Photos by Robin Schwartz

metro »

Asa Weinstein, Robert Victor, David Safta, Joey Katz and Nathan Yusufov

Hands On!

Hillel students
experience Detroit’s
Downtown Boxing
Gym Youth Program.

Robin Schwartz | Contributing Writer

I

t takes guts to throw a punch
in the direction of Coach Khali
Sweeney, founder and director of the
Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program
in Detroit. But, one by one, dozens of
eighth-graders from Hillel Day School
in Farmington Hills slipped on boxing
gloves, stepped up to the coach and gave
it their best shot during a Dec. 9 field
trip.
“They learned pretty quickly,” Khali
said later. “A few of them threw some
really good shots I wouldn’t want to get
hit with.”
The students were the first suburban
school group to visit the boxing gym’s
27,500-square-foot facility on Vernor
Highway and get a firsthand look at the
free afterschool program that serves
about 140 Detroit students ages 7-18.
There is currently a 700-child waiting
list to receive the tutoring and academic
support, dinner, boxing and mentoring
the program provides five nights a week.
Coach Khali started the gym in 2007. To
date, 100 percent of participants have
graduated from high school.
“It’s so inspirational,” said Julia Klein, a
Hillel teen with tight braids who practic-
es Taekwondo. “I think it’s just complete-
ly amazing what this gym is turning kids
into, turning them into successful people.
The intensity and discipline, it’s really
making them into great people who can
do amazing things in the future.”
The Hillel students learned about the
youth program and several other com-
munity organizations during a lesson
plan called “Campaign for a Cause” that
involved researching, advocating for and
even voting to support various causes.
English teacher Lauren Sterling felt
an in-person visit to the gym and other
organizations was essential.
“To hear from the coach, to see what
the children are experiencing and to
experience it themselves is very different
from reading a website,” Sterling said.

Last Work

Batsheva Dance Company

Ohad Naharin, artistic director
Saturday, January 7 // 8 pm
Sunday, January 8 // 2 pm
Power Center | Ann Arbor

The stage is bare. In the distance a woman runs on a treadmill. Her
non-stop running traces the line of time, of history being repeated.
UMS presents the North American premiere of Last Work, a new
evening-length piece by Ohad Naharin performed by 18 dancers
from one of the world’s preeminent dance companies. With its shifts
from sustained, meditative movement to frenzied bursts
of energy, this exploration of human motion — and emotion —
generates powerful images that will not soon be forgotten. Naharin’s
innovative movement language, Gaga, has enriched his extraordinary
movement invention and revolutionized the company’s training, and
LEWIQIVKIHEWEKVS[MRKMRXIVREXMSREPJSVGIMRXLIPEVKIVƪIPHSJ
movement practices for both dancers and non-dancers alike.

Contains strobe lights and partial nudity.

PRESENTING SPONSOR

F U N D E D I N PA R T BY

M E D I A PA R T N E R S

Renegade Ventures Fund,
established by Maxine and
Stuart Frankel

Building Audiences for
Sustainability initiative of
The Wallace Foundation
and the New England
Foundation for the Arts’
National Dance Project

Metro Times
Michigan Radio 91.7 FM

SUPPORTING SPONSORS

Rachel Bendit and Mark
Bernstein, and Cheryl
Cassidy

ums.org

734.764.2538

UNIVERSIT Y OF MICHIGAN | ANN ARBOR

2115580

24 December 22 • 2016

Coach Khali Sweeney answers questions
from 37 Hillel eighth-graders.

“We want the students to learn that even
though we live in different communities,
there’s a commonality of human experi-
ence.”

HOLIDAY GIFT EXCHANGE
The 37 Hillel students came bearing gifts.
They made key chains and assembled
holiday gift bags for the boxing gym’s
children, which were distributed later
that day. The class also collected $100
to donate. The students at the gym
had previously received a lesson about
Chanukah, and they left gift bags and
personal notes for the Hillel students.
In addition to a tour, boxing drills and
assembling gift bags, the eighth-graders
took part in a heartfelt question-and-
answer session with the coach.
“All you guys might go home, and
there may be food in your refrigerator;
but at my house, there was no food in my
refrigerator,” Khali said. “A lot of these
kids go home to an empty refrigerator.”
The Downtown Boxing Gym Youth
Program has many high-profile support-
ers, including Madonna and Eminem.
Other sponsors are Sachse Construction,
Quicken Loans and the Dresner
Foundation. But, the need is great.
“We’re always looking for qualified
tutors and volunteers,” said Jessica
Hauser, executive director. “It costs
$1,800 per year to sponsor a child. We
have a need for book drives. We would
love to do career days and have people
come talk to the kids about various
careers.”
“I just want them to see that we’re all
good people,” Khali said as the students
left. “We all want the same things. We
take health and education seriously.
We’re all in pursuit of happiness, peace
and love.”

*

For more on the Downtown Boxing Gym
Youth Program, to donate or volunteer, visit
downtownyouthboxing.org or call (313) 209-3029.