Calumet Copper Island Academy

In the northernmost reaches of Michigan, there lies a region that the locals have termed Copper Island. The entire top of the Keweenaw Peninsula is separated by Portage lake, and a canal dug in the 1800's that technically created an Island. Calumet, a town once considered for the State Capitol, is just north of Houghton and home to a new Charter Academy, Copper Island Academy.

Copper Island Academy was established in 2020, with the intention of providing a new alternative to the schools in the area. Many of the settlers and families in this area are of Finnish descent, and wished to embrace that heritage. Grounded in highly-effective Finnish education practices, the Academy's education program emphasizes outdoor learning, hands-on learning, and frequent unstructured brain breaks. The school has three pillars of success, Community, Excellence, and Sisu- a Finnish word that translates roughly to stoic determination, extraordinary perseverance, inner strength, and "guts" in the face of extreme adversity.

This year, the school sponsored their first football team. The school does not have a football field, and drives down the road to a farmers field that they have converted to a practice field. They have managed to schedule 8 games, all away this season and are on their way to a very successful season. At the beginning of this week, the Eagles were standing at 3-2 and many considered them to be a probable playoff team. This week, their opponent had forfeited- which would give them another victory and additional playoff points. On the other side of the bridge sits Gaylord St. Mary. Widely considered one of the top teams in the state, GSM had outscored their opponents an astonishing 306-0. This week was supposed to be homecoming for Gaylord St. Mary, but their opponent had to forfeit at the last minute, leaving their homecoming week without a game. Gaylord St. Mary's took a shot in the dark and called the football coach at Copper Island, asking if they wanted to make the almost 6 hour drive to play. When interviewed, Coach Clay Larson for Copper Island said, "I don't care if it costs us playoff points, we just want to play football" and "Our kids are really excited."

That type of mentality and toughness shows just how much these young men and their community want to play football. It also shows that they have truly embraced Sisu and are a testament to the generations before them that came to the Upper Peninsula to carve out a life for their family and descendants. May God protect them on their journey and may there be fantastic football played in Gaylord.