GISD, GPEF name five to Hall of Honor wall

For a third year Graham ISD and Graham Public Education Foundation presented awards for their Hall of Honor program Friday, recognizing alumni, staff and community members who have provided meritorious service to the district and/or to their profession.

GPEF is a non-profit organization which gives funding to the district outside of the budget through a grant application process and obtains money through donations and fundraising events such as the Kitchen Crawl. The board for GPEF, along with members of the school district administration, review the requests and choose grants which are available to fund and would make an impact.

“Over the past many years since their inception they have helped to give grants in the amount a little over $450,000 to Graham ISD teachers in the form of mini grants that are given each spring,” GISD Superintendent Sonny Cruse said Friday.

GISD announced Wednesday, May 15, nominations were open for the event and they were accepted through Thursday, June 27, for five categories.

The 2019 honorees are Dean Smith (Distinguished Alumni), Alwana Vaughan (Distinguished Alumni), Georgia Adaline Johnson Wood (Distinguished Alumni), John E. (Johnny) Allcorn (Distinguished Staff), Willie Allen (Distinguished Staff) and Mary McFarlane Pitcock (Distinguished Staff).

The second annual Hall of Honor presentation was hosted on Homecoming, Oct. 26, 2018, and 10 alumni, staff and community members were recognized at the Graham High School commons area.

This year’s Hall of Honor reception was hosted Friday before the Steers homecoming game at the Graham High School library. The honorees were then presented to those in attendance at Newton Field between the first and second quarter of the Steers homecoming game.

Johnny Allcorn - Distinguished Staff Member

Johnny Allcorn was a member of the Graham High School Class of 1944. He served the district for 44 years as an auto-mechanics instructor and the Director of Maintenance and Transportation. During the early part of WWII, while a high school student, he helped maintain the buses and worked as a bus driver for the school district.

Miss Willie Allen - Distinguished Staff Member

Miss Willie Allen graduated as valedictorian of the Graham High School Class of 1924. She taught for 39 years, serving 21 years of those years at GHS. She was the Latin and English teacher, while serving as the head of the English department.

Mary McFarlane Pitcock - Distinguished Staff Member

Pitcock is a member of the Graham High School Class of 1941. She served as an English teacher for 24 years. According to Cruse, she dedicated her  life to the graham public education system and established a pattern of teaching excellence which benefited her students and her fellow teachers.

“I am deeply touched,” Pitcock said Friday. “I graduated from this high school in 1941, you can do the math on that, and I have always been ever so proud of this campus and will ever continue to be and thank you, this is indeed a very special honor.”

Alwana Vaughan - Distinguished Alumni

Vaughan was a member of the Graham High School Class of 1930. According to Cruse, she was integral to the success of the annual All-American Girl Pageant for 30 years. She taught music and voice to hundreds of Graham students during her lifetime. In 2000, she was honored by the State of Texas as a recipient of the Hero For Children Award.

“I am deeply honored to be selected to accept this award, but actually it is the hundreds and hundreds of children in Graham from almost all of the last century would have been touched by Alwana in some way,” Jack Cody, who accepted the award on her behalf, said Friday. “So, from the courtrooms, to boardrooms, to back porches, to setting in living rooms, people have used her talents and referred to many, many times.”

Georgia Adaline Johnson Wood - Distinguished Alumni

Wood was an 1897 graduate of Graham High School. She served 20 years as an educator of music, dance and voice for GISD. According to Cruse, she was deeply respected throughout the community that all Graham schools closed so students and faculty could attend her funeral.

Dean Smith - Distinguished Alumni

Smith is a member of the Graham High School Class of 1950. Following high school, he attended the University of Texas in Austin. Some of his accomplishments include: winning a gold medal in track in the 1952 Olympics, being inducted into the Stuntman’s Hall of Fame in 1980, being inducted into the University of Texas Hall of Honor in 1980 and being inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.

“I would like to say how thankful I am to have a great grandmother who moved me to Graham from Eliasville when I was about nine-years-old,” Smith said Friday. “(...) Going to Graham High School shaped my life and really did a lot for me and I see so many faces here that I grew up with.”

For the rest of the story, see the Wednesday, Oct. 2 edition of The Graham Leader.