Grateful Parents Terry and Dianne Squire Give to Support Future WRA Students

When a forecasted ice storm threatened the 25-minute commute to Western Reserve Academy for Amy Squire ’14, she knew what she had to do. She packed a bag and made plans to stay at the school overnight to avoid a potentially treacherous drive the following morning, which could have meant staying home and missing classes.

“The doors were always open, and that made us, as parents, happy,” said Dianne Squire, Amy’s mother. “It was nice to know that she had a safe place to go in case she couldn’t get home.”

“It was a nice experience from a couple of standpoints,” added Terry Squire, Amy’s father. “It was nice to know she had a safe place to stay, and it was also nice to know that she wanted to be at that school and loved it so much that she didn’t want to miss a day.”

It was a heartening moment for both parents, one that confirmed what they had already suspected—that Western Reserve Academy was unequivocally the perfect fit for their daughter.

“Amy was able to thrive there in the environment of Western Reserve Academy,” said Dianne. “She became very close with the faculty members, and they actually became like her second family.”

“Personally, I think what really stands out to me is somewhere along the line Amy developed an incredible ability to know how to learn, how to teach herself, how to study, and the importance of time management,” said Terry.

“And it was okay to be smart at Reserve, and people respected that,” explained Dianne. “I think that was important, not only to the faculty but to her peers also.”

At WRA, Amy participated in Academic Challenge, was a National Merit Scholarship finalist, and received schoolwide recognition for her senior thesis paper, Fabulae Antiquae: Intertextuality and Its Directionality, which she presented on March 1, 2014, at the Indiana Classical Conference and on June 27, 2014, at the American Classical League Conference. It was this last accomplishment that stood out to her parents in particular as the capstone of her experience at Reserve.

“She was the youngest person ever to do that, which was amazing,” said Dianne. “And it was thanks, in large part, to her relationship with [Modern & Classical Languages faculty member] Jeff Namiotka, who was really a mentor to her.”

Neither Terry nor Dianne attended WRA, nor any independent boarding school. Before Amy’s acceptance to WRA, their knowledge of boarding schools was, as Terry says, limited. “The only place I thought schools like Western Reserve Academy existed was in old British movies.” They were happily surprised by how much their daughter loved the school and how warmly the community welcomed them.

Both Dianne and Terry said they were proud to give to the place that helped their daughter shine.

“Although we can’t give millions of dollars, we’re respected for what we do,” said Dianne.

“And to Western Reserve’s credit, they have made us feel like significant contributors,” said Terry. “I know we’re not giving as much as a lot of other folks can—we’re giving as much as we can, and we’ve still been made to feel part of the family.”

Amy is currently attending William & Mary, double majoring in Latin and English and pursuing a minor in music. Recently, she composed a soundtrack for a software application called Chimera Reader. To see her flourish is a great source of happiness and pride for her parents, and they hope to help other future Reserve graduates follow a similar path of success.

“If just one other student can have the experience that Amy had because of our donation, I would think it was very well spent,” said Terry.