I’d never heard of Gatton Academy (watch the video above for more info), a boarding school run by Western Kentucky University but what a place. Gatton is an “elite, residential, but totally free,… unique college-high school hybrid at Western Kentucky University [that gives] gifted teenagers from across the state an elite educational experience without the usual requirement of societal pedigree.” (A boarding school for gifted kids, The Courier-Journal)

Gatton works to produce all of the advantages of a tight-knit living and learning community while maintaining a down-to-earth demeanor and remembering that it serves the local communities of the state. Gatton functions as a statewide magnet school by identifying talented students and providing great learning opportunities. In the end, Kentucky hopes to develop and harness it’s best and brightest.

Even if Gatton alumni leave to attend school beyond Kentucky, their teachers, Kentucky leaders, and Gatton administrators hope that they return to nourish Kentucky’s workforce, culture, and intellectual climate.

2009 Gatton alumnus Ben Messick, a student at Kettering University in Flint, MI,  told the Louisville Courier Journal:

“Nobody says ‘I hate Kentucky and never want to come back . . . [Many] want to leave and see the world for a while before they return’”…Inez banker Mike Duncan agrees:  “You go out, you slay the dragon and then you come back home to help the folks.” (LCJ)

Gatton requires public and fund and substantial private support, but potential reward and development are too great to not to nourish. The ultimate goal is a rich, vibrant, intellectual life for Kentucky.

“…For Gott (Tim Gott, Gatton Director), the real wish is not just that his students will return to take high-paying jobs, but to create them, and he says that Kentucky’s rural nature is no hindrance. “If you’re running a research lab, why not here? After all, Carter County is a great place to put a particle accelerator — lots of cheap, available land.” For the folks who support Gatton Academy, Kentucky’s current rural, low-cost landscape is the perfect recipe for a tech explosion. Just add talent…”