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GriffINNOVATION Campaign

The Innovation Center demonstrates the best part of Roycemore: the dedication to giving each and every student the opportunity to express who they are, not just in the classroom but in every aspect of their education.  My hope is not that it will transform students, but that it will give students the tool necessary to transform themselves.
— Berhanu Snyder '21

GriffINNOVATION Progress Update

January 2023: Our Vision Design Team has made design selections under the leadership of Cordogan Clark; once funded, our Innovation Center will have six designated spaces with varying levels of function and flexibility.  Our Architects have named these Cove, Cave, Watering Hole, Campfire, Makerspace, and Lounge. Roycemore is not currently attached to these names, but they help explain the vision. 

A Look At What Has Happened So Far

Thank You to Our Donors

INnovate $500,000 and Up

Randy D. Podolsky Family Foundation

The Rogue Willow Foundation

INspire $100,000 – $499,999

Pradeep Chintagunta and Marisa de la Torre

Elizabeth Ellrodt and Scott Schweighauser

Linda Reed ‘65

Jerry and Micki Springer

INvest $50,000 – $99,999

Aisling Colón and Jonathan Holloway

Adrianne Finley Odell and Rich Odell

Kevin and Diane Foote

The Fromm Family

Fred and Pam Sasser

The Scheidt Family

Anita Shah and Jeffrey Tong

INvent $25,000 – $49,999

Dorian Bezanis

Laura and Michael Boutross

Sossina Haile and Jeff Snyder

Jennifer Morgenstern

INvigorate $10,000 – $24,999

The Adams Family

The Drake Family

Lynn and Tom Ellis

Vicky Kalogera and Fred Rasio

Ted and Katie Karn

Bessie Mbadugha

and Jason Keiper

Deborah Pergament ‘87

Mairéad Reidy and Canice Prendergast

Elizabeth Shepherd and Scott Kinsloe ’72

INfluence $5,000 – $9,999

Juliet and Peter Birnbaum

Dr. Anthony and Derilyn Chambers

Holly and Jim Crilly

Christopher and Liz Deutsch

Aleksandra Egelja-Maruszewski and Joe Maruszewski

Sanford M. Goldberg ’72

Margaret and Robert McCamant

Evan Michael McCombs Memorial Foundation

Candace and Dennis Risen

Nicole Woodard Iliev

INterpret $2,500 – $4,999

Eleftherios Gdoutos ‘05

Barbara ‘52 and John Larson

Brianna Sylver-Galvao and Adriano Galvao

Katrina Veerhusen and Rick McCombs

INvite $1,000 – $2,499

Devin and Ruth Bell

Abby Ghibaudy

and Adam Schenck

Tim and Lori Hurley

Katherine and Ken Greisman

Leigh Jurecka and Matthew Jacobson

Mairaj Jaleel and Muqeeth Raheem

The McGuire Schnitger Family

Susan ‘60 and Edward Osterberg

Julianne Raymond ‘95

Helen Swanston ‘72

INcubate $500 – $999

Sammy and Amy Averbuch

Pushpa Gopalan and Dirk Reinhardt

Becky and Charlie Jackson

Peggy Klein

Eva and Lenz Neuhauser

Constance and James Roberts

Olga Vydra and Sam Iosevich ‘91

Staci and Jospeh Zake

INitiate – Up to $499

Anonymous (4)

Darcy and Kyle Aksamitowski

Staci Aronson

Ololade Bakare

Courtney Barlow

Anna Sue Bouzas

Janine Bragdon

Ana Camino

Katherine Carson and Colin Hart

Marie Cinquemani Thomas

Sarah Coffman and Josh Goldberg

Jonathan Cohen ‘02

Tim and Ana Costello

Gillian and Eric Deinoff

Michelle and Christopher DeMent

Karen Dinelli

Nancy and Dan Dudek

Ellin and Kip Duggan

Layi and Bunmi Durojaiye

Patricia and Bill Eder

Kayla Fortino

Charlotte Freccia

Theodora and Carsten Franck

Egemen and Agnieszka Genc

Judy and David Godinho

Hilda Gonzalez

Morgan Graff

Wendy Griffin

Jane and Evan Gruber

Bari Guibord and Lenka Reznicek

Shannon Henry

Chris and Mary Hill

Bill and Susan Horine

Jane Kim

Jordan and Melissa Koss

Kristina Kriis and Michael Barshai

Brynn and Charles Leavitt

Cheryl and Rob Linkhart

Merlin Liu and Pelle Deinoff

Gina Lorenz

Mark Lowry

Jennifer Marsidi and Christo Sedgewick

Geoffrey Mark ‘85

Beth Negronida and Charles Saxe

Jessica Nguyen and James Rondinelli

Richard R. Norton

April Ohlinger

Ralph and Sara Patrello

Robbyn Pauley and James McKee

Angela Peters Murphy

Victoria Peters

Vicky and John Pickett

Cynthia and René Rivera

Stefanie and Dale Rivera

Jolee and Amiel Rosenkranz

Shalini Shankar and Kurt Mueller

Jill Silverman and Kyle Edwards

Tara and Chris Skinner

Caroline Sloat ‘61

Marielle St. Amand

Howard and Karen Stanley

Ron and Kimmie Tain

Bellamy Taylor-Pines

Karen Tomsa

Naeema and Christopher Torres

Rachel and Adrian Walters

Katie Wilcher ‘15

Bridget Wild and Benjamin Kornfeld

Lizanne Wilson and Todd Hensley

Marge Woodfill

Jessi Wunder

Shauna Young

Now is the Time to Invest in Roycemore

Meet the Teams Behind the Future Innovation Center

Our Vision and Design team is working together with information collected from Parent, Student, and Faculty surveys to build the framework for the new Innovation Center. They are visiting spaces like the Innovation Development Lab at DePaul to gain ideas on design, and use of innovation and maker spaces for students.

Erik Anderson, 2nd and 4th grade parent
Devin Bell, 1st grade parent
Ruth Bell, 1st grade parent
Eric Calvert, Center for Talent Development
Chris English, Head of School Elect
Adrianne Finley Odell, Head of School
Charlie Jackson, RFA, 3rd and 4th-grade parent
Jason Keiper, 4th and 9th grade parent
Mark Lowry, Trustee
Jennifer Morgenstern, 11th grade parent
Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Center for Talent Development
Barry Praeuner, 6th grade parent
Keith Raheem, 1st and 5th grade parent
Aidan Scheidt, 9th grade student
Beth Shutters, Faculty, 4th grade parent
Ron Tain, Faculty
Alec Wilson, 11th grade student

In April 2022, the Board of Trustees approved our engagement with Cordogan Clark, a local architectural design (and build) firm for architectural design services for our future Innovation Center. The selection of Cordogan Clark was the culmination of a robust process that involved the Vision-Design Team and the Facilities Committee of the Board reviewing proposals from 9 firms, and selecting 4 to present to the Roycemore Administration. Cordogan Clark stood out among the other firms for a variety of reasons but one of the things we really liked about them was their experience with similar projects and their knowledge and thinking about the future of education. The timing related to how soon the Innovation Center can be completed now rests on our success in raising funds, however, having them on board will help us better show a vision for what the space could look like when it is done. There will be opportunities in the months ahead to have additional input beyond the prior surveys and focus groups.

Weese Langley Weese (WLW) is a full-service architectural firm with a broad local client base. WLW is a small, highly effective open architectural studio in the River North area involved in higher education and affordable housing on a wide range of projects including numerous historic structures and new affordable housing construction. WLW Architects and Engineers are working on the permitting, subcontracting, and deliverables for our new staircase.

At Roycemore School’s May 16th Board meeting, the Board approved engaging with W.B. Olson, a local contractor who will build the stairwell to the Innovation Center for us during the summer and fall of 2022. 

Support the GriffINNOVATION Campaign

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