Fork Union Military Academy - Skirmisher Yearbook (Fork Union, VA)

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FORK UNION MILITARY ACADEMY A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OMB YEARS AGO a poet said, -And there are those who stumbled up to manhood, where they saw too late the road they should have taken long ago. This letter is written to those boys and to parents of boys who Want no stumbling up to manhoodf' It is written to those who believe that right training is vital to successful living. It is written to the Toms and Jacks, the Billys and Jims, and to their mothers and dads who recognize the priceless value of soundest preparation for the challenge of life. This school is a non-profit institution, and as such, has only one reason for existence. That one reason is to answer the need for the right kind of training, we call the right kind of training CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. One may well ask, What is Christian Education, not to a generation, or a country, or a group, but to me? What does Christian Education at Fork Union Military Academy mean to the individual, to the one boy? It means a coordinated, twenty-four-hour-a-day program to help the individual boy grow physically, mentally, and spiritually into useful, happy citizenship, according to the applied concepts of practical Christianity. It should be stated here that, While the Academy is owned by the Baptists of Virginia, substantial representations of many religious de- nominations are present in the Cadet Corps. Let us look further into our specific definition of Christian Edu- cation. By helping physical growth we mean the furnishing of comfortable, well-lighted, warm, fireproof living quarters, a scientifically planned and abundant diet, a regulated daily schedule, daily body-building exercise, voluntary participation in all types of competitive sports, with superb equipment, facilities and direction for those sports. By helping mental growth we mean an academic program based on numerically small classes, a 'faculty carefully selected for professional ability, character, personality and purpose, weekly checks on individual scholastic standings, and a semi-tutorial system that provides additional individual instruction to those cadets whose progress may be slower in some classes. E51

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CCL. JAMES CALDWELL WICKER, D.D PRESIDENT

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- - - f 1 ff ew'-f.f1sw. Q. , THE CIRCLE By aid to spiritual growth, we mean the lessons put before each cadet in the daily Chapel meetings, such lessons not being so much con- cerned with theological theories as with the practical applications of Christianity to one,s daily life, the experience of group participation and individual responsibility toward a common endeavor found within the working framework of the military department, and the sincere counsel- ing and friendship of those earnest gentlemen who comprise our faculty. As you continue through this book, you will see pictures of the facilities I have spoken of, and you will find some description of the above-mentioned activities. However, printed words at best cannot portray a true picture. We are always happy to have our friends visit Fork Union, for if one is to more fully appreciate and understand, one must see and feel the spirit that makes our school what it is today. J. CALDWELL NVICKER I 6 I