Giving Back

The class of 1969 is proud of their unique place in Friends Select’s history. They not only attended class in the school’s original building, but they were also the first to graduate from what is now considered the Parkway Building. They are a tight-knit group who bonded during a turbulent time in our country that was marked by the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., racial injustice, and the Vietnam War. And their friendships remain strong to this day.

To honor their 50th reunion, they established “The Class of 1969 Scholarship Fund” to provide tuition assistance for Friends Select families who need it most. Trixie Beller Heck ’69 and Kathryn Deans-Schaub ’69 spearheaded the reunion planning details from start to finish, including fundraising efforts to generate gifts from their classmates. As president of her graduating class, Trixie remembered her peers working together to raise money for the school as students. “We would make and sell sandwiches to raise money for our yearbook,” she said. “Our class has a history of supporting the school.”

To help in their push for gifts, Trixie and Kathryn—who have been friends since eighth grade at Friends Select—established a fundraising committee to generate class giving. The group deliberated over the most impactful way their donations could help the school and eventually settled on directing their gift to financial assistance for students through the endowment. “We wanted to provide permanent support and also memorialize the class of 1969,” said Kathryn. “The fundraising committee of our reunion planning group 
thought that designation would be the most enduring.”

The endowment for financial aid makes Friends 
Select accessible to students from varied backgrounds for generations to come. Increased endowment support, such as the contributions from the class of 1969, sustain Friends Select’s centuries-old tradition of tuition assistance for students and their families. “The leadership displayed by Trixie and Kathryn in rallying support from their classmates was incredible. The Class of 1969 Scholarship Fund is a touching tribute to their 50th reunion and will have an impact on students for years to come,” said chief development officer Christine Jefferson. “Friends Select is grateful for the class’s generous support. Members of the class gave in honor of teachers, increased their annual donation, made multiple gifts, and even supported the school for the very first time because of the creation of the scholarship fund.”