SUPER MONDAY

A motivational and informational morning message from Superintendent Willis

Week 25 ~ February 5th, 2024

Super Monday Message

Nearly 2,000 years ago the Romans were establishing universities. They began the concept of funding universities with financial endowments. The basic concept of a financial endowment is that the principal amount is invested and only portions of the earnings on the investments are spent to fund the university. The original principal amount continues forever without being spent. This concept has been wisely used in several more modern circumstances.

In 1638, John Harvard died and left much of his property and other assets to Harvard University as a beginning endowment fund. Over the years, other donors have contributed to the fund. Those contributions have never been spent. The university only spends a portion of the earnings on the investments from those contributions. John Harvard has contributed millions of dollars to the university over nearly 400 years and yet, his initial contribution remains unspent.

Harvard University does not spend all of the investment earnings from the endowment fund every year. This allows the fund to continue growing while still funding the university. For fiscal year 2023 the Harvard Endowment fund released $2.2 billion dollars for spending that school year. The total fund is valued at over $50 billion. If a wealthy alumni donates $1.5 million to the university's current year budget, they might fund seven or eight faculty positions for that year. If they make that same donation to the endowment fund, they would fund one faculty position forever.

When Utah became a state, the federal government provided 1 in every 9 acres of land (6 million acres) to be used as a trust or endowment fund for public education. The federal government also provided another 1.5 million acres for higher education and schools for the deaf and blind. Unfortunately, the first 100 years of that trust fund did not yield significant returns. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the State of Utah got serious about using that fund wisely.

Since 1994, the State Institutional Land Trust Fund has grown from $50 million to $3.2 billion today. The first distribution to schools from this endowment fund in the late 1990’s was $10 per student. In 2020, the distribution was $125 per student. 

Even in little Piute County there is a Scholarship Endowment Fund. In 2005, Piute Alumni H. Alan Luke donated $50,000 for an annual scholarship. The scholarship was set up to allow a portion of the earnings to go to the annual scholarship and the rest to be reinvested. Mr. Luke passed away several years ago, but he continues to give a scholarship every year. His endowment fund is now valued over $100,000 and more than $30,000 in scholarships have been awarded from the fund.

Albert Einstein said that compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. The critical element of compound interest is time. We have to be able to envision long term objectives. Many Harvard donors didn’t want to build a building with their name on it because they knew that building would eventually wear out and be replaced. They designed donations that would support the university for much longer. If you want to strengthen the power of your goals, think as far into the future as you can. Have a great week 25.

Super High Fives

Just a couple of the awesome recent accomplishments that need a big thank you. 

• This weekend is the state tournament for the wrestlers. We have high hopes for them. A super high five to Kade Severe, who was the divisional champion in his weight. A super high five to the coaches and fans as well. 
• A super high five to our school community councils. The school community council is a group of parents and staff that meet several times a year to help allocate resources for supporting school instruction. It takes a community and we’re grateful for all those in our community that help make a difference. 

Other Super Information

• Winter Sports Schedule
• Draft 2024-2025 School District Calendar

Super Weekly Schedule