Our Commitment to Mission and Values Only three men have served as the Culver Academies Head of Schools for the past 34 years. Ralph Manuel (1982-1999) and John Buxton (1999-2016) returned to Culver to participate in the installation of Jim Power on August 25. Prior to the ceremony, the three men sat down and talked about Culver’s past, present, and future with retired Dean of Faculty Kathy Lintner, who served with Manuel and Buxton. These are their thoughts:
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fter more than 34 years, Culver Academies welcomed just its third Head of Schools to campus when Jim Power, Ed.D., was installed in August. Prior to that Ralph Manuel and John Buxton each served 17 years in the position. That consistency in leadership has kept The Academies stable since 1982, but when the three gathered in the Legion Memorial Building for a brief time prior to the installation ceremony, they each cited the Culver mission statement and the school’s adherence to its core values as the real reasons for this stability. “For me, it was the mission statement. And the values kept,” Manuel explained while citing what attracted him to Culver. He also appreciated Culver’s approach that, ‘We are going to teach you things: teach you ways of thinking, ways of acting and reacting that will enhance your community, yourself, and this community. That is a life lesson that everybody should have. “There are some ‘C’s’ that I think about: capability and competence,” he added, saying the students have always been capable and there is “no doubt that Culver teaches competence.” Buxton said the student leadership system attracted him and his wife, Pam. When they came for a visit and talked with students, “the people we met were absolutely capable of handling himself or herself. They could handle the conversation. They cared about themselves and the school.” But they also sensed a feeling of “unfulfilled potential.” The foundation was in place thanks to Manuel – the mission statement, the value system, and a professional board of trustees. With a touch of added confidence, they believed, Culver could become “the best in class.” He likened the atmosphere in 1999 to a photo on the cover of a puzzle box. The photo of Culver “was clear. Everybody got it.” The frustration was in not doing as well as they’d like to in making the pieces fit. Likewise, Power said Culver was recommended to him by a colleague, who told him nobody does leadership better. When he visited, he was “taken by the people first. They were clearly who they are trying to be.”
CULVER ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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