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.”

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Reflections Spring ’11

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