ABOVE: Roxy Janke, right, is overcome with emotion as she is presented with her award for being inducted into the inaugural Fairmont High School Fine Arts Hall of Fame by presenter Louise Hendricks.
FAIRMONT – Fairmont High School (FHS) inducted its first Fine Arts Hall of Fame class of five teachers, coaches, students and boosters on Saturday.
The inaugural inductees are Marlys Brummond, Miles Duffey, Bradley Greenwald, Cliff Janke and Roxy Janke.
First to speak was Brummond, an officer of the Fairmont Band Boosters and long-time supporter of the school and its students.
Brummond was introduced by current Band Teacher Kate Kallenbach, who said Brummond was there when she applied for the job 22 years ago.
“I found out that even though I grew up in the school’s program, Marlys had spent more time with it and its members than I have,” she said. “As I have learned from the past 22 years, this program has succeeded and continues to succeed, much because of Marlys.”
It started as a one-year deal Brummond agreed to when the Band Booster Board needed an extra member. Now, 30 years later, Brummond said the kids, parents, volunteers and teachers have been such a fun group.
“That is why I stay,” she said. “They all have shaped me into who I am.”
Duffey, a 2007 graduate of FHS, was up next. He is currently an English teacher and speech coach at the school but before coming back to FHS, he spent several years with Montana State University, performing as part of their Shakespeare outreach program for rural western communities.
Duffey thanked all of the inductees. He said all of them played a part in his fine arts journey. Brummond helped provide support for Duffey’s first trip to New York City, Duffey connected with Greenwald as a young actor at the Children’s Theater in Minneapolis and the Jankes provided Duffey with his formative performing experiences at FHS.
He ended by reciting the poem “The Layers” by Stanley Kunitz. The poem explores the act of looking back on a journey and the milestones achieved in the past, before turning away to face the future.
“No doubt the next chapter in my book of transformations is already written,” Duffey recited. “I am not done with my changes.”
Bradley Greenwald is a 1984 graduate of Fairmont High School who was involved in band, jazz band, concert choir, and declamation (speech). He has performed in numerous plays over the past 30+ years. He is also a playwright, creating the play C. as an adaptation of Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand.
As performing is his main occupation, Greenwald was unable to attend due to his role in Theater Latté Da’s production of Journey On. He provided a statement read by 1977 FHS Graduate Carol Hazard.
Greenwald’s aspiration at the end of high school was to become a German teacher. A life in the performing arts was not on his mind.
“I was never cast in a high school play,” Hazard read. “The only solo I ever had in choir was in a Christmas song called “The Monotone Angel.” I was the monotone angel.”
It wasn’t until he took music lessons at the University of Minnesota that Greenwald realized he enjoyed performing. After taking a semester off to perform with the Minnesota Opera, Greenwald has consistently worked across several disciplines ever since. Greenwald credited FHS with his ability to survive and thrive in show business.
“Not just a secondary education, but a work ethic, an open mind and not to be afraid,” Hazard read. “To take a risk, as well as the profoundly important relationship between teacher and student, something I try to live up to when I teach high school students acting and singing on Saturday afternoons at the MacPhail Center for Music. Fairmont is the bedrock of who I am.”
Cliff Janke was with Fairmont Area Schools from 1983 to 2014 as a music teacher, choir director, musical director and speech coach. Janke said there was a great fine arts culture before him, and there has been after him.
“It’s exciting being here now, seeing that speech, theater and music are all still highly valued parts of this school and parts of this community,” he said. “Part of the reason for anyone’s success is the leadership and the people you’re involved with. We’ve had a tremendous amount of great leadership.”
To end his speech, Janke encouraged people to chase their dreams, using Miles Duffey as an example.
“If you have that dream, you look at someone like Miles [Duffey],” he said. “Who had a dream and very clearly has lived that dream and is continuing to live that dream. Keep those goals in front of you, keep what’s important to you, and live the life you want to live.”
Roxy Janke worked with Fairmont Area Schools from 1997 to 2015 as an English teacher, play director and speech coach. The Jenkes oversaw the speech team earn subsection and section titles for 12 consecutive years, produce 14 state champions, and advance to the finals at the state tournament every year.
In their careers, Jenke said they tried to build on the generosity people left for them and be good stewards of their legacy.
“The Fine Arts program was healthy and thriving before we came, and it will be healthy and thriving long after we are gone,” she said. “In our little corner of the world, we will forever be grateful for the people who trusted us and lifted us up. The students who came to us in every shape and size, who came pure, ready to learn, and showed up every single day, they are the reason that we are here today.”
A new class will be inducted in two years, alternating with the Athletic Hall of Fame.