Lakewood's St. Edward's High School Receives $2.5 Million Gift

LAKEWOOD, OH - St. Edward High School announced it has received a $2.5 million gift to build a Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation on its Lakewood campus. The gift, which is the largest is the school’s history, is from Diana and Gregg Lowe. Mr. Lowe is a technology executive and a 1980 graduate of St. Edward.

The announcement of Mr. and Mrs. Lowe’s gift was made at the kickoff to the school’s $18 million Courage to Act Campaign. To date, more than $12 million has been raised to support

The new Center will be named for Ken Layden, another 1980 graduate, passed away in January 2008, after a long battle with cancer.

“We are so proud that Ken could take something he was so passionate about and create a lasting legacy by sharing that passion with the young men of St. Ed’s,” said Ken’s mother, Wilma Layden.

The Ken Layden ’80 Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation will be an addition to St. Edward’s Joseph and Helen Lowe Center, which was built in 2008 to house the school’s expansive pre-engineering program. The new Center will include spaces designed for students to work collaboratively and foster entrepreneurial mindsets. Included in the project will be an expanded makers space, as well as the addition of four state-of-the-art science labs. The third floor of the Center will include collaborative work spaces designed to foster innovation.

“In 2008, when Ken Layden developed the concept of launching an entrepreneurship program at St. Ed’s we were grateful recipients of his forward-thinking vision,” said St. Edward President Jim Kubacki. “Bringing this center to life honors that vision and will afford our students with opportunities to explore entrepreneurship and innovation in unprecedented ways.”

Construction on the Ken Layden ’80 Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship is scheduled to begin in June 2017.

Beyond the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Kubacki announced plans to construct a Commons - a dining hall at the front of the school and a new rotunda to serve as a welcoming entrance. Additionally, the Campaign will have a focus on growing the school’s endowment to support tuition assistance.

“St. Ed’s is now a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, just as it is with pre-engineering,” said Lowe. “Our decades-long success in delivering innovative programming is proven. The new center will maximize the potential of those programs so that all St. Edward students – no matter their interests – will develop the entrepreneurial mindsets needed to be the leaders our world needs.”

Image via St. Edward's High School