Sandi & Ronald North
When Ronald North arrived at Miller School of Albemarle in 1955, it was still an all-boys school, a place where academics and labor were intertwined. Students spent half the day in the classroom and the other half working on the land, raising crops, and tending livestock to sustain the community.
Ronald recalls that a typical day in the life of a Miller student included waking up at 6:15 a.m. for classes, doing field work in the afternoon, running a two-mile road course, and participating in study hall until 9 p.m. The work was hard, but it was also formative. “I came out, and it made me a man. You’d be surprised how much you learn from it: honesty, your integrity, hard work, discipline, orderliness,” Ronald says.
Those years gave him more than an education; they gave him character. “Miller is the first educational experience I’ve had where they’re forming a whole person,” Ronald says. “Educating you is a small piece of what they want. They want you to be successful and highly ethical, and that goes a long way past educating you. They want everyone to find something they’re passionate about.”
“Miller is the first educational experience I’ve had where they’re forming a whole person. Educating you is a small piece of what they want. They want everyone to find something they’re passionate about.”
One of Ronald’s passions at Miller was their sustainability farming initiatives, and it continues to be today. “We got heavily involved when we heard that the school was going to bring sustainability farming back as part of their curriculum,” Ronald’s wife Sandi says. “Ronnie has learned so much about a strong work ethic and having a high ethical standard and all the things that Miller School taught him, but he was sad to see they did away with sustainability farming. That’s when he got serious about donating, and whatever they needed to make that sustainability farming project succeed is where he wanted that money to go.” Ronald is proud to be able to contribute to this program that means so much to him and is proud to see it continue to grow. “When they started off with this program, it had 25-30 kids, and I was donating the money to help it get started. “Now, over half their students are involved in the program,” he says.
For the Norths, the heart of their giving is about students’ lives being transformed. Ronald hopes that through his gifts to MSA, other students who couldn’t otherwise afford to attend the school have the opportunity that he did for Miller to shape their lives. Sandi also shares a story of a student whose mother enrolled her at Miller hoping for it to improve her academic and personal life. And thanks to the sustainability farming program and the gifts that Ronald and Sandi have provided, it did. “When they put her on a tractor, they said that tractor saved her life,” Sandi says. “It’s so nice that she’s doing better. To hear those kinds of stories and know that what [Miller is] doing is making a difference — we need to help that as long as we can. They’re not just educating those young people; they’re educating lives and saving lives.”
Ronald’s admiration and connection to Miller is unwavering. “I go to the baseball games, and I try to go to all the meetings. It warms my heart to set foot on that ground. It means a lot to me — always has, always will. I’ve always loved it, and I’ll die loving it,” he says.