The Partnership Break Records Again At GHS

By DONNA PREVEDELL

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“This year we set two records,” reported John Fassero, Jr., at the Gillespie High School Senior Awards Night held on Thursday, May 16.

The president of the Community Unit School District Number 7 Education Foundation stated first: “thanks to three decades of generosity by local families, friends, and alumni, we doubled the size of our tuition scholarships to $2,000.”

In addition, 40 percent of graduating seniors earned scholarships. which is now the new record. “We proudly awarded $48,000 in tuition scholarships to 24 amazing and very worthy seniors,” said Partnership founder Nancy Grandone, at the GHS awards night. “Our directors read every application and were touched by each applicant’s personal statement of varied life stories, achievements, and future goals.”

In her award night remarks, Grandone, a retired educator, stated “As of tonight we have awarded nearly $400,000 in scholarships to 539 GHS graduates to further their educations. In addition, we have donated more than $700,000 for in-classroom grants since 1992.”

“I may have brought the idea of a not-for-profit foundation to CUSD7,” she said. “But the true credit goes to the 40-plus Partnership directors who over 32 years have volunteered their time and effort to gather donations.” The awards and their recipients are as follows:

Bill and Gwen Berutti Memorial Scholarship: The Beruttis left a generous gift to The Partnership to fund scholarships. Gwen taught English in Roxanna and Mt. Olive after she earned a graduate degree at SIU Carbondale (SIUC). She was also well known as a keyboard accompanist and vocalist in her husband Bill’s musical combo.

Bill worked at Berutti Self Service Grocery Store, in the office at Shell Oil, and was a piano technician and musician.

Erika Gill, daughter of William and Ruth Gill of rural Carlinville, will go to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE) to become a Dietician.

Dr. D. Ross Mrs. Rosemary Billiter Scholarship: “We are grateful to the people of this area who have supported my medical practice,” said Dr. Billiter, when he retired recently after nearly 50 years as a general surgeon at St. Francis Hospital. “This gift acknowledges our appreciation and an investment in the future of our area.”

Jesse Berry, son of John and LaVonne Berry of Gillespie, will attend Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC) in Godfrey. He intends to become an Industrial Electrician.

Carroll-Keupper Family Scholarship: Established by the late Rosemary Keupper Valle and her sister Lillian Keupper in honor of their families who have been involved in medicine, world health, and banking finance. Their grandfather Anthony Carroll, a member of the school board, embodied strong support for local school students.

Alexia Emelander, daughter of Eric and Kelly Emelander of Gillespie, will attend SIUE to study Pharmacy.

Elinor Davies Nursing Scholarship: Established by friends and family in honor of Elinor who served many decades as a school nurse in CUSD No. 7. She was also an active member of the Gillespie First United Methodist Church.

Skye Boedecker, daughter of Kelly Alexander of Gillespie, will work toward a B.S. in Nursing, starting at Southeast Missouri University in Cape Girardeau.

Roger DeWitt Memorial Scholarship: An outpouring of memorials for this farmer, painter, horse breeder, horticulturist, and musician led to this award. Song writing and performing with his band, Southern Blend, were backdrops to his farming and painting. Self-taught, he depicted small family farm life, a disappearing culture of the rural Midwest.