This year, 20 out of 23 grants were awarded partial or full funding, for a total of 160,527 dollars and 75 cents. The Abbot Academy Grant has been turning ideas into reality since 1973, with the most recent recipients of the Grant receiving the news on November 20.
Marcelle Doheny, Instructor in History and Social Science and Andover’s Community Liaison to the Abbot Grant, detailed the numerous steps of an application. Doheny described the process of applying, noting that students must have the details of a project nailed down before they can even start applying, and that the process does not end once an application is submitted.
“Students need to come up with a proposal, a really detailed budget, and they need to have a faculty advisor that works with them. They meet with me and other adults on campus, then they write the application, which I can help them with, and lastly, submit it by a deadline. Once that is completed the board and students will be invited to come to a dinner on the Abbot campus McKeen hall, where they pitch their grants,” said Doheny .
José Manuel Zorrilla Matilla, Instructor in Physics and Astronomy, was an advisor to both the “Andover Science & Tech Review” and “American Rocketry Challenge” projects. Although student groups are required to have a faculty advisor, Zorrilla noted that his role in the process was minimal.
“I’d love to claim full credit, but the reality is that the students took charge right from the beginning and handled all the work. My role was more of a spectator, occasionally serving as a sounding board. I also enjoyed dessert during the Abbot Grant dinner. I have a special talent for never skipping dessert during dinners,” wrote Zorrilla in an email to The Phillipian.
Students are able to apply for an Abbot Grant for anything they feel will improve Andover as an institution and community, and the Abbot Grant board judges those applications partially based on their three core values: caring, innovation, and boldness. Cleo Xu ’26 described how she hopes her project, the upcoming Abbot Book Festival in May, will contribute to campus.
“I think it’s kind of sad that at Andover, everyone’s so busy that they don’t have time to read… I think by making this book festival happen, we’re basically just making more people realize that books are for everyone and everyone can read them. If you want to read a book, you can always find the time to do so. It’s just whether or not it’s something that you want to do, something that’s in your mind, something that’s in your schedule,” said Xu.
However, students are not the only people on campus who can apply for an Abbot Grant. This year, there were four faculty or staff-led projects, which all honored the legacy of Abbot Academy. Allyson Irish, Director of Editorial and Creative Services and Editor of “Andover Magazine,” partook in the project of the “Revitalization of Abbot Secret Garden” and highlighted how this initiative would contribute to that cause.
“The first part, which was approved this fall, provided funds for us to hire an external landscape design firm to develop a design plan along with schematics and budget figures showing how we might clean up and revitalize the [Abbot] Secret Garden. Once we have this design plan in hand, we will go back for another grant request in the spring. This time the request will be to fund the actual clean up,” wrote Irish in an email to The Phillipian.
Another project directly involving Abbot Academy is a plan to showcase the work of Jennifer Cecere AA’69, a sculpture artist, on both the exterior of the Addison Gallery of American Art and on Abbot Campus. Allison Kemmerer, Director of the Addison Gallery, noted the project’s intention to honor Abbot’s impact on Andover.
“By visibly and metaphorically connecting the two campuses, the two-part installation offers a wonderful opportunity to not only celebrate the coming together of the two schools but also spotlight Abbot Academy and its indelible impact on the identity and culture of [Andover],” wrote Kemmerer in an email to The Phillipian.
In the end, one thing connecting all of the Grants is the Non sibi spirit. Doheny noted that, when Abbot was absorbed into Andover 50 years ago, the Abbot Grant was created in order to keep the legacy of Abbot and that is why the Grant is still here today.
“Abbot wants to see the academy’s mission continue; caring for the campus, caring beyond yourself, and maybe even caring beyond [Andover]’s campus,” said Doheny.
