Festival Celebrates the Life and Work of James Dean
SPRING ARBOR, Mich. —- At first glance, the small, idyllic town of Fairmount, Indiana doesn’t seem much different than any other farming community. But Fairmount is the place James Byron Dean called home for 12 of his 24 short years. For the past 37 years, Fairmount has held a three-day festival and car show celebrating Dean’s life and work.
This past September marks the 57th anniversary of the death of James Dean, an icon so mythical in proportions he has redefined youth culture for all time. Thousands of fans make the pilgrimage to Fairmount every year to walk the cobblestoned streets of Dean’s old hangouts, visit his well-worn grave and connect with other fans from across the globe. James Dean was born February 8th, 1931 and garnered instant stardom after playing Cal Trask in the film adaption of John Steinbeck’s norm-shattering novel, East of Eden. Dean went on to star in two more films, Rebel Without A Cause, and Giantbefore dying in a violent car crash in 1955. Rebel Without A Cause was the first time teenagers had ever been portrayed in movies through their own eyes rather than through the eyes of adults, and some people even claim that Rebel “invented the teenager.” The schedule of events for this year’s festival and car show included events such as free showings of all three Dean Movies, 50s and 60s music on the main street stage, James Dean Rock Lasso, 50s dance and costume contest, memorial service, and the highlight of the entire weekend, the “World Famous James Dean Look-Alike Contest,” where the panel of judges include men and women who were high school students with Dean. According to James Dean Gallery owner David Loehr, Fairmount, a town with a population of just under 3000 people, sees a normal influx of more than 30,000 people over the weekend of the festival. The James Dean Museum has a visitor log recording who and where the visitors come from. In 2010 there were 48 people from Germany, 24 from Japan, 38 from Canada and many others from various countries testifying to Dean’s global impact. For Fairmount, James Dean is a way of life. The town boasts a museum and gallery open year long dedicated to Dean and they’re both run completely by volunteers. Laurie Deal is a Fairmount resident and volunteer whose father’s the president of the museum and whose mother went to high school with Dean in the late 1940s. When asked what the festival meant to her family she said, “It’s a big deal to us. We advertise it, go places and talk to people, go to other towns and wear our shirts. I’m proud to be here.” Another organization that makes the trip up to Fairmount for the festival is the James Dean Remembered International Fan Club based out of Arkansas and officially sanctioned by the James Dean Estate. The club has around 400 members, puts out three magazines a year and participates in various Dean events throughout the year. In the shade of a tree right next to the picturesque, whitewashed James Dean Gallery, the fan club put up a booth to provide information on the club and its members. Sue Pelletier, fan club member, was behind the booth smiling and passing out information to eager fans milling out of the gallery with awe on their face and cameras hanging around their necks. When asked what James Dean means to her and why she does what she does she paused for a second while a friend laughed in the background. “I do this because of the people I’ve met through James Dean. The friends you make, they become like family. I came for James Dean but kept coming back because of the friends,” Pelletier said. In the bright September sun, fans furiously snapped pictures of a Dean impersonator leaned up against a pole sporting Dean’s signature red Rebel jacket, smirk, and roughed up pompadour while strains of 50s doo wop anthems floated down the street choked with people. In the middle of all this around her, Pelletier had a simple answer for why James Dean has become so iconic: “I think it’s because he was before his time. He never let anybody down and he represented a generation of people never before represented.” For more information on Fairmount and the James Dean Festival, visit jamesdeanartifacts.com and jamesdeangallery.com. |
Homeschooling and the College TransitionSpring Arbor, Mich — For most teenagers, the school classroom is an all too familiar place. The rows of desks, student drama, eccentric teachers – all this is second nature. To homeschooled teenagers, this is an alien world in which they have never before embarked. When a homeschooled student makes the decision to attend college after high school graduation there are many new experiences that await them.
Homeschooling is a very peculiar experience that varies from family to family. There is an overwhelming amount of self-learning and lots of hands-on participation. Some families use additional resources to supplement their curriculum, such as tutors and video teachers. Doing homework in pajamas, impromptu field trips and elaborate projects are all things that homeschoolers get to do. In the past, colleges were less open and willing to work with homeschooled students, but these attitudes and perceptions have completely changed. In a study of admission officers perceptions towards homeschooled students, it was stated that 75% of colleges now have official policies concerning homeschool admissions and 95% of colleges have had homeschool applicants. Christoper Klicka, senior counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), said statistics and studies are showing that homeschoolers are excelling in college. Klicka referenced a 1994 study done on 16,000 homeschooled students where “the nationwide grand mean in reading for homeschoolers was at the 79th percentile; for language and math, the 73rd percentile. This ranking means home-educated students performed better than approximately 77% of the sample population on whom the test was normed.” Klicka also brought up comments made from well-known colleges about the homeschooled students that attend there. A Harvard University admissions officer said “They (homeschooled students) have done very well. They usually are very motivated in what they do.” Olivia Hitt, a 22-year-old Jackson Community College graduate, grew up in a family of ten and was homeschooled from pre-school all the way through high school. She mentioned how terrified she was the first day of classes and how she learned to adapt the way she dressed and acted around her peers. “I wore culottes the first day of school, and my hair was in a braid,” she laughed, poking fun at the homeschool stereotypes and how she was a part of it. Hitt said she struggled academically all her life but excelled when she went to college because, in her opinion, she isn’t a good self-teacher and needed the presence of a professor to help her learn. “I always thought I was dumb” Hitt said, “I just realized it wasn’t my learning style.” Luke Miracle, a homeschooled student currently attending Lansing Community College, said he went into college not knowing what to expect, worried if he had the right education. Miracle is studying to be a dental hygienist and when asked if he could do anything over again he said he wished he had studied more science as he felt his family’s own personal curriculum did not cover enough science for the field he wanted to get into. A Spring Arbor University sophomore, Kayla White, had a different perspective on her transition from being homeschooled to going to college. She found the self-taught method of homeschooling to work for her and felt academically very prepared before she came to SAU. White said, for her, the social aspect was the hardest thing about the transition. “It’s not so much I was homeschooled and more because I grew up in a super conservative Baptist church and lived in the country,” said White. She mentioned how she knew of homeschooled students at SAU who had an easier time socially because they had grown up in the city and how her relative isolation proved to be a disadvantage, in her opinion. White gives some simple, but helpful advice to homeschooled students: “Don’t let your identity be that you’re homeschooled. I know it sounds so cliché, but be yourself.” There are a selective number of homeschooled students who have integrated themselves into the SAU campus and student life. According to admissions, there are 47 homeschool freshman enrolled at SAU for the 2012/2013 academic year. |