As superintendent of the Sherrard School District, Alan Boucher understands that opportunity and success mean different things to different students. Whether they plan to continue their academic studies after high school or seek employment in a skilled trade, Boucher wants to make sure that Sherrard is providing its students resources to get ahead—and that students have equal access to those resources. A new $40,000 grant from the Looser-Flake Charitable Foundation, a private foundation administered by the Quad Cities Community Foundation, will allow the Sherrard School District to provide tuition assistance for both its dual-credit and vocational education programs.
“We’re trying to remove barriers and provide opportunities for our students,” said Boucher. “We want to see them get excited about their time after high school and start planning and preparing.”
A second Looser-Flake Foundation grant of $40,000 will go to Mercer County School District to help improve student access to its own dual-credit, vocational, and advanced placement course offerings.
Since 2009, Sherrard High School has offered juniors and seniors a wide variety of classes they can take to earn college credit from Black Hawk College and other schools. Because the dual-credit classes are deeply discounted—and the district reimburses parents for half the cost—students can not only get ahead but also save significantly on the total cost of their college education. That means they have more flexibility to take lighter course loads during college, or they can choose to graduate earlier and in a better financial position.
“Yet we understand that even though the tuition costs for dual-credit classes are lower than post-secondary tuition, there are still families who can’t afford to take advantage of that opportunity,” said Boucher. The Looser-Flake Foundation–funded tuition assistance will help bridge that gap, with priority for students who qualify for the federal free or reduced lunch program.
When it comes to vocational education opportunities through the Quad City Career and Technical Education Consortium, the Sherrard district limits participation to 15 students. The Looser-Flake grant will extend the opportunity to least 10 additional low-income students, who can study skills like HVAC, nursing, and many others. As part of the grant, Sherrard High School will also build a commercial kitchen space and add a special dual-credit culinary arts course to its vocational curriculum.
“We know that many of our students are not going to get a traditional college degree,” said Boucher. “What’s great about these vocational education opportunities is that they set you up to earn a good wage with benefits so you can provide for yourself and your family.” Occupations like welding, he added, are in high demand in the Quad Cities region. “The skills these students will have are consistent with the skills needed right here. They don’t have to go somewhere else to have job security and a bright future.”
At Mercer County High School, opportunities for students to earn college credit through affordable Advanced Placement and dual-credit—including vocational—classes have grown in recent years, with offerings from calculus and biology to horticulture and animal nutrition. In light of growing interest, Mercer, like Sherrard, has recognized the financial barriers that may keep lower-income students from benefiting from a head start on their education or career after high school. With full and partial scholarships funded by Looser-Flake, Mercer will pursue a goal of increasing the number of students in these programs, with an eye toward future expansions and new partnerships with local colleges. These efforts build on a 2021 Looser-Flake grant that helped Mercer implement new technology for hands-on training in welding and veterinary care.
“The Looser-Flake Charitable Foundation has been a staunch, visionary champion of educational opportunities in Mercer County and Mercer County Better Together’s long-term goals,” said Kelly Thompson, the Community Foundation’s vice president of grantmaking and community initiatives. “With these grants to Sherrard and Mercer County School Districts, they’re making an investment in the future of all the county’s students—an incredible investment in the future of the county itself.”
“Looser-Flake has been an unspeakable blessing not only to our district but to the Mercer County School District, too,” said Boucher. “We are so grateful to Looser-Flake for coming alongside us and for the wonderful opportunities they’re providing for the people of rural Mercer County. We would not be able to do these things without their support—but because of it, we thrive.”
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About the Looser-Flake Charitable Foundation
The Looser-Flake Charitable Foundation is a private foundation started in 2013 to serve charitable causes in Mercer County. Dorothy Looser-Flake and Roberta Looser were sisters who were born and raised on a family farm near New Boston Township, Illinois. They cared deeply about the community that gave them so much growing up and left a portion of their estates to establish the charitable foundation to support the region. Between 2015 and 2017, the Looser-Flake Charitable Foundation awarded more than half a million dollars to advance economic development and improve education in Mercer County, Illinois.
***Report Courtesy of the Quad Cities Community Foundation***
