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spotlight<br />
For Ryan Zlomek, becoming an adult—<br />
going out on his own, getting a job and<br />
buying a house—was inevitable. But<br />
he was determined to stay best friends with<br />
his inner child.<br />
When Zlomek bought his first house in<br />
2013, in addition to considering the quality<br />
of the heating system, the age of the roof,<br />
and the size of the bedrooms, he made sure<br />
his dream house had enough room for the<br />
pinball machines he planned to collect.<br />
“I had all of those things,” said Zlomek,<br />
MPH’s tech teacher. “And then there was a<br />
little footnote on every one that was, ‘Where<br />
on Earth would I put the pinball machine?’”<br />
During a trip to a family friend’s house<br />
when he was 10, Zlomek discovered pinball—which<br />
became his secret to never<br />
having to truly grow up.<br />
“I was like, ‘This is awesome. Adults<br />
can have toys, cool toys—not like bank<br />
accounts—but pinball machines,’” said<br />
Zlomek, 29.<br />
From there, Zlomek’s exposure<br />
to pinball continued to<br />
grow. Some of his most vivid<br />
memories are of going to<br />
arcades with his dad. His<br />
favorite place to play<br />
was Button’s Arcade in<br />
Eastwood. Shortly<br />
after he purchased<br />
Zlomek keeps a machine in his classroom, Sky Kings, which he worked with several MPH<br />
students to repair. Zlomek hopes to put the machine to good use at school.<br />
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