Annual Fund - Equipping Our Faculty

"There is not one square inch in the whole domain of human life which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'"
-Abraham Kuyper, Dutch theologian and statesman

This fall, our headmaster Roy Griffith has repeatedly shared the quote above with our school family as a reflection on Colossians 1. This epistle from Paul highlights the truth that Christ is preeminent over all things: every subject, every vocation, every heart. Every square inch is the theme guiding Rockbridge Academy this year, and it shapes something very practical: how we invest in the teachers who stand in front of your children every day, proclaiming Christ in every corner of life.

That's where the Annual Fund comes in.

Every gift to the Annual Fund, no matter the size, contributes a lasting legacy to one of three key priorities: keeping a Rockbridge education within reach for families through tuition assistance, equipping our teachers to teach with excellence through faculty development, and enhancing the campus to make it worthy of the work happening inside (For example, Annual Fund gifts helped to pay for recent parking lot and stage upgrades).

This fall, let us shine a spotlight on the second of these critical needs: faculty development. Behind every lesson in the classroom is a teacher who invested part of the summer preparing to open up a subject in a new way, and every year, a special portion of the Annual Fund is dedicated to investing right back into those teachers. Annual Fund gifts will send teachers to math, Latin, and Classical Christian education conferences to sharpen their craft alongside educators from across the country — and later this year we're excited to send our entire faculty and staff to see Hamlet performed at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

This special evening for our teachers at the world’s largest Shakespeare collection will include a private, behind-the-scenes tour of the First Folios and other research, a meal together in one of the Folger's beautiful venues, a chance to dialogue with those involved in bringing Hamlet to life, and finally, the opportunity later that evening to experience the performance itself alongside our seniors as part of this year's Senior Soiree.

Obviously, for our literature teachers, standing in the room where Shakespeare's words are given breath will change how they teach it forever. But that's only half the gift. When all Rockbridge Academy teachers — from Junior Kindergarten to twelfth grade, from phonics to physics — are given the chance by their school community to take in truth, goodness, and beauty alongside one another, something changes in how they all turn around and pour into their students. That's a gift that reaches every classroom, every student, for years to come.

Your support, at any level, is an investment in those teachers and the young hearts they are shaping.