History of the Alliance High School Foundation
Diana Fails '87, accepting the first scholarship awarded by the newly restructured Alliance High School Foundation from Seth Miller (left) and Walter Webb (right, two members of the original Alliance Education Foundation
To find the origin of the Alliance High School Foundation you must go back to 1948. Former AHS principal Walter Webb, who was president of the Kiwanis Club, was looking for a project. He conceived the idea of forming an educational foundation for Alliance High School with the use of a small surplus Kiwanis Club fund. The Kiwanis Club Board of Directors approved the plan on the condition that the entire community would become involved. Thus was formed the Alliance Education Foundation.
Seth Miller from the Kiwanis Club was appointed temporary chairman and Warren Davis, who was the school superintendent, was appointed temporary secretary. The first financial assistance offered to students was in the form of six loans totaling $1,014. But, by 1959 there was talk of discontinuing the foundation for inactivity and ten years later there was an unsuccessful attempt made to revive the foundation.
In 1987, the foundation was reactivated as the Alliance High School Foundation through the efforts of John Klusch ’34 and school superintendent Richard Tormasi. It began with $6,000, which was carried over from the Alliance Education Foundation. The revived Foundation’s new trustees and officers were: John Klusch ’34, President; Erma Harris Holloway ’54, Vice President; Sarah Morris Brown ’61, Secretary; George Weimer, Treasurer; Harry Wheaton Jr. ’41, Legal Advisor; Seth Miller, Trustee; and Betty Ann Schaper, Trustee.
The goals and purposes of the AHS Foundation were established as furnishing financial assistance and offering encouragement to qualified graduates of AHS to obtain educational training beyond that of secondary school. The goals and purposes would be achieved through the Foundation’s fund-raising efforts. Membership was opened to all graduates of AHS and to any persons or organizations interested in encouraging the future education of AHS graduates.
The first gift to the Foundation after its 1987 reactivation was a check for $1,000 given anonymously by a member of the AHS Class of ’34. The Foundation received another boost when Eugenia Moses, a former AHS teacher, also donated $1,000 to the fund. The first scholarship in the amount of $500 was presented in 1987 to Diana Fails and the AHS Foundation’s first newsletter came out in the spring of 1988 under the direction of Sarah Morris Brown ’61.
By 1997 the Foundation’s assets had grown from $6,000 to $107,235 through donations, memorials, bequests and dues from thousands of AHS alums. Three scholarships were presented that year totaling $2,500 and $100 awards were presented to all members of the top 10% of the graduating class. In 1995 Dick Diser ’63, took over the reins, as managing editor, of the Foundation’s newsletter, which reached nearly 12,000 alums at 10,000 addresses. During this period of growth and until 2004, Jim Obney ’52, created and maintained the alumni database including newsletter addresses and contributions.
In the spring of 2000 the AHS Foundation’s Board of Trustees announced the Millennium Campaign, challenging every graduating class and every graduate of AHS to raise $250,000 over the next five years. Since the Foundation’s re-structure in 1987, almost $50,000 in scholarships and financial awards had been presented to AHS graduates for continuing education. The Foundation's treasury had grown from $6,000 to $150,282. The goal of the Millennium Campaign was to significantly increase the number and amounts of those scholarships.
In April 2001, John Klusch ‘34 stepped down as the chairman of the AHS Foundation after fourteen years of dedicated service and paternal guidance. He was replaced by Sarah Morris Brown ’61, who had been serving as the Foundation’s secretary since the new board was established in 1987. John was elected as Chairman Emeritus. John and his wife Roene left the board with a parting gift to the Millennium Campaign of $150,000, which became the impetus of the AHS Foundation Renewable Scholarships that were presented to three seniors that year.
Within the next eight months of 2001, the Alliance community lost both John and Roene Klusch, who passed away in July and December respectively. Their estate endowed the AHS Foundation, which they loved so dearly, with $562,000. The board voted to utilize those funds to establish the AHS Foundation John and Roene Klusch Memorial Scholarship.
By the end of 2005 the Foundation’s net assets totaled over 1.4 million dollars including ten privately named scholarship funds. The following spring, 43 scholarships and awards exceeding $50,000 were presented to AHS Class of 2006 graduates. Also in 2005, the AHS Foundation newsletter started a popular series on nine of the present or former elementary schools in Alliance. The series ran from 2005 to 2012 with photographs and remembrances by alums who attended those schools.
A milestone was reached in June 2009 when the AHS Foundation surpassed half a million dollars in scholarships and awards given to 711 AHS graduates. “We have been extremely fortunate to have the support of Alliance High School graduates from classes that span eight decades,” Foundation president Sarah Morris Brown ‘61 said. That year the Foundation presented 18 scholarships, 19 academic top ten percent awards and 13 other ‘named scholarships’ totaling more than $80,000. Criteria for selecting scholarship recipients includes: academic achievement, financial need, extra-curricular activities, community involvement, and teacher recommendations.
2011 was another milestone for the AHS Foundation in its 25th year since being re-activated. Total scholarships and financial awards had risen from one scholarship for $500 in 1987 to $673,850 presented to more than 800 graduating seniors over the 25 year period. The following four years saw five named scholarships with endowments exceeding $177,000 added to the AHS Foundation’s family of scholarships.
In 2015, 29 years since being reestablished, the Alliance High School Foundation’s goals and purposes have remained constant: to furnish financial assistance and offer encouragement to qualified graduates of Alliance High School to obtain educational training beyond that of secondary school.
Source: AHS Foundation newsletters
Seth Miller from the Kiwanis Club was appointed temporary chairman and Warren Davis, who was the school superintendent, was appointed temporary secretary. The first financial assistance offered to students was in the form of six loans totaling $1,014. But, by 1959 there was talk of discontinuing the foundation for inactivity and ten years later there was an unsuccessful attempt made to revive the foundation.
In 1987, the foundation was reactivated as the Alliance High School Foundation through the efforts of John Klusch ’34 and school superintendent Richard Tormasi. It began with $6,000, which was carried over from the Alliance Education Foundation. The revived Foundation’s new trustees and officers were: John Klusch ’34, President; Erma Harris Holloway ’54, Vice President; Sarah Morris Brown ’61, Secretary; George Weimer, Treasurer; Harry Wheaton Jr. ’41, Legal Advisor; Seth Miller, Trustee; and Betty Ann Schaper, Trustee.
The goals and purposes of the AHS Foundation were established as furnishing financial assistance and offering encouragement to qualified graduates of AHS to obtain educational training beyond that of secondary school. The goals and purposes would be achieved through the Foundation’s fund-raising efforts. Membership was opened to all graduates of AHS and to any persons or organizations interested in encouraging the future education of AHS graduates.
The first gift to the Foundation after its 1987 reactivation was a check for $1,000 given anonymously by a member of the AHS Class of ’34. The Foundation received another boost when Eugenia Moses, a former AHS teacher, also donated $1,000 to the fund. The first scholarship in the amount of $500 was presented in 1987 to Diana Fails and the AHS Foundation’s first newsletter came out in the spring of 1988 under the direction of Sarah Morris Brown ’61.
By 1997 the Foundation’s assets had grown from $6,000 to $107,235 through donations, memorials, bequests and dues from thousands of AHS alums. Three scholarships were presented that year totaling $2,500 and $100 awards were presented to all members of the top 10% of the graduating class. In 1995 Dick Diser ’63, took over the reins, as managing editor, of the Foundation’s newsletter, which reached nearly 12,000 alums at 10,000 addresses. During this period of growth and until 2004, Jim Obney ’52, created and maintained the alumni database including newsletter addresses and contributions.
In the spring of 2000 the AHS Foundation’s Board of Trustees announced the Millennium Campaign, challenging every graduating class and every graduate of AHS to raise $250,000 over the next five years. Since the Foundation’s re-structure in 1987, almost $50,000 in scholarships and financial awards had been presented to AHS graduates for continuing education. The Foundation's treasury had grown from $6,000 to $150,282. The goal of the Millennium Campaign was to significantly increase the number and amounts of those scholarships.
In April 2001, John Klusch ‘34 stepped down as the chairman of the AHS Foundation after fourteen years of dedicated service and paternal guidance. He was replaced by Sarah Morris Brown ’61, who had been serving as the Foundation’s secretary since the new board was established in 1987. John was elected as Chairman Emeritus. John and his wife Roene left the board with a parting gift to the Millennium Campaign of $150,000, which became the impetus of the AHS Foundation Renewable Scholarships that were presented to three seniors that year.
Within the next eight months of 2001, the Alliance community lost both John and Roene Klusch, who passed away in July and December respectively. Their estate endowed the AHS Foundation, which they loved so dearly, with $562,000. The board voted to utilize those funds to establish the AHS Foundation John and Roene Klusch Memorial Scholarship.
By the end of 2005 the Foundation’s net assets totaled over 1.4 million dollars including ten privately named scholarship funds. The following spring, 43 scholarships and awards exceeding $50,000 were presented to AHS Class of 2006 graduates. Also in 2005, the AHS Foundation newsletter started a popular series on nine of the present or former elementary schools in Alliance. The series ran from 2005 to 2012 with photographs and remembrances by alums who attended those schools.
A milestone was reached in June 2009 when the AHS Foundation surpassed half a million dollars in scholarships and awards given to 711 AHS graduates. “We have been extremely fortunate to have the support of Alliance High School graduates from classes that span eight decades,” Foundation president Sarah Morris Brown ‘61 said. That year the Foundation presented 18 scholarships, 19 academic top ten percent awards and 13 other ‘named scholarships’ totaling more than $80,000. Criteria for selecting scholarship recipients includes: academic achievement, financial need, extra-curricular activities, community involvement, and teacher recommendations.
2011 was another milestone for the AHS Foundation in its 25th year since being re-activated. Total scholarships and financial awards had risen from one scholarship for $500 in 1987 to $673,850 presented to more than 800 graduating seniors over the 25 year period. The following four years saw five named scholarships with endowments exceeding $177,000 added to the AHS Foundation’s family of scholarships.
In 2015, 29 years since being reestablished, the Alliance High School Foundation’s goals and purposes have remained constant: to furnish financial assistance and offer encouragement to qualified graduates of Alliance High School to obtain educational training beyond that of secondary school.
Source: AHS Foundation newsletters
AHS FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Current members of the Board
Sarah Morris Brown ’61 1987 to present
Joe Zelasko, Jr ’51 1988 to present
Richard Diser ’63 1996 to present
Andrew Zumbar ’85 1997 to present
Sandy Oswalt Good ’58 1998 to present
Kevin Knowles ’87 2010 to present
Jody Newman Koenigseker ‘68 2013 to present
Patrick Heddleston ’82 2013 to present
Chad Morris ’01 2014 to present
Dave Wolpert ’65 2017 to present
Todd Ruggles ’06 2018 to present
Deborah Carr Martin ’68 2021 to present
Cheyanne Gonzales ’14 2022 to present
Callie Livengood King ’05 2024 to present
Danille Kemp ’77 2024 to present
Former members of the board
John Klusch ’34 1987 to 2001
Betty Schaper 1987 to 1995
George Weimer 1987 to 1992
Erma Harris Holloway ’54 1987 to 1990
Seth Miller 1987 to 1988
Harry Wheaton ’41 1987 to 1989
Jim Obney ’52 1989 to 2004
Gene Haidet ’38 1990 to 2002
Dr. Jim Brunie ’70 1990 to 1996
Annette Burtnett Beltrami '53 1995 to 1998
Ron Dezenzo ’59 1998 to 2001
Robert Potts ’65 1998 to 2018
Michal Mainwaring ’61 1999 to 2016
Karen Reese Twaddle ’73 1999 to 2013
Ted Madison ’87 2001 to 2013
John Blaser ’64 2012 to 2017
Robert Lavery ’69 2013 to 2021
Sally Ailes ’82 2017 to 2022
Daniel Griffith ’95 2017 to 2023