Republic file photo
An exterior view of Columbus East High School.
After preparing graduates for 50 years, the Columbus East High School Alumni Association has successfully established a endowment fund to benefit current students.
“The whole purpose is to have some assets that generate income to help fund projects within the school,” said alumni board chairman Mark Foster. “A lot of times, there are students that have opportunities, but don’t have the financial means to support that. We will use the interest from the endowment to fund various projects within the school as we move forward.”
As part of the year-long celebration of the school’s golden anniversary, the alumni Association set a fundraising target for the Olympian Endowment Fund of $50,000, which Foster said was considered by some to be a rather large amount to raise.
“It’s hard to keep people connected to their high schools once they graduate,” Foster said.
But a married couple who both graduated from East in 2003 provided the largest single incentive to recruit donors, Foster said. Dave and Kate Bush provided a matching gift that would match every dollar donated up to $25,000, he said.
“That really started off the activity, and became the catalyst to get the fundraising going,” said Foster, who estimates there were close to 75 contributions when the goal was reached the first full week of August.
However, nobody is quitting at $50,000. The alumni association has used social media to make it clear the fundraising will continue.
After serving 14 years as principal of East, Mark Newell says there are a number of student activities and opportunities that take place away from school, such as a national competition for the school’s speech team last year.
“Your smart clubs don’t have access to resources that bigger sports clubs have,” said Newell, now director of adult and alternative education at the McDowell Education Center. “You always have students who have monetary needs, so you want to help them out.”
The Olympian Endowment Fund will generally be focused on three different areas: academics, athletics and the arts, Foster said.
Since there has been a Columbus High School since 1905, alumni contributions to the school and its successor, Columbus North, has built up for well over a century, Foster said. Currently, North has five scholarships and three endowments, according to the Bull Dog Alumni Association website.
But Newell and Foster say East has produced enough successful alumni that it can support its own endowments.
“As far as having alumni jumping on board, the high school is establishing a good track history in terms of the successes the alumni has had through the years,” Newell said. “They are able to to get back to East and they are becoming very powerful.”
Since last spring, new Columbus East Principal Michael Parsons has proven to be an excellent partner for the alumni association, Foster said.
“He’s got a lot of ideas and energy,” Foster said. “His enthusiasm and initiative is going to be a great asset for the school. It’s going to be exciting to see all the things he’s going to do there.”
Columbus East Endowment Fund
Ways to contribute:
- GOFUNDME.COM/F/50TH-ANNIVERSARY-ENDOWMENT-FUND
- Paypal: [email protected]
- Send check to: CEHS Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1372, Columbus, IN 47202
The alumni association is also working to put together a data base of alumni, so they can share information, make notifications about upcoming events and stay connected with former students. Information on submitting information to the data base is available at the Columbus East High School Alumni Association Facebook page.
For more information, email: [email protected]
