Walker Bell Challenge 2024

Your support makes all the difference.

Gifts to the Walker Bell Challenge remain critically important in Thacher’s ability to offer a robust educational experience for our students. Philanthropy (the Annual Fund and endowment) accounts for more than half of Thacher’s operating budget each year. The ability to offer significant financial aid, provide students with inspiring teachers and mentors, cultivate their resilience through the horse and backcountry programs, and help them gain confidence on the field and on the stage is only possible with your partnership and generosity.

You may support any area of the Thacher experience with your gift, and all gifts regardless of size will help unlock important funding for our financial aid program, so we may continue to increase access to a Thacher education. For the last three years, Thacher has awarded $5 million in financial aid for students. This year, 30 percent of students receive financial aid, and those with the highest demonstrated need receive supplemental aid to cover books, riding and camping equipment, travel stipends for school breaks and family weekends, and town run allowances, so they may enjoy the full Thacher experience.

Join us in ringing the bell and coming together as a community once more.

See the Thacher community in action.

Experience some highlights of the year with live streamed events and a video library of other events and campus happenings.

Big Gymkhana (LIVE): Follow along with the biggest horse riding event of the year! Gymkhana Field underwent significant repairs and renovations this year to handle the major rain storms we’ve experienced the last two winters and improve visitor accessibility. Grand Entry begins at 10 a.m. PT and events will conclude in the early afternoon.

Assembly (LIVE): Students, faculty, and staff gather every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10 a.m. PT for games, shout-outs, and school-wide announcements. On Monday, May 6, the TOAD (Teacher On Active Duty) will share their TOAD Talk (click here for new faculty spotlights and prior TOAD Talks). School Chair, Peter ‘24, will lead Assembly on Wednesday, May 8. Assembly on Friday, May 10 features guest speaker John Muir Laws, renowned nature journalist and author of The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada among many other naturalist books.

Spring Sing (LIVE): This year’s student-led production is Shrek! The curtain is drawn at 6:30 p.m. PT. Join us as we wrap up the Walker Bell Challenge!

Senior Exhibitions: Every senior gives a 30-minute presentation on a topic of their choice in this culminating academic event of the year. Click here to view the library of topics and recordings of their presentations, which this year ranged from the modern-day relevance of WWI to the pursuit of happiness, the production of two student films, topics in astrophysics, an examination of masculinity, the climate crisis, dance choreography, fashion rebels, a history of the blues, and so much more!

Check out our video library for recordings of Heads Invites, arts performances and concerts, student-produced camping video, and program overviews of our wellness and outdoor programs.

Find more content on social media.

Follow the official Thacher social media channels for videos, photos, and invitations for further engagement. Find us on Instagram at @TheThacherSchool or @ThacherCdeP, or on Facebook @ThacherSchool.