Thanks for Your SUPPORT

OPRFHS parent John D’Asaro founded the Concert Tour Association (CTA) in 1969 with John Briggs, then Chairman of the Music Department at OPRFHS, and Jerry Dambriska, a fellow parent and attorney, to help offset the costs of the 60-student-large orchestra trip the high school sponsored in the summer. The CTA has changed its name to APPLAUSE and continues today. It is currently made up of dedicated parents, community members, alumni, and musician volunteers who work alongside educators to extend support to all students involved in the performing arts at the high school. APPLAUSE! promotes and enhances the student experience in OPRFHS’ performing arts programs by engaging in volunteer activities that:

• Support and celebrate the performing arts curriculum

• Encourage, facilitate, and initiate co-curricular and enrichment

opportunities for performing arts students.

The Alumni Association of Oak Park and River Forest High School was organized in 2002 to provide opportunities for alumni to maintain and enhance connections with their classmates and with the OPRFHS community. We serve alumni through newsletters, e-mail bulletins, websites, reunion support and special events. Our Summer Enrichment Grants provide financial support to help current students participate in academic-related summer programs.

In April of 2001, over 200 alumni of the performing arts department of Oak Park and River Forest High School reunited at the high school campus to rehearse and perform the OPUS concert under the direction of two retired and beloved teachers, Bob Fuller and Jack Wirtz. That very special weekend brought to the forefront, once again, the gifts of these two extraordinary teachers and mentors. As adults, many of their former students continue to experience the impact of their arts education because it is still shaping their lives. In April 2011 the group published Look and Lean, an oral biography by the grateful students of Jim Eitrheim and held a book release party and tribute to his work in the OPRFHS Auditorium. In September 2012 the group once again reunited on the mainstage for Fullerfest, a choral reunion and tribute to a beloved mentor. The alumni and friends who participated in these special reunion weekends established a scholarship fund to support graduating seniors who will be pursuing a degree in fine and performing arts education at the college level. The fund is managed by the terrific folks at the Oak Park River Forest High School Alumni Association.

In Henry Reid’s seventeen years with the Oak Park Elementary School District #97, he touched many student’s lives. Throughout those years, he served as the Social Worker for Hatch, Holmes and Julian schools. One of the earliest supporters of the CAST program at Julian, Henry believed that CAST could positively affect the lives of many children regardless of the differences in their abilities. Upon Henry’s death in 1993, his wife Sherlynn and his three daughters, Mary, Dorothy and Lorie, honored his wish and established the Henry E. Reid Scholarship Fund to enable all children, regardless of the specific need, to participate fully in CAST. Since it began, the scholarship fund has given thousands of dollars to students who otherwise could not afford a quality performing arts experience.