Page 11 – The Wege Foundation

Parent Magazine: One of the “Coolest Schools in America”

November 30, 2013October 8, 2014Community Service, Education, Environment

Five years ago the Grand Rapids Public Schools and Peter M. Wege joined forces to create a sixth-grade program focused on environmental education at City High Middle. That was how the Center For Economicology – named for Peter Wege’s philosophy and books – came to be.

Wege coined the word advocating that humans must balance the needs of the economy with protecting the ecology. From 17 sixth-graders in one room in 2008, this year 57 students are enrolled in the Center For Economicology. And because City High Middle moved into the former Creston High School this fall, this growing economicology program has expanded from two classrooms to having its own building behind the former Creston High.

By moving from its campus on Fuller to the three-story school on Plainfield, City High Middle has its first pool and not just one but two gyms. The new expansive space has allowed the school to increase its number of 6-12 graders by 120 students up to 760, City High Middle’s highest enrollment ever. To serve more students, GRPS hired six new teachers up from 24 last fall.

Because the natural world is a significant part of the curriculum for CFE students, they head outdoors on almost weekly field trips. A wind farm. Farmers Market. Lake Michigan research vessel. Two over night camps spring and fall. They are also working at Riverside Park partnering with Grand Rapids’ park officials to clean it up. The park is becoming one of the Economicology students’ outdoor classrooms where they are studying invasive species.

The Center For Economicology’s success has not gone unnoticed at the state level. In the competitive Rewards program, the CFE ranked in the top 5% of schools for High Performing and Beating the Odds. What Principal Mike Pascoe and Assistant Principal Ryan Huppert are most proud of is that CFE achieved this top rating with 40% of their students qualifying for free and reduced lunches.

No wonder Parent Magazine recently called Economicology one of “the coolest schools in America.”

cityhighgym — In relocating to Creston High, City High Middle not only greatly expanded its square footage, but the students also gained a pool and a second gymnasium, one of them shown here.

cityhighmusicroom — City High Middle students practice in their new – and bigger – music room

cityhigh — Since September, the former Creston High School on Plainfield has become the new home for another GRPS school: City High Middle.

Wonder, Blandford Nature Center’s Goat, Steals the Show

November 1, 2013October 8, 2014Education, Environment

The October invitation to “See you under the stars for a bedazzling evening” happened under a tent with 200 nature lovers wearing Jeans and Jewelry. The FUNdraiser for Blandford Nature Center began by naming Peter M. Wege the first winner of its Crown Jewel Award.

In 2006 when Blandford lost its G.R. Public Museum tax base, Wege partnered with Grand Rapids Public Schools’ Superintendent Bert Bleke to support it as an independent non-profit. Saving Blandford was one more opportunity for Peter to “do all the good” he could. This year’s ‘second annual fundraiser affirmed Wege’s faith in collaboration as last year’s one sponsor, The Wege Foundation, was joined by 13 new sponsors this year.

The “bedazzled” donors in bling and jeans mixed with the wildlife during cocktail hour as volunteers told the stories of how the birds and animals had come to live at Blandford. Guests were guided through the woods by candle light to meet “Bob” the bobcat.

The West Catholic High School Jazz Band played for the Blandford supporters as they dined on a harvest buffet ending with homemade warm apple crisp. The after-dinner live and silent auctions raised $15,000 bidding on donations that included a “Hawk” print from Mr. Wege’s private collection; a Summer Meadow Tour and Trail Exploration by Dr. Mary Jane Dockeray, the founder of Blandford; a week of Blandford summer camp; a brunch for six in Blandford’s 150-year old cabin.

The above video features six spirited Blandford 6th-graders wearing their prized BEEP (Blandford Environmental Education Program) sweatshirts as they rap to an original song written by Josh Patterson. That rousing planned entertainment was soon followed by a perfect Blandford Nature Center moment!

Above Photo – During the video put together by Klaas Kwant, Wonder, Blandford’s resident goat, broke loose from the barn and came running to join the party. With the audience collapsed in laughter, Wonder led the pursuing Beeps ion a merry chase around the tent before he was caught.

blandfordowl — Holding Baby, the Barred Owl, is Kristin Tindall, one of our Educators at Blandford Nature Center.

blandfordterriannoe — Attending “Jeans and Jewels Gala” is Terry McCarthy, Programs Officer, at the Wege Foundation and Annoesjka Steinman Executive Director, President and CEO of Blandford Nature Center.

blandford-rappers — The “beeps” rapping about Blandford Nature Center. Left to Right – Grace Heemstra, William Rabon, Grace Rellinger, Daniel Nethercott, Rose Gerson, Benjamin Garretson

STEELCASE CEO SPREADS AROUND THE CREDIT

October 1, 2013October 8, 2014Community Service

Jim Hackett learned teamwork early on when he played football for the legendary Bo Schembechler at the University of Michigan. Hackett never forgot Bo’s coaching. When Hackett received Aquinas College’s 2013 reflection Award in October, he was all about honoring those who made possible his successes as Steelcase’s CEO.

He started with his wife Kathy, their two sons, his assistants, and then he went on to thank all the people he’d worked with as the team who’d earned the Reflections Award along with him. In 1981 Jim started at Steelcase Inc. in sales and marketing where he continued to earn promotions over the next decade.

The big leap happened in 1994 when, at age 39, he was named the company’s chief executive officer. Taking over the world’s largest manufacturer of office furniture before he was forty made James P. Hackett one of the youngest CEOs in the industry.

This January after 32 years with Steelcase, the past twenty as CEO, James P. Hackett will retire from the office furniture company founded as Metal Office Furniture in 1912. During his tenure, Steelcase went from being privately owned to becoming a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Under Hackett, Steelcase continued to lead the way globally on environmental manufacturing, a corporate value dating back to the 1970s and the progressive vision of Peter M. Wege, the son of Peter Martin Wege, a Steelcase founder. This January Hackett’s unnamed successor will take over a thriving corporation, including 670 dealers around the world and revenue of $2.9 billion in fiscal 2013.

How this bright athlete born in Columbus, Ohio, ended up a Wolverine instead of a Buckeye is still unclear. But the standing ovation by the full house of people who came out to honor him at Reflections said they were very glad he did.

aquinashackett — Jim Hackett, CEO of Steelcase, Inc. and winner of Aquinas College’s 2013 Reflection Award is shown with Greg Meyer, Aquinas College’s Vice President for Advancement, at the October Reflection dinner.

aquinasfrmark1 — Attending Aquinas College’s 20th annual Reflection Award banquet honoring James P. Hackett: from the left, Msgr. Stalker, Msgr. Duncan, and Father Mark Przybysz.

AQ_Reflection2013_Hackett_0498 — Accepting the 2013 Aquinas College Reflection Award from President Juan Oliverez, is James B. Hackett joined on stage by his wife Kathy, her mother Joan Hedges, and the Hacketts’ son Patrick and his wife Melissa.

The Wege Mission Carries On

September 1, 2013October 8, 2014Arts & Culture, Community Service

Let there be no doubt that Peter M. Wege’s has legacy bearers who continue to do “all the good” they can. Two of them said it best themselves.

The September issue of Grand Rapids Magazine featured an article about Erin Wilson (pictured left), director of Wealthy Theatre, an historic landmark saved by Peter M. Wege and the family foundation. Boarded up for 14 years in 1989, the former vaudeville showhouse was about to be demolished when neighbors came to Wege for help. As usual, Peter had a bigger idea. Let’s restore the theatre, clean up surrounding buildings, and rejuvenate the once thriving Wealthy Business District.

Now it’s a bustling street of businesses and homes anchored by the theatre Peter rescued. Erin told the Magazine Peter is an “iconic figure,” for the “direction our neighborhood has taken.”

Eric continued: Mr. Wege did some chess-like things on the block that transcend the theater support when he paid an inflated price to buy and then shut down a store that served as a drug ring in the 1990s. He made this neighborhood livable by doing proactive things in a surgical manner with his resources.

The second mission carriers are Christian and Kathryn Birky who attended Healing Our Waters conferences as teenagers. Kathryn graduated from Brown with a Masters of Environmental Science and now runs a non-profit in Gambia, the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust.

Here is Christian’s recent note to Dear Mr. Wege,

I am a West Michigan native and avid environmentalist. I attended the first few HOW conferences while in high school, and remember meeting you at breakfast at the Amway with my sister Kathryn before the very first one. Since then, I have gone on to study politics and environmental studies at Princeton, where I just graduated. I am moving back to Michigan, and recently I have come across your influence in several places, from innovative business practices at Steelcase to great work by the Wege Foundation. I wanted to express my gratitude for your leadership on environmental issues. There is still much work to be done, but please know that you have inspired another generation of environmental leaders. We will benefit from the example you set, and we appreciate it!

Peter’s mission thus carries on in these two bright and passionate young people. How thoughtful of them to tell him so.

wealthydirector — Erin Wilson, theatre Director, born in Muskegon Heights, he now lives within five blocks of Wealthy Theatre, where he’s raising a family with his partner, Amy, who is a ballet dancer and instructor.

peterquotes — At the May 2004 meeting that created the Healing Our Waters movement to save the Great Lakes, Peter M.Wege, organizer of the conference, is pictured welcoming the 70 assembled environmental scientists. Wege told his audience that HOW “is the most important single project of my life as an environmental activist since starting the Wege Foundation in 1967.”

Sanity broke out in the U.S. House of Representatives.

August 31, 2013October 8, 2014Environment

If you want to know the rest of the story, click on the link below to Andy Buchsbaum’s Guest Column in Bridge Magazine. If you love the Great Lakes – and who doesn’t? – Andy’s report will inspire you. It’s an encouraging account on how all of us can make a difference by being good and vocal citizens: Read ON!

Andy’s Colum – “Don’t mess with the Great Lakes”

Andy Buchsbaum is Regional Executive Director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Natural Resources Center in Ann Arbor. — Andy Buchsbaum is Regional Executive Director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Natural Resources Center in Ann Arbor.

Path to College starts at Wege Farm

August 15, 2013September 25, 2014Education, Environment

Peter M. Wege’s beloved Lowell farm is the setting for this inspiring video of an environmental and educational program The Wege Foundation started three years ago for Grand Rapids Public School students. Partnering with Aquinas, Calvin, and Hope, the Foundation aims to introduce these GRPS high schoolers to colleges as they interact at the farm with students from these three area schools. The GRPS students also visit these college campuses in the hopes that those who had not considered going on to school might change their minds. It’s a video worth watching!

wegefarmkids — Hands-on Work to Restore Wetlands.

wegefarmstudents — Students learn more about human world versus natural world communities from Dr. Tueth, Aquinas College.

wegefarmteaching — Dr. Dornbos from Calvin College teaches Third 90 students how to measure and record new growth on Autumn Olive and Hawthorn trees

Camp O’Malley Fighting Juvenile Crime 71 Years Later

August 1, 2013September 2, 2014Community Service

In 1938 Grand Rapids Police Department Superintendent Frank O’Malley saw a worrisome statistic. That year 147 young people were arrested for various crimes. Whether it was a consequence of those hard-scrabble Great Depression years or not, Superintendent O’Malley refused to accept the number.

That Christmas he called together the inner-city community and shared his plan. The police department was setting up a youth center on Finney S.W. near where these budding law-breakers lived. Instead of hanging out on the streets, the city’s young people could come to the Finney center for recreation led by caring adults, including police men.

O’Malley’s idea worked. The next year the number of young people arrested dropped to four. The summer of 1942 Supt O’Malley opened a summer camp for these young people.

Fast forward 71 years to 2013 and head south to the original 40-acre Camp O’Malley in Caledonia. Some 600 of the at-risk children O’Malley once worried about get to spend a week in a verdant outdoor space complete with a climbing wall, obstacle course, arts, crafts, music center, and swimming pool. And the GRPD is still the key partner with officers spending time at camp every day. The young people learn to know Grand Rapids police officers not as adversaries, but as friends.

The Wege Foundation sponsors staff from Holland’s Outdoor Discovery Center to visit the camp bringing live animals, birds, reptiles. The ODC team also comes with kayaks to take the campers on the adjoining Thornapple River. Campers who have never left the city get their first chance to pet owls, touch snakes, and hold turtles.

How does the GRPD assess the long-term affect Camp O’Malley has on the campers? They can’t. But they do know they make fewer juvenile arrests in the city than they would have to without Camp O’Malley.

••The above photo shows O’Malley Camp Staff leaders Rebecca Massad, left, Rick Huisman, middle, and Amanda Alters, right, taking Wege Foundation officers Terri McCarthy and Ellen Satterlee on a tour of the camp. Since The Wege Foundation was founded by Peter M. Wege whose father started Metal Office Furniture/Steelcase, the background fits right in!

campomallymural — Campers painted the mural that names all the fun they have in their five days at Camp O’Malley.

campomallykids — Campers leave the swimming pool for the day’s next activity at Camp O’Malley.

campomallyfire — Campers look forward to the evening bonfire at Camp O’Malley.

Three Aladdin’s Three Wishes and the PAC

June 30, 2013September 2, 2014Arts & Culture, Education

The noisy chatter of children filling the seats on three sides of the stage quickly turned to hushed attentiveness as six Arabian princesses appeared in gauzy costumes. Circle Theatre’s summer performance of The Mystic Tale of Aladdin had begun.

Middle-schoolers, grade-schoolers, and pre-schoolers sat mesmerized by the lush setting in the Sultan’s treasure room heaped with piles of jewels and gold. Aladdin and his magic lamp came to life when his three wishes appeared as three bejeweled belly dancers.

Aladdin is one of six summer performances – the only children’s show – for Circle Theatre’s 61st year of live theater. Now housed in the handsome Performing Arts Center at Aquinas, Circle Theatre’s name and history go back to its 1953 first season in the old Rowe Hotel. The theater lovers who came up with the idea rented space that summer in a room at the Rowe that happened to be round. Presto! Theater in the round, aptly named Circle Theatre, was here to stay in Grand Rapids.

But when the theater’s organizers lost their hotel space, they moved to an unlikely venue. Remodeling an old pavilion, Circle Theatre opened its 1964 season at John Ball Park Zoo! Building a theater-in-the-round stage was, of course, part of the renovation. For the next four decades playgoers were entertained not only by the live stage shows, but also by the night sounds of the zoo’s residents.

By the early 2000s, Circle needed a permanent home. Peter Wege stepped in with one collaborative condition. The new PAC would be shared – and it is – by Circle, Aquinas, and the Catholic Secondary Schools for all their performing arts programs. The PAC gift thus honored The Wege Foundation’s mission of promoting both arts and education.

Since the PAC’s first 2003 season, audiences have filled the 418 surrounding seats to enjoy live theater. Who knows? Maybe the PAC itself was one of Aladdin’s three wishes that came true!

Motorcycles, Arabians, 20 Grandchildren, and the Emeritus Honor

June 15, 2013September 2, 2014Education

The 30th annual Aquinas Emeritus Award went to a husband and wife who in their individual ways have demonstrated the highest standard of honoring family, community, and always, always young people. The 2013 winners Dave and Linda Mehney exemplify the Emeritus values of “ leadership, generosity, and spirit of service.”

Dave Mehney has taken entrepreneurship to a whole new level. Long known as a risk-taker, Dave made his first leap of faith in 1966 when he started selling Kawaski motorcycles. That went pretty well – including his own airplane – so he decided to try selling Skytron lights for hospital operating rooms. Financially a good move, for sure. But Skytron was also a show of respect for Dave’s father Dr. Gayle Mehney, a renowned Grand Rapids ophthalmologist.

The fearless skier on snow and water next took on Great Lakes Marine keeping West Michigan equipped with jet skis. But one more venue intrigued him: how about developing Thousand Oaks and building homes all around it? From selling motorcycles to running a golf course is almost a natural progression for Dave Mehney!

Meanwhile Linda, busy raising their five boys, found out their Florida babysitter’s living conditions were unacceptable. So Linda did what Linda does. She adopted Susan Mehney who became Dave’s and Linda’s beloved only daughter until Susan’s tragic death in a car accident.

Family is always first for Linda, now including 20 adored grandchildren. But she also did her own entrepreneuring when she started Grand Arabian Horse Farms. It didn’t take long for Linda’s magnificent Arabians to start taking national titles putting her stable on the gold list for sales and stud fees.

Dave and Linda Mehney have never met a young person they didn’t like – or one they wouldn’t help. As the volunteer assistant varsity football coach for East Grand Rapids since 1989, Dave has his finger on the community’s pulse. Kids, families, teachers – everyone knows who the go-to couple is when some student needs help.

Tough as both Dave and Linda are in their separate businesses, this year’s Emeritus winners are pushovers for children.

(**Above photo – Dave Mehney thanks the East Grand High School Madrigals who entertained a full-house audience at Thousand Oaks for the Emeritus banquet.)