Visible Men Academy in Manatee County moves on from founder’s exit
Louis Parker didn’t have much in common with his classmates at Phillips Academy Andover in 1969.
The child of an uneducated facilities manager, Parker showed up at the nation’s most elite boarding school having grown up on a diet of government cheese and powdered milk.
His dad couldn’t read. His buddy Jeb, meanwhile, lived in the same dormitory and would become Florida’s governor, while Jeb’s father and brother would both go on become president of the United States.
Parker had gotten a scholarship to Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, and it was a gift that dramatically altered his life’s trajectory, opening doors unimaginable to him as a poor child growing up in Pittsburgh. Those doors would lead to the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and then the heights of corporate America.
Stowe Land Trust has renewed its land trust accreditation for the second time.
The land trust had to provide extensive documentation and was subject to a comprehensive third-party evaluation prior to achieving this distinction. The Land Trust Accreditation Commission awarded renewed accreditation, signifying its confidence that Stowe Land Trustâs lands will be protected forever.
Accredited land trusts now steward almost 20 million acres â the size of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
âRenewing our accreditation shows Stowe Land Trustâs ongoing commitment to permanent land conservation for the benefit of the community,â said David Wilkens, Stowe Land Trustâs board chair. âWe are a stronger organization than ever for having again gone through the rigorous accreditation renewal process.â