2003 Fall draft - Uwpiaa.org

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8 fall ‘03 UP BEAT Reunion! Reunion! reunion! reunion! General Assembly Special Thank YOu! Sunday morning brought the final event of Reunion, the UWPIAA General Assembly. When the assembly started, there were about 100 alumni scattered among the 400 available chairs. Jeff Hoag and Hiro Nishimura spoke again briefly about WorldSmart, and UWPIAA business was conducted. Stragglers filed in, and the chairs began to fill. Then Dr. Carolyn Lee took the podium. As she spoke, more and more people entered the ballroom. Soon every chair was filled, and people were lining the walls – unheard of at a General Assembly! We were expecting a reprise of her famous “Keep Your Eye on the Ball” speech. We Carolyn Lee didn’t get what we expected – we got far, far more. Along with instructions to keep our eyes on the ball, Carolyn also directed us to climb every mountain, go with the flow, remember the show must go on, and keep in mind that time flies. She tied each cliche closely to our UWP experience, alternately having us nostalgic about the past, enlightened about the future, and very aware of the present. All with the wit, intensity and charm we’ve witnessed so many times. As Carolyn herself summed up, “I had such fun that day, and people seemed to have fun right along with me.” Yes, we did, Carolyn. And so we’ll leave you with the quote Carolyn used to conclude reunion: “Keep eye on ball is most important one thing I tell you.” (Hashim Khan in “Squash Racquets: The Khan Game”) Two groups of people played a vital role in making this reunion a success. The BOG (right) worked together with the Boston reunion host committee to get the details in order. The “Reunion Cast” (below) provided amazing entertainment throughout the weekend, making the entire reunion a true Up with People experience! They were part of the Boston host committee, who did an incredible amount of work to make reunion successful. Reunion! Reunion! reunion! reunion! Japan’s Role in UWP’s Future by Stefan Nilsson (92A), London, England As UWP prepares to relaunch its leadership program in 2004, Japan is playing a bigger role in the organization than ever before. This is a welcome and much needed development in making UWP a truly international organization. Hiro Nishimura (87B) is a Japanese alumnus who, together with others, refused to let the organization disappear and fought hard to get a new program in place. Hiro now serves as UWP’s chief operating officer and has contributed massively to increase the role of Japan in the new UWP program as well as increasing the role of UWP in Japan. UWP visited Japan for the first time in 1965 and has since then returned 10 times. UWP has had an office in Tokyo since 1993 and had a full-time staff of seven by the year 2000. Shinichi Miyawaki is currently the Tokyo-based regional director of Asia for UWP. There are currently about 400 Japanese UWP alumni and many more to come. Plans have the new program taking every cast to Japan and this will undoubtedly increase the number of Japanese students in the coming years. The UWP Japan Committee was started by more than 30 of Japan’s biggest corporations in 1994, including Toyota, Sony and Kikkoman. The committee played a big role in UWP’s five successful Japanese tours in 1996 – 2000. The experiences of the Japanese tours in the 1990s, where casts stayed between one and two weeks in each city, helped and inspired the new WorldSmartprogram. UWP’s Board of Directors has three senior Japanese members – Toshiaki Taguchi (president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America), Naoko Shirane (international business consultant) and Hiro Nishimura (chief operating officer of UWP). To have Japanese board members is crucial in order to achieve credibility and understanding for the program and the organization in a society that has been closed to much of the rest of the world for several hundred years. Did your UpBeat arrive at the correct address? If not, go to the UWPIAA Online Community! The UWPIAA Online Community is the directory of the Up With People International Alumni Association. It’s not only a great place to find lost UWP friends, but also an ideal way to be sure that UpBeat, is sent to your correct address. This directory is the only existing directory of UWP alumni, but we need your help to make it more accurate. Once you register, you can update your own personal information in the database – address, phone number, e-mail, family members’ names, job title and company, even your hobbies. You choose what information to make public and what to keep private. And registering is free! To register, go to www.uwpiaa.org and click on “online community.” There are detailed instructions listed there to help you access and update your information. Register in the Online Community now and see how many of those old friends you can find!
Annual Awards Honor Alumni Each year at reunion, several alumni are recognized who continue to embrace the ideals of Up with People and strive to live up to those ideals in their everyday lives. The J. Blanton Belk Outstanding Alumnus award is presented to one alumnus who, in carrying forward the ideals of UWP, has made an exceptional contribution to humankind. The James E. MacLennan Everyday Hero award is presented to up to five alumni who remain behind the scenes and accomplish much in a quiet, persistent way. 2003 J. Blanton Belk Outstanding Alumna Award Winner Marcia Tweed Klecker (73A) Nominated by Jim Tracey (73A) and Marty Eclan (73A) Marcia Tweed Klecker has been a constant inspiration to our cast of 73A and probably to everyone she’s encountered. Marcia was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in her early 20s. But she was determined that that was never going to stop her. She finished her undergrad degree and went on to get her masters in Special Education/Early Education. Marcia taught Early Education in the public school system, studenttaught with disturbed teenagers and worked as a regular education teacher in public schools. She was an educational consultant for the Children’s Care Hospital, dealing with multiple-handicapped children for a year. She went on to be an educational consultant for disturbed kids where she dealt with crisis intervention. Besides her work, Marcia has put in countless hours as a volunteer. In 1994, she unexpectedly got pregnant and had a beautiful daughter. Unfortunately, baby Mara was born with a tumor, and resulting complications caused Marcia to come close to losing her life. After she and Mara recovered, Marcia’s MS became progressive but she continued doing behavior consulting for private schools and doing workshops on reservations. It has always been important to Marcia that she give to others in her work, and she has helped countless people through her actions. Marcia has made a powerful positive impact in this world and has done more, with MS, than most people do in a lifetime. 2003 James E. MacLennan Everyday Hero Award Winners Bret Whissel (80A, 88B) Nominated by Brenda Moran (77C) We all know the request “could you help me with a little project?” Bret Whissel received that call the summer of 1997, and little did he know that this “little project” would take thousands of hours, travel and teamwork to make it a reality. Bret joined the UWPIAA board of governors the fall of 1997, and set to work to generate an alumni website. More important was the need to maintain an alumni database to help cast and era representatives keep in touch with cast/staff members worldwide. So, Bret began. Besides a challenging full time job at Florida State University, Bret spent thousands of hours building the first alumni website, message boards, online reunion registration program, and much, much more. With the successful launch of the UWPIAA website in March 1999, Bret’s role of keeping alumni in touch and in-the-know proved especially important when UWP closed its doors in December 2000. Bret also was serving his community in myriad ways. Debi Chandler from Tallahassee wrote, “He sang in my church choir for 15 years and volunteered as an accompanist, director, (youth) chaperon, and group leader more times than I can count.” So it is then, that Bret has shared his gifts and talents with many in a quiet, dedicated fashion, much as James MacLennan did within UWP. Though Bret’s work has been known and utilized by many, over several years, he never solely took the credit he deserved. For the thousands of hours and his spirit of selfless giving, we are pleased to nominate Bret Whissel for the Everyday Hero Award. Larry Noel Swenson (78D) Nominated by Brenda Moran (77C) and Lindsey Johnson Suddarth (78D) From directing international language schools in China to creating fun-filled days of international learning for school children, Larry has traveled extensively, bringing music and building bridges of understanding wherever he is. His involvement and volunteer activities UP BEAT with the International Camping Association, the UWPIAA, 4-H, Camp Horizons, and many more have created opportunities for youth and adults alike to gain a greater understanding of themselves and others. Although these activities could fill pages, it is his quest to bring communities and people together that we wish to single out for his Everyday Hero Award nomination: What began as a simple inquiry into Larry’s family ancestry became a joining of communities thousands of miles from one another. Lindsey Johnson Suddarth writes, “Larry tracked down the village in Sweden where most of his relatives came from, and from that first meeting, established an exchange program between the two towns. Families met extended family members for the first time and teachers were exchanged for language and cultural teaching and training.” Larry’s role in this discovery and ongoing exchange was crucial; it was through his pictures, storytelling, and welcome that people were willing to step out of their comfort zones and experience travel, history, people and music in new ways. His sense of wonder and fun continue to bring people together as he remains behind the scenes, providing these opportunities to many. It is for these reasons and more that we nominate Larry Swenson for the James E. MacLennan Everyday Hero Award. Steve Fuller (78E) Nominated by Judy Creech-Bonsall (78E) With the “Building for Children” program he spearheaded in 1993 in Gunnison, Colorado, Steve Fuller has made an exceptional contribution to humankind. His work earned him the title of “Distinguished Citizen of the Year,” along with a proclamation from Roy Romer, governor of Colorado. In November 1992, Colorado voters passed Amendment 1, which limited the amount of money school districts could spend. This created an overcrowding of classes for the third and sixth graders in Gunnison RE1J School District. It was so bad that the local fire marshal was considering shutting down the school. Steve Fuller, along with another parent, came up with the solution. They agreed to build a two-room school building the old-fashioned barn-raising way, and donate the building to the school district if the school board would agree to hire two new full-time teachers. Steve and the other parent immediately created “Building for Children,” a project designed to involve the community. Over 2,000 volunteers from ages two to 96 became involved with the project. Donations came in the form of money, food, medical and other supplies and, of course, labor. Within 30 days of their first meeting, a new two-room school building was completed and ready to house the overcrowded students. As Steve has said, “The spirit of Up with People lives in all of us, but it only takes one of us to make a difference in the world around us.” Thomas Spaulding (87D, 93E, 94E) Nominated by Joel Mauney (94E) While working for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Thomas had visions of starting a youth leadership program that would engage youth in the community. Thomas believes that getting students involved in the surrounding community at an earlier age would empower them with confidence, experience and connections they would use for the rest of their lives. This vision was ultimately shaped from the UWP spirit that he had experienced in years past. Thomas started acting on his vision during the summer of 2000. By dedicating his life to the dream, working 100-hour weeks, meeting with countless principals, superintendents, teachers, politicians, and nonprofit and corporate leaders, Thomas displayed incredible tenacity and focus. He put in much of his personal assets, selling his house and devoting all of his energies to what is now called Leaders Challenge. In three short years, Thomas has influenced hundreds of youth in Colorado. Leaders Challenge students have worked with many non-profit organizations and completed hundreds of hours of community service. A Leaders Challenge student, Kelsey Hills-Evans, perhaps said it best: “Every month, Leaders Challenge asks me to be a leader, but every day, Leaders Challenge helps me become the leader I’ll be for the rest of my life.” UpBeat 9
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