“This school really is where I think I have most of my childhood memories, and so it’s just so special to come back,” said Westbeld, a Kettering Fairmont standout who just finished her rookie season in the WNBA.

Credit: Bryant Billing

Maddy Westbeld (left), a Fairmont graduate who plays professional basketball for Chicago Sky, and Haiyden Tobias (center) listen to Carter Grasso (right) talk after an assembly at J.E. Prass Elementary School in Kettering on Friday, Dec. 12. Westbeld spoke to students, fielded questions from fifth grade student council members and recorded a video for Fairmont multimedia students along with Tobias, Grasso, Sienna Sheldon and Jackson Clark. BRYANT BILLING/STAFF

Now living her biggest dream as a professional basketball player, Westbeld said the game means little compared to everything else.

“I’m just trying to figure out how I make the biggest impact possible,” she said, using the platform afforded to her as a pro athlete.

During her visit to Prass, the students watched a highlight film from Westbeld’s season and fielded questions from the fifth grade student council, including on balancing homework with athletics, staying motivated, and a bad call from a referee.

“School was always first for me, and it still is even tough I’m not at school anymore. I still love to learn,” she said. “I made sure that I got my homework done before I did anything else. And that basketball came after that.”

Maddy Westbeld, a Fairmont graduate who plays professional basketball for Chicago Sky, hands a pencil back to a student after signing am autograph following an afternoon assembly at J.E. Prass Elementary School in Kettering on Friday, Dec. 12. BRYANT BILLING/STAFF

Persistence is important to not give up out of frustration.

“Messing up and losing and missing and turning the ball over and all of those things are part of basketball, and you’re never, ever going to make all of your shots and you’re never, ever going to miss all of your shots, either,” Westbeld said. “Understanding that that’s a part of it can kind of give you that confidence to keep going no matter what.”

She credited her mom, Susan, who was in the audience, her sister, Kathryn, who just finished her rookie season with the Phoenix Mercury WNBA team, and many coaches, trainers and teachers as being role models for her.

“Someday you guys will be able to model for other people,” she told the students.

Even in the face of a bad call from a ref, Westbeld said it’s important to show good sportsmanship, even off the court. Ways to do that include being a good friend, a good teammate, a good person in the community, by pickup up trash and by sitting with someone at lunch who is all alone.

While she’s home for the holidays, Westbeld said she’s looking forward to catching some Kettering Fairmont basketball games.