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Our Founders

Nikko Ritter - Class of 2007

The Founders' Society Class

Class 2 - FY2014-2015

Why did you decide to join The Founders Society?
I felt I am in a position to be able to help, and I felt Crooms AoIT's biggest weakness has been it is underfunded, as are most educational institutions. Our school's population isn't necessarily the wealthiest, but we have continually been able to perform at a high caliber and have some of the greatest successes in one the best counties for education in Florida. So, finally being a position that allowed me to help address this weakness, I decided I would.

Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant

COACH GEOFFRY ALAN HAINES ATHLETICS GRANT PROGRAM

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association established the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program in 2022 thanks to the generous support of an anonymous donor and our alumni supporters of the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk. The Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program intends to offer at least one (1) grant to a Crooms AoIT athletics team or club each year indefinitely into the future. The new grant application is open during each school year with more information being made available on the Alumni Association’s home page each school year.

Information for interested and prospective applicants
The Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program has been established to support the athletics, activities, and clubs at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in pursuit of a full and enriching academic experience for every student. The Alumni Association raises funds for the grant program through the use of private donations, which are separate from our membership dues. To keep the grant program viable, we ask that your team or program members and families become involved in the to the Alumni Association’s events and activities now or in the future to ensure future students are able to receive similar support.

General Program Guidelines
This program is intended to support the student athletics, activities, and clubs as well as faculty and classroom needs that benefit the general student body. To be eligible for a grant, the requester must be affiliated with a recognized sport or athletic club at Crooms Academy of Information Technology or be a faculty member at the school. In the past, winning Grant applicants have purchased tangible goods, paid entry fees for events which benefit a great number of students, or paid for salaries of sporting officials (such as referees or other volunteer officials). A full history of grant recipients is available on the Giving Tally webpage.

Grants will not be approved for the following:

Non school related programs and events
Individual requests for non-scholastic sponsorships
Programs of a sectarian, religious or political nature

How to apply

The Alumni Association makes information available on its home page during each school year. Interested individuals can also reach out at scholarship@croomslumni.com.

About Coach Geoffry Allan Haines and the Grant Program
The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association announced the creation of the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program in recognition of the contributions of Dr Geoffry Alan Haines in the creation of the Crooms Academy of Information Technology’s athletics program. The Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program intends to offer at least one (1) grant to a Crooms AoIT athletics team or club each year indefinitely into the future.

Coach Haines – who passed away in February 2022 – helped ensure that Crooms AoIT students could participate in athletics, sporting activities, and sports clubs at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in pursuit of a full and enriching academic experience during their high school years. During the establishment of Crooms AoIT, Coach Haines ensured resources were available to help start the athletics program after the school was not initially envisioned to include organized sports. Coach Haines attended nearly every sporting event for Crooms AoIT in the early years. Croomies remember him as a teacher, coach, athletics director, medical director, part-time announcer, part-time score board operator, part-time water boy, and every other position needed to support a burgeoning high school sports program.

The Grant Program replaces the Athletics Grant Program launched by the Alumni Association under the patronage of Class of 2006 graduates Frank C. Bracco (2012-2018) and Julian Gordon (2019) and Class of 2011 graduate Gregory Raymond (2020). Previous iterations of the Athletics Grant required explicitly earmarked financial commitments from donors as it aimed to not utilize membership fees. The Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program replaces this funding model and is instead funded by a large initial contribution from an anonymous donor along with a dedicated funding stream (a portion of brick sales from the Alumni Panther Walk are earmarked to the grant program).