Back in 1962, Franklin High School Principal Joe Herman started the effort to provide Franklin’s graduating seniors with financial awards by collecting $500 and awarding it to two students.  The primary source of these funds came from donations from Franklin faculty and a few Highland Park merchants.  Each year over the next five years, Mr. Herman continued to collect funds and award these funds to select Franklin students.  Then in 1967, Principal Mort Tenner arrived at Franklin and continued Mr. Herman’s effort.  Additionally, Mr. Tenner had a vision for improving the college counseling program and created the College Advisor position whose sole focus would be to send more students to higher education with the necessary financial aid funds that would permit them to successfully pursue their studies. This College Counselor position was filled by drafting teacher Jack Wright, who held the position from 1971 to 1992. Although Mr. Wright is now retired, he serves on the Foundation’s Board and continues to work hard to ensure that those Franklin students who wish to attend higher education are able to do so by assisting them with financial awards.  In 1990, Mr. Tenner and Mr. Wright conceived of the idea of turning their fundraising effort into a non-profit charitable corporation.  They brought together twelve Franklin alumni and staff members who enthusiastically endorsed their idea and the work of forming the charitable corporation began. Franklin graduate Rocky Delgadillo (Class of ’78) was then a lawyer at the O’Melveney and Myers firm and he enlisted the help of his colleague Deborah Kanter and together they worked on a pro-bono basis to prepare the necessary legal documents. The momentous day arrived on July 9, 1993, when the document was duly signed by the board members giving our foundation 501(c)(3) status and the Franklin High School Educational Foundation was born.