Neela Patel Center for Innovation

LEADERSHIP GIFT FROM SHEPPARD FAMILY TRANSFORMS LIBRARY SPACE

BY TERESA MESSMORE

Tower Hill’s Middle and Upper School Library is undergoing a dramatic transformation to support innovation in the school’s curriculum and programs, made possible by a $1.5 million lead gift from Sonal and John Sheppard through the CSP Family Foundation to the Tower Hill 100 Centennial Campaign.

The Neela Patel Center for Innovation will serve as a hub for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration, fostering core skills of communication, research, critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork in students. The complete library renovation will increase access to books and digital resources while providing more space for interactive learning.

“Generations of Tower Hill students will benefit from this monumental project,” Head of School Bessie Speers said. “We are immensely grateful to the Sheppards for making this vision a reality.” The center will be named for Sonal Sheppard’s mother, Neela Patel, who has motivated the family’s focus on education for many years. Patel ingrained in her children the lifelong value of education, encouraging them to succeed academically and nurturing a love of learning in her grandchildren, Jayden ’28 and Sadie ’28. Her late husband, Chandu, was a structural engineer for many years, but later changed his focus to the pharmaceutical industry—where he successfully owned and ran a pharmaceutical company—by reading extensively and teaching himself key aspects of the business with an entrepreneurial mindset. Patel honored his memory by opening an engineering school at a college in India to help provide others with more opportunities.

“Education has always been drilled into us as the most important thing we can acquire in life, and no one can take that from you,” said Sheppard, who graduated from the University of Delaware and

A rendering of THE Hub, scheduled to be completed this fall.

earned a law degree from Widener. “I feel like I’ve always taken that to heart.”

Tower Hill’s library renovation project resonated with the family on multiple levels. Sheppard is a longtime Home and School Association volunteer who has given countless hours of her time in the Lower School Library, Thrift Shop and annual Book Fair. As her children entered Middle School, she became more aware of the underutilization of the cavernous library space despite an abundance of students studying together and socializing on the floor of nearby hallways with backpacks scattered about. Renderings of the project showed a complete reconfiguration of the facility to allow for modular use of space including small groupings, dedicated classrooms and labs, and larger gathering areas. She could see that the 12,000 square foot center would be more modern, bright, practical and, ultimately, inspiring.

“The school is beautiful and you want to preserve as much of that as you can, but I do feel like obviously there are going to be spaces that need to evolve,” Sheppard said. The old library was constructed in 1973 as part of a major campus expansion funded by Tower Hill’s first major capital campaign. The library and what are now Middle School science facilities were completed, but not as many classrooms were included as originally planned. The library’s geometric, concrete ceiling and minimalist design were characteristic of the Brutalist architecture of the day, but acoustically unforgiving and not conducive to group work commonly assigned today.

While the Teaching and Learning Center was incorporated into the library in 2017, the facility has never undergone a major renovation in nearly 50 years of existence. Meanwhile, academic and public libraries across the country have reimagined their purpose amid a surfeit of information available online and the popularity of e-readers. Considering the needs of the communities they serve, many now provide offerings such as STEM labs, business centers, equipment rentals, robotics clubs, exhibits, coding coffees, media literacy sessions and room reservations for events and coworking spaces—in addition to checking out books.

Tower Hill’s Lower School Library, in fact, has moved in this direction in recent years with large scale makerspace projects and time for AMAZE, a literature-based anti-bias curriculum.

Now, the Middle and Upper School Library is not only following suit but trailblazing new horizons in collaborative learning and student agency. Construction began late last spring on the Neela Patel Center for Innovation - Tower Hill Educational Hub, or “THE Hub,” which opens in concert with the 2021-2022 school year. Students and faculty will round the corner from the Pierre S. du Pont Theatre and Arts Center’s upper lobby to find a bright, open co-working space with large whiteboards and groups of modular seating. A modern Design Lab will house technology and software for specialized digital projects and 3D printing. Floor to ceiling windows will flood the center with natural light. Shelves of books will be available for perusing, centered largely on contemporary fiction and nonfiction outside of the academic curriculum to spark curiosity. Reading nooks will provide ample space to delve into a great text or study, with new acoustical paneling and a green wall with live plants softening ambient noise.

The Teaching and Learning Center will be expanded within THE Hub to better accommodate students benefiting from guidance on time management and study strategies, and classrooms of various sizes will provide space for the Social Innovators course, computer science, the Social Justice Program and evolving cross-curricular programmatic needs. Each component of the THE Hub—collections, technology, innovation commons, digital design lab, fab lab and resource commons—will be managed by a new Director of Center for Innovation (read more about Matt Jackson on page 18) who reports to Dean of Teaching and Learning Andrea Glowatz, and student leaders will help generate student centered events such as poetry slams, author readings and other creative activities.

THE Hub will be enhanced through technology and design, and students and faculty will use the space to present ideas and work in teams. With social distancing restrictions easing and many older students vaccinated against COVID-19, the timing is invaluable for fully utilizing available space and resources to enhance community connection.

“All of our students and teachers have done such a great job this past year, but we haven’t enjoyed the school like we usually do,” said Kristin Mumford, director of advancement and enrollment

The Middle and Upper School Library in 1978. The library addition was completed in 1973 and had not been renovated until 2021.

WHAT ABOUT THE BOOKS?

The old Middle and Upper School Library housed 21,000 books, many of them outdated reference materials with more current versions available online. Moved into storage during the renovation project, all of these books are being sorted and catalogued before returning to the stacks this fall. Some of them will move to classrooms of related subject areas, e.g., history books into history classrooms, and a selection will be donated or removed in consultation with library science consultants. Access to online databases and digital resources will continue to be provided to encourage media literacy and research skills within the 21st Century context that students will be expected to understand when they transition to college.

A rendering of THE Hub, scheduled to be completed this fall.

management. “Thanks to the generosity and vision of the Sheppard family, this is going to be a huge coming back present.”

The investment will transform the space into the academic, social and innovative heart of the school, driven by the Sheppard family’s leadership gift that inspired additional leadership commitments to the project from other families as part of the Tower Hill 100 Centennial Campaign. As Sonal Sheppard and her mother, Neela Patel, pointed out, many students spend their entire pre-K through 12th grade education at Tower Hill, and the benefits of philanthropic support are readily evident in their academic experience. The impact will be felt for many years to come.

“Any kind of investment you give to your kids’ school, whether it’s volunteer hours or money, is only going to help in a positive way,” Sheppard said. “There is a huge return.”

SAVE THE DATE! A ribbon-cutting ceremony for THE Hub will take place during Homecoming Weekend on Saturday, Oct. 2, at 12:15 p.m.

INTRODUCING MATT JACKSON

The innovative nature of THE Hub called for an innovative position to oversee it. Matt Jackson has been hired as Tower Hill’s Director of Center for Innovation, a new position responsible for ensuring and supporting creative and effective use of THE Hub, technologies and opportunities for innovation, in order to serve the needs of students and teachers.

Jackson holds a B.A. in history from Amherst College and an M.Ed. with a concentration in technology integration with pedagogy from Pepperdine University. He taught history at the Friends School of Haverford in Pennsylvania and The Buckley School in New York, and he planned, developed and implemented an innovative computer science curriculum for students in grades 6-12 at St. Mark’s School of Texas. His administrative experience includes serving as the director of development at Friends School of Haverford and a diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator, and he has coached soccer, basketball and football.

At Tower Hill he will draw upon his background in education, technology and student life to help embed the many resources, labs and collaborative opportunities into the academic infrastructure and culture of the school.

COLLABORATION

Modular work spaces conducive to developing students’ communication and leadership skills

INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING

Expanded and flexible classroom space to foster interaction between academic disciplines

TOWER TERM

THE Hub will serve as headquarters for Tower Term, a mini semester of experiential learning launched in 2018

SOCIAL INNOVATORS

Partnership with University of Pennsylvania encourages studentdriven social entrepreneurship

TEACHING AND LEARNING CENTER

Redesigned to maximize student learning and support faculty

TECHNOLOGY

Tech support, computer lab and computer science program could be housed in THE Hub depending on evolving programmatic needs

RESEARCH

Databases and digital resources accessible with guidance from information specialists

ROBOTICS AND MAKERSPACE

Meeting place for expanded robotics program, which now encompasses all three divisions

$5 MILLION BEQUEST

THE LEGACY OF JAMES WINDER LAIRD ’64 AND HIS IMPACT ON TOWER HILL’S FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

BY KRISTIN MUMFORD, DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT AND ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT

James Winder Laird ’64 made the extraordinary happen for Tower Hill when he made the decision in March 2018 to include the school in his trust as a recipient of $5 million. His intent for this incredible legacy gift, according to his friend Jeff Selzer, was to “honor the school that had provided him a great educational foundation.”

Laird, a Wilmington native and lifelong philanthropist, attended Tower Hill School until the eighth grade before moving on to boarding school. He graduated from the University of Delaware and afterward studied for a year at the Restaurant School in Philadelphia. He participated in many equine events in the region and was an active member of the Vicmead Coaching Club, serving as one of its presidents. In the 1980s he moved to Gloucester, Virginia, where he raised Hackney horses. He then moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and continued his wonderful and quiet philanthropy, supporting local musical, theatrical, educational and social organizations. He also pursued his love for travel and had a passion for hosting and entertaining family and friends. Laird passed away on April 3, 2020, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, at the age of 73.

Tower Hill was made aware of his legacy gift in April 2020, shortly after the school pivoted to virtual learning and just as the world was beginning to experience the economic impact of the pandemic. In June 2021, his incredible gift was fully realized.

“We are so very grateful for Mr. Laird’s transformational gift to Tower Hill School,” Head of School Bessie Speers said. “His legacy will make an enduring impact on the Tower Hill community and all of its students and teachers for centuries to come.”

The Board unanimously decided to designate the $5 million gift to the endowment in support of student financial aid, a top priority for the Tower Hill 100 Centennial Campaign and an important cause for Laird as well.

“This gift strengthens our endowment and helps us achieve our goal of making a Tower Hill education financially affordable for all qualified students, which is a top priority of the strategic plan,” Marna Whittington, Finance Chair of the Board, said.

Tower Hill is forever grateful to Laird for his philanthropic vision and extraordinary legacy gift.

James Winder Laird ’64

FOREVER GREEN SOCIETY

To learn about becoming a member of the Forever Green Society by including Tower Hill in your estate plans, contact the Advancement Office at 302-657-8353. It is a wonderful way to establish a legacy that will impact the lives of Tower Hill’s students and faculty in perpetuity.

PROJECTED GROWTH OF THE

LAIRD ENDOWMENT

YEAR 1 YEAR 25 YEAR 50

Endowed Fund

established $5,000,000 gift $7,029,624 in cumulative grants and services $9,780,144 balance $20,779,772 in cumulative grants and services $19,130,245 balance

Initial gift has grown and paid out: 3 times 6 times

Assumes 4% annual payout and 7% rate of return.

HOW DOES AN ENDOWED FUND GROW OVER TIME?

Tower Hill’s endowment consists of numerous individual funds that have been contributed by donors over time. The endowment provides a sustainable source of funding each year to the school’s operating budget; the endowment principal is invested, and each year a portion (4%) of the value of the fund is paid out to support the fund’s purpose. The endowment grows over time through investment income and additional gifts, and thus provides support for the school in perpetuity.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AT TOWER HILL

Each year, incredibly talented students are admitted to Tower Hill but are unable to enroll due to financial reasons. A Tower Hill education is simply unattainable for many families. Currently 36% of our student body receives financial assistance, with an average grant size of $11,500. Over the past five years, Tower Hill’s financial aid budget has grown significantly from $2.2 million to $3.6 million. Endowed scholarship funds expand our ability to attract prospective students and provide financial aid to the top candidates. Endowed student assistance funds allow recipients of financial aid to fully participate in all aspects of the student experience.

Back row: Randy Sawyer, Murray Sawyer, Amy Sawyer ’88, Lance Anderson, Ed Chilton and Ann Sawyer Chilton ’85. Middle row: Em Sawyer, Chip Sawyer ’93 and Carolina Sawyer. Front row: Vivian Anderson, Sawyer Chilton ’15, Isaac Anderson and Kitchel Chilton ’14.

SCHOLARSHIP FUND

MURRAY AND RANDY SAWYER ESTABLISH ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FUND

BY MELISSA PIZARRO, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT

Murray and Randy Sawyer have always been big believers in the value of education and consider it a true core value. With parents, children and grandchildren who attended Tower Hill, the Sawyers have gained a full appreciation for the motto Multa Bene Facta, Many Things Done Well. Enabling access to a Tower Hill education to all who have a desire to work hard and benefit from the student experience, regardless of financial ability, was the driving force behind a call they made to the Advancement Office in the fall of 2020. It was during this conversation that the Sawyers shared a desire to establish a permanent, endowed scholarship at Tower Hill to provide tuition assistance to students with limited means who exemplify Multa Bene Facta in all facets of student life.

“It’s important that we take care of those who can’t otherwise afford it and try to provide for them,” Murray said. “In a perfect world, everybody would start off in the same financial circumstances, but that’s not the world as we know it—so if you can give a leg up, a hand up, to those who need it, why not—if you can? It’s very rewarding for us, personally. I got some help when I went to law school, and we couldn’t have done what we did without that help.”

The Sawyers have three children who attended Tower Hill, Ann Sawyer Chilton ’85 (married to Ed Chilton, Tower Hill’s current head squash coach), Amy Sawyer ’88 and Chip Sawyer ’93, and two grandchildren, Kitchel Chilton ’14 and Sawyer Chilton ’15, both Tower Hill lifers. Randy’s parents, Gill Gawthrop ’33 and Helen (Nonie) Kitchel Gawthrop ’40, and Murray’s three siblings, Mike Sawyer ’75, Carol Sawyer-Porter ’72 and Susan (Susie) Sawyer Whitehouse ’67, also attended Tower Hill.

As one of six children, Randy understood that a Tower Hill education would be a challenge for her parents to afford for her and all her siblings, so she went on to attend a neighboring independent school that provided her family with more financial assistance. In Murray’s case, his family had relocated to the Wilmington area when he was in middle school and chose a school closer to their home for him and his three siblings. When Murray transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy for boarding school, his family relocated to Wawaset Park, and his siblings all transferred to Tower Hill.

“The important fact in all this is that, when we were having children, having had experience with three Wilmington schools, we chose to send our kids, all, to Tower Hill,” Murray said. “We thought, at the time, that it was the right experience for them, individually and collectively. And in our experience, it did end up being the right fit for all of them.”

The Sawyers also find the quality of being well rounded “critically important,” highlighting participation in athletics in addition to excelling academically. Randy played lacrosse in both high school and college. Their daughter, Ann, played lacrosse at Tower Hill and both lacrosse and squash in college. As such, the Sawyers also support an endowed scholarship at UNC dedicated to a women’s lacrosse student-athlete.

“We have a great love for Tower Hill because, throughout its history, it has consistently shown a commitment to academic excellence, to athletic excellence, to being well rounded,” Murray said. “As we look at the history of wonderful private schools in this geographic area, Tower Hill has continued to hold fast to those values that help prepare students for the world after graduation to be contributors to the world and society.”

While discussing some other reasons why they chose to establish this scholarship at Tower Hill, Murray and Randy both cited community.

“The community at Tower Hill is the combination of the parents who are dedicated—you can see that when you go to meetings; you can feel it when you attend events—there’s a real interest in the school by all who are participating,” Murray said. “It’s vibrant, it’s real and you can feel it. You can see the commitment—by the teachers, the administration and the parents.”

“And they’re very supportive of the kids, even after ours left. They always went back to visit; they loved Tower Hill,” Randy said. The Sawyers are funding the Sawyer Family Scholarship Fund through qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from Murray’s IRA. A QCD is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA custodian, payable to a qualified charity. QCDs (up to a maximum of $100,000 per taxpayer for 2021) can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year, as long as certain rules are met. In addition to the benefits of giving to a charitable organization such as Tower Hill School, a QCD excludes the amount donated from taxable income, a benefit regular withdrawals from an IRA do not have.

As for why Tower Hill makes their list of charitable organizations to support, “Tower Hill just fits perfectly— it’s geographically where we’re from, we believe in its mission, our children attended the school, and it’s been consistently good the 50-plus years we’ve been part of this community,” Murray said. “We’re happy to do it, and we would hope that maybe others could be encouraged to follow our lead and do the same thing. We want to make sure that those less fortunate financially and those who would not have the opportunity to be exposed to the values that Tower Hill holds dear get exposed. That’s the big picture. We’re at a stage in our life where we’re able to give back and make the world a better place in a very small way, step by step.”

Murray and Randy Sawyer

DID YOU KNOW?

Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) have been called “the best way to make charitable gifts after age 70 ½” (Forbes 2021). For more information on how you might support Tower Hill School through a QCD, or to make a gift in support of financial aid, please contact the Advancement Office at 302-657-8353.

THANK YOU

On behalf of students, families, faculty and staff, thank you to all who invested at a leadership level of $10,000 or more in the strategic priorities of the Tower Hill 100 Centennial Campaign.

Anonymous (3) Mr. Ashley R. Altschuler ’90 and Mrs. Shoshana M. Altschuler Mr. Nicolas Jafarieh and Ms. Suzanne E. Ashley Aware Foundation Mrs. Stacey H. Bacchieri Mr. and Mrs. Harry N. Baetjer III Mrs. Sally Beck Baker ’62 Dr. Laurence H. Beck ’58 Dr. William W. Beck, Jr. ’57 Mrs. Georgina Miller Bissell ’38* Mrs. Joan Ross Bolling ’47 Mrs. William A. Bours III* Mr. Thomas C.T. Brokaw ’64 and Mrs. Margaretta Bredin Brokaw ’66 Mr. John Buonocore, Jr. Mr. Todd Buonocore ’87 and Dr. Allison D. Kolody Buonocore Dr. G. Mark Bussard ’90 Dr. Christopher D. Casscells ’71 and Mrs. Susan Warren Casscells Dr. Kimberly Wright Cassidy Wilhelmina Laird Craven ’34* CSP Foundation Dr. Anthony R. Cucuzzella ’82 and Mrs. Lucinda Cole Cucuzzella Ms. Louise E. Cummings-Lewis The Curran Foundation Mr. and Mrs. William H. Daiger, Jr. Mrs. Phoebe Brokaw Davidson ’97 and Mr. Charles B. Davidson Mrs. Elizabeth Prince de Ramel Mr. Régis A. de Ramel Mr. and Mrs. Joseph DeSantis Robert and Suzanne DeSantis Mr. Christopher R. Donoho III ’87 and Mrs. Erica Reedy Donoho

Mr. Benjamin F. du Pont ’82 and Mrs. Laura Lemole du Pont David F. du Pont ’52 Trust* Mr. Charles J. Durante ’69 and Mrs. Janice F. Durante Heather Richards Evans ’80 Mrs. Beverly Wild Finch ’59 Dr. John M. Flynn ’81 and Mrs. Mary Flynn The Edward E. Ford Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Franta, Esq. Mrs. Amanda Walker Friz ’92 and Mr. Robert W. Friz Mr. W. Whitfield Gardner ’81 and Mrs. Cynthia H. Gardner Ms. Elizabeth A. Garrigues ’45* Dr. John Gavenonis and Dr. Sara C. Gavenonis Mr. Adam Gould and Ms. Nicholle R. Taylor Mr. Thomas J. Hanna ’91 and Dr. Lynne A. Hanna Mr. and Mrs. E. Thomas Harvey III Mr. Bradford L. Hayward ’04 Mr. Laird R. Hayward ’02 Mrs. Nancy L. Hayward ’60 Mr. Pierre duP. Hayward ’66 and Mrs. Martina Combs Hayward Drs. Robert and Rachel Heinle Mr. Samuel I. duP. Hyland ’89 Mr. Michael A. Jenkins ’80 and Mrs. Ann Kallfelz Jenkins ’80 Dr. and Mrs. Eric T. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Johnson Mrs. Loring Weaver Knott ’08 Dr. Kris A. Kowal and Dr. Wen Liu Mr. David R. Kullman ’12 Mrs. Ellen Jamison Kullman ’74 and Mr. Michael E. Kullman Ms. Margaret O. Kullman ’08 Mr. Stephen J. Kullman ’12 The Laffey-McHugh Foundation Mr. James W. Laird* The Lemole Family Charitable Trust Ms. Samantha M. Lemole Marmot Foundation, Inc. Mr. Whitney M. Maroney ’87 and Mrs. Katharine Fisher Maroney Ellice & Rosa McDonald Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. S. Mellon Mr. and Mrs. Jay R. Miller Mr. James W. Morris ’73 Mr. and Mrs. Michael R. Nestor Mr. David T. Nowland ’85 and Mrs. Cathleen C. Nowland Dr. Mehmet C. Oz ’78 and Mrs. Lisa Jane Lemole Oz Mrs. Neela Patel Dr. and Mrs. Nisheeth R. Patel Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Pettinaro Ms. Christine Kane Plant ’69 Mr. and Mrs. J. Mathieu Plumb Mrs. Logan Weaver Read ’10 Ms. Elizabeth H. Richardson Sage Dining Services Dr. Christopher J. Saunders ’80 and Mrs. Alice M. Saunders Dr. Jonathan N. Saunders ’75 and Mrs. Charlene Stegura Saunders Mr. and Mrs. H. Murray Sawyer, Jr. Judy and Joseph Setting Ms. H. Donnan Sharp ’56 Mr. and Mrs. David M. Shepherd Mr. and Mrs. John Sheppard Mr. Robert M. Silliman, Jr. ’96 and Mrs. Kelly Silliman Mrs. Stephanie du P. Bredin Speakman ’64 The Rev. and Mrs. Thomas G. Speers III The Starrett Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. Steiner Stratus Foundation Mrs. Edna M. Sutton* Speakman Family Foundation Mrs. Isabella Speakman Timon ’92 and Mr. Philip C. Timon Mr. and Mrs. Timothy J. Langlois Tower Hill School Alumni Council Tower Hill School Faculty Fund to Aid Students (FFAS) Centennial Commitment Tower Hill School Home and School Association Mr. Randolph W. Urmston ’62 Ms. Anne A. Verplanck ’76 Mrs. Susan Wood Waesco ’90 and Mr. Kevin M. Waesco Mr. Carmen M. Wallace ’93 Mrs. Susan Hill Ward ’54 and Mr. Rodman Ward, Jr. Mr. Rodman Ward III ’83 and Mrs. Gina Farabaugh Ward Anthony E. Weymouth Foundation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas D. Whittington, Jr. The Windfall Foundation Mrs. Marilyn Morrow Woodhouse ’49 Yaverland Foundation Mr. Yaosong Zhang and Mrs. Dan Wang

* deceased

Tower Hill 100 is a comprehensive campaign that includes the Annual Fund. The full list of donors is included in the Donor Honor Roll on page 73.