Motivating students to be their best is part of Michelle Daniel’s job as a Student & Family Advocate at Riley Elementary School. She has an answer when students say, “I can’t.”

The answer is one word: “yet.”

“I’ve worked with a lot of kids who think they can’t do things; they think hard things are impossible,” she said. She encourages students to say things like, “I can’t do this – yet” and “I don’t know it – yet.”

Students in Great Bend schools are tested regularly to see if they are learning math and reading at the pace set for their grade level. They’re also tested on social-emotional learning, or SEL.

Five to 10 years ago, Daniel found herself assigned to help 75 Riley students in “tier three,” the group that most needed extra help with SEL skills such as good classroom behavior.

“I used to be like – there’s only one me; I can’t see 75 kids every day,” Daniel said. But this week, her SEL groups were down to 20 students, a manageable number.

“So, the stuff we’re doing with them is really helping,” she said. Students learn techniques to help them control their feelings and emotions and get along with others. They learn strategies to keep going if they haven’t mastered a subject – yet.

Daniel doesn’t do her work alone. There are teams based on each student’s needs. Teachers may work with The Center for Counseling, Heart of Kansas, the Barton County Special Services Cooperative, Juvenile Services and the Kansas Department of Children and Families (DCF), for example.

From Texas to Great Bend

Michelle was born in Arlington, Texas, the daughter of Cathy and Don Schoonover.

“My dad was working for Boeing and my mom was a flight attendant when they met,” she said. “Shortly after I was born, my parents moved back to Kansas to be near family in Dodge City. My dad then started a business in Larned selling irrigation systems.” Don Schoonover owned Ag Systems Inc. for some 40 years until his retirement about five years ago.

“I learned my work ethic from him and my compassion for others from my mother,” Michelle said. 

After high school, she enrolled at Dodge City Community College, where her brother played football. She completed her degree in social work at Fort Hays State University.

She met her husband Mike at FHSU and after graduation they both ended up with jobs in Great Bend.

Mike has worked at Juvenile Services for the past 27 years; Michelle first worked for DCF but went on the complete her master’s at the University of Kansas and has worked at Riley School for 25 years.

Growing up in Larned

Beth Rein, who is now principal of Riley School, was Michelle’s childhood friend, she said.

“Beth and I have been friends since preschool,” she said. “She’s five days older than me,” a fact that Daniel doesn’t mind sharing with the kids.

While they have a lot of fun, she says Rein is an “awesome principal.”

“Michelle and I did grow up together and were very close friends,” Rein said. “After high school we went our separate ways but always seemed to find our way back to each other. Working with her on a professional level is a bonus to our friendship.”

Rein continued, “She is vital to the well-being of not only students and parents at Riley, but to our staff as well. She is so connected in the community that she is able to guide people to those resources. She advocates for students’ mental health. One moment she can be found lying on the floor in a yoga pose to help calm a student and the next moment she is leading a staff meeting to address the social emotional needs on a schoolwide level.” 

Family life

Mike and Michelle have been married for 28 years and have two children. Their son Brady is 22 and finishing nursing school. They recently became “empty nesters” as their daughter Laura is 19 and attends Barton Community College, where she is studying psychology.

They have fostered three boys over the year and in November they became grandparents to Asher.

They also have two dogs. Chief, a golden/lab mix, is a rescue from the Golden Belt Humane Society and Halsey (named after the singer-songwriter), a golden retriever shepherd mix, was a gift from a friend. Halsey now spends Fridays at Riley School as a therapy dog.

Helping others

They share a passion for helping others. She said that is what motivates her.

 She volunteers on the Barton County Partnership’s Suicide Prevention Task Force, where she helped create the Barton County Glow for Life event that raises money for suicide prevention. She also volunteers at the Prince of Peace Parish, and she was part of the initial teams that started the Heart of Kansas Health Care Clinic and Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

“I volunteer with Juvenile Services and Youth Crew when I can,” Daniel continued. Youth Crew is another project of the Barton County Partnership.

“My daughter and I held a fundraiser for the Barton County Humane Society a few years ago. We collected thousands of used shoes to send overseas to people in need.”

Mike and Michelle also own a business called Daniel Properties LLC. They obtain houses through the foreclosure process then fix, clean, or remodel them so they can be sold again.   

Loving the outdoors

While her work can be stressful, Daniel practices self-care and tries not to bring that stress home with her. “I go for hikes with my dogs or I exercise at the gym,” she said.

“In our free time. We love the outdoors,” Daniel said. She has hiked in Colorado, the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma, and around many Kansas lakes.

“My favorite hikes were Yellowstone and the Great Smoky Mountains near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee,” Daniel said. “When we are not hiking and fishing, we love to spend time with friends and family. My sister and I have plans to take a backpacking trip together before we are too old to do so.” 

She and her sister can also claim to have hiked at least part of the Appalachian Trail.

“We just hiked part of the trail in Tennessee in the mountains, so we could say we did it. It was really pretty there,” she said. Meanwhile, Mike went fishing that day and encountered a bear down by the lake.

“It was close enough you could hear him breathing,” she said.

 The meeting ended well, she said. Mike stayed calm and “just quietly walked away.”

Loving Great Bend

“We have lived in Great Bend for the past 28 years,” she said. “We stay because we are getting the best of both worlds. We can drive to Wichita in two hours, and be at a lake in 45 minutes. We love our log home near Hoisington and love that we can jump on our Razor and be at Cheyenne Bottoms in four minutes.

“Great Bend is a community with people who love to help those in need and is rich in the Christian faith. We have been able to stay close to our families in Hays and Dodge City. We like to visit all the local restaurants and enjoyed raising our kids in the Great Bend schools.” 

Community Connections is a regular feature of the Great Bend Tribune, showcasing people who live in the Golden Belt. We welcome readers to submit names of individuals who are active in the community that they would like to see featured in a future story. Send suggestions to news@gbtribune.com and explain their “community connections.”