Results tagged “military boarding schools” from Boarding School Blog - onBoarding Schools

'It was just a heartfelt thing I wanted to do to help the future generations of young men in the country.  It was hopefully a building block to help keep Fork Union up and going for many years in the future."

Frank and Jane Batten have made a two part gift to the Culver Academies that could total $70 million. $20 million of the gift goes toward the creation of the Batten Fellows program which will insure competitive faculty salaries and development opportunities. $50 million of the gift sets-up the Batten Leadership Challenge which will match endowment gifts up to $50 million. Successful completion of the full match will bring the Batten's Culver commitment to over $100 million.

Mr. Batten cites Culver's positive influence on his life as motivation for the gift:

"Culver was a very positive influence in my life at an impressionable age with its unique emphasis on individual responsibility, ethical decision-making, and student leadership. Jane and I are pleased to give back to present and future students what was given to me."

"This is the gift every head of schools in the country dreams about. The Batten Fellows Program may be the most generous gift for faculty salaries in the history of secondary school philanthropy. The gift benefits those who make the real difference in students' lives: the faculty. Culver may be the first school in the country to have such an endowment. We are extremely grateful to Frank and Jane Batten for making such a program possible for Culver. This gift will allow us to recognize excellence in teaching and to promote its faculty in a more appropriate way."

"Every year I perform at least one rap for my students about the subject we are learning. I find a song and make up the lyrics. I dress up, and a lot of students do not even recognize me. When they figure it out, they go crazy! When I perform, a lot of students want to rap along with me, dance and there's a lot of laughing and cheering. I encourage them to try and rap along with me as I pass out the lyrics. I try to make my lessons interesting enough for the students to want to learn and this is one way I found that really works."

"Lania is a wonderful example of how creative and innovative methods can really transform the learning process. She has high academic standards, and she makes science fun for the students. That's everything you want in a teacher. We're excited for her that she's receiving this kind of national recognition."