Calumet High School Scholarship program recently received a major contribution that has enabled the program to provide money for four different scholarship programs. (Photo courtesy of CLK Schools via The Houghton Daily Mining Gazette)

CALUMET — The Calumet High School Scholarship Program recently received a major contribution in the form of an endowment in excess of $2 million dollars, thanks to the generosity of John “Jack” Hill and his wife, Ruth Hendra Hill, Superintendent Chris Davidson said in a Friday release.

The John M. Hill and Ruth Hendra Hill Scholarship Fund was established Feb. 21 with the sale proceeds from three rental properties that Jack willed to the CLK Foundation. The proceeds provided a $2.2 million endowment that will provide money for four different scholarship programs, the release stated.

John “Jack” M. Hill, and his wife were members of the Calumet High School class of 1929. Jack did not complete high school, but obtained a GED. With strong math skills and his GED, Jack was accepted into a trade school. After a tour of duty in Vietnam, he moved to California and began his career as a sheet metal worker. At the time of his retirement, he was a well-respected foreman of the trade. Jack passed away Jan. 5, 2019. He was preceded in death by Ruth.

With a lifelong attachment to the Keweenaw, his way of giving back to the community was through a scholarship fund for the benefit of students of the Calumet High School.

Four concurrent scholarships assist fifth-year early college students with living expenses on the Gogebic Community College Ironwood campus, states the release; four dual enrollment scholarships to assist families with tuition costs not covered by CLK Schools; two trade school or community college scholarships that are renewable up to two years, and three college/university scholarships that are renewable up to four years.

“We are extremely grateful for Mr. Hill’s generosity,” said Calumet High School Principal Jennifer Peters. “I am so happy for our students. It’s exciting to think of the opportunities this amount of financial assistance will provide for our graduates, in addition to what we already have.”

By the fourth year of the John M. Hill and Ruth Hendra Hill Scholarship Fund, over $108,000 will be available annually to graduating seniors of Calumet High School, doubling the current local scholarship amount.The Hill scholarships will be available starting with this year’s class of 2022.

The Calumet High School scholarship program provides $135,000 in scholarship funds to CHS graduating seniors every year.

“These scholarships have been provided by the generous donations from CHS alumni, community members, and community organizations,” the release stated, “that wish to give back by assisting graduates with the cost of post-secondary education and training. These scholarships have been donated directly to the Public Schools of Calumet, Laurium & Keweenaw or the CLK Foundation, and are only available to students graduating from Calumet High School.”

The CLK Foundation is run by a group of community volunteers enabling nearly all donations received to be allocated to projects that directly benefit CLK students, according to the CLK School’s website.

Since its inception, the foundation has donated funds towards projects ranging from the publication of Mine Collar Mystery, a book written and illustrated by CLK fourth grade students, to a Miller Diversion 165 TIG Welder to be used by the welding, metal shop, and power mechanics classes, to a LabQuest Water Quality starter package to be used by students at the Horizons School in a cooperative project with the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. Currently the foundation is also working toward building an endowment to ensure the sustainability of its work.

The CLK Foundation’s website states that the mission of the CLK Foundation “believes every CLK student deserves the opportunity to receive the fullest possible education. We achieve this belief by providing supplemental financial support to the CLK Schools and staff for the development and implementation of projects and ideas that foster and significantly enhance the educational experience of CLK students. It is our desire to secure this effort into the future through the ongoing and long-term financial support of alumni and those who care.”