Moran wins Dream Big Staff award posthumously, campaign raises $145,000

QUINCY – The Quincy Public Schools Foundation was the host of the 12^th annual Night to Dream Big Gala at the Oakley-Lindsay Center in Quincy as part of the Dream Big Annual Campaign fundraiser Friday. It also honored a teacher who died last month after a long battle with cancer.

Jenni Moran was a special education teacher at Quincy High School, and her husband, Tom Moran, accepted the Dream Big Staff Choice Award, which is reserved for the teacher who was selected through a peer nomination and then a community voting process. The nomination process was opened to all staff of Quincy Public Schools. The nominee with the highest number of votes at each school location was then moved on to the community voting process.

Megan Miller Masterson and Karyn McNay Dunn sang “For Good” in honor of Moran and the coaching staff of the 1981 boys basketball team.

The name for the 2024 Dream Big Raffle was announced as Carol, Lon & Reed Cornwell for winning two Aventon e-Bikes.

Another highlight from the evening was a recreation of the opening of a Blue Devil basketball game as part of the festivities for the 1981 Class AA state championship boys basketball team. Many current QHS students helped to celebrate the evening, including the drumline, both the boys and girls basketball teams, the cheerleaders, pommers, wrestling and girls soccer team members, National Honor Society students and Beta Club.

Auctions raised more than $145,000 for the Quincy Public Schools Foundation’s annual campaign.  Items in the auction were donated from hundreds of community individuals and businesses and included a VIP package to see “The Outsiders” on Broadway, a diamond ring and a football helmet signed by five Hall of Fame players from the Kansas City Chiefs.

Bidders can pick up their auction items on Nov. 6-7 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Baldwin Elementary School at the circular drive on the west end of the building, accessed from 30^th Street.