One Decade of Joyful Julian Recall

It is a day I remember in a celebratory spirit each year: Wednesday, June 8, 2005.  That was the day I graduated from Percy Julian Middle School, marking the end of three amazing years, when, at approximately 8:20 PM, my 8th grade advisory and science teacher Ms. Teubert called out my name and I walked across the stage to receive my diploma from District 97 Board member Dr. Blankemeier.  (The picture below captures me (just right of center) walking across the stage immediately after receiving my diploma from Dr. Blankemeier, who is to the left, in a whitish dress.)

While many people write off these years, I fondly recall those three great years I spent as a student at Julian, because I flourished in many ways as a person during my time there.  I feel that many aspects of who I am as a person can be traced back to my experiences there.

Perhaps this is why I regard middle school in a more generally optimistic way than many, especially the District 97 board candidates in the recent local elections campaign who spoke about the problematic nature of middle school, not only because of the stage of life of the students, but because they dissipate the tight-knit communities the elementary schools foster.  I’ll admit that there were many imperfections in my middle school years.  Yet somehow, this time of my life always manages to rise above those bad aspects to glimmer beautifully.  And it was a very particular arrangement of circumstances that together contributed to making my middle school experience so memorable.

It was also during the campaign that I gained new insights about what went into making the middle schools possible in Oak Park back around 2000.  I engaged in an extensive exchange via e-mail with Bob Spatz, who currently sits on the District 97 board, and who was very involved in the efforts to get the middle schools built.  And I think that the newness of the buildings and the experience they contain definitely serves as the basis for my memorable middle school period.

I came to middle school wracked by disillusionment from some hard times during 5^th grade, which didn’t at all put me in the right mindset to start 6^th grade, much less starting at a new school.  Yet it was a momentous time in Oak Park:  After much planning, two new middle schools were completed, and the 6^th graders started attending them along with grades 7 and 8.  So that Tuesday, September 3, 2002--what would have otherwise been a mundane, first day at a new school--was a day that my classmates and I made Oak Park history as the first group of 6^th graders to attend Julian.  At the same time, 5/8-mile west on Washington Boulevard, my counterparts became the first group of 6^th graders at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School.  Furthermore, it was also something totally new for my 6^th grade core class, and even electives, teachers, and many others, too, who came from other District 97 schools to teach at Julian.  We were indeed starting out together in this bold new experiment.  A term I heard tossed about during my 6^th grade year was “guinea pigs”, in reference to us being the first to be part of the 6^th grade experience at the middle schools.

So despite my nervousness starting out, I recognized it was something amazing to be starting at a new school that was also a brand new school building, which was built thanks to the planning efforts of people at District 97, and the voters of Oak Park who approved a referendum to raise taxes to pay for the new buildings.

The buildings have such a sophisticated, modernistic design.  But the part of the physical space that I feel specially contributed to my success was the team wings.  These wings formed the organization of the academic learning teams of the core classes.  I liked this structure of the teams, which helped us form close relationships with teachers and students, even in the midst of the large setting of the building.

On those teams, I obtained a great education that contributed significantly to my personal growth.  Especially in social studies class, I was able to learn more about this country, which helped foster in me a strong sense of pride in what it means to be an American, also fostered outside of school, such as through my own reading of books about US history and places, and even watching the PBS show Liberty’s Kids, which debuted at the same time I started 6th grade.  This particular example highlights how significant things happened in my life outside the walls of Julian, but worked in tandem with certain things happening at school.  It was the first sense I had of how my education would connect with the larger purposes I would attain in fulfilling my life’s vocation, extending beyond my schooling, before I fully comprehended such a concept.

There were other significant projects happened in classes that allowed me to think more deeply about things going on in the larger world, like in math classes, CMT, and Arts and Culture class in 6th grade.

But some of the notable ways I personally expressed myself during those years at Julian occurred outside of class time in competitions like the Spelling Bee, the National Geography Bee, and the Word Power Challenge, to name a few, and I excelled in the first two in that list.  I never imagined myself excelling at spelling, but I made it to the final school round all three years.

As far as the National Geography Bee is concerned, I was definitely in my element as a participant.  I’ve enjoyed geography ever since grade 2, and this was a fantastic opportunity to put my knowledge about the world to the test, and have some fun along the way.

I also served on Student Council, which gave me great experience taking leadership and working on projects, a couple of which I did in the desire to serve my fellow students.  I also got to experience “instant celebrity-hood”, albeit brief, on two occasions: When I ran for Student Council Vice President in grade 7, I gave a campaign speech before the whole school--in two batches--that managed to impress many.  

The next year, in 8^th grade, many took note of me when I served as the narrator in a video on respect that Student Council did, as part of the school's efforts to promote good character qualities.

The most important area of personal growth I experience during middle school was a greater appreciation for my own cultural/religious background.  Oak Park prides itself on being a diverse community, and I was able to experience that more fully when I left my area of Oak Park and went to Julian.  This happened most strongly with the many Jewish people I met.

Before I started grade 6, I’m pretty sure I knew only one Jewish person well.  In the first few weeks at Julian, that number skyrocketed.  I encountered Jewish people among my friends and classmates at every turn of a corner, and had a good relationship with one Jewish friend in particular.  There was also my 6^th grade math and language arts teacher Mr. Brachman.  He openly talked about his experiences being Jewish, which added much depth to our study of the Holocaust.  Their openness to being Jewish as part of who they are was an incredible experience for me, to get to know these people on such a level, in a more personal way.  The greatest privilege of my life was when my good friend invited me to his Bar Mitzvah, which opened up the Jewish religion for me in a whole new way.

Encountering their openness to expressing who they are caused me to turn inwardly and ponder who I was more deeply, my culture and especially my own religion.  It accelerated a process that had already started by which I came to appreciate my own Christian faith more deeply.  This was quite a change from the time of my childhood when I thought little of my background, desiring to be something more exotic.  This was the first time in my life I really embraced faith for myself, and this newfound appreciation led to the empowerment I received when I was Confirmed a few months after I left middle school, and would be a foundation that would be built upon during my college years.

Indeed, I grew and flourished as a person during my time at Julian.  And so when I reached the day of my graduation, I had much to look back upon with great delight.

My Mom took this picture of me the morning of June 8, 2005, right before I set off on the mile-long walk from home to Julian for my last day as a student there.

Of course, June 8 was the day that this all came to an end.  In some ways, I must wonder why I celebrate this day as I do, because in reality, it was a bit bittersweet.  The wonderful opportunities I had at Julian came to an end that day, and I indeed mourned their loss, weeping for a few moments later on in the night after I came home from the graduation ceremony.  It was something so special and unique that I would never again experience in my life, and certainly not in the remainder of my growing up years.

Yet, as time passed, June 8 became for me the crowning day of all I had accomplished during middle school, and of all the wonderful ways I had been shaped and had grown, in addition to being the last day I spent as a student at Julian, the last physical connection I had with the wonderful middle school experience.  I would go forth from that graduation ceremony, carrying forth the person shaped by my middle school years into life ahead.  So that cap I wore was like a crown upon my experiences.

Looking back from where I am in life now, the origin of many of my perspectives and aspects of my person I trace back to my days at Julian, with the two major aspects being my strong sense of patriotism and civic duty, and my faith.  I’ve gotten very involved in my community and in the democratic process of the republic of the United States, which was fostered by my studies of US history and government, both in class and on my own.

Middle school was also the start of the process by which I came to appreciate my faith.  Combined with what happened during college, I eventually ended up becoming involved in Religious Education (RE) at Ascension Parish, both as a RE class teacher and a Confirmation small group mentor.  I can take my strong sense of faith and put in dialogue and interaction with young people who are forming their own sense of faith.  Being around middle schoolers, especially those who currently attend Julian, reminds me of the amazing time I was having in life at their age, and what has inspired me to have the sense of faith I have now.  I know from my experience that there’s so much potential for them at their age, when they are starting to emerge into their teen years and developing their own sense of who they are.  It has been an honor and privilege to be part of the faith formation for these young people.

And how wonderful it was, 10 years after I was their age, to be on the other side of the graduation ceremony, and congratulate the 8^th graders who were finishing their time in the RE program at the end of the year.  When I was being recognized as an 8^th grader at the end of my time in RE at Ascension, I sure didn’t think I’d be back as a teacher of middle schoolers 10 years later, but there I was, and what a rewarding experience it was.

I recognize that my classmates and I blazed the way for a whole new middle school experience in Oak Park.  We were the “guinea pigs”, and we made it through three years.  So far as I can tell, the middle school experience continues to be successful, and the people in charge continue to implement ways to enhance the middle school experience.

Recently, I attended CAST's The Diary of Anne Frank at Julian, and BRAVO's Mary Poppins at Brooks Middle School.  Being there for these two productions, I could tell that the students involved, onstage and behind the scenes, really embraced the opportunity they had through theater programming to express themselves creatively.  And I think it’s great that these young people have these excellent opportunities to express themselves as they forge their own sense of identity and path in life.  I know also the middle schools have robotics programs, which have even involved sending students to national competitions.  And there are other big things happening with the implementation of the International Baccalaureate curriculum, too.

As my marvelous experience at Julian wound down, I was eager to share my  wonderful memories in a speech at the graduation ceremony.  While I didn’t get to speak about my wonderful experiences that night, I’ve gotten to do something just as great, if not even greater:  I’ve spent the past decade singing the praises of Julian, and will spend the rest of my life doing so.

Furthermore, my name lives on at Julian with all my other classmates of 2005 on a plaque that is still on a wall in the main first floor hallway at Julian, as a memorial to us "trailblazers" and "guinea pigs" and what we got to experience.  I am grateful for all those who made it possible, from the people who had the vision, through those who approved it, and the teachers who made the experience great day in and day out.

Because of you, one decade after my 8^th grade graduation, I am proud to say I am a member of the Percy Julian Middle School Class of 2005.

At home, after the graduation ceremony, in my cap and gown, displaying my diploma.

Note: This post is an abridged version of the reflection I wrote for this occasion, which has additional details on specific aspects of my time at Julian, especially certain activities.  If you'd like to read it, please feel free to contact me.

The Wednesday Journal recently published a condensed version I wrote of this post and its associated unabridged reflection: http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/5-19-2015/Fond-memories-of-Julian-Middle-School/