior high and middle school sports and their important roles in educational athletics,” Uyl said. “She has provided valuable input on a variety of historic decisions, including the addition of sixth graders to MHSAA competition and creation of Regional competitions in cross country and track & field. Her foresight is impacting Michigan’s school-sports athletes at the youngest levels and making a difference that will continue to benefit them as they advance to high school programs.”
Zdanowski recently completed his 28th school year as athletic director at Greenville after previously serving as a teacher, coach and athletic director over a decade at Onaway and Midland Bullock Creek. As an athletic director, he has hosted more than 100 MHSAA Tournament events, including five 8-Player Football Finals and 13 11-Player Semifinals. He also has been an MHSAA-registered game official for 44 years, working five sports including Finals in baseball in 1995 and football in 2001.
The longtime administrator also has served on multiple MHSAA committees, including more than a decade on the MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award Committee, and served as Ottawa-Kent Conference president for two years. He’s been a member of the MIAAA for 34 years, Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) for 28 years and National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) for 25. He was named the MIAAA’s Region 4 Athletic Director of the Year in 2008.
Zdanowski, a graduate of Standish-Sterling, has a bachelor’s degree in teacher education from Saginaw Valley State University and a master’s in athletic administration from Central Michigan University. He’s also completed 24 courses from the NIAAA Leadership Training Institute.
“Brian Zdanowski has created a program at Greenville that is the model of quality, and that was proven deservedly when his athletic department was named an Exemplary Athletic Program by the MIAAA in 2000, the first year of that prestigious recognition program,” Uyl said. “He has consistently shared what he’s built at home with the rest of the state for now several decades, and we continue to be thankful for Brian’s desire to serve and contribute to school sports in a variety of leadership roles.”
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.