Joe Nathan is a founder and senior fellow at the Center for School Change. Reactions welcome, joe@centerforschoolchange.org.
Plenty can happen in 60 years. Earlier in September, I returned to Wichita, Kansas, for the 60th reunion of my class at Southeast High School. The 1966 classmates shared many things, including six observations about high school and life that may be useful to young people and families.
1. Take at least one class or participate in at least one extracurricular activity related to your personal interest or strength. That’s what Cathy Henkel did, taking journalism and writing for the school newspaper. The day after graduating, she began working for the Wichita Eagle (Eagle Beacon in those days). A few years later, she was hired by the Eugene, Oregon paper. She then spent 22 years as a sports editor for the Seattle Times – where she won several awards and was one of the first female sports columnists/editors in the U.S.
2. If an unexpected but attractive possibility develops, strongly consider it! After a 50-year career starting and operating a successful local accounting firm, including the purchase of several hotels, David Mitchell had the opportunity to buy a buffalo ranch in the Flint Hills area just east of Wichita. He and his wife love owning the Four Mile Ranch, with about 100 buffalo. Wichita https://www.instagram.com/fourmileranch/
It’s used as an event center. David and his wife Rynthia hosted a wonderful dinner for our class.
At that event, I met Jerry Simpson, a 2005 Southeast graduate. When his uncle, who owned a catering business, died, Simpson and his wife decided to take it on. This has worked out well for them.
3. Don’t worry if you aren’t sure when graduating what job or career you’ll take. That’s what several people suggested, including Jodi Addis. Daughter of our high school’s first principal, she told me, “I had a lot of fun in high school, but I didn’t know what I would do next.” Addis loves animals, and she became a llama breeder, trainer, judge and packer. During a visit she and I made to Southeast, thanks to a tour with current principal Dr. Connie Redic, Addis was delighted to see that the school now has a Future Farmers of America program, and its own donkey, chickens and goats.
4. Emulate a favorite teacher. Linda Phillips Smith recalled, “Mrs. Baron, my French teacher, had a positive effect on me. She was a native of France and the real deal in teaching a new language to teenagers. She inspired me…I thought I would be a French teacher someday. I turned out to be an English teacher. Smith taught senior English and Advanced Placement English Literature at Morrilton High School in Morrilton, Arkansas, and then Composition II at the local University of Arkansas Community College for a total of 29 years.”
5. Be a lifelong learner. Steve Randle recalls that his high school humanities class encouraged this. So did being the junior class and student body president, and a city wrestling champion. All this helped lead to a career in finance. Bill Oppenheim applied analytic skills he gained from several classes to become a horse purchase advisor in Scotland.
6. Keep going despite challenges. That’s what, among others, John Hodges, Barbara Linde Richards and Vicki Turck did. Hodges spent several years in data processing but found it tedious. He worked in welding and then became an attorney. About 10 years ago, he and his wife lost a child to cancer. He told me, “You never expect to lose a child, but it can happen.”
Barbara Linde Richards frequently dealt with tragedy and success as a patients’ representative in California. “Keep going” was critical.
Turck found herself a single mother of a one-year-old. But she used confidence she developed, among other places, by selling shoes at a local Wichita store. She had “a sales career in the gift industry as a manager, buyer and wholesale gift sales rep., working and traveling around Kansas calling on the mom-and-pop stores, Hallmark, hardware, and pharmacy stores. I have been self-employed and commission-only for 35 years.” Turck was the reunion’s main organizer.
Participants agreed the reunion was superbly arranged and great fun. They also had a lot to share.
Joe Nathan has been a Minnesota public school educator, PTA president and researcher. Reactions welcome, joe@centerforschoolchange.org