Culver Academies

The Culver Academies were founded in 1894 as an all-boys school, under the original name of Culver Military Academy, by Henry Harrison Culver in Culver, Indiana, United States. Coeducational since 1958, it is a boarding school featuring a broad college preparatory curriculum, as well as a focus on leadership, wellness, and character education. Culver is one of the largest boarding schools in the United States, with over 750 students, an endowment of over $140 million, and a total campus of more than 1800 acres.

Organization

The boys continue to be organized as a military academy using a cadet system, while girls are part of an English prefect system. The boys' part of the school is known as Culver Military Academy (CMA), and the girls' part of the school as Culver Girls Academy (CGA). CGA has seven dorms and CMA eight units, divided into three battalions which form the regiment or the Corps of Cadets. The boys are separated into three artillery units (Batteries A, B, and C), three infantry units (Companies A, B, and C), one cavalry Troop/Squadron, and the Band.

Athletics

The Culver Academies have a rich sports tradition and offer a variety of athletic programs and sports teams. The hockey team is world-renowned, and the boys' and girls' lacrosse teams have both recently won state tournaments. The boys' team won in 2004 and the girls' team has won three times, in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In addition, Culver has recently had state champions in golf, cross country, and track, as well as the state softball player of the year. Culver's Black Horse Troop is one of the nation's foremost elite horsemanship groups for high school students and is usually invited to participate in the Presidential Inaguration Parade.

Culver Summer Schools and Camps

During the summer months, Culver offers two summer camp programs: Culver Summer Camps and Culver Specialty Camps. They consist of a six-week military leadership training program for children ages nine to 18. In addition, a Specialty Camp is offered, consisting of one two-week session conducted during the week after CSS with a focus on a specific sport or activity. These extracurricular programs are attended by about 1200-1300 young people each summer. Although largely made up of Americans, the camps are becoming an increasingly popular destination for children from Latin America and the Middle East. During the summer of 2005, 40% of Culver summer campers hailed from outside the United States.

Established in 1912 and featuring a curriculum first developed under Boy Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell, Woodcraft Camp is for those students in elementary and middle school. "Woodcrafters", or "Woodticks" as they are affectionately referred to, live in A-frame cabins, work towards a variety of merit badge-like awards and compete in athletic and military competitions throughout the summer, including time spent sailing the camp's fleet of Sunfish sailboats.

High-school age attendees attend Culver Upper Camps, a three-summer program founded in 1902 under the name of Summer Naval School and intended as a means to increase enrollment in the winter boarding school, a purpose they still serve. Facilities include 69 sailboats, including a square-rigger "The Ledbetter"; a functioning airfield and fleet of Piper and Cessna aircraft; and a world-class riding hall.

Male attendees choose between three tracks: Culver Summer Naval School, Culver Summer Aviation School, and Culver Summer Equitation School. Depending on their choice, they are either housed with one of the five naval companies (Companies 1-4 or the Naval Band), one of the two aviation units ("Aviation A" or "Aviation B"), or the Troop. All units compete in room inspections, precision marching, athletics, rowing, sailing, and standardized testing on camp rules and procedures. Units compete for various awards, including "the E" (for Naval units) and "the Pegasus" (for Aviation and Cavalry Units), each awarded at the end of the camp to the units displaying the most efficiency and excellence throughout the summer.

Female upper camp attendees are split into six units called "decks", which are groups of about 30-40 girls who live together in the dorm. There are awards in various weekly competitions for both males and females, including the Naval Activities Banner, Athletic Banner, and the Military Performance Banner. These banners are awarded each week and are carried with the units when they are in formation.

Notable former students

*Wendell Willkie - GOP U.S. presidential candidate (1940)
*Bud Adams â€" co-founder of the American Football League and owner of the Tennessee Titans
*Frank Batten â€" creator of the Weather Channel
*Charles T. Brumback - former CEO, of the Chicago Tribune Companies
*Brian Burwell - Hoover Ball national champion
*Ernest K. Gann â€" author
*Freeman Gosden - American radio comedian
*James A. Henderson â€" former Chairman and CEO of Cummins Engine
*Hal Holbrook â€" actor
*Tim Holt - actor
*Mike Huffington â€" former US Congressman for California
*Joshua Logan â€" film director
*Kevin Charles Dean â€" NHL hockey player - player file
*Louis Nippert â€" former part owner of the Cincinnati Reds - obituary
*Walter O'Malley â€" former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers
*Emilio Azcárraga Milmo - Mexican business man
*George R. Roberts â€" co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
*Jon Scieszka â€" children's author
*Gene Siskel â€" film critic
*George Steinbrenner â€" owner of the New York Yankees
*Gary Lee Suter â€" NHL hockey player - player file
*Miles D. White â€" Chairman and CEO of Abbott Laboratories
*Mario Dominguez - CART racing driver
*Jonas Howard Ingram - head of Allied forces in the South Atlantic during World War II.
*Adolphe Menjou - American Actor of French and Irish descent.
*Robert Schoenhof Weil - Past chairman emeritus of Weil Brothers-Cotton, Inc and notable philanthropist.
*Robert Baer - Former CIA Operative and author of See No Evil, Sleeping With the Devil and Blow the House Down.
*Herbert Sobel- Captain, US Army. Former commander of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Made famous by Band of Brothers.

References

* {{cite news