Steve Rees, Raytown High School, Class of 1967

Richard Stephen Rees graduated from Raytown High in 1967. He received a Bachelor Degree in Architecture from Kansas State University in 1973. Before graduating he served as a student advisor on the environment to the Secretary of the Interior and later the Environmental Protection Agency.

He was chair of the first Earth Day at Kansas State. Steve was registered as a Professional Architect in Missouri and Kansas in 1976.

He served on the Missouri and Kansas City Arts Councils and was a member of the Kansas City Municipal Arts Commission. He also worked as an architect in training with Muchow Associates, Denver, Colorado, and Patty Berkebile and Nelson Architects in Kansas City.

In 1981, Steve founded Rees Architecture as a sole-proprietorship. He was co-founder and partner of Gastinger Rees and Walker Architects, Kansas City from 1982–1992 and was founder and partner of Rees Masilionis Turley Architecture, Kansas City From 1992-2005.

Steve raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1996 and worked and lived on a sailboat in the Caribbean for two years. In 2010, after retiring as an architect for thirty years, he founded a program for at-risk teens from Kansas City’s urban core focusing on education, technology, and the environment.

It started as a single class at DeLaSalle High School that evolved into a stand-alone not-for-profit called MINDDRIVE, currently serving 50 students from 16 high schools working with 35 mentors on projects utilizing hands-on experiential learning.

Students restore and convert vehicles to electric power and also learn communication skills in writing, photography, videography, editing, and social media. In addition, evening classes are offered in welding, lighting design, and 3D CAD drawing.