Alan L Farkas

Paul, I want to echo Evelyn's sentiments. i found your "rant" to be quite interesting. Thank you for sharing your story.

Joseph G Blake

I have to share Dana's experience both as a Shaker student and a parent. In 1963 I still did what I was told and knew the expectations. Shaker Heights was an unusual place for many reasons but its obvious affluence created expectations that were decidedly unique for that time. 

90% of our class went to college then and that was a time when the college bound was a much smaller group than now by many factors. My family ( namely my mother) lived in Shaker for 61 years (1928-1989) through the three stages of Shaker life- the two family phase as newlyweds, then the 50 years in a home where you raised your children, and the widow phase where you lived comfortably and safely in an apartment on upper Van Aken.   

But there was always an unstated expectation shaped by what your parents did, who the neighbors were and what they did and perhaps worse yet what your older simblings did. I always took for granted what would happen next. But I was also much younger than my siblings who were adults by the time I was at Shaker. I knew my father was exceptionally pleased with two of them. One was on Wall Street after Wharton and the other had founded her own business. 

In some ways one wanted to break out of the mold and I managed that in some ways but still there was the expectation.  They always set the benchmark or hurdle against which I measured myself plus the peer pressure of what your friends did or the neighbors. Everyone was educared and successful. 

Today I still feel that I underperformed compared to the implicit expectation shaped then. 

As Dana mentioned we applied to three schools which always seemed perfectly sensible. I suspect that the standard of three was set by what the school thought it had the personnel to manage the process and the admissions game was not so competitive. Legacies mattered a lot and obviously did you fit the school's profile etc.

Years later when my four children went to college each applied to 6 to 8 schools as advised by their schools. They all went to private boarding schools. So the schools were all very competitive. 

We have yet to see a grandchild get to the college application process. We hope to see some of them graduate from high school. But my one granddaughter lives in NYC and the process for just an elemenrary school seemed daunting.Her parents looked at both private and public options.Their "safety" was a private school and then the process of finding a public school in Manhattan. They finally got the right brass ring at a public school. Another family member (cousin) also in Manhattan bought a condo in a school district whcih he knew to be the best public elementary school in the city. I know it all sounds like one of those absurd movies about the young yuppies fearful their child won't get into Harvard. Its not quite that bad. 

I suppose I should ask is this my fault, is this a legacy of living well in Shaker, or just being very ambitious and what we do to ourselves? 

But I do believe what you do to educate your chidlren be it picking schools, encouraging them through tough times and unqualified love, it will be the best "investment" you will make or did make. 

I am grateful every day that my children seem to be well positioned to do for their children what I tried to do for them and what my parents did for me. Hopefully they will contribute to society and give more than they take. That will please my mother.

Final story. My father never looked at the bills. My mother did all that from an allowance she received from the company every month for too many years.  But he did pay the big ticket items like cars, tuitions, weddings and new kitchens ( my mother had three- 1930, 1948 and 1963 because always home oriented but no mink coat.). One time my tuition plus room and board was due. I was asked by my mother to get the check from my father. I went to his office and he handed me the check to give my mother to mail it. He gave me the check and I noted the amount. He then added, "I hope you can do this or your son some day." Some months later he bought a new station wagon. The cost was the same as my full year at college (around $3,000).

Needless to say every time I wrote the tuition checks for my children the remark my father made was in my head. Sometimes I laughed and others times I asked why me. I also recall that one time when I  got the check from him, he had a big glass of scotch on the desk. I understand why.

Many years later my niece was graduating from college (circa 1988) and I asked how much a full year was. I had just bought a Volvo wagon and the cost was the same.( around $17,000) I recalled the comparison in 1967. Today that benchmark no longer works. Private colleges are now the same as a BMW 500 series. And that may say a lot about the challenge of education costs now versus then ( 1960s or 1990s).  I have a Kenyon College key chain. Occasionally someone will ask about it. "Did you go to Kenyon?" I reply ,  "No, my daughter did and this is my $120,000 key ring." I suspect many of you may have had the same experience. 

.

William J Lavin

Joe, your last comment made me laugh.  My sister, who was two years behind us at Shaker (and who graudated from Mayfield Hts. High once my parents moved during her senior year...but her Shaker class still thinks she graduated with them and keep sending her reunion invitations) had all three of her children in college at one time.  She still refers to the picture of the three of them, each wearing their college sweatshirt, as her $100,000 family portrait.

Joseph G Blake

Oh yes, Paul I remember. We did plan very well and I recall two years where I had three tuitions to pay. 

I once told someone it was like buying a Rolex wrist watch every month but never getting the watch. 

Neil T Glazer

 I have seen the Shaker schools both fom the outside (as a student) and from the inside as a former Shaker teacher, Assistant Principal of Shaker High, and Principal of Shaker Middle School (Byron Junior High). I am convinced that our classmates success is more a reflection of our home-life and parents committment to the importance of a quality education than to the school district.

Most of the credit for my Ph.D goes to my grandparents and parents who always reminded me that in life you can have most everything taken away EXCEPT your education. They lost everything in the German and Poland concentration camps but their education couldn't be taken away.

A good lesson.

Paige Fields (Hoebel)

There is so much truth and sweet albit difficult memories in all that everyone is posting.  Neil is right - everything but your education can be taken away.  Evie is right that our reunions have been special bringing people we care about close and brining unknown classmates happily into our lives.  Each of us has our memories and we all thought that we walked alone - we now know differently.  What I learned a very long time ago is as we age we feel content and know we lived the best life we could.  Shaker was very competitive, life is very competiive, I have no desire to go back and am curious about the future.  Life - not SHHS prepared me for that.

Craig Miller

I’ll weigh in on Allen Grigsby, too. His advice to me in school was to be an accountant somewhere as my people skills were lacking and my academic record was rather shaky. I followed my father’s advice instead, and jumped into the Navy to grab a “kiddie cruiser” spot and grow up. Three years of active duty and done for good. That turned out to be a god send as Vietnam hit the proverbial fan. I will carry memories of that appalling waste of lives and fortune to the grave. But enough of that.

My skills in the Navy translated into something my parents never heard of, a computer systems manager. My mother was very direct. “What the Hell is that? It isn’t law. It isn’t medicine. It isn’t business.” (The Big Three). Some people are hard to please. So, I was a geek before the term became fashionable. Something Allen Grigsby would have had to learn.

Fast forward several years in the “burbs” and my wife, daughter and I found ourselves in Mesopotamia, Ohio in an Amish community in an Amish built house with one gorgeous barn. The registered cows outnumbered the registered voters. My daughter, who was eleven at the time, took all this in stride, jumped into 4-H with a passion and dragged home goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats and one forlorn gecko. My wife’s love of gardening and herbs only enhanced my daughter’s love of animals and nature. As for me, I was a geek during working hours and a farmer afterwards.

Fast forward again, and I’m retired (and widowed). I’ve given up my geekiness as it is a young person’s game. I don’t need the pressure cooker demands of a computer world.  Meanwhile, my daughter is pursuing her dream in permaculture and finishing her degree in botany in Visby, Sweden. Which also includes a Swedish husband, his daughters, in-laws, and, of course dogs, cats, snakes, lizards and one forlorn gecko. Visiting that gang is a "trip", in every sense of the word.

So, Mr. Grigsby, wherever you are, I’m sorry to have disappointed you. I followed the advice of another counselor, instead. A counselor of the human spirit, Robert Frost.

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

Joseph G Blake

These comments are all pertinent and beautiful. 
 

Evie Fertman (Braman)

Craig Miller, thank you for letting me meet you through your post in this Forum! I didn't know you in high school and again, I feel that I have missed out on someone who is terrific!  Your writing is beautiful, interesting and entertaining and most likely is a reflection on who you are.  I'm loving meeting classmates here on the Forum and at Reunions!  Thanks for adding to the comments.

Marianne Coplan (Schapiro)

OK--one more contribution to the college counseling discussion: I'm not sure I ever met for college counseling with Miss (Mrs?) Bramer. On the recommendation of my voice teacher, I had spent the summer after my junior year at Indiana University School of Music in the collegiate credit program. After that magical summer--that included singing in the chorus of a grand outdoor production of "Aida,"-- I never even looked at another school, and was accepted early at IU. What's odd is that my older son, (now 35), also did a high school summer program--at Savannah College of Design--and that became HIS first and only choice. My other son ended up in the journalism school at Indiana himself, and loved it too. By the time my boys were ready to apply to colleges, most of their classmates were applying to MANY schools, often with considerable anxiety and stress. My dad (whose Cleveland Scholarship Program helped send thousands of Cleveland kids to college) always said it didn't matter so much where you went to college; what mattered as how well you did wherever you were.

Both my sons chose well: Mike, the older one who went to SCAD, is an-award winning sound designer/editor in LA, and Aaron, my fellow IU grad, is an art director at Leo Burnett advertising in Chicago.

Cheers to all my classmates-Marianne Coplan Schapiro

Jonathan D Kent

Those of us who are parents know the value of their guidance and expectations as a large factor in subsequent success.  However, I have to say that Neil Glazer's take our formation processes gives a bit too little credit to the role that inspiring and caring teachers played.  I know that my own education would not have been nearly as effective if not for those teachers who really did inspire my work ethic and intellect. In today's climate, I feel it is important to acknowledge the value of such professionals and not relegate them to playing a minor role. What they did was not parenting, it was teaching, and I am glad I experienced it.

Betsy Dennis (Frank)

Marianne, I couldn't agree more. The college, itself, doesn't matter so much as what you with the education. I have taught mostly first generation college students at regional universities. Many have gone on to great achievements. Such a wonderful discussion!

Gary D Hermann

A very iinteresting conversation.    I think that there are many different things that influence us.   For immature kids like me, Shaker was a bit overwhelming, but two Shaker teachers, Robert Burnett and Marty Meshenberg, ended up having a huge influence on me and laid the groundwork for my academic success in college and law school  Both spent a lot of time with me outside of class giving me some direction on basic things like note taking, how to study, etc..   On the other hand, it was my mother, not Mr. Grigsby, who pointed me in the direction of a small liberal arts college (Hiram College), which turned out to be a great choice for me.  I was generally an academic screw off until my senior year and, because I had few college options, I had originally planned to attend a state school.  My mother later told me that she steered me towards a small liberal arts college because she had concluded that I would have likely flunked out of a big school and that a small school, with small classes and less bad influences, would likely turn me into a real student.    

As it turned out, Hiram, though fairly easy to be admitted to, was a school with pretty high academic standards---which I later learned was very respected by graduate schools and that no doubt helped me to be admitted to Northwestern University Law School, where I did very well.    It was also an eye-opener for me because most of the students came from very humble roots and had attitudes that people from "elite" neighborhoods and schools did not fully understand or appreciate.   The vast majority of the students either grew up on a farm, had parents who worked as laborers in various factories or mills, or were teachers, and they clearly had attitudes that I neither understood or appreciated.  I will never forget my first week at school when people mocked me because I came from Shaker Heights, assuming I was a spoiled rich kid (I quickly started to say "Cleveland" when people asked me where I came from).  A humbling experience, but it did make me look at people as individuals and not make assumptions about them because of their roots or socio-economic background. 

I also believe that parents today put too much emphasis on the name of the school their children attend and, though some "prestige" schools do open a few doors initially, Marianne's father comment about what you do with your education is what ultimately matters.   I would add one other thing:  the best schools are the ones that make a student interested in continuing to learn.  The World is always changing and those who continue to learn, both inside and outside their chosen field, and even after they retire, have the best chance of a successful and happy life.

Betsy Dennis (Frank)

Gary, Mr Burnett was one of my favorite teachers. I learned format from him and my students have suffered for that. I am a format nut. LOL, Betsy

Gary D Hermann

I realize that Mr. Burnett mean a lot to many of his students.  Back in 1972, when I was in Indianapolis to attend branch school for the U.S. Army, I visited him in Boswell, Indiana where he grew up and was living at the time.  He had an office/extra bedroom which was filled with letters from his former students, mostly with names I recognized from my time at Shaker--some school leaders or high achievers, but many others who were like me. 

I think he saw something in me that I did not see and, in hindsight, I think I became one of his personal projects--a low achieving student who had some potential.    I recall the class I was in was filled with mostly National Merit finalists and semi-finalists with the exception of 3 other students and me (we referred to ourselves as the dumb kids).  He often invited me after school to his apartment near Shaker Square (which he did with many others) where he tried to change my view that poetry was "stupid" and of no value (he won: I read poetry to my wife on our wedding night).  It is amazing what a devoted and talented teacher like Mr. Burnett could do to change a life. 

I, for one, think it is great that you have perpetuated Mr. Burnett's format rules.    Some day, your students will realize that you have provided them a special gift.    As a lawyer, I was absolutely amazed at the poor quality of writing that I routinely saw  from young lawyers, especially during the past 20 years and even from graduates of Ivy League and other so-called "elite" schools.  Of course, I drove my own children crazy with Mr. Burnett's writing rules once I discovered (mostly when they were applying to college) that they needed to improve on their writing.  Since then, they have come to realize that being a good writer gives them a great competitive advantage. 

Joseph G Blake

Ditto to all the comments about Mr Burnett. He still stands out in memory almost every few days because of how he taought me to write a simple sentence, a long standing interest in poetry and in general an appreciation of the written word. We live in an age that uses spellcheck all too readily and may not always appreciate that the changes suggested are also wrong.

Marianne Coplan (Schapiro)

I stayed in touch with Mr. Burnett via annual holiday notes, until I received notice that he had died. Shortly after I moved to Chicago, he insisted on driving up from his town in Indiana and taking me to lunch at the Art Institute. We had a lovely time. I too have used his rules--and passed many of them on to my boys. And I can still recite some of the poems he had us memorize. Great memories.

Paige Fields (Hoebel)

THIS MESSAGE WAS POSTED 2/16/20 ON FACEBOOK BY TOM FUERST'S SON BEN.

hello everyone, this is Tom's son Ben. I just wanted to touch base with all of his friends. Dad had to be rushed to the ER on thursday and had emergency surgery early friday morning. He is in stable but critical condition at this time and is sedated and on a breathing tube. It isn't certain whether he will pull through this or not at the moment. When visiting him at the hospital his phone had many missed calls and texts but I don't know his pass code so thought this the best way to reach out to all of his friends. If you have any questions I will check his facebook messenger as often as possible and get back to you as quickly as I can. Please say a prayer for my dad and keep him in your thoughts. I know he means a lot to many of you as he does to me.

Betsy Dennis (Frank)

Thanks I saw that too on FB.  Very sad. 

Paige Fields (Hoebel)

Here is today's update on Tom Fuerst's condition as posted on Facebook by his son Ben.

Hello everyone, Ben again. First and foremost I would just like to thank everyone for their support and well wishes. I never expected such an overwhelming response of love for Tom "Papa Smurf". It means the world to Matt and I, and will also mean the world to Dad when he is able to see it. So to fill everyone in, Dad started feeling sick, with what he only thought to be the flu a week ago tomorrow. After being taken to the ER by EMS on thursday, a CT scan revealed a bowel obstruction which caused sepsis. He required emergency surgery to repair the obstruction. So out of surgery early friday morning he has had to be continuously on breathing tubes and sedated. The sepsis has taken a toll on his body, and combined with pneumonia, his lungs/kidneys, and bowels have ceased to function. It is the doctors' hopes that day to day they will start to work on their own. We just have to take it day by day and hope for small signs of improvement. He remains stable but still critical at this time. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. As we are updated daily at the hospital we will pass these updates along. From the entire Fuerst family, thank you for all the love, support, and prayers ❤️💕❤️💕

William L Kahrl

The recent outpouring of fond memories of Mr. Burnett tweaked my own sense of guilt over a task I've left untended for far too long.

When word came out some time ago that Burton Randall had died, I was surprised that the news prompted no comments whatever from the other members of our class who stayed the course in Burton's A.P. English class. It was a three-year program of studies. The arc of instruction was carefully constructed and the articulation between its parts was as immutable as the seating chart. When some of us revisited his classroom at the 50th reunion, I was delighted that one of my favorite people from that class promptly began identifying who sat in each seat, all in rigid alphabetical order. Then she paused and gave me the fish eye. "You were the only one who wasn't in alphabetical order," she remarked with only a hint of the inquisition in her tone. "Why was that?"

It's been the story of my life ever since. Always the square peg.

Burton didn't give us rules for writing. Instead we learned incrementally to recognize the difference between good writing and bad. I've always had a distaste for Emerson and an abiding affection for Emily Dickinson as a result. He built our lessons up from the basics.  We didn't just learn the parts of speech and how to diagram a sentence. We had to master parsing the language. You might be surprised how often a fine sense of the past pluperfect tense has come in handy for me over the years.

Likewise, when we took up the classical Greek tragedies, we didn't just read the Oresteia. We started with Gassner and H.D.F. Kitto to understand the origins and mechanics of drama and the nature of the polis. We visited Iphigenia at Aulis and Oedipus at Colonus. And before we reached the cave in Plato's Republic, we had to become acquainted with  Alcibiades, Socrates' bad example. But as dry and antiquarian as that may sound in retrospect, I recently found reference to Antigone useful in explaining the bad behavior on college campuses today.

I joined our class as a sophomore, having come to Shaker from a mediocre school system in a mostly rural part of the state. I loved the high school -- the facilities, the faculty, the brilliant students all around and their infectious ambition. But for me, admission to Burton's class was like being handed a key to the treasures of Western civilization.

The pace was relentless and demanding, just like the weekly vocabulary tests. Some dropped out in the transition periods between years and occasionally semesters. But there were many happy times -- he was wonderful on the Pickwick Papers and the choicer bits of Chaucer. He also read to us at Christmas and gave out copies of Dracula as gifts for the holidays. And there was flexibility enough that occasionally the lesson plan jumped the track completely. I remember asking a question once that so intrigued him he spent the next three days delivering the answer.

Burton was always best on the big serious topics such as Bleak House, the Book of Job, and the poets who wrote best about eternity, Poe and Dickinson. But the course as a whole, all three years of it, was built around one great work, training us all to scale the heights of  Paradise Lost. As he taught it, Milton's epic poem was not just about a great adventure story, or the clash of compelling moral imperatives or the extraordinary amount of knowledge Milton brought to bear in illuminating the sweep of human history. Nah. Burton was really teaching us about the getting of knowledge itself, how it is done, and why the process matters.

I was sad to read in the death notices that his wife Jean had passed many years before Burton. Jean also taught in the English Department when we were there. She and Burton  were always so happy together that he should never have been left alone for so long. Nor should I have waited  this long to express my gratitude.

Paige Fields (Hoebel)

Judi Bachman (Holtze)

Thanks for posting this.

Joseph G Blake

Let me say thanks as well to Paige and also Will Kahrl.

We all hope and pray for the best for Tom Fuerst. And may I please add that Will wrote a magnificent tribute to Burton Randall. I only knew about him by reputation. I hope his family sees whatt Will wrote. I took the liberty of copying it and sending to several people who would find it of interest. 

I wonder if there is an AP course that rigorous these days. 

Well done.

Paige Fields (Hoebel)

This is the latest update posted on Facebook on February 29th by Tom Fuerst's sons Matt and Ben.

well the roller coaster ride continues. Dad seems to be the best he's been since arriving at the ER on the 13th. The day of his tracheotomy, he was full of piss and vinegar as his mom would say. He flicked matt and i both off on separate occasions for making smart comments. his bowel and kidney function seem to be improving ever so slightly and hopefully the trache will allow for a better weening process than the breathing tube. All the poor guy wants is a coke and we get another middle finger every time we tell him he can't have one. hopefully we have turned the final corner and it is all up hill from here. it will be a long road back but we hope he will be back to his 3 weekly volunteer duties soon!