Parent Perspective: The importance of giving

This is our first year being part of the Denver Academy (DA) community. Our son Nathan came from a public school to start anew as an 8th grader. He was depleted, anxious, and, quite frankly, damaged from floating along, simply surviving, rather than thriving, in a system incapable of meeting his needs, let alone recognizing his gifts and compelling abilities.

 

In this season of giving, I am reminded of the kinds of giving that happen not just this designated time of year, but all year round, and for our family that includes attending Denver Academy. The fact that our son is able to attend DA is partly a gift in and of itself because of the generosity of DA Tuition Assistance. Our son would not be here without it.

 

That generosity has changed my 14-year old’s life, our family, and certainly other families at DA. There’s not one single day that goes by when we drop him off with confidence, or pick him up with relief, that we don’t think about how receiving tuition assistance is helping to shape my son’s future for the better. Nathan’s progress, shift in demeanor, vanishing fears, sense of community, growing independence, and sense of normalcy around school are constant reminders of the gratitude we feel. We now have an impetus to continue such a spirit of generosity in ways we are able. Giving back in any way opens the opportunity of Denver Academy’s healthy way of educating to even more students.

 

I’ll never forget the day I picked up my son one afternoon just a few weeks after he started here. Before he attended DA, his response to my inquiry about his school day was met with a grunt of dismay or an “I don’t want to talk about it,” or just a sad disposition that broke my heart. But that afternoon as a new student at DA, his response to the day was filled with disclosures of having new friends, an awareness of safety, teachers who understand, desires to learn new things, and rising interests in various subjects. Now, he has a new-found freedom in being able to explore his own sense of rhythm in the drum line, his artistic side in painting, having a voice in the classroom, being truly recognized by his teachers, and the list goes on! My son is back. Back to being himself, back to a path that supports his growth and potential, and back to seeing himself as a whole person.

 

May this season of giving invite us to find ways to continue to support this incredible, nurturing school, so that our future includes more students like Nathan, who will undoubtedly change the world after being given the chance to be all he is meant to be. Thank you, Denver Academy, and thank you to all of DA’s community supporters!

 

Click here to learn how you can support Denver Academy today.