A Different Sort of School

If Brian Wise pulled up beside you at a stop sign on his custom Harley, you would probably lock your doors and stare straight ahead for fear you might provoke him. With his Fu Man Chu moustache and tattooed arms, he looks more like someone you might see at Biker Night at Russo's Pizza, rather than someone you would trust your children with.

In the coming week, if you were to follow Brian on that Harley, you might be surprised where it would take you. Brian is a school teacher. To be specific, he is the welding instructor at the Herndon Career Center of the Raytown Quality School District.

Although operated out of the Raytown Quality School District, a majority of Herndon's student are from the Lee's Summit R-7 District.

Brian and his colleagues prepare students to work in several trades ranging from welding to child care; culinary to cosmetology. At one time, when a student was encouraged to attend the "Vo Tech" school, it was a nice way of saying that he couldn't cut it in the classroom. Those days are long past, and never were relevant.

Wise runs his class much like a machine shop. The students appoint a shop foreman and he becomes the second in command. This does not completely prevent misbehavior, but the students learn the reality of leading fellow workers/students. Wise shares with pride the fact that he has among former students a master boilermaker and an instructor for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

If you look behind that motorcycle, you will see a retired Air Force Drill Sergeant following. Gloria Donato instructs students in Cosmetology. The students in her program attend from early in the morning through 4:00 in the afternoon. Taylor Welch shares the reason she will miss attending her senior year at Lee's Summit North, "I want to be able to help people feel good about themselves. I have done my friends' hair and hope to make a career out of this." Donato's students describe her as "funny, aggressive, good at what she does, but she doesn't play around."

Vince Nickerson, a builder in his spare time, instructs Construction Trades. He boasts among his former students several construction managers, union leaders and the store manager of an Ace Hardware.

If Ben Griswold coached football there would be stadiums named after him. In the 6 years he has instructed at Herndon, he has collected 5 state championships, one 2^nd place and one national championship in Culinary Arts. "It still stings that we placed 6^th last year in nationals. If we had cut our lemon crowns correctly, we would have won." He boasts former students working for Disney, attending the Culinary Institute of America and 17 employed locally as sous chefs and executive chefs.

Each of the staff can boast of a near 90% placement rate among students who finish their programs. Of the instructors interviewed, they enjoyed quoting former director Brian Mann in saying, "We don't train future employees, we train future employers."

These instructors would also like to add, "If you want to follow Brian on that Harley each day, there are a few slots available in their programs. Talk to your school counselor first."

If you follow this Harley to welding class, you might get to build your own.

Put Me in Coach

Thirty-nine seasons ago a group of Lee's Summit girls showed up at the local sandlot wanting to play ball. They were turned away and told that there were no teams for girls in their home town. They begged their parents to drive them to Blue Springs where they had a league for girls. Perhaps in a move to save time and gasoline, or to provide an athletic program for these young ladies, these parents took another option.

In the winter of 1972, Donna Green, Francine Dyke, Joanne Drake, the late Shirley Nill, and the late Joyce Burkhalter met at one of their homes and planned the beginning of the Lee's Summit Powerpuff Softball Association. The name was later changed to the Lee's Summit Girls Softball Association. That spring a draft was held at Westview Elementary School and games were first played the spring and summer of 1972. Many of those original games were played at Westview. Their season began with 2 divisions of 6-8 teams each as shared by Judy Burkhalter, a charter player and the daughter of co- founder, Joyce Burkhalter.

Daryl Felkins, charter player, remembers practicing in a vacant lot that currently houses Sears/Kmart. "We had to run across 291 to use the restroom at the United Super grocery store." Because the lot was not mowed regularly, "during a game, if an outfielder could not find the ball, she would raise her hand and play would stop while all of the girls would look for the ball in the tall grass." Felkins further shares that there were no concession stands and no official umpires. The parents shared in the officiating and made sure they brought plenty of cold pop in coolers. In the first season, there were no sponsors and no uniforms. Each team was assigned a color and the girls were to wear a t-shirt of that color. Felkins went on to coach several years in the league, seeing t-ball added during that time.

Francine Dyke, who is currently a special needs bus aide for the Lee's Summit R-7 district, tells of some of the obstacles faced when starting a girls softball league. "Some of the boys coaches didn't believe a girl would be able to throw the ball from catcher to second base." Anyone who has spent a summer evening at Legacy, knows how silly this objection later proved to be. Ms Dyke, a pioneer in her own right was also the first female umpire for boys baseball in Lee's Summit. She later umpired in the league.

Following that inaugural season, the league was able to get sponsors for the girls, with Farmer's Trust Bank, Midland Bank, W.F. Mothersbaugh and Son Inc. and Hartley's Furniture being among those original sponsors. Sandy Cahill, who would become the first softball coach at Lee's Summit High School, later became one of the first official umpires for the league.

Rick Huskey, owner of Bigg's Pest Control, one of the early coaches, remembers he and his wife Pat each coaching a team. "This was before we were married and Pat's team was the only one to beat my team during that season. Pat's team and mine faced off in the championship game of our division that summer."

After just a season or two some of the original girls wanted to find a higher level of competition. Maureen Newman described how Roland Sheldon, Wanda (McConnell) Holland and Bill Bancroft formed two competitive teams that competed in the Johnson County Girls Athletic Association. "Rollie and Wanda were our coaches and Bancroft was our nemesis for about a year. We were the Roadrunners and my dad's(the late Don Newman) company Specialty Products was our sponsor." In addition to the teams that play in the current LSGSA, there are numerous competitive teams that continue to play in Lee's Summit.

Current LSGSA president Stan Workman tells that this past season, the league served 888 girls playing on 74 teams, both competitive and recreational. These teams were run by 225 coaches with a backbone of 60 sponsors from a variety of area businesses. The league is made up of 6 divisions of girls from pre-K playing T-Ball to high school seniors playing Division 4. Remember the question of whether a girl could throw from catcher to second? Workman shares that, "there have been many home runs hit over the fences at Legacy Park. Lee's Summit Parks and Recreation have provided Legacy Park as a wonderful venue for softball."

Judy Burkhalter is proud of the work her mother Joyce, Donna Green, Francine Dyke, Joanne Drake and Shirley Nill did in starting the league. Their grassroots beginning is being carried on today by a very dedicated group of volunteers. These ladies can truly be proud of what they started back in 1972.