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Foundation's efforts benefit students
(by K. Darius Amos - January 02, 2008)
If children are indeed the future, the Hackensack community is doing its part to ensure the town is in good hands decades down the road. Through vision, determination and grass-roots efforts, parents and other volunteers are giving the children every opportunity to succeed and achieve their goals.
The Hackensack Education Foundation, a two-decade-old organization, attempts to accomplish what the residents want to do and what the school board can’t get to on its own. The not-for-profit HEF creates a better overall educational environment but always has the students in mind.
According to HEF President Mark Stein, the group helps coordinate programs between the schools and area businesses with hopes of offering first-hand exposure to the skills needed in the workforce. HEF has specialized in career days at the middle school, along with resume preparation and job interview behavior for the students.
To further help students, members of the HEF, along with their family, friends and other supporters, last weekend celebrated the 13th Annual Ruthann Sheer Brunch at Rudy’s Restaurant. In memory of a long-time Hackensack educator, the program was intended to raise money for the award bearing Sheer’s name. The award is presented annually to an eighth grade Hackensack Middle School graduate.
The HEF also offers the Peggy Liosi Scholarship for the Arts, which is presented to a Hackensack High School senior was plans to study theater, music or any of the fine arts in college.
Striving to match the commitment Sheer once offered the Hackensack schools, the HEF supports district staff and offered grants to teachers who can develop and execute new and effective teaching methods in the classroom. Some of the grants, Stein said, have been used in several ways: the purchase of computer software that enhances reading skills and field trips, the attraction of “Shakespeare Live,” the framing and mounting of student artwork for public exhibition, among other things.
In Sheer’s career as an educator, she fought to give teachers more opportunity to help students. She began her teaching career in 1944, serving as a classroom teacher and later a guidance counselor, assistant principal and district supervisor.
She lobbied to pass the New Jersey Public Employers-Employees Relations Act in the late 1960s. The legislation established bargaining rights for school staff members. Sheer continued to work for the teachers and students, coordinating and administering grant programs in throughout the state.
Sheer was considered one of the top educators in the state when she retired in 1988, the same year the HEF was born. She would die in December 1994, only weeks after receiving the Distinguished Service to Education Award, the highest honor given by the New Jersey Education Association.
For more information about the HEF, visit www.hackensackeducationfoundation.org.
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