VERO BEACH — Mike Mersky, Head of School, has announced that Julie and Steven Brickman have established the Julie and Steven Brickman Family Endowed Faculty Chair at Saint Edward’s School in Vero Beach. Joining them in making the first commitment to Saint Edward’s School’s endowment initiative are Sally and Dick Brickman, who will help establish another endowed faculty chair when the School has completed a challenge and raised additional endowment dollars.
Julie and Steven Brickman are the parents of two Saint Edward’s students in the Middle and Upper Schools. Sally and Dick Brickman are their paternal grandparents.
“Our goal,” said Julie “is to provide a significant and sustainable increase in faculty salaries so that Saint Edward’s continues to attract and retain the best possible faculty.”
“After all Saint Edward’s has been through in the last few years,” Steve Brickman said, “and after learning that the teachers went years with only minimal salary increases, while continuing to provide the excellence they are known for, we wanted to do this sooner rather than later. Our hope is that our gift will generate interest and awareness from the many other capable families with students at this great school who want to see it thrive for many generations to come.”
In making the announcement to the faculty, Mersky said: “We are enormously grateful to the Brickman family for their generosity and their vision. The need to create an endowment that specifically benefits our faculty has been our highest priority for the School, and is personally near to my heart. This School rests on the excellence of our faculty, their dedication to providing the best to and for our students and their continuing drive to present the best curriculum and program possible. Adult leaders of children in our School are what excellence is all about.”
“The Chair will consist of an award for professional development funds and monies for a compensation program,” explained Advancement Director Anne Storch. “The income provided annually will provide professional development funds for the faculty member who holds the chair and the remainder will be used to boost the annual compensation for all faculty members.”
Ultimately the School hopes to leverage the challenge from Sally and Dick Brickman, aided by the excitement generated by the gift from Julie and Steve, to raise an additional $750,000.
“A challenge is a superb opportunity for us,” cites Storch. “Saint Edward’s parents, alumni, and
indeed our whole community respond well to a challenge and are very aware that the School’s highest priority in the coming years is to build our endowment, first for faculty compensation, and second for student financial aid. These gifts are a crucial first step in achieving our goal.”
Founded upon the independent Episcopal school tradition, Saint Edward’s School is a co-educational, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, college preparatory school committed to educational excellence. To empower each child to reach his or her full potential, the School community promotes an environment of advocacy, challenges the whole student, cultivates moral courage and spiritual growth, and inspires a lifelong passion for learning.
For more information on Saint Edward’s School visit www.steds.org.
