Millbrook Campaign Newsletter - Fall 2015

T h e

C ampa i g n

Fall 2015

GOAL

$65 million RAISED TO DATE

$50 million

The Kenan Trust Offers Millbrook

A $1million Challenge Grant Several months ago we were informed of the very exciting news by Mr. Douglas Zinn, the executive director of The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, that the Trust was offering Millbrook School a $1 million dollar 1:3 challenge grant to establish an endowed scholarship for qualified and financially deserving students of color. Specifically, the Kenan Trust will contribute $1 million if the school raises $3 million. This is a wonderful opportunity to address one of our highest priorities: building an endowment fund to support the financial aid needs of our minority students.

Over the past thirty years the trust has made a number of grants to Millbrook to help with bricks and mortar and endowment projects. They have included matching and outright grants for the following purposes: •$ 300,000 to help establish the Harris-Kenan Foreign Language Center and to match the gift from our late board member, Henry Flagler Harris.

•$ 250,000 to build an endowed fund to help maintain the Flagler Memorial Chapel.

•$ 500,000 to help endow faculty salaries.

•A $750,000 1:2 challenge grant to help construct the Holbrook Arts Center and a $50,000 gift to name the Kenan Lobby.

•T he establishment of the Kenan Chair for Excellence in Teaching.

•A nd a one-time grant of $500,000 to be used as a 1:4 challenge to increase the school’s endowment.

The relationship between Millbrook School and the Flagler and Kenan families has been a close one ever since the school was founded in 1931. Mr. Harry Harkness Flagler helped Ed and Lucy Pulling launch Millbrook, and he served as president of the board of trustees from 1932 until 1952. Mr. Flagler’s father, Henry M. Flagler, and William R. Kenan, Jr. were business partners who were engaged in developing the east coast of Florida. Later on, Mr. Flagler married Mr. Kenan’s sister, Mary. continued on the next page

CHALLENGE GRANTS BOOST CAMPAIGN! Millbrook’s capital campaign, now in its fifth year, passed the $50 million mark this fall— we are well on our way to our $65 million goal. Three challenges—two to increase endowment and one to continue our forward momentum—are now stimulating more donors to give to this important effort.

A $1 million dollar challenge (with a 3:1 match) has come from the Kenan Trust, a long time supporter of Millbrook. When matched, this challenge will add $4 million to the endowment, all designated towards financial aid for deserving students. The second, a $500,000 challenge (also with a 3:1 match), comes from an alumnus and past parent to raise $2 million specifically designated for endowment. A current family has initiated a third and important challenge of $500,000 to inspire others to continue their support.

This is a 2:1 match that, when completed, will provide $1.5 million towards the campaign.

The capital campaign has three balanced objectives: make long-needed investments in the physical plant, grow the endowment, and support the operating budget via annual giving.

Campus renovations and new construction projects have been hugely successful, as has the significant and record-breaking growth of the Annual Fund, which totaled $2,150,000 in the last fiscal year. The continuing growth of the endowment is also critical in order to strengthen faculty support and salaries and broaden the scholarship program. Just five years ago, the endowment stood at $18.5 million—it has grown tremendously thanks to a combination of generous gifts and prudent management. Currently at a market value of just over $33 million, our goal is to reach the $50 million mark by 2017. We will meet this goal by matching these three new challenges and securing other major commitments!

Produced by Millbrook’s Development Office

845-677-8261 • www.millbrook.org

The Kenan Trust Offers Millbrook A $1million Challenge Grant continued Mr. Thomas S. Kenan, III has long served as a trustee of the Kenan Trust, and he has been a steadfast and loyal friend of Millbrook’s.

He has responded time and time again to Drew Casertano when he has asked for leadership support. Tom stated that he remains “personally dedicated to Millbrook partly because of the Flagler connection in the early days and partly because he thinks Drew and the trustees have planned beautifully for the future.” Tom has enjoyed witnessing the growth

and development of the school since he first visited the campus in the 1980’s.

Millbrook’s Director of Advancement Nancy I. Stahl remarked that “we are determined to raise the $3 million necessary as soon as possible so that we can serve and enrich our school community in essential ways.”

This current support from the Kenan Trust is very much in keeping with the Flagler and Kenan legacy of philanthropy. In fact, Edward

PROFILE:

Thomas S. Kenan, III Assistant to the Headmaster for External Relations Bob Anthony ’65 recently had a conversation with Thomas S. Kenan, III, trustee of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust located in Chapel Hill, NC. BOB: How did you develop your interest in Millbrook School?

TOM: I first visited the campus in the 1980’s as a new, young trustee of the Kenan Charitable Trust. The school back then was struggling and was not what it is today. Later on, when I became close to my “cousin” by marriage, Nick Harris, things changed. We connected, and we really hit it off. Nick solidified the relationship between Millbrook and the Kenan Trust. “Cousin” Nick Harris Nick was the grandson of Harry Harkness Flagler, Millbrook’s first board president. Nick was elected to Millbrook’s Board of Trustees in 1968, and he served in that role until his death in 2006.Getting to know Nick’s wife, Penny, and their children was an added pleasure, and we stay in close touch to this day. The next visit to campus with Nick and Drew (Casertano) was delightful, and that is when I realized how important the Flagler connection was. Both Nick and I owed so much to Henry Flagler, and Millbrook, in many ways, represented his ideals.

BOB: You and the Kenan Trust have supported a number of initiatives at Millbrook over the last 35 years. Why do you and your fellow trustees believe that Millbrook is deserving of your continued enthusiastic support?

TOM: I have been greatly impressed by the work of your headmaster and by your board. Millbrook has developed and grown in important ways since the 1980’s, and we have been so pleased to have played a key role in the school’s progress and success. Along the way, Drew has become a very special friend of mine. He hasn’t changed! His youthful energy, his vision, and his strong leadership have made all the difference to the school. I am so delighted that he will continue on as Millbrook’s headmaster for the foreseeable future.

Pulling wrote the following in his 1973 book Random Reminiscences: “Of all Mr. Flagler’s

munificent gifts to the school, none were more appreciated or more helpful than the one he offered at my first meeting with him.” He gave Mr. Pulling $10,000 with the proviso that the funds be spent for scholarships to attract outstanding students at the outset. Now, 84 years later, the FlaglerKenan tradition continues at Millbrook.

BOB: What do you believe is the number one priority in education today?

TOM: Collectively, we need to address the high cost of tuition. That is why building a healthy endowment is essential in dealing with the future needs of families and students.

Too many students coming out of colleges and universities are saddled with tremendous debt. A tremendous amount of Thomas S. Kenan, III resources have been spent to construct the necessary buildings on our nation’s campuses. Now we need to concentrate more on students and on financial aid. Greater emphasis must also be placed on the importance and benefits of community colleges as we envision the future.

BOB: If you were a teacher today, what knowledge and values would you want your students to take away with them?

TOM: I still believe that a strong liberal arts education is invaluable. In a recent survey of 50 or 60 Fortune 500 companies, the very successful CEO’s of those companies all have a strong liberal arts education.

It teaches the mind, it makes a person well-rounded, and it teaches intangible things.

BOB: When you think of Millbrook’s idyllic campus, what comes to mind?

TOM: Why, The Flagler Memorial Chapel of course! The chapel has always physically dominated the Millbrook landscape. I am so pleased it continues to serve as an important resource and center for the school community. I always felt the school needed a chaplain, and I am delighted that the Kenan Trust helped make that possible a few years ago. You have a great school up there, and we are proud be one of your partners in helping you to fulfill your mission.

The Millbrook Campaign

The Kenan Chair for Excellence in Teaching

Student Life Master Plan for construction & renovation Projects Needed

Established in January 1998, The Kenan Chair for Excellence in Teaching is made possible by a generous gift from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust and acknowledges excellent teaching characterized by a mastery of the subject matter, a passion for the material and the students being taught, a commitment to Millbrook’s ideals, and a joy for teaching. It is awarded at the discretion of the headmaster, in consultation with the dean of faculty and dean of students, and each recipient is truly a master teacher.

TheThe recipient holds the Kenan recipient holds the Kenan chair for three years, and in the chair for three years, and in the latelate spring of 2014, Headmaster spring of 2014, Headmaster Drew Casertano announced the the Drew Casertano announced current chair, Trip Powers, who current chair, Trip Powers, haswho beenhas teaching at history been history teaching Millbrook since 2004. at Millbrook since 2004.

Barn Renovation: A gold level LEED certified student center

$4,000,000

Squash Center Expansion

$1,700,000

New Dormitory: a 44-bed facilty for girls, with four beautiful faculty homes

$8,400,000

Health & Wellness Center

$400,000

Dorm Renovations

$500,000

Dining Hall: state of the art 400-seat facility for a student body of 300 and faculty & staff

$8,000,000

New Maintenance Facilities

$1,600,000

Main Street Millbrook: renovations to Prum, passages to the new dining hall

$1,700,000

Zoo Improvements, including renovation of the Mill

$600,000

Flagler Chapel Improvements

$500,000

New Alumni/Development Center

$1,100,000

Campus Improvements: Schoolhouse upgrades, lighting, landscaping, safety and security

$1,500,000

30,000,000

Total

For Endowment

Four Other Master Teachers preceded him as award winners:

Faculty support: professional development and salaries and benefits

$10,000,000

Financial Aid

$10,000,000

Program Initiatives & Innovation

$3,000,000

Campus Facilities & Maintenance

$2,000,000

25,000,000

Total Kathy Havard

$25

Walker Zeiser

Todd Feitelson

Annual Giving

10,000,000

TOTAL TO BE RAISED

65,000,000

Capital Campaign

Raising The Endowment

$20

In Millions

Bill Hardy

$15 $10 $5 $0

7

56 28,

$3

2010

46

$1,

,9 803

2011

23

$2,

,9 522

2012

02

$4,

,6 824

2013

63

$5,

,4 207

2014

94

,2 814

$9,

2015

000

0, ,00

$25

2017 (Goal)

The Mill Current families know the Mill as the old red building at the entrance to campus, but thousands of alumni and faculty know it as so much more.

Many had their art classes here. The IV form Human Development classes met here, and the bird banding community service worked out of the Mill too. The oldest building on campus (built in 1862) and a structure that was once at the heart of our arts and community service programs, the Mill will soon be back in its glory.

storage and potential office space down the road.

As much of the existing building/materials as possible will be saved, and only those things that need attention or improve the efficiency of the building will be replaced or renovated. While the frame and flooring are in good shape, the building will get new sidewalls and insulation. We are on schedule to have all permits in place by October or November, and construction will begin just as soon as the early spring weather permits.

It’s such an exciting project, we are thrilled to be sharing the news with all of our Millbrook friends.

The Mill renovation is important because of the many benefits that it will create for the Trevor Zoo as a staffed entrance and visitor’s center. But even more so, the renovation of this building secures the important history that is contained within its walls and immense opportunities for current and future Millbrook students whose interests will run the gamut from zoology to conservation to marketing and sales. We can’t wait for the next brilliant student-generated work of art that celebrates biological diversity and conservation.

Look for it in the Mill!

Then & NOW Millbrook’s Board of Trustees has approved plans to move forward with a renovation to the Mill. Like all other facilities projects on campus, the plan has been well thought out, with every consideration made for the best use of space based on collaborative input from many including the trustees on the Physical Resources Committee, our architects, faculty, administrators, and students.

Alumnus and current parent John Allee ’86 has designed the initial plans for the renovation and will manage the implementation of this project.

A primary goal in the renovation of the Mill is to provide a new entrance to the Trevor Zoo, which will allow for regular ticket sales in a covered area and a new retail space for an assortment of zoo and school items. Video screens on the main level will broadcast Trevor Zoo live cameras as well as videos about current happenings in classrooms and on campus. There will also be a display of images, documenting the zoo’s very beginnings and its progression to becoming the modern AZA facility it is today.

Trevor Zoo Director Dr. Alan Tousignant loves the idea of a retail space, “We will fill the store in a heartbeat. I have a burgeoning folder of ideas, and we’ll certainly continue what we are doing now— selling artwork by students including etched emu eggs and rhea eggs, plus t-shirts with studentdesigned images. We are also planning on selling green merchandise. Our strong, strong hope is that this will become a model for the AZA on how to run a green store. We might collaborate with local artists—a neighbor has already approached

us, in fact, with the idea of creating yarn from our alpacas as we shear them in the spring. You can’t get any greener than that!”

Sales of zoo merchandise have been growing tremendously as we introduced a new “retail” station just inside the front gate. Our emu eggs have been flying off the shelves. Each egg is hand etched by a student. Reeves Milbank ’17 and Dustin Sloan ’14 were busy etching this summer, following in the footsteps of Beryl Roberts ’10, whose etching began as an idea for a CES project.

Beryl wanted to combine her loves of working with animals, art, and conservation. Her CES was extremely successful, and now her legacy continues. We have sold about 50 eggs since she began etching them in 2010.

Historically a learning space for students, the Mill will continue to serve in this capacity as students will be actively involved in the new space during community service periods. A new community service to help stock the retail space and research new green products will be needed. Dr. Tousignant also hopes to bring in our photo students to take visiting school group pictures (a more practical application of their art that could pay off in a business model down the road) and document the wonderful work that our zooies are doing. The Mill will become their homebase.

While the first floor of the Mill will be used by the general visiting population and zoo staff manning the retail store, the second floor will allow for

As taken from Mr. Pulling’s scrapbook in 1931.

The building structure will remain much the same. The back will be redesigned to include a beautiful covered porch adjacent to the stream.

John Allee ‘86 and Trevor Zoo Director Dr. Alan Tousignant discuss plans for the interior.