FAIRBORN — The same Fairborn alumnus who donated $750,000 towards student technology has more than quadrupled his monetary contributions to the school district. The anonymous donor made a $2.5 million contribution to help the district purchase land to build a new high school, bringing his total contributions to a whopping $3.25 million.
The money will go towards purchasing the 86 acres of land between Commerce Center Boulevard and Interstate 675, south of Garland Avenue, the anticipated site of the new school.
In an official statement, Superintendent Gene Lolli said, in part: “In all my years in education, I have never experienced such an incredible gesture for a public school district. The high school will be a symbol of pride in the community and create an educational environment to prepare our students for the future.”
The $3.25 million is likely the largest single donation the school district has ever received.
“This $3.25 million donation is probably one of the largest single person donations to a public school in the Miami Valley and the State of Ohio,” said Fairborn City Schools’ Treasurer, Kevin Philo. “We are extremely grateful for this generosity.”
A statement from the anonymous donor said:
“My first class moving to Fairborn High School was a summer school typing class before my sophomore year started. Of course, we used manual typewriters, something hard to find today. That one class ended up serving me well over the years as fast and accurate typing turned out to be critical in all my professional activity but is also symbolic of what my Fairborn experience provided.
“At the turn of the 20th century, Dayton and Huffman Prairie were a hub of creative energy in the country. The worldwide web of aviation information was in Chicago with Octave Chanute, a true believer in the open and free exchange of information for the advancement of science. Chanute collected theories, reports of experiments and the occasional advancement in heavier than air flight from around the world. He was where Dayton’s Wright brothers went via mail rather than googling to learn everything they could about what all the other pioneers in aviation were doing to solve the mystery of such powered flight. The brothers learned everything that was known to mankind and that knowledge fueled their curiosity enabling them to conquer human flight.
“It is more important today for students to have technology to access the best teachers and chaperones to guide them, especially if they are required to safely distance. When students have access, today’s communications technologies offer an ability to learn from today’s Chanute, Aristotle and Leila Kubesch, not matter where the future “Flyers” are or what language they or their teachers speak. Fairborn now has the land on which the community can build a learning environment to see it through this century. A vaccine will come soon, the pandemic will end and if Fairborn supports the bond levy, the community now has a place to put a new modern campus to grow a new generation to conquer life’s mysteries.“
