Moved to Honor Extraordinary Teachers
Donations to the Blue & Gold Fund support teacher salaries and growth opportunities.
During National Teacher Appreciation Week last May, Shady Side Academy provided an opportunity for Blue & Gold Fund donors to honor inspiring teachers, and the community answered the call.
After inviting parents and alumni to honor teachers — past and present — who have shaped student lives, donors generously gave a 280 percent increase in dollars during Teacher Appreciation Week to the Blue & Gold Fund over the prior year, and many donors directed heartfelt notes to the teachers they hoped to support.
Christina Fong and Tuomas Sandholm P’24,’26 were among the parents who chose to recognize the impact Shady Side teachers had on their daughters’ lives. “Our family is beyond grateful for the high-caliber instruction that our kids received from Shady Side’s teachers,” Fong says. “They provided that instruction while also helping our kids grow personally and socially.”
Fong and Sandholm view donating to the Blue & Gold Fund as a way to give back to the teachers who provide so much to their children. “When you give, it’s a way of saying, ‘I see what you’re doing, and how hard it is. I see the talent, wisdom, and experience involved, what it will do for my child in college and beyond, and it matters to me.’”
Their donations, along with the many others, have a real impact. “The Blue & Gold Fund is the most direct way our community can support teacher salaries. Each year, it helps fund the Academy’s operations — most notably faculty compensation and professional development — representing our most significant annual expense,” says Shady Side Academy President Bart Griffith ’93 P’28,’30. “The larger our Blue & Gold Fund, the more we can invest in our faculty.”
When you give, it’s a way of saying, ‘I see what you’re doing, and how hard it is. I see the talent, wisdom, and experience involved, what it will do for my child in college and beyond, and it matters to me.’
On a campus that’s always evolving, outstanding teacher instruction is a consistent throughline that has impacted generations of alumni. Ryo Shiono ’84 shares that he first began donating to the Blue & Gold Fund in honor of teachers after hearing about English teacher and newspaper faculty advisor Angela Irvine’s passing. Recalling an encounter with Irvine that he had at his 20th reunion, Shiono says, “She not only remembered me, but the very first thing she told my wife was, ‘I want you to know that Ryo was the hardest worker on the newspaper.’” Her memory of him touched Shiono and highlighted how much Shady Side faculty care for their students.
Following that first gift, Shiono continued to donate to the Blue & Gold Fund as a way to honor teachers, including physics teacher Bob Reiland and math teacher Joe Felder. “I ran into Mr. Reiland and Mr. Felder while visiting campus, and seeing them in person triggered memories that reminded me that my experience at Shady Side was special, and not everyone gets the chance to experience an education like that,” Shiono says.
Like Shiono, the current generation of students understands how Shady Side’s teachers deeply impact their education and lives. Senior Annika Sandholm says Sue Whitney P’18,’21, her advisor, “always roots for me and she helped me become a go-getter,” while Jeff Miller P’08,’11,’18 and David Barndollar P’29 “helped me think about literature, film, and the world in new ways.” Her sister, Sophia Sandholm ’24, shares that Rachel McCool met with her regularly after school to discuss a history book covering a topic that interested her, giving her a love of history that persists beyond the classroom today, while Liz Garvey P’21 and Pam Boehm P’26 both provided invaluable personal support and mentorship.
“Our family is deeply grateful to Russ Grant P’34,’35, Dawson Haytock, Scott Peterson P’29,’31,’36, Dr. Devon Renock P’28, Greg Weiss P’34,’37, and Amy Yam P’24 for their challenging STEM courses and for giving extra support as needed, and extra challenge when appropriate. We appreciate Dr. Xiaofei Tang for bringing laughter and fun into her Chinese language courses as well,” Fong adds.
“If we want to honor our teachers, we must make it possible for them to thrive,” Griffith says. Donations to the Blue & Gold Fund empower Shady Side to invest in its teachers with the same dedication and care they have poured into students for generations.