The Robert Margolis Performing Arts Center. The Ruth and Alan Ziegler Amphitheatre. The Saperstein Middle School. Virtually every building and architectural feature on our campuses is adorned with a donor or benefactor’s name. We walk past them dozens of times every day, so often that we probably don’t even see them anymore.
I decided to pause and not just read each of the names, but learn the stories behind them.
The first donors I decided to focus on were the Nazarian Family, who sponsored the hallways that we walk on in the breezeway.
“The Nazarians are a major Jewish family in Los Angeles. They are very generous in lots of ways. And they also, at the time, had children in the school and wanted to support a campaign. So they’re LA based. They have a foundation, so they were very philanthropic.” said Dr. Shulkind, Head of School.
Next, I decided to focus on another donor, one that not many students are aware of and appreciate, but one who donated to our own middle school campus.
“The Sapersteins had initially given to a swimming pool, and then when the plan changed, they ended up donating to the middle school campus. They were sort of a lead gift on this campus, and that’s how it has its name,” said Dr. Shulkind.
One of the most fascinating aspects of our campus is the road of bricks with quotes and donations connecting the high school and the middle school.
“So at the time [2019], one of the things that they did to involve the entire community was that they allowed you to buy a brick and dedicate it to anyone who was in the school,“ Dr Shulkind explained.
To get even more information, I interviewed Mr. Lindsay.
“Yeah, okay, so that’s called the Chaiway,” Mr. Lindsay said, referring to the brick walkway. “I was a teacher. When we did that project, anyone, teacher, parent, community member, could donate a small but meaningful amount to the school and have that break. I think there are 180 of them.”
Mr. Lindsay went on to discuss a few particular bricks.
“If you look through, you’ll see there’s a brick from me as a Latin teacher, You’ll see there’s also a brick from Coach Scarlata,” said Mr. Lindsay.
All donors are important, but possibly the most influential donor to our school was the Milken family.
In 1984, when our school opened, it was called The Golda Meir School, after the former Israeli Prime minister. A few years later, the name was changed to The Einstein Academy, in honor of the famous scientist. Next, it was called The Stephen S. Wise High School. Then, after our school separated from Wise, and a generous donation from The Milkens, the name was changed to Milken Community School.
Mr. Lindsay provided some perspective on these name changes.
“To me, the sheer volume of names is the most meaningful thing, because this school is a community endeavor, and I think that’s what the names mean to me. The names are important individually. But even more, it’s like, Wow, so many people donated to our school and were involved in making it what is is today. And that they’ll be even more true when we move to our new campus,” he said.
Will there be naming opportunities for donors on the East campus?
“Yeah, I think there are opportunities there that are possible,” said Mr. Lindsay. “I don’t know if we’re doing something similar to the highway, butmaybe down the road, I’m not sure.”
Miken’s unique identity allows it to be full of its own personality, but none of this would be possible without our generous donors. The next time you rush into one of our buildings on the way to class, I encourage you to slow down; take a look at the name on its wall, and thank the family who helped provide it.