In last week's Friday Flashback feature, we asked whatever happened to Stacey Kerr, the 2005 Crossley Grade 11 basketballer whose sporting behaviour earned her a special tournament commendation. Well, turns out there's more to that particular tale—we hope that the judging for such trophies has improved over the last 20 years!
From Cincinnati, bordering Kentucky in the far south of the Buckeye State of Ohio, we bring you the full story, and then some, from Stacey herself:
What a trip down memory lane! That Welland Tribune Basketball tournament award is something my family and friends still tease me about. We vividly remember the announcement because we were sure it had to be a mistake. I fouled out of every game that tournament, so “sportsmanlike” didn’t feel like the most accurate descriptor—though maybe “enthusiastic” or “committed” would have fit! Even the original article mentioned my own surprise at receiving it. To this day, I jokingly apologize to the poor girl who probably deserved that award instead.
Despite my questionable basketball reputation, sports stayed an important part of my life. I earned a rowing scholarship to the University of Miami, where I spent my undergrad years competing for the Hurricanes and earning a degree in Elementary Education and Geography.
After graduation, I decided to stay in sunny Miami for a master’s in Geography and GIS. Teaching first-year geography classes during my program opened my eyes to how different geography education was in the U.S. compared to what I experienced at A. K. Wigg, Glynn A. Green, and E. L. Crossley!
I fouled out of every game that tournament
That curiosity took me to the University of Georgia, where I completed a Ph.D., exploring how geography teachers are trained and how their preparation can be improved.
Whether in the classroom or as a school leader, my goal has always been to inspire critical thinking and a sense of global citizenship—skills that feel more vital with each passing year. As a professor at Central Michigan University, I taught and mentored future teachers, helping them bring geography to life in their classrooms. As an elementary school teacher and assistant principal, I worked with colleagues and students to foster deep learning as well as meaningful conversations about the world around them.
These days, my focus is closer to home. I’ve stepped away from my full-time career to focus on raising my 2-year-old son, Bastian, with my husband, Thomas, who is an Associate Dean at Xavier University here in Cincinnati. We’re also excitedly preparing to welcome our second child this summer.
Alongside parenting, I continue to work as part of a small research team studying how teachers use social media for professional development, career transitions, and personal challenges. A research article we have coming out soon explores how platforms like Facebook and Reddit have become resources for hundreds of thousands of teachers navigating career changes, especially leaving the profession. This growing trend raises serious concerns about the future of education and the looming teacher shortage.
Travel is an important part of our lives, as it helps us stay connected to family and explore new places together. We love visiting Niagara to spend time with my parents, grandparents, and brother and to share the area’s memories with Bastian. We also make frequent trips to Germany to see Thomas’s family and friends, where I do my best to practice my (still beginner-level, but improving) German.
Though I’ve now lived in the U.S. longer than I lived in Canada, I still feel definitively Canadian. My husband would say the same about being German, even after about 15 years here. While we’re acclimated to life in America and genuinely enjoy living in Cincinnati, I’m not sure it will ever truly feel like “home.”
I’m not sure it will ever truly feel like 'home'
That said, there’s a lot I love about the U.S. My college experience here was incredible—a sports scholarship allowed me to immerse myself in a new culture, attend an amazing school in a world-class city, and receive an excellent education.
I’ve always appreciated the sense of camaraderie, team spirit, and celebration that comes with life on an American university campus. Both at the University of Miami and the University of Georgia, sports and culture were so deeply intertwined that every game or event felt like a community celebration. Those were exciting, formative years, and I’m so grateful I had the chance to experience them.
Beyond that, the vastness and diversity of the U.S. have been a joy to explore. Each state has its unique climate, culture, and character. I’ve loved visiting iconic cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, regional gems like Asheville and Ann Arbor, and natural wonders like the Everglades and the Smoky Mountains. The National Park system is particularly remarkable—such a gift for anyone who loves the outdoors. And with affordable domestic flights, traveling within the U.S. has been an easy and exciting way to see so much of the country’s beauty and variety.
Cincinnati has been good to us, too. We’ve made wonderful friends and appreciate the city’s many amenities—world-class museums, several professional sports teams, and an abundance of coffee shops, restaurants, and bars, all at very affordable prices and a low cost of living. But certain aspects of American life remain difficult for me to reconcile, where I feel at odds with many, though certainly not all, people.
One of the most striking differences is the culture around guns, which will forever feel foreign to me. As an elementary school administrator, I found it reprehensible that I had to lead children as young as five years old in mandatory school shooter drills. It’s a reality I dread my own children enduring one day. Often, it feels as though someone’s right to own a gun—of nearly any kind—takes precedence over my right, or my students’ rights, to feel safe from gun violence in schools. This remains one of the hardest cultural differences for me to navigate.
As immigrants without American citizenship, my husband and I often discuss how secure our status really is. We’ve joked about when President Trump may decide that certain Green Card holders no longer have the same rights as before. While we’ve considered pursuing U.S. citizenship since we now qualify, we more often find ourselves talking about whether we’d prefer to move back to Canada or Germany if it ever came to that. I guess we'll see what the next four years bring!
Living here has also highlighted a certain tiered perception of immigrants. On more than one occasion, someone has made disparaging comments about immigrants in my presence, and when I remind them that I, too, am not from the U.S., they’ve responded with something like, “Well, not immigrants like you.” These moments are uncomfortable and deeply revealing, and they underscore how much my Canadian identity shapes my perspective. While I know such comments can happen in Canada, they feel more frequent here.
Even with its challenges, there’s a lot I appreciate about living in the U.S. My husband and I still feel closely tied to Canada and Germany, but we’ve built a good life here. The travel I mentioned earlier is a big part of staying connected to our roots, and we love sharing those experiences with Bastian—whether it’s visiting family, exploring new places, or just giving him a sense of where he comes from. It’s important to us that he feels at home in all three places and grows up appreciating the best of each.