Meet Our Donors
Marty Lidston and Jill Leukhardt, P'11
Teachers are the Heart of the School
Marty Lidston and Jill Leukhardt, parents of Claire, 2011, recently honored the RPCS faculty by remembering RPCS in their wills with a $50,000 bequest. This generous and heartfelt planned gift was designated for faculty compensation.
"Among the few college graduates in our extended families we both place a high value on education," said Marty in a recent interview. "It was my math and physics teachers in high school who urged me to go to college and study engineering. My parents were not high school graduates. I had 30 cousins, yet only three of us attended college. I went to college because I was influenced by many outstanding teachers, and also because I was the recipient of scholarships." Jill shared a similar story, "I had several fabulous high school teachers in biology and chemistry who influenced me to go to college, and while my parents also had college aspirations for me, paying the tuition was difficult. I was fortunate to attend a really great college to study engineering as the recipient of scholarship support." Both Marty and Jill attended Johns Hopkins University and believe that their education was responsible not only for the professional lives they lived, but also for their love of theatre, the arts, museums and travel.
"Because our academic pursuits have enriched our lives, when we chose a school for our daughter, we wanted a rewarding and rigorous academic experience, combined with rich extracurricular opportunities and social experiences." Jill, who was not originally from Baltimore, read recent research on single gender schools, visited area independent schools and was convinced that RPCS was the best fit for their daughter. Marty, who attended an all boys' Catholic School, knew the value of single sex education firsthand and wanted their daughter to benefit personally and professionally from an all girls' education. Both Marty and Jill especially liked the Tri-School community in Upper School with its vast curricular offerings and electives as well as the chance for their daughter to attend some co-ed classes.
Claire's experience began in the RPCS Lower School and she progressed through each Division with the aid of excellent teachers and counselors in a supportive environment. "Teachers are the heart of the school," said Marty, "and Claire had many who nurtured, challenged and motivated her along the way both inside and outside of the classroom. This definitely enhanced the value we held in teachers." Fitz Hardcastle, Middle School math, made an investment in Claire during Middle School so that she was able to excel in math at a higher level and take college level math courses in the Upper School. A chemistry and math major in her senior year at Williams College, Claire was a very strong math and science student at RPCS, but it was her Upper School Advisor and English teacher who really stretched her to become the excellent writer that she is today. A skill that comes in handy when you are required to write 100 page lab reports in college!