What do Oprah Winfrey, Tony Hawk and Dolly Parton all have in common? Well, besides being famous, they all have a pair of shoes on display in a middle school classroom in northern Michigan.
Matt Hamilton knows he doesn’t have the typical social studies room. Yes, there are a few maps and history posters — but he also has shelves and shelves of worn shoes.
Still, it doesn’t smell that bad in the East Jordan Middle School classroom.
“Gov. [Gretchen] Whitmer came to our class last week so… I did put a dryer sheet in each shoe to kind of help with the smell a little bit,” Hamilton said, laughing.
Standing in the classroom, Hamilton and a few of his students point out different pieces in the “Shoe Museum.” There are lots of famous athletes and celebrities, as well as historical figures, inventors and activists.
Right below Jane Goodall's brown slip-ons are Shaquille O’Neil’s bright yellow size-22s. There’s Charlie Duke, the 10th man to walk on the moon, and Barbara Henry, the former teacher of Ruby Bridges.
Hamilton points out Aidan Hutchinson of the Detroit Lions and some little cherry-red high heels that belonged to Dolly Parton.
In total, Hamilton has collected nearly 200 star-powered shoes. They’re all donated and he said he tries to acquire a new pair every month.
That doesn’t always happen, but students like Seinna McLeod and Bristol Skop said they love watching the collection grow.
“I can't even think of my favorite shoe,” McLeod said. “We just heard so many awesome stories I couldn't even pick one [pair] if I tried.”
The Shoe Museum is the statement piece of the East Jordan Shoe Club, which Hamilton started in 2008. But collecting famous people’s shoes isn’t actually what the club is about.
The year the club started, 2008, was a sorrowful year for the East Jordan community, “the type of town where everybody knows everybody,” Hamilton said.
In January, a 15-year-old girl named Sarah Higdon died in a snowmobile accident. Then, a month later, her friend Brandon Patton passed away.
Hamilton was Sarah and Brandon’s teacher, and their deaths struck him; he remembers them sitting in their class and walking the halls.
“At the time, I was teaching eighth grade, and Sarah was a freshman. Brandon was… a sophomore. Both great kids in our school,” Hamilton said. “Just smiles, hard working. Just your typical young kids that are full of life and full of promise and a lot of potential.”
Later that semester, the school district brought in a speaker named Mike Donahue, an author and the founder of Value Up — a youth motivation company.
Donahue visits schools to speak on tough subjects, and he believes most of the problems facing young people can be traced back to their self-worth.
Hamilton said one part of Donahue’s talk that stuck with him, when Donahue took out a huge duffle bag and started removing sneakers that belonged to students who went through hard times but were able to persevere.
“This girl was struggling at home and then going to school and being made fun of. Then this boy here had a scholarship straight As, but yet, his dad wasn't in his life. Kids look like everything is perfect and fine… but on the inside, they're struggling,” Hamilton said.
Those worn out sneakers were a symbol for Hamilton and his students.
They told a story about someone's journey to reach their full potential. That’s why Hamilton collects the shoes of remarkable people — because they can serve as a source of inspiration.
“If a kid can realize that they're valuable no matter what, then they're going to treat themselves as valuable, and they're going to dream big," he said. "They're going to set goals, they're going to work hard, and they're going to give back."
To join, students have to read the book "Value Up," which is co-authored by Mike Donahue and Hamilton. They write a paper on it, then make a list of 10 life goals and develop a plan to achieve them.
Then the students have to complete an annual community service project.
In just the last few years, the team has raised $70,000 to buy solar panels for school buildings, helped enhance a memorial park in town and compiled a book of stories about local veterans.
The students said these are experiences they and their community won’t soon forget.
“You could be doing some stuff like we do, just on even a local level, just small things that you start doing every day that can affect your community,” said junior Ryan McVannel, who’s now a mentor for the younger members of the Shoe Club.
The last thing students have to do to get into the Shoe Club is donate a pair of their own.
Those shoes sit on shelves across the classroom from all the famous footwear.
Despite the fact Hamilton’s classroom is lined with the shoe’s of famous musicians, athletes and change-makers, he said the shelf with the student’s shoes is the real "Hall of Fame.”
“These guys are my heroes,” he said. “Some people would call them future leaders. I would call them current leaders.”
