Bobcat Stories

While Bosque School is busy celebrating the number 30 this year, there’s another important number essential to its history—23.   

That’s the number of pioneering philanthropists that helped build Bosque School as we know it today on our beautiful campus nestled among the cottonwoods along the Rio Grande. Those 23 individuals and families each contributed $50,000 or more in an ambitious 1999-2000 fundraising campaign. That funding allowed the school to acquire 23 acres of undeveloped land from its owner, Ray Graham, who gave the school the property for $100,000, a tiny fraction of its value. The subsequent grand total of $1,150,000 was paid for the construction of the first four buildings of the school, facilitating the move from its rented church space in the northeast heights and laying a foundation for the financial future of the school. Lynn Trojahn, Bosque School’s Advancement Director from 1999-2005, led the development of the 23-Acre Club. Lynn, along with her husband Craig and her parents, Drs. Karl and Frances Koenig, were also members of the club. Lynn and Craig’s daughter, Rachel, graduated with the class of 2009 and later became one of the first alumni trustees.

To honor those 23, a mosaic tile plaque depicting a cottonwood tree with 23 leaves, each leaf labeled with a donor’s name, was mounted in the Willard Room, a gracious reception and meeting area in the Marketing and Admissions building. Based on an original design by Dr. Karl Koenig, the plaque was created by Laura Robbins, a founding Bosque School art teacher and mosaic tile expert. It weighs well over 100 pounds and needed to be installed on a firm foundation of bricks which the architect custom-built into the design of the school.

The success of the 23-Acre Club inspired the next generation of donors who contributed to the campus capital campaign to build the rest of the campus. Crucial supporters were former President Gerald Ford and his wife, Betty Ford, who gave numerous gifts to the school. These included capital campaign pledges and generous ongoing annual fund contributions, both during and beyond the years their granddaughter Heather Vance, a member of Bosque’s inaugural graduation class of 2001, attended Bosque School. They visited the campus several times, each time impressing our students and staffulty with their poise, humor, and deep love of this country. With their support, the campus blossomed, culminating in the construction and dedication of the beautiful Gerald and Betty Ford Library. Heather’s mother, Susan Ford Bales, served on the board of trustees from 1997-2005 and continues to stay in a supportive relationship with the school more than two decades after Heather’s graduation.

Over the years, in campaigns like these, hundreds of families—including parents, grandparents, friends, staffulty, and alumni—have collectively and sequentially built the school from the ground up. In this season of thanksgiving and celebration, we appreciate the solid ground of our school’s history and remember those 23 pioneering philanthropists, the Ford Family, and the circle of donors who became Friends of the Ford Library, with the deepest gratitude.