Wentworth Military Academy - Yearbook (Lexington, MO)

Page 6 text:

SINCE EIGHTEEN EIGHT One of the chief reasons why Wentworth has been able to achieve its lofty purpose lies in the fact that the Academy has been under one continuous administration since its founding. For nearly throe-score years. Colon©! Sandford Sellers was pres;dont ol Wentworth. He enjoyed one of the most enviablo records in the history of Amorican education. The Academy was founded by Stephen G. Wentworth, scion of a distinguished English family and a prominent Lexington banker, in 1880. as a memorial to his deceased son, William Wentworth. Mr. Wentworth immediately vested contro' o ’ the institution in tho hands of a board of trustees composed of a duly elected representative of each of the Evangelical churches of Lexington and o president. Colonel Sellers wos called to tho now schoo in its first year and remained as its activo head until 1938. Mr. Wentworth served as president of the Board from 1880 until his death in 1897. It was the firm conviction of the founder, his board of trustoes ond President Sellers that a military boarding school provides the most effective possible moans for giving young men tho thorough mental, moral and physical training necessary to dovolop in them the highest traits of manhood. Thus. Wentworth became tho first military school in tho Missouri River Valley. •Colonel James M. Salle . A. B.. Superintendent. From the beginning the late President Sobers surrounded himself with the ablest faculty available — strong men of proved qualities and Christian character. Under his wise and forward-looking direction, Wentworth has grown steadily. Each year hos shown marked improvement over the preceding yoar. Today Wentworth stands as one of the truly great educational institutions of our country—second to none in tho opportunities it offers boys and voung men for thorough preparation for professional studies, business and for life. • Colonel L B. Wikolf, A.B., S.B. in Ed, Treasurer and Businas Manager.

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WENTWORTH'S PURPOSE It is the purpose of Wentworth Military Academy to provide the best conditions possible for the ©II 'round development of worthy beys ©id young men. To attain thi high purpose, the Academy place greatest emphasis upon these four points: First, it 4 the Academy ! nim to assemb'o only the highest ?ype of students—deserving youths of good porontog©—to assure wholesomo assoclo ons and greator progress. Evory precaution is taken to eep undesirable boys—all those that might prove detrimental tc others— out of the Academy. Second, to employ only men of highest character and ability for ts focu'ty. It not enough for a Wentworth faculty member to bo meroly scholarly and a splendid instructor. He must also possess a spirit of friendliness and a sincere desire to give kindly help whenever necessary. He mutt thoroughly understand the innermost problems of boys—be patient with thorn—and be ready to serve each boy to the best of hi ability. Third, to provido the very bes equipment throughout every department to the ond that every boy will have all those things necessary to his hoalth and haopiness and that none shat want for anything that will halo him to make progress. Fourth, to provide a program for each day that will bast serve the interests of every studnnt.

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 The Miuourl Old Santa Fe Trail Marker, in Lexington. J+H HISTORIC BACKCHOUIVD Throughout -early sixty years the Wontworth purpose has remained unchanged. Tho ideals which led to the Academy's founding and which have carried it steadily forward, shino just as brightly today as ever. It is still the desire to give each youth every opportunity to develop his own individual persona1 ty to the fullest possible oxtont, just as it was in 1880. It is still the aim that ovary cadet shall loam to lead as well as to follow good leadership — that he shall acquire a keen sense of duty and responsibility, both to himself and toward others—that he shall possess o wholesome outlook upon lifo — that ho shall have the mental and moral powers necessary to make accurate judgments between right and wrong and the physical power necessary to stand by his convictions. Those and many others are the high standards that have dominatod Wentworth for generations. But to maintain them and assure their full and continuous application, it has been found necessary to limit the enrollment. Wentworth today is a ro’atively small school — many times larger than in 1880. to be sure, yot small enough that every individual student is given the private attention so essentia' to hi ah 'round development. That this system of individual development has been successful is evidenced overywhoro by the thousands of Wentworth graduates who have blazed trails of success in every walk of life end who crodit tholr achievements in large measure to their Wentworth training. A Beauty Spot on tho Wentworth Coro pm. (IBM. 1197) Founder of Wentworth Military Academy. (1846 1938) Preiident of Wentworth Military Academy From 1880 to 1931.