The History of Herrin Education Foundation
The Herrin Education Foundation (HEF) was incorporated in the state of Illinois on November 4, 1988 as a tax exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The sole incorporator is listed as John S. Brewster. The organizational meeting of the HEF followed on October 23, 1989 and lists the first Officers as Lee Roy Brandon, Chairman of the Board; Jack Murray, Vice-Chairman, Bessie Brewster, Secretary, Denzil Walker, Treasurer and Bill Clarida, President.
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Members were listed as Lee Booth, J.C. Garavalia, Marge Harmon, Paul Murphy, Dayton Franklin, Les McCollum, Edward Quaglia, Anthony Venegoni, and Carol Zwick.
The founders, who were Herrin leaders and educators, knew the value of quality public school education and wanted to ensure that the Herrin schools were always able to provide the best education to our students.
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Since 1988 the foundation has awarded several hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship funding to graduating seniors. Those recipients have gone on to become pharmacists, teachers, nurses, engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, bankers, professors, military personnel, and many other highly respected professional and technical career specialists. The most recent class of 2024 received over $63,000 in HEF scholarship awards.
Times have changed since 1988 as have the needs of the school and the students. As such, the role of the HEF is changing. Not only is there a need to support students upon graduation, to reward them for hard work, but we know students need our support while they are in school, support to help them stay there, to find their passion and pursue it. Our teachers need support for their classrooms to provide students with interactive, creative, and cutting-edge learning tools and experiences. Our performing arts students need instruments and performance facilities, our technical trades students need modern construction and welding facilities, our STEM students need top of the line science labs and equipment. Technology is changing so quickly that for our students to be competitive and workforce ready, we must provide them with the classrooms and equipment they need while they are in school.
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Another change to HEF during 2023, was the hiring of the first staff position. In a cooperative agreement with the Herrin CUSD 4, the HEF hired Dr. Tammy Gwaltney as their first Executive Director. Dr. Gwaltney attended the Herrin school system starting in kindergarten at North Side, then transferring to Lincoln Elementary (now the District Office) where she attended 1st-6th. From there she went to the Junior High and the Herrin High. Dr. Gwaltney fondly remembers all of her teachers and the amazing education she was provided. She notes, “Upon graduation, I felt nervous about going on to college as a first-generation student, but once there, I knew I was going to be okay. The faculty and staff in the Herrin system prepared us to compete in the world. We had a solid foundation to build on. We knew how to study, how to write, and how to conduct ourselves in and out of the classroom. All of this was taught at home and in school. I am so grateful to be here in the Herrin CUSD 4 to help raise money for our students, teachers and community. Once a Tiger, always a Tiger!”
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We know that the Herrin business community, leaders, and residents want only the best for Herrin students. We know our extensive alumni network, literally spread all over the world, pride themselves on the top-notch public education they received at Herrin. We know these individuals want to continue the tradition of Tiger Pride and help the next generation succeed.
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The HEF takes great pride in helping to support all our students in a variety of ways and we look forward to continuing to fulfill the objectives of the foundation’s organizers in the future.
If you want to help support the work of the HEF, please contact us at director@herrineducationfoundation.com.
Carl Spezia- – Chairman of the Board
Lisa Lukens- Vice Chairman of the Board
Rex Budde – Treasurer
John Homan- Secretary of the Board
Julie Christ- Director
Marilyn DeTomasi- Director
Trisha Miller- Director
Bert Gordon- Director
Kent Smith- Director
Gary Gray- Director
Sally Gross- Director
Brandon Watson- Director
Kathy Lively- Director
Current HEF Board of Directors
Our Mission
Empower Through Education
Provide Support to Students
via Scholarship Funding
Help to Provide Herrin Students with Cutting Edge Learning Tools and Experiences