The King’s Coffers
Once a Randolph Kid, Always a Randolph Kid
A fund honoring Brad King that keeps his rockets, stars, and specimens in the hands of Randolph kids.
Remembering Brad
In 1987, Brad King came across Randolph School's area at the Clearwater Festival. He was taken with the energy and excitement and applied for a job almost on the spot.
Over the next 24 years, Brad touched nearly every corner of Randolph. He taught everyone from our youngest students to high schoolers, in a high school program he helped create. He built the school's first website, managed facilities and finances, captained the Halloween parade, taught photography, washed dishes, and was den mother for the ski program. He built a trebuchet with his students, ran StarLab, and was a Randolph parent. Most of all, he was "Mission Control" for his beloved rocket program.
After Randolph, Brad earned a degree in mathematics and taught middle school math in West Hartford, Connecticut. Starting in 2015 he came back to serve on our Board, where he chaired the Finance Committee for many years and brought his wisdom and experience from both private and public education.
Brad passed away in June 2025. The people who loved him have since planted cherry trees in his memory, here in his place at Randolph. Every spring when they bloom, they remind us how much of Brad is still growing here.
What the King’s Coffers Supports
The King's Coffers protects three parts of our curriculum that Brad brought to Randolph and championed. Brad would have been tickled by the name, and even more delighted to be the one handing out the treasure.
-
✽
🚀 Model Rockets
Every spring, students work through a full rocketry curriculum that ends in a Launch Day celebration. A shorter summer camp version brings the same experience to kids who otherwise wouldn't get it.
-
✽
✨ StarLab
Our indoor planetarium, and the curriculum built around it, was one of Brad's signatures. Randolph now houses the whole apparatus permanently on behalf of the Mid-Hudson Teacher Center at SUNY New Paltz. Evan, one of Brad's former students, now tells the same stories under the same dome. -
✽
🔬 The Specimen Collection
Many of the pieces in our growing collection belonged to Brad, and they still delight and puzzle kids today. What started with Brad’s taxidermy-owl has grown into a collection of specimens of all sorts of species to discover.
EVERY GIFT IS AN IMPORTANT PIECE TO A PUZZLE
Join the GROUND CREW
Monthly Gift of $5
You are the Fins & Glue. You’re helping source balsa, wood glue, and sandpaper so a whole class can shape and attach their own fins.
Join the RECOVERY TEAM
Monthly Gift of $10
You make possible Recovery & Paint. Parachutes, shock cords, wadding, and spray paint so every rocket comes down safely, and in style.
Brad knew that small dollars add up. A monthly gift is easy to set up once and leave running, and it puts real parts on real rockets.
OUR GOAL: $2,500 A YEAR
Each year, the rocket program costs about $2,200 with some overhead costs for StarLab and our growing specimen collection. The King's Coffers is starting as a program support fund so budget pressure never reaches these core parts of our curriculum.
About 42 people giving $5 a month gets us there. So would just 17 donors spread across the four tiers. Choose your role on the King’s Team and contribute monthly!
Join the LAUNCH PAD
Monthly Gift of $20
You bring the Body Tubes & Nosecones. The airframes for about a dozen student rockets, of the 5 dozen we make use of each year.
Join MISSION CONTROL
Monthly Gift of $25
Rockets can’t fly without Engines & Mounts. You are the driving force (pun intended) behind the program’s ongoing sustainability.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Description text goes here
-
Description text goes here
-
Description text goes here
-
Description text goes here
-
Item description