Reflections Magazine Issue #74 - Spring 2011 | Page 21

Alumni Feature continued from page 20 . . . “Some of my earliest memories of my grandfather are of him telling me that one day I’d be either a teacher or a preacher,” he said. “For years he would tell me this. Not only did I not have any interest in either at the time, but I thought that I would be the last person that would do either. My guess is that those who knew me when I was at Siena Heights would also agree.” Ironically, it was a “place” that led to Finley’s career in teaching. In 2004, he was working as a construction manager when a tsunami devastated Thailand. He volunteered to assist in rebuilding, and spent four months living on squid, fish and rice while helping with reconstruction. “It was an amazing and life-changing experience,” he said. “The work I had done in the past had that relevance and rigor that I talk about, but it didn’t have that essential piece. This work had meaning and purpose. When I came back to the States, I knew I needed to do something that would allow me to have an impact on the world. What better way to do that than teaching?” As an educator, Finley uses a blended model of grounded and virtual classrooms in his programs. “It isn’t something that is ‘different’ than traditional education,” he said. “It is education delivered in a way that (students) are familiar and comfortable with. The research is out there that all students, at-risk, mainstream and gifted and talented students learn extremely well.” “Plus,” he continued, “in small schools like we have here in Vermont, virtual classes open up the world. For instance, a high school of 400 students can afford a language program where a student can take Spanish, Mandarin, French, German, Japanese. You name it, it is available. Virtual classrooms also allow these schools to offer students the gamut of AP courses. And, many of our districts are not large enough to have their own high school, so the funds follow those students to the schools they choose.” For Finley, Siena Heights was more about the people, not the programs. “I remember well my first year at Siena,” he said. “The nuns had the Coca-Cola vending machines pulled from the dorms to demonstrate their support for the elimination of apartheid in South Africa, and to send a message to American companies doing business there while the country was still segregated.” “Where Siena stood apart for me was not in its academic rigor, but in the education that it gave me about myself, about the world and my sense of place in it.”— Jason Finley ’03 “It took me years to realize just how big of an impact that gesture had on me. They unabashedly made a statement of belief and took action on that belief. No matter how small that statement or action is, it is a brave thing to do; it is the right thing to do.” In fact, maybe his place-based approach had its origins at Siena Heights. “Where Siena stood apart for me was not in its academic rigor, but in the education it gave me about myself, about the world and my sense of place in it,” he said. His External Learning Opportunities program currently has a student earning a credit in science by looking at the impact nutrition can have on perinatal mood disorders. Another student is putting together a mock medical ethics panel to present an end-of-life case study to in her exploration of sociology and psychology. “I believe that I have been fortunate in being able to provide opportunities for innovation to happen around me,” Finley said. “So, I don’t know if I am an innovator at all. Maybe I have just been blessed with luck, amazing students who continue to make me look good, fellow educators with shared visions and supportive administrators. Innovation happens in classrooms every day, and it just goes unnoticed. Some of us just have bigger mouths than others.” u Principal Change T.C. Roekle ’68 Preaches Visionary Approach as Educational Consultant The initials “T.C.” are short for the name Therese Catherine, but they could also stand for Terrific Communicator. T.C. (Luke) Roekle Daniels ’68 has turned her ability to communicate her ideas, strategies and passion for education into her own consulting business. The former classroom teacher and administrator who turned motivational speaker, strategic planner and author believes that education needs to not only accept change, but also embrace it. She embraced change herself when she left education to form T.C. Roekle and Associates a decade ago. “Most of my role is with administrators,” said Roekle, whose educational consulting company is based in Rochester Hills, Mich., but helps clients throughout the country. “I do strategic thinking, school improvement plans, … synchronizing technology instruction and staff development. … It is truly putting together technology, people and strategy. That’s a big piece of it.” . . . continued on the next page Reflections Spring ’11 21