Historical June 1996 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Billy Handmaker’s eyes light up when you ask him about Crossroads School. “I’m really energized by the enthusiasm and sense of community that make up Crossroads,” he said. That sense, he says, is infectious.
After a reception for him at Crossroads in April, “my wife and mother-in-law went on and on about the warmth and sense of community that they felt.” Handmaker finds Crossroads to be a perfect fit for him.
A recent dinner with Crossroads parents went well into the evening as participants discussed serious educational issues and concerns. “After dinner, the first thing my wife did was look at me, smile and say “you’re in your element.” He couldn’t agree more. “I like the look, the feel and the history of Crossroads,” he said. Handmaker comes to Crossroads from Whitfield School, where he’s been for seven years.
He has no intention of making Crossroads “Whitfield East,” however. “Crossroads has its own traditions and I think that’s something that makes it special. Had I really wanted to head Whitfield or a school like Whitfield, I would have stayed there, where I was assistant head. I’ve loved Whitfield, but I’m first and foremost and educator, and Crossroads and Whitfield are two very different places.” Handmaker is a native of Louisville, Ky., and brings an international perspective to his new position.
He has a deep interest in international education, and has studied and traveled around the world, including such places as Senegal, The Gambia, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, Russia, the Middle East, Southeastern Europe and Mainland China.
He holds a bachelor of arts in political science and history from George Washington University and a master of arts in teaching and history from Washington University in St. Louis. He’s also been a Middle East Studies Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.
He lives in the SkinkerDeBaliviere neighborhood with his wife, Betul Ozmat (“We’re a team,” he said). She’s executive director of the Whittaker Foundation and teaches courses in non-profit management, marketing and public relations at Washington University. Handmaker loves living near Crossroads. “The fact that we can walk or ride our bikes to Crossroads is exciting,” he said. Mentally, Handmaker and Ozmat have been moving in the direction of Crossroads for a while.
The two share a passion for the city, and moved to St. Louis from University City nearly two years ago. “We wanted to live in an area that was socially, economically and ethnically diverse,” he said. “And Crossroads has that feeling as well.” Handmaker wants to make sure that Crossroads is academically rigorous. “We’re preparing students for the world, and we want them to be the very best they can be,” he said. Just as important, he said, is the continuing use of St. Louis as Crossroads’ campus. “I’ve heard some say that we have a small campus, but we don’t,” he insisted. “The many institutions of St. Louis are all part of our campus.” Along those lines, he says, “the more connections we can make, the better.” “I’d like to bring the education community more into Crossroads and Crossroads more into the education community” by establishing connections with St. Louis-area colleges and universities and using university resources to help faculty, he said. “All of us in professional teaching desire to improve our practice and I want to help Crossroads teachers improve their teaching in a collegial and supportive way.
We have to challenge ourselves to always improve, but we also must have support. It’s the height of lunacy to ask teachers to improve and then not to support them when they take risks.” Handmaker would like to maintain and increase the diversity at Crossroads. “That’s an important element of Crossroads and something that makes it special,” he said. “There’s so much potential there to help the school really provide a new model of independent education with a diverse student body.
There really is no other school in St. Louis doing what Crossroads is doing.
If Crossroads wants to look for models, it has to look outside St. Louis because Crossroads is unique here.” Handmaker wants to bring some positive changes to Crossroads, but cautions that he likes to mull over decisions carefully before making them, and think it’s important to keep all decisions in perspective. “Change can be exciting, but sometimes we can lose sight of what we’re originally about,” he said. “People get jazzed when we get larger or_rnis% changes, but it’s important to always remember who we are and what we’re all about.
I hope to do that at Crossroads.” Crossroads students (1-r) Bertie Babel, Andrew Moore and Evan Brickson with their new principal, Billy Handmaker.
Original photograph caption
Crossroads students(l-r)Bertie Babel,Andrew Moore and Evan Brickson with their new principal,Billy Handmaker. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, June 1996.
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Original source: SD_Times1996_06.pdf, printed page(s) 5; PDF page(s) 5.
