Johnston Foundation Inducts Star Athlete Jerry Quick, Former Summit Principal Gary Busby into Hall of Fame

Each year the Johnston Community Schools Foundation supports Johnston students and teachers through grants and recognition of teachers, students and former teachers at the annual .

This year is no different, the foundation will honor two outstanding men with inductions to the Alumni and Educator Hall of Fame, while honoring three current teachers as outstanding educators and three seniors as outstanding students.

Jerry Quick, a 1980 graduate of the school district, will be inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at the banquet on April 13.

Gary Busby, a graduate of the district and educator in the district for 35 years, will be inducted into the Educator Hall of Fame at the same banquet.

Both men have a rich history in the district.

Busby told The Des Moines Register he was first attracted to teaching in the district after his own experiences.

“I spent the first 19 years as a teacher and the next 16 as an administrator,” Busby said in the Register article. “I started teaching in the old seventh- through 12th-grade building, which has since been torn down. We had one elementary school, and then that building. Things certainly have changed.”

Eventually, Busby retired as the principal of Summit Middle School.

Quick told the Register his time in Johnston has been memorable from the start as a child.

“We moved to Johnston from the north side of Des Moines when I was a kid, and from day one, people were just incredible, supportive and encouraging and wanting the best for me,” Quick, 50, of Johnston told the Register. “I always knew that I wanted to someday raise my kids in Johnston. Fortunately, my wife, Cindy, and I were able to make that happen.”

At Johnston High School, Quick was a star athlete and well-rounded student.
Since his time as a student he has volunteered as a coach, served on the Foundation board and Johnston Boosters Club.

The Foundation Banquet will also honor current Johnston educators for their ongoing work.

Josh Morgan, a band teacher at and , Kathy Paul, ELP coordinator and teacher and Jake Randall, eighth-grade math and technology teacher will be awarded for their outstanding contribution to students.

Current students Scott Syroka, Kaitlyn Aldrich and Mackensie Noble will be honored as outstanding students.

The Hall of Fame Banquet will take place at 6 p.m. at on Friday, April 13. The program includes a special performance by the Johnston Middle School eighth grade Opus Choir.

Tickets are available at the Johnston or the for $25 per person.

Learn more about the Foundation
The Johnston Community Schools Foundation is a non-profit and non-governmental organization providing resources for students to promote education excellence.

The Foundation funds school-based learning programs to benefit students directly.

Each year the Foundation awards grants to enhance classroom instruction, this work was recently documented in video promoting the Foundations work.