Dare to Make a Difference – A Tribute to a Legendary Educator: Jan Drees 1946-2009

As we were preparing to write this week’s blog, we received the sorrowful news of the death of our dear friend Jan Drees, founder and retired principal of the Downtown School of Des Moines, Iowa. We featured Jan and her tremendous leadership at the Downtown School in our 2007 revised edition of The Disney Way. Bill first met Jan in 1999 when he was the keynote speaker at Des Moines’ Business Expo. A few days before his keynote, Jan called our office and asked if Bill could address the school board while he was in town. She wanted her colleagues to learn how Dream, Believe, Dare Do -- The Disney Way principles -- applied to the field of education.

Bill told Jan that he had some definite opinions regarding the problems in public education, and cautioned her that his message might ruffle the feathers of her board members. This was exactly what Jan Drees wanted to hear! To say the least, Bill does not believe in a conventional approach to teaching. Ever since 1983 when the National Commission on Excellence in Education declared the US “a nation at risk”, Bill has championed a learning model that is still contrary to that of the public school system. When Bill and Jan realized they shared the same passion for reinventing the traditional model of education, a bond was formed between them. Jan once told us, “I look for teachers who do not want to be the power person in the classroom. I don’t want teachers who feel ‘I’m the boss, you’re the student, now go sit down.’ I want teachers who are child-centered!”

Fortunately, Jan had a great deal of support in her hometown of Des Moines. In 1990, her Downtown School “dream” became the focus of a partnership between the Des Moines Business Alliance and the Des Moines School District. Jan was named executive director of the Alliance and spent three years researching what worked and what failed in other institutions. Jan said, “The research is clear: When you give students an experience, the learning is much more memorable – much better than if they read it or hear a lecture.” The Downtown School was a true collaboration between business, the school district, teachers, students and parents. This consortium took the best-of-the-best and created the Downtown School. Launched in 1993 with 45 students, the Downtown School’s premise was that everyone is there to learn by true experience and discovery. Jan and her team created a world- class learning environment. In their first two years of operation, 2038 educators, school board members and business people visited the Downtown School from 22 states and 10 countries. When Jan retired in 2006, there were nearly 300 students enrolled and 900 on a waiting list.

On the issues of hiring teachers, challenging tenure agreements, parent participation, grading, and drugging students with Ritalin who suffer ADHD (When we initially interviewed Jan, she told us that she had only one student who was taking Ritalin; the national average would have suggested 15!), Jan dared to challenge conventional educational “wisdom.” In The Disney Way, you can read more about the phenomenal results of the Downtown School.

After Jan’s retirement from the Downtown School, she became known for her work with the Great Ape Trust of Iowa whose mission is to “provide sanctuary and an honorable life for great apes, study their intelligence, advance their conservation and provide unique educational experiences about great apes.” Jan was their K-12 education director who helped create the Great Ape Academy. The Academy, an interdisciplinary education program -- the only public education program of its kind in the world -- grants more than 1,000 Des Moines school students the opportunity to learn more about great apes and related topics. As Jan stated at the official launch of the Academy in 2007, “the education program will introduce students to real-world problems, require them to seek solutions and inspire them to become the scientists of the future. Students want to be involved in solving problems, and they have worthwhile, valuable ideas about how to do that.” she said. “They are going to be handed serious, complex issues, and they will learn that the choices and decisions they make today will have an impact on the Earth and its inhabitants.”

Jan Drees certainly made an impact on this Earth and countless inhabitants –we treasure the impact she made on our lives, both personally and professionally. Jan’s dear friend, former assistant principal of the Downtown School, and current director of the Business/Education Alliance’s Professional Development Center, Renee Harmon, was the one who contacted us to tell us that Jan had passed on. We were unable to attend the funeral this past week, but Renee graciously described Jan’s visitation, vigil service and funeral to us. A few of Renee’s words seem fitting to repeat here: “a room filled with flowers and honors from those throughout the country. . .stories of Jan…words of love, respect and wisdom. She would have been humbled by their words and would have disliked being the center of attention, but what an honor to have so many love and respect you. A traditional catholic funeral. . .the room filled with past students, parents and teachers from the Downtown School. . .business and community leaders added to the number who honored her service and life of love…What a tribute…

If you are a business leader, why should you be concerned about the quality of education? For one thing, it makes good business sense. Businesses spend an estimated $3.7 billion a year on remedial reading, writing and mathematics skills for high school students entering the workforce. The Alliance for Education reports that nearly 33% of incoming college freshmen have to take some form of remedial reading or mathematics classes. The national high school graduation rate is 69.2%. We are not only failing our students… we are failing our teachers as well. Fifty percent of new teachers leave the profession within their first 5 years. Turnover is costing our public educational systems over $7 billion a year. Insanity may be defined as “doing the same thing and expecting different results.” That is what school districts have been doing for decades! How many of your businesses could survive with just a 69.2% production yield and 33% customer defect rate? We can’t just copy old, boring, ineffective ways of teaching—we need to destroy, demolish, eradicate, nuke, vaporize and zap the educational system! Then, as Jan Drees did, create a 3D Technicolor, unique, memorable, engaging educational experience for students, teachers and parents.

As leaders in the business community, let Jan’s legacy inspire you to dare to make a difference. The future of our country is on the line, the US is still “a nation at risk.” We need to learn from Jan’s example and continue her legacy of excellence in education whenever and wherever possible. You can make a difference in your community’s educational system with non-stop collaboration; the courage to challenge conventional wisdom; trust and a mammoth dose of respect for your collaborators.