2025 Bell Tower Magazine

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Bell Tower in the fall.

View online version of the magazine HERE.

Letter from the Editor

We encourage students to be Mavericks.

What does this mean? As an English teacher, I’m going to lean on Shakespeare to help explain.

In his history play Henry IV, Part 1, Shakespeare introduces us to one of his greatest Maverick leaders: Prince Hal. The young prince spends much of the play preparing himself to become an ideal monarch. But instead of studying warfare or sitting in on court meetings, he wanders the streets of London and spends time in the taverns of Eastcheap. His actions frustrate and embarrass his father, King Henry IV. At one point, Prince Hal famously tells a friend: “Wisdom cries out in the streets and no man regards it.” The line carries deep significance, both within the play and in real life. Hal reminds us that wisdom and value can be found in unexpected places—and from people we might initially overlook. He’s willing to color outside the lines and approach the challenges of leadership in unconventional ways. He is a Maverick. He thinks differently and sees opportunities where others do not. That mindset ultimately transforms him into Henry V—one of England’s greatest monarchs and one of Shakespeare’s most compelling leaders.

Much like Shakespeare’s Maverick prince, Samuel Miller was an “outside-the-box” thinker and businessman. He found value in investments others ignored. He saw ways to support young people that others never considered. Because of this vision, Mr. Miller became one of the most successful entrepreneurs of the nineteenth century—and one of Virginia’s most influential philanthropists.

A Maverick is someone who charts his or her own path. Someone who sees opportunities where others don’t. And someone with the courage and confidence to pursue them.

This edition of The Bell Tower Magazine is full of stories about students, teachers, and alumni who—like Shakespeare’s hero and our school’s founder—are Mavericks. They take risks. They forge their own paths in academics, athletics, and life. And they go to a school that not only allows them to do this, but encourages it.

Their stories are inspiring and unique.

In this year’s magazine, many of those stories are told by students themselves. Who better to capture the spirit of our Maverick students than our Maverick student writers and photographers?

As Miller School of Albemarle approaches its 150th anniversary, we celebrate its enduring legacy—one story at a time. Here, wisdom cries out in the hallways every day. And we are here to regard it—in this magazine and in the countless stories we tell about our students, faculty, and alumni.

Enjoy. And Be a Maverick.

Peter Hufnagel