SARA EDEN and BRENT EDEN '98

With 13 years apiece at Pace Academy, SARA EDEN and BRENT EDEN '98 are by all means a "Pace couple"— but not in the usual sense.

Brent, a Pace Lifer, was a student from Pre-First through graduation in 1998; Sara joined the Pace community 10 years later— as a faculty member teaching AP psychology and serving as Upper School counselor. Sara worked at Pace until 2021, when she departed to focus on their family and two young sons, Miles and Caleb.

Now married 10 years, the couple values the impact Pace has made in their lives and hopes to one day send their sons to Pace. They found the decision to make provisions for a planned gift to Pace through a life insurance policy an easy one.

Read on to learn more about the Eden's Pace story.

When did you first find out you had Pace in common?

Sara: On our first date— a blind date! In fact, we talked a lot about Pace. It was something we had in common and was clearly a positive experience for both of us.

What do you value most from your time at Pace?

Sara: Brent and I highly value our relationships, whether with friends or family. For both of us, Pace is a place where relationships have started, grown and thrived. We were both at the school for 13 years— Brent was a student, while I was a teacher— and we both found that the community felt like our family.

Pace continues to feel like family even though we aren't on campus daily anymore. Our strong relationships continue and are one important facet of the lasting impact of Pace on our lives. Over our combined 26 years, there are so many milestones in our lives in which Pace has played a part!

What is memorable to you about your Pace education?

Brent: In addition to creating lifelong relationships, I appreciate that Pace instills in students an ethos that values continuous learning and always striving for excellence. I believe the school plays a vital role in providing students with foundational skills that contribute to the ability to lead a thoughtful and meaningful life— professionally as well as personally.

The Pace community also provided each of us with strong role models. Though we were part of the school at very different life stages, the influence of members of the faculty and administration was significant and plays a role in our lives to this day. Being around people who excel in so many aspects of learning and life has been a gift to us both.

Why did you join The Castle Circle?

Brent: Giving back to the organizations and institutions that have impacted your life is not only a way to say thank you, but also a way to ensure that others who come after you can enjoy the same experiences. It is important to me that future Pace students have the same opportunities I had.

Planned giving is a fantastic way to achieve this objective since the gift is a future one, not a present one, and can be structured in almost any way that makes the most sense to the individual and their circumstances. The best fit for us was naming Pace as a beneficiary on a life insurance policy, but others can choose their own specific ways to give back through a planned gift.