The Grand Tour Blog: St. Louis, Home & Beyond:
After 7,022 miles, 11 reunions, 16 states, one car auto
breakdown, one smashed fake dragon, one lawsuit (those Disney people have no
sense of humor), lots of old Roeperians re-connected to and new ones met, tons
of ideas and suggestions collected, no marital fistfights, a great deal of
alumni feedback for Head David Feldman (and everybody else) to think about,
we’re home. America is a bountiful and
beautiful country and we hope that we, who are temporarily entrusted with it,
will take good care of it for our grandkids and their grandkids.
After Phoenix, the 106 degree St. Louis temp felt familiar. We had an hour or so to kill so we went to
the Missouri History Museum which was near where the gathering was to occur.
Left to right: Thomas Jefferson, Hindstrum, Emery
Inspired by a museum movie about fire safety, Hindstrum temporarily decides on a career change.
Right: Our St. Louis Gathering crew
minus our photographer
and our security squirrel
who is out hassling panhandling ducks
We talked a lot about the route Keke took getting to
Roeper. Most of her elementary and
middle school years were spent at Bates Academy - a school that worked
well for her in the younger grades but a bit less so later on. When she had a lot of problems as she moved on to Renaissance
High with both being bored and being
teased, she came to Roeper. At Roeper
she acquired a wide support system of student friends and adult mentors. John Doughterty, Nancy Webster, Dean Acheson,
Dave Crawford, Michelle Stamler and others helped her develop her own
personalized educational plan by offering her independent studies, steering her
to classes that would help her, getting her outside-Roeper learning
opportunities such as research projects and science competitions. We remember her as the winner of a national
science fair prize but she also had time to be the stage manager for many RTC
productions and Model United Nations.
She felt Roeper was a good blend of the freedom and the
nuanced nurturing she needed. She hopes
Roeper never loses the ability and desire to let each student own their own
education and pursue their own learning goals.
To do this, students need a lot of adult support and a lot of
self-knowledge. Not all students will be
equally able to take this on as they develop responsibility and self-initiative
at different rates and times.
She went on to University of Chicago and found it a great
fit as it also was a place all about learning.
She felt well-prepared to meet the high academic standards at U. of
Chicago and then Yale.
Keke had questions for us.
She wanted to know if David
Feldman was going to teach classes. She
thought it was great that former heads Chuck Webster and Ken Seward both
taught.
She also asked if the U.S. still have regular and frequent
town meetings. She thought they were
essential in building community among so many individualistic people. Keke also suggested homerooms were a key
component in both community-building and in the support of the individual
student. In Pat Vance, she thought she
had one of the best homeroom teachers.
She was happy that
although there were circles of friends at Roeper, there were not cliques if
"cliques" mean exclusive groups. So many
kids did so many extracurriculars that everybody was bound to have a lot of
informal and casual times to mix and get to know others in an organic way.
She doesn’t remember social justice being formally taught
but does remember community and homeroom projects as well as students being
asked for their ideas for running the school and community and given
opportunities to serve on hiring committees and the Board of Trustees.
Keke remembers Roeper as a place of refuge for a lot of
people who needed a welcoming place. Some just a better place to learn and some
needed a home. Some were just a little
bored elsewhere and some were damaged.
But it seemed as if all did better at Roeper.
She talked about a seeming lack of structure, but
somehow one was challenged and held accountable.
Society doesn’t look kindly on those that are different or have rough edges but Roeper focuses on the positive, not the problems. If people care enough about you and have
enough vision of what you could be, they
will invest the time and energy enough so you start to grow and begin to give
back to others yourself. Roeper has a lot
of those kind of giving people.
Currently, Keke is giving back by tutoring/coaching/mentoring
high school students, one local in St. Louis and one long-distance in upstate
NY. She believes everybody deserves a
chance for happiness and since people helped her, she is helping others.
I asked Keke and Chris what kind of people will do well in
the crazy, rapidly-changing world we will be facing in the 21st
century and what kind of education would best prepare those students. Keke thought a school like Roeper does it
well in that it teaches kids to think analytically and to problem-solve. Also, Roeper exposes students to the
world – the education seems relevant and connected to real-life issues. She added that Roeper presents an
unprovincial world-view by bringing in foreign students, by having experiences like MUN, by sponsoring
trips overseas and most importantly, by teaching students to question basic assumptions. She said that students now days have to ask
questions and never mindlessly follow orders if they are going to stay abreast
of all the changes. Roeper does all of that well.
Lastly, people have to not fear the future but feel confident. Roeper
empowers students with all sorts of confidence-building experiences.
We kept the session to only 45 minutes over the scheduled endpoint as we had to
hit the road heading for home. Thanks to Chris and Keke for a fun
and thought-provoking evening.
Before we left, Keke tried to get Hindstrum to make peace with the ducks.
That night we got as far as the Indiana-Illinois line before
we called it quits. The next day it was
a relatively easy drive of 5 hours and we were home.
Below is Hindstrum rejoicing to be home in Michigan.
So, it’s home to unpack, pet the dog and head for Buffalo on
Saturday for Linda’s dad’s 90th birthday. Then August hits with a wallop with:
- Ann Arbor Welcome Back to School Gathering at Shara Evan's home on Aug. 29.
- a Roeper Alumni News to get out,
- an August 7 Eastern Market gathering of Detroit area alums so they can meet David Feldman (organized by Eleanor Gamalski, ’11, crack Development Office intern),
- reunions for the classes of 2002 & 2007
- the Barnes & Noble/Roeper Book Fair at the West Bloomfield Store on Aug. 16
- the Booster Club Golf Outing on Aug. 13
- the Roeper Alumni Service Corp Week of Service on Aug 9-13,
- and our community and friends coming home on August 25 to honor and say “good-bye” to the lady who made it possible for so many people to grow and to be able to work to make the world a better place.
We would like to express our gratitude to all the people who
helped organize and publicize the Grand Tour, the folks who hosted us or hosted
gatherings, alums, partners and friends who attended them, and those that
followed our exploits via this blog.
Special thanks to the Development Office that gave us Hindstrum who
turned out to be a mega-celebrity and who provided security for the Tour.
Lastly and most importantly, this whole thing wouldn’t have
been so successful (or even got out of Michigan) without Linda whose common
sense, attention to detail, valuable nuggets of wisdom and insight during the
discussions, ability to drive long-distances without falling asleep, and calm
demeanor was much needed and much appreciated by me.
A tired squirrel resting upon getting home. 
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