Spring 2002

Initiative for North Country Schools

Late last October my phone rang and on the line was a man named John Burt. Ann and I had met with Ellen ’42 and Stuart Burt at a St. Lawrence get-together on the St. Lawrence River a couple of summers before, and so I guessed correctly that John is their son. While not a St. Lawrence graduate, John had written and performed plays here over several summers in the mid 1980’s, and had developed some strong and continuing connections with University theatre people then.
After we talked a bit, John announced the purpose of his call. This spring would be Ellen’s 60th reunion at St. Lawrence. She and her family were going to meet in a couple of weeks to discuss the possibility of establishing a program at St. Lawrence to benefit North Country education. John wanted to talk with me to get a clearer sense of the objectives of the education department at St. Lawrence and what could be done to meet the challenges identified.
I responded that the timing couldn’t be better – that the department and the University had been engaged for over a year in strategic planning for how St. Lawrence’s education programs, which already play an important role in the region, could help ensure the continued vitality and effectiveness of the North Country’s public schools in the face of imminent retirements by large numbers of teachers and administrators. I outlined what we are up to, and described areas where gift support would make a major contribution toward our ability to make a difference for North Country schools.
John then described his family’s strongly help belief that strengthening and stimulating the North Country’s schools is the key to evolving toward an environmentally sustainable yet vital regional economy. An even more highly educated workforce would be central to meeting this challenge.
Could we, he said, get him a proposal within a week? We did so, and a scant week later John called to say that he and his family had decided to make a major gift to endow our broad-based efforts to work in partnership with North Country schools. This confirming letter said it this way:

Your proposal stimulated lively discussion among our family members, all of whom share a similar commitment to the North Country. We are deeply aware of how unusual it is to have the privilege of experiencing continuity of place. Our family now returns to the North Country only during the summer months. We all feel deeply connected to the unique beauty and force of the river and natural resources as well as the people of this region. However, we are also keenly aware of the real issues facing the economy, education and the environment of one of the poorest counties in New York State.
We unanimously agreed that building an association with St. Lawrence University would begin to address some of these very real challenges. We believe that an endowment established to address the needs of education in the North Country will in turn support the economic and environmental concerns of the area that carry equal weight in our minds.
Thus was born the Ellen Cuthbert Burt ’42 Endowment for North Country Education. Initially, it will be used in consultation with the family to fund:

• An annual symposium at St. Lawrence on the intersection of issues in economic development, environmental protection and education
• University/school partnerships in science, mathematics, and environmental education based in the Wachtmeister Field Laboratory, the centerpiece of our Integrated Science Education Initiative, involving annual summer in-service experiences for North Country science and mathematics teachers
• Scholarship support for North Country teachers and administrators seeking and needing further graduate-level education
• Support for a new initiative with Clarkson University to establish the Educational Leadership Academy of Northern New York (ELANNY), whose focus will be educational leadership rather than educational administration.

These new efforts will augment a whole host of existing programs that already have St. Lawrence working in close partnership with teachers and school leaders in the North Country.
The kick-off for this new collaboration with the Burt family will occur on campus during Reunion 2002. We have declared “Education in the North Country” a special focus, and will hold two separate but related one-hour forums on education on Saturday, June 1, 2002. The first will address teaching and teacher preparation by asking, “What gaps must be filled in the ways that teachers serve today’s students, especially in New York’s North Country, and how should teacher preparation and/or teacher professional development be modified to close the gaps?” The second will focus on educational administration and school leadership, and the question will be, “In what ways can school leaders best influence today’s students’ academic and social development in our schools, especially in New York’s North Country?” Each forum will have panelists drawn from alumni and recognized experts on teaching and school leadership.
Please note that alumni from all years, regardless of reunion year, who are engaged in K-12 education are invited to attend. The forums will include discussion among all participants. Do plan to join us, both to think with us about K-12 education in the North Country, and to celebrate the exceptionally interesting new possibilities the Burt’s wonderfully generous gift opens up for us.
This issue of the magazine is about connections. The tapestry of interconnections you see in the story I’ve just told is what this place is all about.