New Trier Educational Foundation Gets $100K Gift

The following was submitted by New Trier High School:

The New Trier Educational Foundation has received its largest single donation to date, an estate gift of $100,000 from John H. Emery, a member of the New Trier Class of 1954.

The Foundation was notified two years ago following Mr. Emery’s passing that it was included as a beneficiary in the Emery Trust. Notified this past June that the estate had been settled and the gift would be made, the Foundation only recently learned of the extraordinarily generous amount. “We are overwhelmed by Mr. Emery’s generosity of including the New Trier Educational Foundation in his estate planning,” said Marianne Breen, executive director of the Foundation “A gift such as this shows the deep and emotional connection he had to his teachers and New Trier.”

The gift is to be used exclusively for the benefit of the New Trier Debate Program and the Science Department in honor of two New Trier teachers who touched Emery’s life. As a student, Emery was a three-year member of the Debate Team and the National Forensic League, a Speech Honor Society. He made the gift in memory of Mr. Chester E. MacLean, long-time debate coach.

His second request was for a portion of the funds to be used “toward the purchase of a sophisticated analytical device that would not ordinarily be found in a high school chemistry, physics or biology lab.” This part of the gift was a “Thank-You” to Loris R. Hoyt, long time biology instructor and, for four years, his home-room adviser.

The Foundation presented the $100,000 on Friday in front of returning faculty and staff. John Emery walked the New Trier campus more than 60 years ago, but he remembered the important role two New Trier faculty members – Chester MacLean and Loris Hoyt – played in his life. His gift is a reminder of the significant role and emotional connections New Trier faculty have with their students.

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Established in 2001, the mission of the New Trier Educational Foundation is to provide private funding for exceptional educational opportunities that are not funded – or are funded only in part –by the District 203 budget.

Photo: Representatives of the New Trier Educational Foundation present a check for $100,000 to District 203 Superintendent Linda Yonke during New Trier’s back-to-school staff meeting on Aug. 22, 2014. Pictured left to right are: Jeni Schlueter Spinney, Foundation Chair; Linda Yonke, Superintendent; and Marianne Breen, Foundation Executive Director. Courtesy of New Trier High School.