Benton Hall Wade Gross Scholarship
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Help Build Wade’s Legacy – Send Students to Benton Hall Academy Today
My son, Wade Gross, attended Benton Hall Academy for five years changing his academic and personal trajectory forever. Read about about Wade’s journey from Orphanage to Dean's List further below.
What’s the magic? I get asked this often. My best guess is that beyond the individualized curriculum, the secret sauce is HOW this happens. Benton Hall teachers and staff meet children where they are today, witnessing their unique potential and holding space for positive growth to unfold. They teach, counsel and support as agents of change. It is also one of the most lighthearted and down to earth educational communities I have been a part of as a MOM. Parents cry, laugh and swap stories as we, too, find a home where the incredible becomes credible and the impossible becomes probable.
My gratitude calls me to action.
I have pledged a full tuition scholarship for the next five years, representing each year Wade was enrolled at Benton Hall. I cannot do it alone, I need your help to bridge the gap.
How Your Contribution Helps
Each year, together, we will change the lives of at least three more students. Most potential families lack a few thousand dollars to make enrollment a reality so ONE full tuition funds multiple new students.
Join me! Let’s raise $18,000 to fully fund Wade’s Scholarship for the next five years. Any amount you can give today will impact the life of a child, family, and our community.
Benton Hall Academy Changes Lives
Benton Hall changes the lives of its students and their families. How? I think it comes down to beliefs. All students deserve an education that works for them, however, at Benton Hall they believe everything is possible for every student.
“It’s not about deserve, it’s about what you believe.”
--Steve Trevor to Wonder Woman.
WE BELIEVE (from the Benton Hall Website)
We believe in Benton Hall Academy where children who learn differently are educated with compassion, where children who struggle academically and socially are inspired to discover their strengths and maximize their potential, and where children who have been on the outside looking in are invited to belong.
Wade’s Journey – Orphanage to Dean’s List
Wade entered our family at age four from an orphanage in Zhenjiang City, China in the Jiangsu province. He was born with cleft lip and severe cleft palate and recently finished his 11th surgery to address issues from this congenital birth defect. Wade progressed well in public schools until 4th grade when it all fell apart as did our home life. We found Benton Hall Academy, which specializes in 100% individualized curriculum. Within weeks the stress, anxiety and depression subsided (both with Wade and his parents) and the journey to healing began.
Wade was seen and loved for the selfless, hardworking, funny person he is becoming. He won many academic and character awards at Benton Hall. My favorite: Voted by his peers “Most likely to win the lottery and give it all away.”
As Wade’s confidence, abilities and agency grew, he requested an alternative high school experience. He was accepted at the more mainstream Father Ryan High School and just completed his 9th grade year, achieving the Academic Dean’s List all 4 quarters as a straight A student. He is currently thinking of becoming a psychologist or veterinarian or inventor (of apps that help those with speaking disabilities) depending upon the day.
Join me! Let’s raise $18,000 to fully fund Wade’s Scholarship for the next five years. Any amount you can give today will impact the life of a child, family, and our world.
Yours in gratitude, Shelley Churchill.
My son, Wade Gross, attended Benton Hall Academy for five years changing his academic and personal trajectory forever. Read about about Wade’s journey from Orphanage to Dean's List further below.
What’s the magic? I get asked this often. My best guess is that beyond the individualized curriculum, the secret sauce is HOW this happens. Benton Hall teachers and staff meet children where they are today, witnessing their unique potential and holding space for positive growth to unfold. They teach, counsel and support as agents of change. It is also one of the most lighthearted and down to earth educational communities I have been a part of as a MOM. Parents cry, laugh and swap stories as we, too, find a home where the incredible becomes credible and the impossible becomes probable.
My gratitude calls me to action.
I have pledged a full tuition scholarship for the next five years, representing each year Wade was enrolled at Benton Hall. I cannot do it alone, I need your help to bridge the gap.
How Your Contribution Helps
Each year, together, we will change the lives of at least three more students. Most potential families lack a few thousand dollars to make enrollment a reality so ONE full tuition funds multiple new students.
Join me! Let’s raise $18,000 to fully fund Wade’s Scholarship for the next five years. Any amount you can give today will impact the life of a child, family, and our community.
Benton Hall Academy Changes Lives
Benton Hall changes the lives of its students and their families. How? I think it comes down to beliefs. All students deserve an education that works for them, however, at Benton Hall they believe everything is possible for every student.
“It’s not about deserve, it’s about what you believe.”
--Steve Trevor to Wonder Woman.
WE BELIEVE (from the Benton Hall Website)
We believe in Benton Hall Academy where children who learn differently are educated with compassion, where children who struggle academically and socially are inspired to discover their strengths and maximize their potential, and where children who have been on the outside looking in are invited to belong.
Wade’s Journey – Orphanage to Dean’s List
Wade entered our family at age four from an orphanage in Zhenjiang City, China in the Jiangsu province. He was born with cleft lip and severe cleft palate and recently finished his 11th surgery to address issues from this congenital birth defect. Wade progressed well in public schools until 4th grade when it all fell apart as did our home life. We found Benton Hall Academy, which specializes in 100% individualized curriculum. Within weeks the stress, anxiety and depression subsided (both with Wade and his parents) and the journey to healing began.
Wade was seen and loved for the selfless, hardworking, funny person he is becoming. He won many academic and character awards at Benton Hall. My favorite: Voted by his peers “Most likely to win the lottery and give it all away.”
As Wade’s confidence, abilities and agency grew, he requested an alternative high school experience. He was accepted at the more mainstream Father Ryan High School and just completed his 9th grade year, achieving the Academic Dean’s List all 4 quarters as a straight A student. He is currently thinking of becoming a psychologist or veterinarian or inventor (of apps that help those with speaking disabilities) depending upon the day.
Join me! Let’s raise $18,000 to fully fund Wade’s Scholarship for the next five years. Any amount you can give today will impact the life of a child, family, and our world.
Yours in gratitude, Shelley Churchill.
Organizer and beneficiary
Shelley Churchill
Organizer
Nashville, TN
Kelly Polk
Beneficiary