THE LOGAN-RUNG FAMILY

“I give to MKA to honor, acknowledge, and show gratitude to those families who came before me and gave generously so that my sons could have the many opportunities that are available at MKA . ”

Please describe your family and your connection to MKA. Why did you choose MKA for your family? My family first became connected to MKA in 2000. At that time, our family lived in Chatham, NJ, and we traveled far and wide in our search to find the perfect school for our sons: Josh Logan-Rung, MKA Class of 2013, and Jon Logan-Rung, MKA Class of 2014. We wanted a school that would focus not only on academic excellence but also on teaching and guiding our young children so they would become men of integrity. We wanted our boys to attend a school where kindness mattered, a place of learning where all were respected regardless of differences, and a community that would understand our boys as individuals. We wanted a school that would partner with us to raise men of noble character and purpose. We believed then and continue to believe now 23 years later that we found that ethos at Montclair Kimberley Academy.

In what ways do you see the impact that MKA had on your children? What experiences (and/or people) are still significant in their lives? Well, as you can imagine, I have a maximum word count for this response which does not seem fair for this question, but I’ll address some of the more significant impacts. MKA’s impact on my sons is concrete in some ways and intangible in others. Josh and Jon are well educated, confident men whose breadth of knowledge and interests are remarkable. They established wonderful connections with many faculty members, including their coaches and members of the administration, as well as the many MKA friends who continue to be a part of their current lives. Through these connections, they learned to be advocates for themselves in college and beyond and are deeply imbedded with a sense of what is right and just. These skills and personal attributes were imbued not just by MKA’s community members’ words but by their actions and lived lives. The friendships they made at MKA from as early as Pre-K at Brookside continue to this day. These friends are MKA alumni who themselves are people of integrity. MKA graduates are exceptional people who have and will continue to contribute meaningfully to this complex world they find us all occupying.

How have you and your family remained connected to the school, and what inspired you to volunteer? In 2008, I was honored to be elected to MKA’s Board of Trustees. Becoming a Trustee was a position I accepted after being affiliated with MKA for eight years. I believed that it was time for me to give my time and talents to MKA because I could see how much my sons were benefiting by their MKA education. In 2016, I was elected to be the President of MKA’s Board of Trustees, and I served in that capacity until July 1, 2022. Being Board President offered me many strategic opportunities to ensure the continued success of MKA. My family has been blessed in many ways, and I strongly believe that from those who have much, much it expected.

Why do you give back to MKA? I give to MKA to honor, acknowledge, and show gratitude to those families who came before me and gave generously so that my sons could have the many opportunities that are available at MKA. Just as importantly, however, are the young people that will attend MKA in the future. It is for them as well that I give. I want to ensure that MKA is financially secure, our faculty are compensated appropriately, we never compromise our program, and we are the very best we can be for future generations of Cougars.

Several years ago, while working on a speech for a school event, I was provided access to MKA’s archives, a dusty, cluttered place full of rich school history. While in the archives, I saw many bronze and wooden plaques dedicated to women and men I had never heard about with names I did not recognize. These were huge plaques fabricated many, many years ago and then displayed as a source of pride for the donor, a badge of success for the school, and a reminder to me that we are not the first to travel these halls nor will we be the last. I made a promise that day to those I didn’t know, who were perhaps gone and forgotten, that I would, as best I could, ensure that their efforts would become my efforts and we would carry the mission of MKA forward.