Some people have a competitive streak. Derrick Fries has
what he self describes as the "warlock gene" - a passion
for competition that made him a sailing world champion
at 21 and a two-time triathlon All-American at 56.
It would be easy, then, to chalk up Fries' accomplishments
as an educator to that same intense drive. But the Eastern
Michigan University special education assistant professor
says he's gained as much from playing well with others
as he has from playing to win.
 |
FRIES AND A LAKE: Derrick Fries (far right)
heads to
the water at the start of the Motor City
Triathlon at
Belle Isle June 12. Fries, an EMU
professor of special
education, finished 19th out of 255 competitors and
first in his age group. Fries' interest in water also
extends to sailing, where he was once a world
champion. He now is often consulted
by the
media when it needs a sailing expert for comment. |
"I'm one of the most competitive guys on the face of the
earth," Fries said. "But I'm good at turning that on and
off. I can get it out of my system on the weekend and then,
when Monday comes, I don't have to compete. I want to listen.
There's that balance."
The oldest of three brothers, Fries grew up in a middle
class home on Watkins Lake in Waterford. He spent his summers
swimming and sailing, and started racing at nine or 10.
"It got in my blood and I couldn't stop," he said. "I
discovered I have what I call the warlock gene. It's an
addiction to adrenaline. I have to compete."
Between 1975 and 2001, he won six world titles and 15
North American championships in various classes while building
a career in the public schools as a teacher and administrator.
U.S Sailing, the governing body for competitive sailing
in the United States, named him its first master instructor
trainer. He's the Yoda of small-boat sailing and still
regarded as one of the sport's leading experts. When a
16-year old sailor from California went missing in the
south Indian Ocean for several days in June, news outlets
around the country turned to Fries for perspective.
He received a bachelor's degree in education from Michigan
State University while competing on the university's sailing
team. He said those years of competition fostered the resilience
and mental toughness demanded later by his doctorate program
at the University of Michigan.
He's blended teaching and sailing into three books, including "Start
Sailing Right," which sold 1.4 million copies and is still
U.S. Sailing's go-to instructional book for small boat
certification. When he wrote it in 1985, Fries insisted
that the book's many pictures show women and minorities
involved in sailing. The idea met with some resistance
at the time, but now he looks back at the role it had in
breaking down barriers in a white male-dominated sport
and calls the book his greatest contribution to sailing.
In 2006, Fries was nominated for the International Sailing
Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a competitor
and instructor.
Meanwhile, Fries spent 31 years in public
schools, first as a teacher, then assistant principal,
principal, special education director and, finally, deputy
superintendent. By most accounts, he was climbing the
professional ladder. But every step into administration
took him further from the classroom and the kind of student
contact he enjoyed. So, in 2006, he retired and took his
current position at EMU.
"I'm so glad I did," he said. "For me, it's been
an absolute revelation to go full circle and get back behind
the desk and teach again. It's so nice. Plus, I get to
share all those crazy assistant principal stories with
my students."
With his sailing goals behind him, Fries needed a new
outlet for the "warlock gene." He already had a few marathons
under his belt. That, combined with his love of the water
and a fascination with the aerodynamics of cycling, led
him to the triathlon. He started competing at 54. At 55
and 56, he was a United States Triathlon Association All-American.
Last year, Fries competed in 13 triathlons - mostly at
the shorter sprint distances (400-meter swim, 13.5 mile
bike and 5k run). He set a goal of finishing each in the
top 10 overall and ended up in the top five of all but
a few. He's won his age group in every race since June
2007. Yet, for all of his success, the sport still offers
him room to grow. He hopes to race the Ironman distance
(2.4-mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) at 60.
"I have this saying that exercise solves everything," he
said. "To have a healthy lifestyle, you have to exercise.
I have a strong feeling that you have a responsibility
to look and feel good, too. For me, it makes me a better
teacher, a better educator. I feel energized."
Professionally, he tends to turn that energy toward helping
at-risk students navigate the educational system, which
he said increasingly funnels kids into one of two groups:
A-B students and struggling students.
"Students in that at-risk group generally have less engaged
parents and they don't have a lot of advocates," he said. "We're
backwards in this country in that the best teachers teach
the honors kids. They should be teaching the at-risk kids.
I love being around those kids. They're interesting students
and they need help. They need advocates."
Not long after arriving at EMU, Fries received a new faculty
grant to study the effect of mandates in the newly adopted
Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) on dropout rates.
He predicts that, by 2012, Michigan's already high dropout
rate (30 percent) will rise significantly as struggling
students buckle academically under the weight of the MMC.
"I thought I'll go do the research and send it to the
policy makers, and let them take over with it," he said.
Instead, he got a front-row seat to the legislative process
— and learned it's anything but streamlined. Fries worked
with state legislators for four years, giving 88 presentations
around the state and making 47 trips to Lansing. In May,
the governor signed a bill that reforms part of the MMC's
math requirement, bringing relief to about 25 percent of
high school students.
Fries' latest book project involves an even larger group
of at-risk students: boys.
The educational system, he contends, is failing them,
failing to consider their need for role models or their
developmental needs. Many go through elementary school
without a single male teacher, and are forced to take standardized
tests at an age when they haven't completely developed
the fine motor skills to hold a pencil.
Eighty-five percent of dropouts are boys.
Some, he said, have that "warlock gene" and no place to
apply it. And he knows from personal experience that, if
that energy and competitiveness aren't channeled properly,
they can be just as likely destructive as productive.
"Boys, in particular, need to find a niche as they go
through secondary school," he said. "If they've got it,
there's a good chance they'll be successful. If they don't
have it, or if they get beat up through the system ... If
a kid can't find a channel for all this abundant energy,
they don't survive the system."
