On April 21, 2023, The Seattle School community celebrated our 25 Year Anniversary with a fundraising benefit dinner on our campus in Belltown. We gathered around festive tables in the Large Classroom enjoying good food, drink, and conversation together, just as our founders dreamed and planned around kitchen tables years ago. The first two presidents of The Seattle School, Dr. Dan Allender and Dr. Keith Anderson, encouraged us through their memories and testimonies and also through their perseverance and love. Dr. J. Derek McNeil received the sextant from the Board of Trustees during an investiture ceremony that had been postponed by the pandemic. Dr. Curt Thompson then gave the keynote address focusing on the meaning of jubilee. “Looking toward Jubilee” has been the theme for this anniversary year as we remember our story and as we imagine our future. Returning to the stage, Dr. McNeil, sextant in hand, encouraged us to keep a focus on the horizon as we rebuild and heal together during challenging times. Before the paddle call began, Mike and Myra McCoy shared what they had learned through their longtime journey with and commitment to The Seattle School.
We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the support and friendship we received at our 25 Year Anniversary Benefit Dinner. Our community’s gifts and enthusiasm raised $245,000, a major contribution towards our annual goal of $1.1 million. We want to thank everyone for their generosity and also for their presence, partnership, and prayer. In the words of Keith Anderson, President Emeritus, “This was essential for us.” The benefit dinner was a moment to celebrate this community; bringing together founders, alumni, donors, and staff to reconnect and dream of our future as we collectively committed ourselves to the mission of transformative learning and restorative service.
President and Provost, J. Derek McNeil, PhD, reflected: “Our celebrations this year marked the 25 years God has watched over this school, not that we are complete, but because we have a hope in what God will do in the next 25 years as we embrace our call to be healers and rebuilders. The support we received at this event strengthens my belief that God is not finished with us, and I am so grateful that we are not in this work alone. One of our board members said that being in the building together on that night was like being on ‘holy ground,’ and I agree. Our benefit dinner was not only a joyous celebration for us, it was a holy affirming moment.”
Join in the 25 Year Celebration through our Giving Page! And please enjoy the photo gallery below.
Special thanks to our sponsors including (in alphabetical order): The Broken & Beautiful, Ellis, Li & McKinstry PLLC, Find a Third Way, HomeStreet Bank, Illuman of Washington, Lindsay Braman, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Shelterwood Collective, and the Stewardship Foundation.
