OneWoodberry 2020

Thank you again to Tigers everywhere for making OneWoodberry such an incredible success! Though this year’s event was postponed from March to June and could not include gatherings on campus or around the country, Woodberry alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends came together and raised more than $2 million for the Amici Fund. All of us on campus are humbled by your support.

The Amici Fund is always critical to supporting Woodberry’s unique educational environment. This spring we have used money from the Amici Fund to assist our move to online learning and to help us prepare for a safe reopening of campus in the fall. Amici also provides tuition assistance, which 45 percent of the student body currently receives. We are extending emergency tuition assistance to boys whose families have seen their financial situation change because of COVID-19 — Amici will help make that possible. 

Tomorrow and next week we will check our totals and close the books on the 2020 fiscal year. We’ll have a preliminary update tomorrow and will share final donor and dollar numbers when the counting is complete, but as we say goodnight we want to thank Tigers around the world for their incredible generosity.

William Bray '85 has stayed connected with Woodberry since his graduation. His son, Hutch, is also a member of the class of 2021. William joined Taft Gantt '20 for an interview to discuss his experience as a Woodberry student and parent, as well as his favorite memories of Tiger Square

Thank you to everyone for supporting OneWoodberry and helping us reach this milestone of 3,000 gifts. Together we have unlocked more than $500,000 in challenge gifts from alumni and parents in support of the Amici Fund, including a $100,000 challenge gift from a 96-year-old member of the class of 1942! Every dollar given today will go to work immediately in support of Woodberry’s students, faculty, and staff. 

But we’re not done yet! We hope this will be the biggest day of Amici Fund support in school history and will be going strong until midnight!

Fifty-five years after his graduation, Rick Dent '65 says the Honor System continues to guide him each day. Rick is a loyal member of one of Woodberry's most distinguished classes, and he's also the proud parent of two Woodberry graduates. Rick joined Taft Gantt '20 to discuss what Woodberry has meant to him throughout his life.

“We came to Woodberry to do a job,” Tammy Firman says. “What we found here instead of a job was a community and a family.”

What separates Woodberry from other schools is the sense of trust that infuses all aspects of Woodberry life and is grounded in the school’s Honor System. It’s a trust built in the classroom, on athletic fields or the stage, and in the dorms. 

As they prepared to retire, Clyde and Tammy Firman reflected on the twenty-four years they’ve devoted to Woodberry as director of food services and director of health services, respectively. Clyde says he loves Woodberry because boys are held accountable for their actions and challenged daily by classmates and faculty to reach their full potential. But those challenges are backed by a lifelong friendship and commitment to each other, he notes.

 “When you need something, no matter what time it is, there’s somebody there to help you,” Tammy says.

How much does Boyd Steinhoff '04 love Woodberry? Not only has he served as a class agent, he called in from a train for his interview with Taft Gantt '20 to discuss how the experiences of his years at Woodberry continue to shape his life. 

Thank you to everyone who’s supported OneWoodberry so far today! We’re on our way to 3,000 donors and unlocking more than $500,000 in challenge gifts for the Amici Fund. 

This year’s Amici Fund will play a more important role than ever before as we prepare to reopen campus to students and extend additional tuition assistance to families whose financial situation has changed due to COVID-19. We’re committed to ensuring that every boy who has started his Woodberry education can continue it. 

We hope you enjoy this singing of “Amici” as we celebrate the halfway point of OneWoodberry! Stay with us as we push on to 3,000 gifts and beyond!  Thank you to the hundreds of alumni and parent volunteers who are leading the way today — we are humbled by your steadfast support and leadership.

That’s the difference Woodberry makes in a boy’s life. Our graduates head to college knowing they’ve got what it takes to succeed, to overcome setbacks, and to achieve their goals while never forgetting the importance of honesty and integrity. 

Emmett Aydin '20 came to Woodberry four years ago from Richmond, Virginia. As he prepared to graduate, Emmett took some time to think about what he’d tell the shy boy who first came on campus, and what he hopes the new boys he worked with as a prefect this year will remember about their time at Woodberry.

Help us unlock the matching gifts from our Challenge Donors! We have just reached 2,000 gifts. Help us reach our next goal of 3,000!

We want Thursday, June 18 to be the largest day of support for the Amici Fund in school history. As we reach milestones throughout the day, the school will receive more than $500,000 from a group of nearly forty dedicated parent and alumni Challenge Donors. Help us unlock these gifts and support Woodberry!

1,000 donors — $100,000 unlocked 

2,000 donors — $125,000 unlocked 

3,000 donors — $289,000+ unlocked 

Total Challenge Pool: $514,000+

Teaching the Tigers: Tales from Veteran Faculty

Listen here: https://anchor.fm/teachingthet...

The men and women of the Woodberry teaching faculty have given more than 900 years of collective service to the school. They range from Paul Huber '68, now in his forty-eighth year, to new teachers who arrived in September. Each year the faculty pledge to make sure each boy is known, challenged, and loved. They teach in the classroom, coach on the playing fields, and make the dorms feel like home. Woodberry faculty give selflessly of their time and energy because they love helping boys with the potential and will to succeed grow into honorable men of purpose.