Two additional families – both of them with kids still in the Shenandoah Schools and both with college bills likely in their future – have stepped up in recent days to match the $10,000 “family challenge” that the Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation was presented with in September.

They are the Pat & Julie O’Hara family and the Zac & Amy Zwickel family.

The “family challenge” was started by the family of former Shenandoah High School teacher, coach and administrator Bob Sweeney and his wife Kathy Sweeney, who now live in Atlantic. They commi...

The Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation announced this week it has received a $10,000 pledge in a “family challenge” from the family of former Shenandoah High School teacher, coach and administrator Bob Sweeney and his wife Kathy Sweeney, now of Atlantic.

That challenge, if met and matched by 99 other families, would mean the foundation over the next 15 years would grow the endowment it is creating by $1 million.  That endowment will exist for the long-term support and enhancement of the Shenandoah Community Schools, plus the interest money it...

Almost immediately after the family of Bob and Kathy Sweeney posed a "family challenge" to the Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation -- seeking 99 families to join them in donating $10,000 to foundation over the next 10 years -- the family of Corby and Jean Fichter responded, "We'll match it!"

You can read about the Sweeneys, of Atlantic, and their challenge in another story on this website.

So, let's meet the Fichters, of Shenandoah.

Corby Fichter, president of the education foundation since its beginning in 2016, is a graduate of Fremont Mills Hi...

The Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation has awarded the second annual Gee Scholarship of $2,000 to help provide programs and equipment in the Shenandoah High School business education department, which is headed by veteran business and computer instructor Liz Skillern.

The scholarship was made possible by the donation of $20,000 to the foundation in late 2017 from the family of Anne B. Gee, who taught business courses at SHS for 35 years before her retirement in 1991, then her death in the summer of 2017.

The first Gee Scholarship from the found...

SHENANDOAH,Iowa -- Happy New Year to everyone reading my first blog of 2019. On behalf of the Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation, we wish you all the best for the upcoming year. 

I would like to take this opportunity and update all of you about a very recent and rewarding planning session for our foundation.

During our planning session on Jan. 10, we spent considerable time talking about our vision and mission statements. When our Foundation began in May 2016, we discussed and prepared some talking points on why we were formed and what we were...

SHENANDOAH, Iowa -- A crowd of more than 150 people turned out Wednesday evening Nov. 14 at the Elks Lodge in Shenandoah to honor the faculty, staff and key public supporters of the Shenandoah Community School District during American Education Week.

The Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation co-sponsored the reception with the Shenandoah Education Association and the Support Staff Association Plus.  

You can see photos below here of the major education award winners for 2018 that were announced at the reception, and read more about them in the sto...

SHENANDOAH, Iowa – The Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation invites the public to attend a free & fun reception on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Elks Lodge to salute the teachers, support staff and all others who are preparing our students and communities for better futures.

The reception begins with social time at 5 p.m.  The free meal is being served at 5:30 p.m., and the program and awards will follow.

At this reception during American Education Week, the foundation will join the Shenandoah Education Association and the Shenandoah Support Staff A...

SHENANDOAH, Iowa -- The mission statement of Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation states we will support and expand educational opportunities for students in the Shenandoah Community School District. 

One way the foundation has been able to do that is by offering “mini-grants” to staff. We’re funding those from the donations we’ve received from alumni, alum-nots and other supporters of the Shenandoah schools – people from right here in town and from across the nation.

Only a small portion of the donations are being used for these mini-grants.  Th...

SHENANDOAH, Iowa -- Friends of the Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation, please join us in helping our school district become a “Beacon of Light” shining all over the 4-state area and beyond.

We are entering the “funding game” late.  Foundations like ours, supporting a local school system, have been in existence elsewhere for some time.

In Shenandoah, we have just started the process in the last two years.  But we are now committed and need your help.

Yes, it is tough to talk money.

So let’s think about past years – and all the challenges, rewards...