Moments of: The Blog
The View From Here: Zeigler Point
All of our current students know the view from Zeigler Point—across the amphitheater to the admin building and Ziemer Field, the foothills of Taylor Mountain that hug our campus to the southwest, and the long view out to the coastal range—in short, almost the full scope of the Sonoma Academy campus.
The eponymous Kirt Zeigler similarly spanned the entire history of Sonoma Academy and I was so sad this morning to wake up to see his obituary in today’s Press Democrat. Kirt had been ill for some time and John and I had visited with him shortly before Big Night Out earlier this spring. He was refusing much treatment because, as everyone who knew him knows, Kirt always did it his own way, usually the hard way—including cutting his own wood, growing his own grapes, and founding one of the most prestigious law firms in Santa Rosa, Anderson, Zeigler, Disharoon, Gallagher & Gray, as well helping to found Sonoma Academy.
Kirt had tremendous faith in the potential and capacities of teens. He was also inspired by the culture of Sonoma County as a region that coalesces the most compelling elements of rural and agricultural life with entrepreneurial and innovative ideas. These two things came together in the compelling vision that led he and his wife Bev to lead a group of ten other entrepreneurial and adventurous souls in the founding of Sonoma Academy. Greg French, one of the initial twelve founders, recently reminisced that when the original group set out to imagine our school, Kirt often stood up at their meetings and said, "It's going to be the best damn high school ever. That's all we need to talk about.”
The first time I met Kirt was in December of 1999, when he and his wife Bev came to pick me up from the hotel in Santa Rosa where I was staying for my multiple-day interview with the founding trustees of SA. As soon as I saw them pull up in their old red pickup truck, and they invited me to climb into the tiny back seat, I knew I was dealing with a very different kind of trustee than I’d ever encountered before. They were warm, intelligent, kind, and engaging, and I immediately felt at home with them. Kirt was the chair of the search committee that hired me and for the next six months after I was hired, while my family and I were still in Massachusetts, Kirt and I would speak almost every morning about a school that was still only an idea. His calls came at 6:00 am PST/9:00 am EST, with Kirt already in his law office and me in my home office on the campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School. He listened at length while I told him about my ideas, my conversations with the great educators I was consulting with the articles I was reading. He always had time for me and was there for every important milestone of the school’s history, including this ribbon cutting moment on our current campus.
Our early morning conversations continued throughout his years on the board of trustees, requiring me to be at my desk early. I asked his advice on almost everything--our finances, board meetings, hiring decisions. Kirt and Bev joined John and me and our family for some very special Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. He brought his old vine Zin and homegrown, home cooked chard with olives… his olives. It wasn’t easy harvesting and preserving the little black olives that continued to fruit on their old farm on Olivet Road. But, like Kirt, the olives and the old vines were never given any special treatment—no fertilizer, pesticides, nor fungicides. They were expected to work hard in order to thrive. Kirt explained to me that that was where the flavor came from.
I think we can say that a good deal of the flavor, the seasoning of our school, was sprinkled in liberally by Kirt Zeigler. During the last downturn, in 2008, when the school struggled, Kirt urged us not to give up, not to retreat or retract in any way. He was unflagging in his support and vision of this school as one that reflects the practical and experiential wisdom of his agricultural roots and the higher-minded intellectual pursuits he himself maintained to the end of his life. He saw the school in the broadest possible context, impacting our immediate community and the larger Bay Area community for the better and for generations to come. To me, he was a mentor, a guide, a collaborator, a boss, a friend, and an integral and deeply important member of our Sonoma Academy family. He will be so missed. And his legacy will live on. We will always think of Kirt’s heart and vision when we take in that expansive view at Zeigler Point.
You may read his obituary in the Press Democrat here: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/10903172-181/santa-rosa-attorney-education-champion
Sonoma Academy Is...
...the only private, independent, college preparatory high school in Sonoma County. On our beautiful campus nestled at the base of Taylor Mountain in Southeastern Santa Rosa, our students are able to explore their interests and passions in a rigorous and inspiring environment that develops a lifelong love of learning and prepares them for college and beyond.
Sonoma Academy admits students of any race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability, to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and tuition assistance programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
