Reflections Magazine Issue #74 - Spring 2011 | Page 22

Alumni Feature
continued from page 21 . . .

And Roekle has 30-plus years at all levels of education as reference. After graduating from Siena
Heights with a sociology degree, her first job
was teaching elementary students at Madison
Heights Lamphere Schools in metro Detroit.
At Lamphere, they taught in “pods,” meaning
there were no grade levels and learning was done
by age and ability. She said that initial experience
has stayed with her.
“Personally, that helped me become a teacher
who recognized that kids are different and
learned at a different rate,” Roekle said. “I have
such respect for knowing how to move students
through their personal (learning) level.”
Roekle then taught at Tecumseh Schools for a
number of years before becoming an elementary
principal at Imlay City. She then returned to
Lamphere, where she eventually served as an
assistant superintendent of instruction. It was in
that position where Roekle was introduced to
the idea of educational strategic planning.
“I wanted to stand up and help other people organize their thoughts,” she said. “Strategic planning was just becoming an important piece of
what we were doing. … It was a natural fit for me.”
As a teacher and administrator, Roekle was
known for her personal touches. Each of her
former students would receive a hand-made card
for their graduation—even if she had them as a
first-grader. And in Imlay City, she helped organize community parades, enlisting the school
band and cheerleaders to promote programs like
reading. She also helped her district become the
first public school to offer bingo, and organized
Friday night dances for the students. “It changes
the community,” Roekle said.
Roekle said the key to improving public education in the U.S. is focusing on the principals and
assistant principals. “They don’t need to be master teachers,” she said of principals. “They need
to be visionaries, people who can evaluate and
support and provide initiative and direction for
their teachers. … Visionaries who know how to
evaluate, support and can initiate change … that’s
where education needs to be.”

22

Reflections Spring ’11

“I can say that my experience could not have been better (at Siena Heights) . . . Not only did they
support me when I was there, they supported me when I left.”— T.C. Roekle ’68
Roekle co-authored the book “Designing Thriving Schools” with New York Times bestselling
author Daniel Burrus that provides educators
at all levels with the tools to succeed.
And she was a keynote speaker at recent educational conferences in Chicago and Singapore,
where she was exposed to effective educational
strategies. “They get it,” said Roekle, referring to
Singapore’s educational system. “They are using
the model that we (the U.S.) used 30 years ago. …
I’m most impressed with their education system.”
Roekle said her Siena Heights education continues to influence her life. “I can say that my
experience could not have been better (at Siena
Heights) because of the individual attention,”
said Roekle, who received the Alumni Association’s St. Dominic Award in 1988. “Not only
did they support me when I was there, they
supported me when I left.”
Roekle, whose husband, Cecil Daniels, graduated from Siena Heights’ Southfield campus in
1985, said she enjoys helping teachers realize
the roles they play in students’ lives.
“Everyone makes an impact whether they want
to or not. It has to be positive,” she said. “The
word ‘impact’ is important because I want every
teacher to know they impact every day. … I want
to impact as many people as I can. I want it to
be a ripple effect.” u

All in for Art
Jason Sanderson ’92 Leads a High
School Art Renaissance
Jason Sanderson ’92 has taught high school art
for 17 years. But what the Siena Heights graduate really teaches is passion.
“It’s just about passion, and that’s why I really feel
like I need to be engaged with (my students) as
much as possible,” he said. “It’s just so rewarding
because the kids know that I’m passionate about
what I’m doing. And if I’m passionate about what
I’m doing, it’s going to transfer.”
That passion has transferred not only to his
students, but to the entire Temperance Bedford
High School district, where he began his fulltime teaching career in 1994. In a time where
public education is cutting programs like art and
music, Bedford’s has actually expanded. There
were originally six art classes and 1 ½ teaching
positions when he started. Now, there are 30 art
classes and 4 ½ teaching positions, and Sanderson has been one of the catalysts of that growth.
“You’ve got to make it viable,” Sanderson of art.
“You’ve got to make it important and mean
something. … It’s about choices. This is a kid’s
baseball (scholarship).

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