There may have been one family cheering the loudest at the Lions’ annual Thanksgiving game, and that was the Jackson family, the second recipients of a refurbished house this year through the Working Homes / Working Families (WHWF) program. If you missed their story in last week’s email, catch up here. They attended the game as special guests of Gardner White, whose support was essential to making the new home possible.
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But the Jacksons aren’t just part of the SAY Detroit family as WHWF recipients — they are what SAY Detroit Play Center’s Athletic Director Dan Boylan calls “legends.” That’s because the eldest boys, Johnethian, 18, and Jeremiyah, 16, joined SAY Play when it first opened in 2015. Boylan recalls witnessing the brothers’ close bond firsthand, as Johnethian stepped in to defend his brother against some roughhousing on the football field. Before Boylan could explain SAY Play’s own rules against that kind of behavior, Johnethian was there to stop it.
That reserved strength is typical of the eldest Jackson boy, who is an all-around athlete. Several members of the SAY Play staff were in attendance to watch him graduate this past spring from Osborn High School, where he played on the school’s championship-winning baseball team.
Where Johnethian grew more quietly into his own, Cass Tech junior Jeremiyah arrived a bit more stridently from the first. Equally comfortable on a basketball court and on a stage, he banked a game-winning three-pointer at a summer AAU game and performs music under the duo “J2x.” He’s also frequently lent his voice to share his experience with SAY Detroit, including at the grand opening celebration of the Kelly and Matthew Stafford & Friends Education Center.
It’s a full experience for every kid that gets to go here… I didn’t have anything when I got to this neighborhood, it was just me and my mom and my brothers. I signed up for the Center. They gave me everything. That’s when my life started.
— JEREMIYAH JACKSON
Both Johnethian and Jeremiyah proved themselves natural leaders — in formal ways as summer camp counselors at SAY Play hired through the mayor’s Grow Detroit’s Young Talent (GYDT) — and informally by modeling behavior for younger members, including their brother Jackeob, 11, who is new to SAY Play.
Like his oldest brother, Jackeob is quiet and finding his way, but respectful and quick to offer staff help when asked. He’s exploring different activities, and currently enjoying robotics.
There’s no adult who doesn’t smile when they’re asked about one of the Jackson boys, and that’s because of the kind of investment and mentorship our world-class staff at SAY Play makes in every child who enrolls.
