Editor’s note: Caden participated as a 2026 ACF student on the Normandy Academy trip.
When Francisco stood among the rows of graves at the Normandy American Cemetery, the scale of the loss was hard to take in.
“There are things that no matter how good of a picture it is, you will not get the impact of it until you see it with your own eyes,” said Francisco Santana, an Arizonan student who joined one of the 2026 Normandy Academy trips. “Standing in the middle of the cemetery and seeing how the graves have no end was a truly life-changing thing for me.”
For nearly a decade, Aspen Community Foundation (ACF) scholarships have helped local high school students travel to New Orleans, Normandy and Paris to study World War II. The 2027 funding is now indefinite following the passing of Paul Bushong, the Korean War veteran and philanthropist who established the fund behind it.
In an email to The Stars in early October, ACF Program Officer Scott Kenner explained that the 2027 program funding remains uncertain due to the lengthy process of estate planning. “Bushong made a planned gift to the foundation intended to sustain the scholarship program, but the foundation does not know when the funds will be distributed,” he said. “Settling an estate can take several months and, in some cases, up to a year.”
This leaves students, families and educators without a clear answer about whether next year’s cohort will be able to go.
Bushong established the Normandy and World War II Education Fund at ACF in 2017. Its purpose was to help students understand the significance of the Battle of Normandy by learning about it in the places where it happened. ACF reported in December 2025 that the fund has supported 93 local students’ participation in the 11-day Normandy Academy.
The program is open to eligible 10th and 11th graders from the Aspen to Parachute region. The 2026 tuition was listed at $5,895 per student; students were asked to contribute $1,200, with the scholarship covering the remaining $4,695. Students apply through the National WWII Museum, with ACF as the local scholarship contact. The museum describes the academy as an 11-day program that includes New Orleans, Normandy and Paris.
Bushong’s aim went beyond sending students on a trip. ACF said that he wanted them to return home and share what they learned so the history would not be forgotten. “We have deeply appreciated the opportunity to honor something he was so passionate about,” ACF CEO Erica Snow said via a spokesperson. “His dedication to our local students cannot be overstated, and it is with immense gratitude that we mourn his passing alongside his family and friends.”
In a 2025 foundation article, Bushong remarked, “What happened in Normandy in 1944 is one of the most important events of recent history. I created this to help our local students understand this history, experience it firsthand and return home to share what they learned with friends and family.” ACF also described students researching an individual veteran during the academy and sharing their reflections with local groups and classrooms.
The emphasis on sharing history is part of what students said made the experience remarkable. For Santana, the trip was also a lesson in encountering people and cultures beyond his own. “Going to a whole new country, it’s more than learning about the Eiffel Tower or the beaches,” he said. “It’s more like understanding the cultures, more like understanding other people.”
Madalynn Casey, another student on a 2026 trip, said visiting the D-Day beaches made history feel immediate in a way textbooks could not. “Being able to step foot on those beaches and just see how much land and how much they had to take control of in such a short amount of time really opens your eyes to WWII itself,” Casey said.
She also came home with a stronger grasp of the subject. “I’m able to say a whole lot more about what I learned when I talk about World War II and D-Day specifically than I was before,” she said.
Both students emphasized the lasting connections they formed with their fellow travelers. Santana said that after spending two weeks together, students who had started as strangers felt like family. Casey said she still talks with the students she became close to on the trip.
Those experiences are why the ambiguity of the 2027 scholarships reaches beyond a line in ACF’s budget. The scholarships give students access to an intensive history program and ask them to bring what they learn back to their communities. Whether that opportunity is offered in 2027 depends, for now, on when Bushong’s planned gift becomes available and what support can sustain the program in the meantime.
Academy slots are not generally awarded until January or February, and Kenner said ACF is still waiting on information before determining whether the program will be paused for the 2027 cohort.
For Francisco, the value of the trip is clear: “We should really support these types of events, because they really change people … and keep expanding them.”