DONOR
SPOTLIGHT THE BRADFORD C. GOOCH ’54 VISUAL ARTS SCHOLARSHIP Art educated alumnus inspired to give back Brad Gooch, a member of the Class of 1954, made an exceptional gift to Bancroft during the Out in Front Campaign to name the Digital Media Lab and establish the Bradford C. Gooch ’54 Visual Arts Scholarship. Each year the scholarship is given to a rising-senior who has shown exceptional promise and deep passion for the visual arts. Tina Gorski-Strong, Chief Advancement Officer, reached out to Brad who now lives in Rome, Georgia to ask what was his motivation in establishing this scholarship and continuing to support Bancroft. Here is his story.
“I knew from the time I was 14 I was going to be a teacher and already was. I had become a pretty good sailor at Tabor Summer Camp and was teaching younger kids the art of small boat handling. I had gone to Bancroft from Tatnuck and it was the patience of Mrs. Wilson in the 6th grade that allowed me to begin to make progress toward my goal of becoming a teacher! Bancroft thus played a pivotal role in my life at a crucial time. Mrs. Jones, my 8th grade math teacher, taught me the necessity of keeping things simple and clear by losing me consistently when she hustled to show the bright ones shortcuts to problemsolving. I have never forgotten that lesson in simple clarity! I have been lucky in being able to endow scholarships at Bancroft School, Suffield Academy, Washington and Lee and Berry College here in Rome, which I have come to love
and admire. It helps immensely that my father was a brilliant businessman, that Aunt Berta left me a lovely inheritance, and that I made some fortunate real estate purchases because I could not do what I have done for those schools and Bancroft on a teacher’s salary. I spent a wonderful 36 years at Suffield Academy teaching and coaching and wearing many hats (e.g. teaching the first full-credit Art History course in any all-male Prep School, leading the 10 year NAIS School Evaluation, winning the NE Boys Soccer Championship in 1983, etc.) So education has been my life, and I am pleased to be able to help deserving students on their way to fulfilling their goals by establishing scholarships and, for Bancroft, also providing a digital media lab for enhanced learning. Perhaps some students will catch that ‘teaching bug’ at Bancroft. It is my pleasure and privilege to have set up the Bradford C. Gooch ’54 Visual Arts Scholarship!”
Brad ’54
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Coming from a big public middle school where art classes were limited, I was interested when transferring to Bancroft in taking art classes as often as I could. Working with my teachers I was able to expand my scope of how I want visual arts to reflect the image of what I leave behind at Bancroft. Art is enjoyable and relaxing for me and I plan to minor in visual arts in college.” – Effie Economou ’24, this year’s recipient of the Bradford C. Gooch ’54 Visual Arts Scholarship. 5
