Spartan Sagas: John Shinsky

John Shinsky is a true Spartan – he received a bachelor's degree in elementary and special education in 1974, a masters degree in special education in 1977, and a Ph.D. in educational administration in 1983, all from Michigan State. He also was a member of the football team at MSU.

In April 2009, Shinsky and two of his former MSU football teammates biked 2,000 miles to raise funds for an orphanage he started in Mexico.

"The orphanage would never be possible without the Michigan State community, and the East Lansing and Lansing communities," he says.

"Once you become a Spartan you become a part of a fraternity of givers and a population of people who have formed together to build a community to support you in whatever you're doing."

Spartans--alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Have your own Spartan Saga to share? Go to http://spartansagas.msu.edu/share/ and share your story with the world!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• spartan
• sagas
• msu
• michigan
• state
• university
• spartans
• will
• stories

[ohunts2942]

I learned a great lesson about athletes from John Shinski. When I lived in the same dorm, he played the role of the big, dumb, jock. A few years later, as I walked down the hall of a local conference center, I looked in, and there was the dumb jock, now Dr. Shinski, regaling a large audience with his eloquent discourse on the state of public education in Michigan. I realize now that young athletes are generally much brighter than they might appear when in the role of "the jock".