Presenting the checks
The GHS Class of 1962 Fund contributed $2,700 toward GHS Catalyst for Change teacher grants in the current fiscal year. Maggie Paxson's grant funded a teaching garden of native plant species on the GHS campus and a field trip to Cedar Key for students in the standard marine management program. The garden will be used at many levels, from agriculture to biology classes. Ms. Paxson is chair of the GHS science department. Dawn Bekaert's grant funded the purchase of manuals and test fees to enable students to study for and pass the state Travel and Tourism Program Director certification exam. Passing this exam not only enables students to enter this career field but also makes them eligible for Florida Bright Futures scholarships. The Class of 1964 funded the balance of the grants. We limit annual expenditures from our fund to 4% of the fund's balance.
As you may know, back in May, we presented another deverving GHS student a scholarship from our GHS Class of 62 Fund. We now share this message from the young lady.
We DID IT!! Another wonderful Reunion of a bunch ofour oldest frinds!l That would be "longest known" friends!! Everyone present seemed to have a great time. Photos will be coming in soon so check back soon. A few are up now thanks to Nancy Gay Coles.We missed those of you who could not be with us!!
Saturday nite at the Thomas Center!!
Parker, Miss Harry, and Mike
August 4, 2019
Greetings again, classmates!!
We have now awarded our third Class'62 Scholarship to a worthy GHS graduate.
I will let you read the recommendatiion letter from her teacher at GHS.
"To Whom It May Concern:
As an 11th and 12th grade Social Studies teacher at Gainesville High School, I have been blessed to teach a number of bright, talented, and unique students. However, one of the most extraordinary, well-rounded, and kind-hearted students that I have encountered is Jessica Harry.
Jessica has done a phenomenal job in my Advanced Placement United States government class. Not only has she consistently made A’s in this course, but her written responses are particularly strong and constantly improving. Her grades are all the more impressive when one considers that Jessica has more on her plate than nearly any student I have ever taught.
Jessica has taken or is currently taking seven Advanced Placement classes throughout her time at Gainesville High School; these courses vary from social studies to physical sciences to language arts courses. Jessica has maintained a 3.64 weighted GPA and both her weighted and unweighted GPA’s place her in the top 15% of her graduating class.
Just as impressive as Jessica’s academic accomplishments are her demonstrations of character. Jessica has volunteered a tremendous amount of her time- literally HUNDREDS of hours- to a variety of community service based organizations. Furthermore, Jessica is a wonderful and dedicated leader. She is Senior Class President, as well as Treasurer of HOSA, a large organization based on health and pursuing careers in the healthcare industry. It is not an exaggeration to say that Jessica Harry puts in more time at Gainesville High School than several teachers I know. She is constantly organizing events, fundraising, helping younger students learn the ropes of student organizations.
Most impressively, Jessica has overcome more adversity than any one child should ever have to face. She has endured the loss of both parents, been moved from home to home, and been present for some of the worst substance and family abuse one can imagine. However, unless you are privy to her story, you would never believe she had endured all this; she comes to school every day with an ever present smile and relentlessly positive attitude.
Above all else, Jessica embodies the concept of an “All-American”. She is kind to those around her, is dedicated to her studies, and gives back to her community. She not only participates in academics, volunteering, and extra-curriculars, but she excels. I will personally guarantee that this young lady will make a positive impact and leave a legacy for your university and its students. Jessica Harry has my strongest recommendation."
Sincerely,
Joshua J. Forgione, M.Ed.
Gainesville High School
NOTE: We've received a very nice note from this young lady that I will attempt to share in the very near future (when I figure out how to get it on this site!)
Classmates!
On May 7, 2018, we were preveliged to present another GHS Class "62 scholarship to a worthy 2018 GHS graduate. This is the second student scholarship we've presented and this time the desereving student is the "step"grandaughter of our good friend, Arnie Zimmerman and Manianne Cox. Skylar is a lovely young lady and is attendig the University of Pennsylvania and plans to study chemical and biomechanical engineering,
We had a larger contengent of classmates attending this year and look forward to even more the next time.
Well.....we did it!!!....we pulled off a very successful 55th Reunion of our great 1962 GHS Class last weekend!... Pictures are up (and more coming) on the "Photo Albums" tab on our site. Many of our "regulars" we in attendance as well as some a couple of "first timers" including Gordon Hurd and Dan Byrd. All the food was excellent and a lot of memories were unearthed by our visit to the ole Rec Center and Teen Time from the fifties. Matter of fact, the "Fifties" was our theme for Saturday night with lots of music of the era and a special video that you can play on our "Special Links" tab.
Dub, Mike, Judy Boles (AC Educational Foundation), and Dr.Schaub + chemistry students
Dear Classmates:
We made the third annual gift from our GHS Class Of 1962 endowed fund on October 26, 2016. As donors voted, we make a gift to benefit a GHS teacher in even years and a senior scholarship in odd years.
This year we funded a grant application by Dr. Jay Schaub, who teaches chemistry, for $2,500. According to Dr. Schaub, the department spends most of its county supply budget on consumable lab supplies. The department also needs to replace broken equipment. He asked for funds to purchase pipets and burets, ring stands and buret clamps, and some other lab equipment. He says that this equipment is not flashy, but is important to students in developing lab skills and having a better understanding of the underlying chemistry. This grant, because it has no measurable outcome, was not matched by the Foundations for Success program, as was our 2014 grant. The chemistry department serves 275 students in four classes.
Reading the application brought forth fond memories of Mrs. Gager and her “little sweet potatoes,” and our own lab experiences. As you can see, we presented the gift to Dr. Schaub surrounded by some chemistry students. We wish them every success.
During the year ended June 30, 2016, our fund received donations of $3,833 and had investment income of $1,866. After deducting our senior scholarship gift for 2015-16 of $2,300 and the administrative fee of $912, our fund had $60,973.00 as of June 30. A great big Purple Hurricane thank you to everyone who has contributed. Contributions may be sent to F. Parker Lawrence, 3720 NW 43rd Street, Suite 101, Gainesville, FL 32606, with checks payable to The Education Foundation of Alachua County, and “GHS Class of 1962” in the memo line.
Following in our footsteps, the Class of 1964, led by Bruce Stechmiller, M.D., has set up a similar fund.
Class of 1962 Gift Committee
May 23, 2016
We were priviliged to attend The Senior Class of 2016 Scholarship Award Ceremony held at Trinity United Methodist Church at which our class presented a $2300 scholarship to Joseph Moretta from GHS. This is our second "annual gift" from the Class of 1962 as we presented a grant to a GHS math teacher last year. Joseph plans to attend UF and major in Psychology. Larry ran into Joseph and his mother after the ceremony and........well, I'll let Larry tell you himself:
"After the presentation a lady came up to me, crying with joy and hugged me. She said she was Joseph's mother and expressed that what our scholarship meant to Joseph. She said she was a single mom and was very thankful to our class for being so generous. She said with this scholarship that Joseph would almost be able to fund his first year of college. This encounter was witnessed by others whom congratulated the mom and me on what had taken place. Wow! It gave me a wonderful feeling to have shared in the ceremony today. Thank you guys and our class for this opportunity."
Let's keep this wonderful experience going......our goal is for all our classmates to make even a small contribution to our endowment. Donation information can be found in other parts of our website.
Have a wonderful summer.....and get ready to gather together next year to celebrate our 55th '62 Reunion!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!!......and don't we have a WHOLE lot to be thankful for!!
We've made it through our "70th" year which, in itself, is quite amazing when you think about it!!
Among the best news of the year is that we, the GHS Class of 1962, has presented the first "class gift" to a teacher at GHS. We raised over $50,000 last year to fund an annual gift and a few weeks ago, several of us visited GHS and presented a check to Mrs. Carolyn Ellis, a math teacher at GHS. Our contribution to the gift was $2000 that was matched by the Educational Foundation for a total of $4000 for Mrs. Ellis to purchase supplies for her classes. The following is a summary of Mrs. Ellis and her project:
Calculating Our Success – Carolyn Ellis, Teacher, Gainesville High School
"The purpose of this grant is to fund a class set of graphing calculators for Mrs. Ellis’ Geometry class at Gainesville High School, where most of her students are 11th graders who have zero math credits, and 90% are low performing. This learning tool would allow for both exploration and remediation (who keys to becoming a successful math student). With the defining shift of the Florida Standards Assessment toward evaluating geometric concepts graphically, these calculators are essential to demonstrate the usefulness and dynamic capabilities of geometric graphs firsthand. Currently department funding is less than half the cost of one class set of calculators, making this grant critical for the success of these students who need the most help".
Please pat yourself on the back for making this happen. It was great to see the seeds of our work come to fruition. And a special thanks to Mike Gengler for his patient and presistant work to make this all come together. We would like to continue to make our endowment grow larger so if you've not contributed, please consider doing so by looking at the info in the letter below. If you've already contributed, there's still room for more....
Thank you, classmates!!.....you're the best!!!
