2023-2024 Annual Report

Mogadore Schools Alumni Foundation

Annual Report 2023-2024

The Mogadore Schools Alumni Foundation again completed a very successful year serving both the alumni and the community. Our Distinguished Alumni night was once again held in conjunction with the high school homecoming football game and activities on Friday, October 6. This year’s Distinguished Alumni were Gino Calcei and Michael ( Mickey Ganitch). Mickey was awarded his honor posthumously and members of his family were present to receive his award. Gino had a large contingent of family members present to help honor him on this special occasion. Each was given a plaque from the Foundation and a poster with their picture

which was displayed at both the tailgate and at the entrance to the stadium. You may wish to read more about each of these two remarkable Mogadore Alumni on our website!

Our Holiday Bazaar was a huge success once again. Under the direction of Linda Hamilton 75+ vendors set up for the October 21st event. Again, we offered off- site parking for the vendors and a $1.00 admission, both of which were highly successful. Our student volunteers were great in helping both unload vendor items and working the popular concession tables! We could not have such an event without the help of our Mogadore student volunteers! Thanks goes to Linda for her hard work in getting this event to be the best in the area. And thanks to Traci Oliver and Rhonda Cahill for organizing the concessions and student helpers. We were able to earn about $5,000 profit this year.

Our last major event for the year was our annual spaghetti dinner which was held on Saturday, April 20th. It is an event the community and alumni look forward to. Thanks goes to both Traci Oliver and Twila Harris for coordinating this yearly event. Once again, we had the help of some amazing student volunteers! Thanks to Melanie Bushey and Lindsay Klodt for again getting the word out to the students to volunteer. As in years past, Tammy Roebken was able to secure table sponsors which provides for much of our profit. This year we served 167 total meals which included 27 to go orders which seem to be a popular choice for many. We were able to profit a little over $6,000 for this event.

Both our major fundraising events totaled a little over $11,000. What a great testament to the support given by our Alumni and community. All proceeds went to the student scholarship fund as well as for staff grants. We were able to award $11,000 in scholarships to the following seniors:

$2,000- Kendall Barcus, Ezekiel Cameron, Mia Geatjens, Katherine Lane

$1,500- Olivia Kidd, Savannah Thomas

Thank you to Melanie Bushey, scholarship chair and Lindsay Klodt, co-chair and faculty representative, for their hard work in developing the scholarship application and screening and reviewing each application.

Our Mogadore Schools Alumni Foundation constitution was updated and revisions made as well as an update to the by-laws. An anti-discrimination section was included to the by-laws as well as updating the voting procedures and requirements for elected officers of the Foundation. We continue to be on firm financial footing, but now must remain conservative as inflation and rising prices should be monitored so we can continue to provide scholarships and teacher grants.

As we prepare for another year we are proud that The Mogadore Schools Alumni Foundation is celebrating 23 years of existence! The Foundation, formed in 2001, had as a goal to help fund scholarships to graduating seniors. To date The Mogadore Schools Alumni Foundation has provided over $350,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors. In addition, we have provided funds for teacher-staff grants for classroom supplies and adaptive educational materials to assist students.

May we all continue to strive to meet that original goal as well as set new ones to provide opportunities for the students, staff, community and alumni of the Mogadore Local Schools!

Finally, this is my last year serving as President of the Mogadore Schools Alumni Foundation. I can truly say I could not have completed the job without the support of our Alumni Foundation board. We work as a group and accomplish everything we do as a group. I encourage all of our Alumni to please get involved. Help us to continue the proud tradition of the Mogadore Local School District. Individually we can do little, but as a group we can accomplish so much more!

Tom Rauber