Benefactor Reception

In this picture at left from the early 1990s, Godfrey Kobets poses with John J. Sullivan, Jr, in the home of Carolyn and Bob Reintjes, Sr.
The Reintjes were hosting a benefactor party for DeLaSalle on the evening of this picture.
They have been great friends to DeLaSalle over the years. In fact, Bob is currently helping us on our capital campaign. Carolyn served on our Board of Directors for 9 years, and is still helping us by serving on the Advisory Board of PACES, our early childhood center. Their son, Greg, is a vice-president of the Board.
John Sullivan played college football with Godfrey Kobets at Rockhurst College in the 1930s. John eventually established one of the most successful banks in the Kansas City area, Mid-American Bank and Trust. John was a trusted friend to us at DeLaSalle, lending us money in lean times, and donating money throughout his life, and even after his death. The foundation he established to support charitable and civic programs after his death is one of our major supporters.
DeLaSalle would never have survived and thrived to serve so many young people over 39 years if it were not for friends like the Reintjes family and John Sullivan!

1983 DeLaSalle Faculty Picture

This is a picture of the DeLaSalle faculty from around 1983.
We had five vocational skill training programs then: Printing, Culinary, Electronics, Light Construction and Automotive.
Our staff then, as now, was exceptionally talented and creative. Most of all, they were passionate and committed, two consistent trademarks of the DeLaSalle faculty throughout our 39 years of operation!

Evander Holyfield's Gloves (and me)!

Evander ("The Real Deal") Holyfield came to DeLaSalle twice, once in the 1980s and another time in the 1990s. He was the boxing heavyweight champion of the world four different times. He was an inspirational speaker.
He donated a signed, pair of gloves to DeLaSalle at his last visit. My hand barely covers the tips of those gloves!

Joe Granville and DeLaSalle

One of DeLaSalle's first big fundraising events in 1983 featured stock-market guru, Joe Granville. In the picture at left, Mr. Granville poses with Godfrey Kobets, DeLaSalle Co-Founder.

Mr. Granville is still active in the markets, and living in Kansas City. He writes the Granville Market Letter.

Under African Skies!

That's me on the satellite phone under the gorgeous, African night sky. It was 1997 and I was in Tanzania, East Africa chaperoning two DeLaSalle students who were participating in our student exchange program.

Minutes before this I had my first glimpse of the Southern Cross star constellation. It was amazing, as was this entire experience!

Together for DeLaSalle's 25th Anniversary!

It was a special day when DeLaSalle Founder, Godfrey S Kobets visited with me on June 29, 1996 at our 25tho Anniversary picnic. He was 80 years old, and seemed as strong as ever!
Just two weeks later, Mr. Kobets died of a heart attack while visiting his granddaughter in St. Louis.

Near the Summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

In 1997, DeLaSalle student Kenneth Kipper (in picture at left) posed outside the Alpine-type camps located at the 12,000 foot level on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
In spite of the fact that Mt. Kilimanjaro is located almost right on the equator, it was cold at 12,000 feet, and unbelievably cold when we got to the summit at 19,340 feet!

The "Laura Bush" Bench!

In the picture at left, former DeLaSalle Woodworking Instructor, Al Lopez, poses with one of his students and the bench they crafted for then-First Lady, Laura Bush. This occurred in 2001.

Montae Wells, Class of 2009

Montae Wells (in picture at left) stopped by DeLaSalle this week to pick up his transcript. He will be enrolling at Penn Valley Community College for the upcoming Spring semester, in order to study business. He has lots of dreams and hopes that he intends to fulfill. We wish him well!

Another Archival Treasure

This 1994 DeLaSalle Annual Report cover was striking then, and still is today.

The cover offers a glimpse into the careers that our graduates have pursued as a result of their experiences at DeLaSalle.

Perhaps we'll see a President of the United States in some future DeLaSalle annual report cover!

In the Beginning...

...there were programs to help our students at DeLaSalle learn their academics while also learning job skills!
Besides training in culinary arts and electronics, there was also a construction skill training program (see picture at left).
Our Founder, Godfrey S Kobets, called the process of teaching academics while also teaching job skill training, CORELATIVITY!
That's an impressive term, isn't it?
Today, there are terms such as "distributive education" and "integrated thematic instruction" or "high-themed subject instruction" that essentially mean the same thing.
But we continue to offer corelativity at DeLaSalle today, even if we no longer use that term. Examples are the Student Press and our STEP, or environmental science, program.

From 1600 Paseo...

....to 3740 Forest, this sign followed the DeLaSalle Education Center in its early years.

The sign was broken in the early 1980s from a careening car, of all things.

Shortly after that incident, a generous company donated a new sign which still hangs above our front entrance!

That donated sign has been repainted several times, but it still announces our identity to our students, guests and neighbors.

In the 1990s, we bought a sign for the Troost side of our building, which hangs just below the northeast corner of our top floor.

We're planning another sign for the new addition facing Troost which should be opened sometime in 2011!

Robert Rodarte

Robert Rodarte (in photo at left) was a friend of the late, Norman O. Sanders, the long-time Board Co-Chair of the DeLaSalle Education Center.
Robert has also been one of our friends and supporters at DeLaSalle for many years.
Robert is a lawyer who is very active as a world traveler, athlete (12 marathons and daily swimmer) and civic volunteer.
He is one of the many people who have helped to insure that DeLaSalle continues to provide quality services to young people these past 39 years.

What a Unique Gift...

...DeLaSalle received some years back from Lantz Welch!

Lantz was visiting Rome in the early 1990s and visited one of the Vatican art academies where student artists were learning various classic methods of creating mosaics. This artist (pictured) had completed a mosaic and Lantz Welch thought of DeLaSalle Co-Founder, Godfrey Kobets, who was a very devout Catholic.

He decided to buy this painting and then donate it to DeLaSalle in honor of Mr. Kobets.

The picture currently is on loan and hanging in the Rockhurst University Gallery.

What a thoughtful contribution from good friends, Lantz and Laura Welch!

Star-Struck!

Yes, I was clearly star-struck by the great Joe Montana (and his lovely wife, Jennifer)!

This was back in 1993 when Joe was the Chiefs' quarterback and also when he and Jennifer were the Honorary Chairs for our 1993 Movie Benefit.

The movie that year was Remains of the Day, and our featured guest was Julius ("Dr. J") Erving.

That was quite a year!

The Future!

The DeLaSalle "Expanding the Door to Opportunity" Capital Campaign is moving forward.

We are grateful to GBA Architects Engineers for their beautiful design that envisions the results of our plans to expand and modernize our campus for the future.

We are also grateful for the leadership of our Capital Campaign Chair, Charles W. Schellhorn, and Honorary Chairs, William H. Dunn, Sr. and J. Philip Kirk, Jr.

As you can see, a new, one story addition will be added to the facility. This addition will span the old alleyway and driveway and abut Troost Avenue. The new addition will house the expanded DeLaSalle Student Press, PACES, and our mental health department. The new addition will be connected to the main building and will make Troost our official "front door" for the school!

Raneissa, Godfrey and 25 Years

DeLaSalle will be preparing to celebrate its 40th Anniversary in June 2011.

Like our 25th Anniversary in 1996 (see celebratory cover of the 25th Anniversary issue of our Annual Report at left), DeLaSalle will be marking another historic milestone in the life of an extraordinary organization. Forty years is a long time for an organization to operate a cutting-edge and continuously innovative program.

The 1996 Annual Report featured DeLaSalle graduate Raneissa Wedlow, who continues to excel in her life to this day. She has maintained steady employment while going to school and raising a family.

Interestingly, Raneissa went to Africa in 1995 as part of a student exchange program pioneered by DeLaSalle, and she even succeeded in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro!

Sadly, our 25th Anniversary was marked by the passing that year of our Founder, Godfrey Kobets, who died of a heart attack on July 20, 1996.

We look forward to celebrating with you the continuous development of our important services to the youth of our community!

Mike Russell

Mike Russell was Board President from 1983-1985.

Amazingly, in this same period he was managing and expanding his wildly successful American Cities Business Journal enterprise all over the country!

Mike helped DeLaSalle is so many ways.

He brokered the breakthrough with the Kansas City School District in 1984 so that DeLaSalle could get public school funding for serving District students.

Many people do not realize how extraordinary this was. It took another 15 years before the State of Missouri expanded this practice to a new set of schools called charter schools!

Mike died on February 22, 2009. He certainly made his mark on Kansas City, on DeLaSalle, and on me!

Listening

C. Michael Franke was a successful businessman and learned to always listen to his clients, even if they were not paying clients!
In this picture (at left), Mike is listening to Godfrey Kobets, the Executive Director of DeLaSalle. Mike had attended the Catholic De La Salle Military Academy, and Godfrey Kobets had been his teacher and coach. It appears as if Mike is still in class with Mr. Kobets, who seems to be enumerating some concept with his hands, while Mike attentively absorbs the "lesson"!
By the time of this picture, around 1980, Mike was President of the DeLaSalle Board of Directors. Consequently, Mike spent a lot of time working with Godfrey Kobets and the DeLaSalle organization.
I got to know Mike quite well at this time, as he worked closely with me and the other DeLaSalle administrative staff in helping Mr. Kobets develop management systems for the Center.
Mike was a charismatic and brilliant entrepreneur, and had a great sense of humor. Several years after this picture was taken, Mike died suddenly at a fairly young age. He did a lot for DeLaSalle, and is missed.

Board Presidents

Here is a picture from the early 1980s of three Board members who each served at one time as DeLaSalle Board President.

From the left is C. Michael Franke, Steve Dunn (center), and Marjorie D. Grant.

Mike was Board President from 1980-1981.

Steve was Board President from 1987-88.

Marge was Board President from 1990-1991.

Each of these three wonderful civic leaders brought passion and dedication to their Board leadership.

Mike donated considerable business expertise to developing the management structure of DeLaSalle.

Steve assisted the Center in improving its physical and capital structures.

Marge developed the Movie Benefit which has helped the Center dramatically improve its fundraising efforts over the past nineteen years.

Both Mike and Marge have passed on, while Steve is still working hard at the J.E. Dunn Construction Company.

They are each examples of the dynamic Board leadership that has guided the DeLaSalle Education Center for many years!

Councilwoman Melba Curls

Melba Curls (left) is one of eighteen members of the Board of Directors of DeLaSalle Education Center. She is also one of twelve members of the City Council of Kansas City, Missouri.

Councilwoman Curls represents the third District for the City of Kansas City and was elected as an at-large candidate in 2007. Before that, she was a member of the House of Representatives for the State of Missouri for the 41st District from 2000 to 2006.

Councilwoman Curls joined the DeLaSalle Board in 2005. She is currently Board Vice-President, and a member of the Board's Executive Committee.

She is dedicated to improving the lives of citizens of Kansas City. We are privileged to have Councilwoman Curls on the Board of Directors for DeLaSalle!

Brother Louis

The Christian Brothers started the De La Salle Academy in 1910. That school was a Catholic school until its closing in 1971, when the non-sectarian and free DeLaSalle Education Center was established.

The Christian Brothers then helped start the "new" DeLaSalle in 1971. One of the Brothers who helped for a time at the Education Center was Brother Louis Rodemann (right in photo above).

Brother Louis left DeLaSalle in 1980 and went on to develop the Catholic Worker House in Kansas City. He is one of many very dedicated and committed Brothers who have made a striking difference in Kansas City.

In recent years, the Christian Brothers have developed two other, important programs, both at a national level.

The first is the Lasallian Volunteers.

Lasallian Volunteers are (typically) young people who volunteer one or more years of their lives to live in a Christian Brothers' community and work in a ministry serving those most in need. In Kansas City, Lasallian Volunteers have worked at DeLaSalle and at the Catholic Worker House, among other agencies.

The second program is San Miguel Schools, which are Catholic middle schools for those most in need. They are similar to the Cristo Rey schools (which are for high school-aged students and were developed by the Jesuit teaching order) and are in many large cities around the country. Kansas City does not yet have a San Miguel School, but would obviously benefit from one.

Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (portrait at left) was the seventeenth century founder of the Christian Brothers, the same order that started De La Salle Academy and High School in Kansas City.

St. de la Salle was born in France in 1651. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1678 and then helped to establish a free school for the poor in 1679. He fell in love with this work and subsequently renounced his wealth and spent the rest of his life forming and training teachers and spreading free schools for the poor throughout France. He died in 1719.

The former Catholic De La Salle school that closed in 1971 was named after this innovative educator who was the pioneer in providing a quality education for those most in need. The DeLaSalle Education Center then "borrowed" this name when it was established, also in 1971.

We're proud to be associated, even indirectly, with such a wonderful historic figure as Jean-Baptiste de la Salle!