said, is due in no small part to the influence
of two Latin School teachers: Steve Sommers
and the late Greg Baker. "Their impact was
profound," he said.
"There were so many incredible educators
at Latin," Trainer said. "Greg Baker had been
paralyzed, but I never heard him complain. He
coached swimming and taught Joyce, both of
which were his passions. I saw in his teaching
someone who was committed to excellence.
He didn't let anyone get by with anything less."
That example, Trainer said, came in handy
when he was planning the festival. "We
didn't have any reason to expect success. The
whole thing was totally unreasonable. But
we made a commitment to make it happen,
and in the end so many extraordinary people
came together to make this unreasonable
thing a reality."
n
"I realized that while I
loved teaching, I wanted
to work on a larger
scale, beyond the four
walls of a classroom."
LATI N SCHOOL OF CHI CA GO
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