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Fremd High School anti-bullying scholarship hits $10,000 goal

An anti-bullying scholarship honoring the memory of a once bullied member of Fremd High School's Class of 1975 has exceeded its fundraising goal of $10,000, clearing the way for it to be awarded this month to two of the Palatine school's 2015 graduates.

After the Daily Herald reported Tuesday that the John Trout Anti-Bullying Scholarship fund remained about $1,500 short of its goal, an anonymous donor from Long Grove came forward with a check for the missing amount.

"It's really resonated with a great cross-section of the community," said Pamela Olander, a Palatine resident and 1975 Fremd graduate who's led the fundraising effort. "This thing had a big ripple effect. I'm really happy to see that."

There were other meaningful donations of smaller amounts sent in over the past few days, Olander said. One person anonymously brought a $20 bill to the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 office, for instance. Most contributions averaged about $100, Olander said.

The fundraiser was organized as a way of making the Class of '75's upcoming 40-year reunion about more than just getting reacquainted.

Trout, who died of a heart attack four years ago at the age of 53, had been severely bullied in high school largely because of behavior that today would be considered consistent with high-functioning autism. He went on to become an accountant who ran his own small but successful firm in Palatine until his death.

"I hope wherever Johnny is he's smiling, because I know his mother is," Olander said. "This has meant the world to her. I would call it a form of poetic justice."

Trout's mother was an English teacher at Fremd at the same time her son was bullied, but had been unable to put a stop to it even from her position. After her son graduated, she became one of the school's first special-education teachers.

Now 94 years old, she lives in fragile health at an assisted care facility and was not able to be reached for this story.

The scholarship in John Trout's name will be divided into $5,000 awards for two graduating seniors, both of whom will receive the money anonymously, Olander said.

Chosen by a small committee of faculty members at Fremd, one winner will be a student who has been bullied, while the other will be rewarded for having stood up to bullying.

Organizers initially planned to publicly recognize the student who stood up to bullying, but school officials recently decided to keep that winner anonymous to protect bullied students' identities, Olander said.

The amount was based on what it would cost for two students to attend Harper College for two years, but there will be no requirement for the winners to attend Harper.

As of Thursday, the total collected was $10,741, which will cover the two $5,000 scholarships and a 5 percent administration fee paid to the district for its handling of the money.

The next big challenge will be turning the scholarship into an annual tradition, Olander said. She plans to work that out when she meets with other members of the Class of '75 at their reunion in August.

"It seemed a bit ambitious at the beginning, even to me, but I felt in my bones we could do it," Olander said.

Fremd HS alumni create anti-bullying scholarship in classmate's memory

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Fremd Class of '75 nearing goal for anti-bullying scholarships

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