The inductees include a governor, professional baseball player, school superintendent, presidents of large companies and an executive director of a nonprofit agency.
Franklin Community High School graduates who have been named to the school’s hall alumni hall of fame graduated from the school, pursued secondary education and have contributed to their fields and communities. Some have left Franklin and then returned to their childhood community to better it.
The school’s alumni hall of fame is entering its fifth year and is accepting applications for inductees for the class of 2019.
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Educators want their stories to inspire generations of students who will be educated at Franklin.
The hall of fame was started in 2015 as a way to honor alumni and to bring awareness about what students who have been educated in the Franklin school district have done with their lives.
“It was to show our kids that you can go to our high school and have a significant impact,” David Clendening, superintendent of the school district, said.
Sixteen people have been inaugurated into the hall of fame since its inception. About five people are nominated for the honor each year, Franklin communications specialist Robin Betts said.
Inductee class sizes range from two to six, and each person nominated must show that their life and careers have demonstrated the school district’s guiding principals of individual student growth, communication, collaboration, systemic continuous improvement and trust, Clendening said.
“We are recognizing people who are doing significant things, (people) who are doing things with the five principles,” he said.
Applicants are reviewed by educators and staff across all levels at the school district, including elementary school, intermediate school, middle school, high school and district employees, Clendening said.
People inducted are from multiple fields of study and continue to live across central Indiana, improving the communities where they have chosen to live, he said.
Part of why educators decided to implement a hall of fame was to show students that they could be successful in all fields of study and that not just athletes get the glory, Clendening said.
Students at most schools can walk down their hallways and see the trophies and plaques that the athletes have won. Students at Franklin can also see the accomplishments of other people who have gone through the same school district as them, he said.
“They see all the person did and think, ‘I can do something like that,” Clendening said.
Applications for the annual hall of fame are due March 8. People making nominations are asked to be as specific and detailed about the nomination as possible, Betts said.
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Here is a look at how to nominate someone for the Class of 2019 Franklin Community High School Alumni Hall of Fame:
The nominee must exemplify the school district’s guiding principles of communication, individual student growth, collaboration, systemic continuous improvement and trust.
The deadline to submit nominations is March 8. A nomination form is available at franklinschools.org.
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Here is a look at the people who have been inducted into the Franklin Community High School Alumni Hall of Fame.
2015
- Roger D. Branigin – Class of 1919
- George Crowe – Class of 1939
- Rob Davis – Class of 1985
- Jane Hughey – Class of 1965
- Jon McGlocklin – Class of 1961
- Robert ‘Fuzzy’ Vandivier – Class of 1922
2016
- Niel C. Ellerbrook – Class of 1966
- Max L. Friedersdorf – Class of 1947
- Mark D. Janis – Class of 1982
- Connie Leonard – Class of 1955
2017
- Diane Black – Class of 1967
- Barry Whetstine – Class of 1963
2018
- Bob Claxton – Class of 1972
- Alva O. Neal – Class of 1888
- Karen Wenning Stellick – Class of 1978
- Nancy Ann Phares Brown Poynter – Class of 1958
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