Advisor

Arbuckle with his two daughters, Avery and Reagan.

Dedication is crucial when a mentor guides students to being the best they can be, along with traits of empathy and the ability to prioritize growth. Mike Arbuckle encapsulates this and much more in all he has done for the Concord Community, which is why we are spotlighting him this week.

Arbuckle first began his journey at Concord as a student, being a part of the graduating class of 1997. While in attendance, he was a Concord All-Stars 4H club member and participated in football, golf, basketball, and track. At one point, he even held the record for the discus category in track and field. Within all the clubs and sports he participated in, he shares that his favorite part of high school came from the simple things: “I loved my classes and all of my friends; I just loved being a part of Concord.” Arbuckle adds that he was big on school spirit throughout high school, especially during his senior year, which brought him to win the Denise Everett Spirit Award. He explains, “It’s given to a senior every year that graduates, who shows a lot of school spirit.”

After he finished high school, Arbuckle stayed local for college to attend Spring Arbor University. He received a scholarship to play golf for them and was a two-time All-American throughout his four years playing. When asked what his favorite part of going to Spring Arbor was, he responded: “I was prepared for what I was going to do for my career.”

During college, Arbuckle was preparing to become a teacher. His teaching career first began at Grass Lake High School where he taught for 17 years. He shares the variety of students he taught: “I taught from 5th grade to kindergarten, so just a little bit of everything. Then, I finished as the dean of students at the elementary school for my last few years there.” When he first came to Concord, his purpose was to be the assistant principal of the elementary, alongside Mrs. Hutchinson. When she moved up to the superintendent position, it allowed him the chance to become the principal and he took it. He continued the role of principal for 4 years, but in the past year, he decided to go back to the classroom.

This year he is teaching industrial arts to the middle school, where he teaches students basic woodshop skills. Along with that, he also teaches them how to sell their products and teaches them skills they can use in their future careers.

One of the middle school students who has had the pleasure of having him this year was Karson Frazer. He shares his favorite part of being in Industrial Arts with Mr. Arbuckle: “I enjoyed working with my friends and building things with my hands, with the guidance from Mr. Arbuckle.” He continues to explain traits that Mr. Arbuckle holds as a teacher that allowed for success in the class. Frazer says, “His best traits as a teacher are his leadership and devotedness. This helped us, as students, to have good role models and gave us many opportunities to grow our skills.” Overall, he loves having Mr. Arbuckle as a teacher and is grateful he teaches here.

In addition to his dedication to being a mentor in the classroom, Arbuckle is also a mentor on the basketball court. His coaching career began while he was still in high school. Arbuckle shares, “I was coaching with Mr. Lehman; he coached middle school basketball and asked me to be his assistant coach. That’s where it started.” Along with basketball, he has also coached a few other sports, including golf and baseball. He loves everything about being a coach, but especially the fact that it is something that he can do with his kids. He says, “I have been fortunate to be able to coach my kids, which has been something that I have always wanted to do.” He adds that his biggest accomplishments as a coach are when he sees his athletes come back after years past. Arbuckle explains, “Sometimes they will come back and tell me how big of an impact I had on them. It was not so much about the wins and losses, but the stuff that we did and the things we accomplished.”

This year he is the head coach for the JV girls’ team and assists in coaching the varsity girls. When asked what he enjoys about coaching this year’s team, he responded, “This year I have had more fun coaching than I ever have. It’s always great to be with Bart [Stimer]; he and I bounce ideas off each other all the time. Coaching this group of girls has been a lot of fun. They all have great personalities, and they have had to work hard to gain success.” With his help, the JV team ended the season with a record of 8-14; the Varsity team tied for first in the Big 8 and are in the final round of the district championship.

Freshman, Delaney Colburn has Arbuckle as a coach for the first time this year. She shares what he is like on the court: “Mr. Arbuckle is the best coach I have ever had. He has compassion for his players and cares deeply for every single one of us.” Instead of caring about their winning streak, he cares about making them better people both on and off the court. Colburn ends by saying that he is the best coach anyone could ask for and she will forever be grateful for everything he has done for her.

Another large aspect of Arbuckle’s life is the farm that his family owns. His father, Robert, came up with the idea for Arbuckle Show Pigs, when he was eight years old and began the journey to make it happen. In 1977, Robert married his high school sweetheart, Jody, and they continued to raise pigs together. Through the years, Arbuckle and the rest of his family have started to take over the farm to continue its legacy.

Arbuckle began working on the family farm when he was a kid. Throughout the years he has grown to be in charge, he says, “I basically took over my parents’ farm four years ago, so in the show pig business certain times of the year it is very time consuming. We are getting ready for our sale; we will sell between 80 and 100 pigs.” He explains that the most difficult part about running a farm is the time commitment; it is a lot of late nights and early mornings. But the hardships do not measure up to the reward that he feels while getting to work with his family. 

Arbuckle’s daughter, Avery, is a sophomore here at Concord. He coaches her in basketball, and they work together at the farm. She explains what she likes most about her dad: “I would say we have a lot in common, in terms of our interests. It’s always a lot of fun, and he’s a great motivator. When I am showing pigs and playing basketball, I always feel like he’s there on my side and willing to help.” She continues on to explain that one of her favorite memories with her dad occurred two years ago when they were preparing to show at the fair. Avery says, “I had a pig and my dad told me that I could win. So I was training all summer with this pig, then we got to the show and it was not looking so hot. We ended up staying up for 24 hours straight together trying to get this pig ready. Then, the next day I ended up winning.” A lot of her favorite memories she has made with her dad have been while farming, and she is very grateful for that.

When Arbuckle is not putting his time into farming, his family, or the school, he has a couple of other hobbies he partakes in. His main ones are playing golf and hunting. He explains that hunting is his favorite: “It gives me that quiet, down time; I need that. I get to just chill out and do nothing.” Arbuckle’s favorite movies are the Rocky movies. In terms of music, he enjoys listening to anything by Chris Stapleton.

Working alongside Arbuckle throughout his personal and professional life has been his wife Amanda Arbuckle. They were high school sweethearts who first met when she was a sophomore and he was a senior. She explains, “We met in Chemistry class with Mr. VanLoo when he asked one of my friends to switch seats with him so that he could get to know me better.” They married on July 20th, 2002 at one of their favorite places, the Jackson County Fairgrounds. Throughout the past 20 years, they have made countless memories together, but Amanda’s favorite ones, besides their wedding day and children’s birth, come from the simple things they do together. She shares some of these moments, “We love taking rides on our ranger together when the weather is nice; we just drive around, chat, look at the wildlife, it is the best. Another thing I love is that each morning, without fail, he makes my coffee and brings me a cup. We sit together and watch the news as we plan our day.” Ultimately, she explains that Arbuckle is an amazing guy and she feels so blessed to be his wife.

We would like to thank Arbuckle for being so dedicated to the school. He has truly made a difference in the lives of everyone who has gotten to know him. We wish him the best of luck in everything that he does in the future!