SAD 46 receives donations from K of C and Parola Foundation

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    DEXTER — In the spirit of the “giving season,” John Parola presented two checks to School Administrative District 46 at last week’s meeting: one from the local Knights of Columbus council and the other from the Jeffrey S. Parola Foundation.

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    PAROLA FUND DONATION — John Parola presented a check for $1,075 from the Jeffrey S. Parola Foundation to the SAD 46 Board of Directors last week to be used for the Tri-County Technical Center’s Criminal Justice Program. Pictured, from left, are TCTC student Cameron Ross, State Trooper Steve Morrill, TCTC student Matt Webber, Parola, State Police Col. (Ret.) Steve Spaulding and TCTC Director Pat O’Neil.

    Parola is a school board member, grand knight or president of the Knights of Columbus council and started the foundation named in honor of his son, a state trooper who died in the line of duty in 1994.
    The K of C donation of $1,168 came from the fraternal organization’s annual Tootsie Roll sales, a program to assist physically challenged or special needs children, Parola explained. “In years past, we’ve made donations to the Maine Special Olympics, the Little Red Schoolhouse and to individuals who were having a difficult time because someone in their household was gravely ill or disabled,” Parola said.
    In recent years, however, the donations have been earmarked for the special services department at SAD 46. “They, in turn, decide how to use it. Our only request is that part of the donation goes to the high school and part to the elementary and middle schools,” he said. Accepting the donation were Dexter Regional High School life skills teacher Kelly Tobin, Parola and Ridge View Community School life skills teacher Nancy Gekeler.
    The second donation of $1,075 was from leftover funds from the Jeffrey S. Parola Foundation which was disbanded earlier this year, Parola said. The foundation has awarded dozens of scholarships during the past 20 years and made donations to the state police tactical team for equipment purchases and to other programs at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.
    Parola said that he and Jeffrey’s mother “have more or less run out of steam” as the foundation approached its 20th anniversary after raising more than $300,000 in total donations. However, there were some funds left over, so they decided to donate them to the school “in the town where he grew up and graduated,” Parola said. The money will go toward the criminal justice program at the Tri County Technical Center.
    Accepting the check were State Trooper Steve Morrill; Steve Spaulding, a retired state police colonel and the instructor at the TCTC criminal justice program; and TCTC criminal justice cadets Matt Webber and Cameron Ross.
    Spaulding recalled the night that he received word about Jeff Parola’s fatal accident. “It really hit home, obviously. It made me realize that after 22 years in the state police, that even the ‘best of the best’ are vulnerable to tragedies,” Spaulding said. He praised John Parola for the foundation’s support of the tactical team and the scholarships for youngsters who wanted to enter the law enforcement field.
    In 2005, one of the scholarships went to Morrill, who Spaulding said had many of the same attributes as Parola. “This guy is a little Jeff Parola. I sent him a text message about the ceremony, and he was in dive team training in Brunswick. He finished his training in the afternoon, and drove here tonight,” Spaulding said. “That’s dedication.”

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    K OF C DONATION — John Parola, grand knight (president) of the Dexter Knights of Columbus Council, presented a $1,168 check to SAD 46 for the district’s special services program. The money was raised by the K of C’s annual Tootsie Roll drive. Pictured, from left, are Dexter Regional High School life skills teacher Kelly Tobin, Parola and Ridge View Community School life skills teacher Nancy Gekeler.