$2.85 million gift kick starts Wheaton Academy's fund raising drive

Wheaton Academy students are poised to benefit for years to come thanks, in part, to the largest financial gift in the West Chicago school's 154-year history.

An anonymous donor, whose mother graduated from the private Christian high school, has donated $2.85 million to support the academy's current $12.8 million fundraising campaign.

"It's awesome to think that this is the largest financial gift the academy has ever received, and it's going to help so many people," said Nikki Daniels, the academy's development director.

"There's a lot of positive momentum that comes along with that (donation)," Daniels added. "We're going to ride it as far as we can."

The school's previous record gift of $1.5 million, given anonymously in 1998, helped pay for an $8.5 million fine arts center.

So far, the academy's current fundraising effort has raised a total of more than $7.4 million. School officials hope to see that tally climb to $9 million by year's end.

To help reach that year-end goal, a second anonymous donor has pledged to match all gifts dollar for dollar, up to $1 million.

"He basically came in and said if we get to $8 million, he'll give us our ninth million," Daniels said.

The campaign's three goals include funding about $600,000 in need-based scholarships annually for the next three years. Daniels said about 30 percent of the 633 students receive some sort of scholarship aid.

Money raised during the campaign also would fund an endowment to support the school's faculty and staff.

However, the bulk of the money raised will pay for the planned construction of a 30,000-square-foot field house to be attached to the existing gymnasium.

The gym, built in 1967, will become the primary performance venue, while the field house will provide new practice facilities and locker rooms.

With 32 sports teams, Daniels said the existing facility has become so booked that freshman basketball players are limited to practicing at 5:30 a.m. on school days.

"We've joked that we may reach our goal faster if we put donation boxes outside of the gym on the cold mornings when parents are driving them to practice," Daniels said.

Despite the building not set for construction until June 2008 or able to be used until August 2009, Daniels said a buzz already has hit campus.

"The students see the giant renderings in the hall, and they're excited," she said. "They know what that means."