Grace Kweon

Superintendent student advisory council members speak to Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Geoff Macy and Superintendent Jim Wipke. The council is seated around in a circle and are encouraged to share their thoughts with respect and an open mind. “I just reviewed through the second or third video from the counselors,” Wipke said. “That’s a product of this group.”

Superintendent Jim Wipke hosted a student advisory council meeting Feb. 9. The council, made with 10 students in attendance, was invited to share an “I believe” statement, mirrored off of author and Time Magazine’s Kid of the Year Orion Jean. He started first by explaining his motivation for the task.

“In my book, I talk about the fact that I want to help inspire people, I want to support people, and I want to help them find their purpose,” Wipke said. “So those are my three things that are right out of my belief system.”

After those willing shared their individual belief statements, the next council task on the agenda was to find a goal or drive for oneself towards something. One student mentioned the idea of acceptance, which he particularly resonated with.

“I love the acceptance one, because people don’t always think the same,” Wipke said. “But we should all be accepted and feel like [we belong].”

Other students mentioned goals like growth and learning. Communications Director Kimberly McKenzie expressed her desire to spread joy and restore hope in her community. 

“There’s too many people right now walking around, just losing hope,” McKenzie said. “Losing hope in society. Hope in this world. [There’s always] going to be a better day.”

Ladue Board of Education Secretary Peter Gariepy shared another perspective on staying resilient even during tough times. He recalled a very wealthy and successful businessman named David Hoffman, who when reading through his feature in a news magazine, was surprised to see that he was even still in business given his myriad of failures. 

“A winner is a loser who has tried one more time.” Gariepy said. “Everyone loses. [Even] whoever you think the most successful person in the world is.”

Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Geoff Macy was also present, and as the superintendent to succeed Wipke, he expressed his intent in expanding his circle of relations around the school. 

“I need your help,” Macy said. “I need to make my circle bigger. So when I’m out and about and everyone’s like ‘who’s that guy’, you need to help bring people to my circles.” 

Despite wanting such help, Macy has left quite the impact on the school already. He served over 27 years in education, 9 of which were in public school districts of St. Louis. At Ladue, he serves over 4,400 students in facets like finance, safety & security and transportation.

“When I started my career, I started as a teacher and a coach and intended to be around students and have that impact on them right there on the base level,” Macy said. “I found ways to give that student impact by improving facilities, making sure the resources were there. What I’m most excited about is giving back to the students.”

Macy was appointed as superintendent through a rigorous selection process headed by the Missouri School Boards’ Association (MSBA). In his interviews, he talked about his desire to listen to the students and engage with them however he could. 

“I’m really looking forward to those opportunities, and the best way to say, ‘hey, I’m gonna make myself available’ because it’s really important to me to learn about the high school and what I can do to support the school,” Macy said. “So when we are going to have those opportunities, we’re going to do them [not only] in seminars but also in some lunches.”

Macy received a lot of feedback on ways to greatly amplify student engagement from the council. Some examples include, recording videos of himself to watch in seminars, spreading awareness of the impact of taking part in such superintendent seminars and lunches, making it easy and known on how to contact administration and establishing more student councils like these.

“Listening is the first step—it’s listening to understand,” Macy said. “It’s being approachable and not just hearing about concerns and areas of improvement. I also want to hear what you love best about Ladue High School. I want to hear about all of these good things too, because I think collectively when we put that all together that’s the experience.”