Uni Alumni Challenge: Make your first time the best time with a $100 bonus

Fellow alumni,

When you graduated from Uni, you and your classmates went on to diverse colleges and meaningful careers. Many of us still say that Uni was our most formative experience. But only 11% of us donate to the next generation of Uni students by giving to the school compared to ~50% at top schools nationally.

Let’s change that. If you haven’t donated to Uni during the past two years and give $20 or more before the end of Reunion Weekend, April 15, we’ll automatically boost your donation with an additional $100.

Thanks to Ted Kurland ’68, the Gruschow family (George ’95 and Catherine ’94), and the Uni High Alumni Association Board that means your $50 gift becomes $150, your $300 gift becomes $400, or – get this – your $20 gift becomes $120.

This isn’t about giving a fortune. It’s about coming together as alumni to show our support for Uni and sustain its mission for the next generation of kids like we were. Join us, and make your first time the best time.

Jeff Helfrich, Class of 1999

President, Uni High Alumni Association

	The Stage Craft class poses with foam wheels during their visit with Uni alum Theo Gray at his company, Mechanical Gifs. Gray used his laser cutter for the wheels, gave a tour of his quilting shop, and showed students some transparent items in his photo studio that he will be using in his upcoming book.

Spots still open for Alumni Agora presenters

Our second Alumni Agora Day will be Friday April 13. Following a special report by School Director Dr. Jeff Walkington and a catered lunch with Uni teachers, alumni will take over the classrooms (and gym) to share their lives with current students.

We currently have classes scheduled ranging from investing to salsa dancing, and are hoping that you will also donate 35 minutes to share school, work, life and hobby experiences with students wondering what happens after they leave Uni.

You will have the opportunity to share your after-Uni experiences in a presentation including anything you wish: video, photos, and hands-on activities are just a few suggestions.  We would like the presentations to be interactive.

Sign up to be an Alumni Agora presenter!

Janet Dobrovolny ’68

Dobrovolny named Beberman Award Winner

This year’s Max Beberman Memorial Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is Janet Dobrovolny, University of Illinois Laboratory High School class of 1968.

Each year the school awards an alum who exemplifies the kind of distinction Professor Max Beberman brought to Uni High.  The award is presented to graduates who have demonstrated exemplary service to their communities, to their fields, and/or to Uni High. 

Dobrovolny graduated from Stanford University with numerous honors at the age of 19.  She is a member of Stanford Cap and Gown, the honorary women’s society that admits scholars based on academic merit and community service.  Janet earned her J.D. at the University of California, was admitted to the California Bar Association, served as an intern with San Francisco-area public defenders, and started her own law firm in 1979.  She has been quoted in several popular books by well-known personality Suze Orman and has presented estate planning seminars with Orman on public television throughout the country.  A recognized expert on trusts and conservatorships, Janet has been the legal consultant and author behind various Orman publications and the Suze Orman Protection Portfolio software, which has sold more than a million copies.

Her volunteer leadership positions include work with the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco; V-Day, a non-profit that seeks to stop violence against women; the Alan Beaven Family Fund, which honors a September 11^thFlight 93survivor and addresses environmental issues; and the humanitarian PRASAD Project, which promotes health, education and sustainable community development in India, dental care in the United States, and eye care in Mexico.  Janet also works with an organization recognized by UNESCO that protects repositories of cultural diversity and creative expression, particularly of oral traditions.

Janet serves on the Dean of the University Department of Social Work’s fundraising committee.  The President’s Council of the University of Illinois Foundation recently extended membership to Janet based on her fundraising for the J.S. Dobrovolny Chair in Entrepreneurial Engineering.

The Beberman Award was established in 1985 in honor of the late Max Beberman, whose distinguished career as a math educator brought him international renown.  During his tenure at Uni from 1950 to 1971, he founded and developed the University of Illinois Committee on School Mathematics (UICSM), which significantly altered the teaching of math around the world.  Professor Beberman is remembered as a fantastic teacher whose forte was enabling students to discover for themselves the “New Math” ideas for which he is famous.

Join us for the Uni High Gala

There’s still time to plan to join us for our annual Gala.

The full schedule includes tours, dinners, happy hour, Alumni Agora Day, the opportunity to see the Fine Arts performance of “Oklahoma” and, of course, the Gala.

The Saturday evening Gala will honor former Uni English teacher Rosemary Laughlin, introduce the Max Beberman Distinguished Alumni award recipient, and provide an opportunity to support this year's faculty wish list. The evening will also feature student performances, displays and demonstrations.

You can register for the Gala online.  The registration deadline is March 31. 

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