It is with great pleasure that we add to the committee two honorary members, Bill Carbone and Tom Panitch, high school graduates who continue to care about our high school and the students who share our story.

Members of the scholarship/mentor committee have shared their backgrounds.

Bill · Tom · Judy · Marty · Nancy · Ron · 
Ilene · Russ · Jean · Arthur · Carla · Ron

Bill Carbone: Bill graduated in 1957 as vice president of his IHS class. He served in the US Army and after his discharge, attended Montclair State College. He taught biology at Glen Rock High School for thirty years. He continues to be active in local and county affairs. On the suggestion of his former second grade teacher, Elinor Schmalstich, and a friend, Mel Renick, he established the all class reunion which continues to this day. He is married and has two sons and three granddaughters.

Tom Panitch: Tom graduated IHS in 1956. He attended Rutgers and graduated in 1960. From there he attended Temple Dental School and then served in the army from 1964 to 1968 as a captain. In July 1966 he joined his father in the practice of dentistry and he is still at it! He married in 1962 and has three children and 6 grand children. He stated that in 2021 the Panitch family will be in dentistry 100 years. He also wanted to share the information that he drove an Irvington cab from 1956 until 1962!

Judy Manz Henderson: Graduated in 1960 from Irvington High School and from from Virginia Tech in 1964. She spent many years as a volunteer with a high school student exchange program placing international students with America families. She was the east coast host family coordinator for several years. Her hubby was a US Army colonel and is now retired.

Marty Jacobs: Graduated in 1960 and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he received a BS in chemistry and in 1969 he earned a Ph.D. from Princeton. He is married and has two daughters and three grandchildren. He spent most of his career with Uniroyal, becoming Vice President of Research and Development for the Uniroyal Engineered Products. He is sem-retired but still consults in the areas of textile and plastics science. He is the chair of the IHS Alumni Scholarship Committee since its inception in 2007.

Nancy Hetz Sieffert: Graduated in 1960 and received a BS in mathematics from DePauw University and later an MMS from Stevens Institute. She worked for IBM for 34 years in various marketing positions and retired in 2008. She resides in New Jersey.

Ron Burke : Graduated in 1960, married his high school sweetheart and earned a B.S. in Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has four sons and three grandchildren. He was Chief Executive Officer of his own business and now resides in Southern California . He has been mentoring one of the recipients of the scholarship for the past several years.

Ilene Barr Skolnik: Graduated in 1959 and attended the University of Vermont and The George Washington University. She has a doctorate in Educational Administration from Rutgers and is semi-retired after having worked in various school districts and the State Department of Education for over 30 years. She is married and has two daughters and two grandchildren.

Russell Rascoe: Graduated from Irvington High School in 1960. He earned a B.A. degree from Stetson University and Masters degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1968. Upon retiring from the ministry, he went on to work as the Chief Executive Officer of a psychiatric hospital and outpatient mental health center in Ocala, Florida. He is still in that position but plans to retire soon. He is married and has three sons and five grandchildren.

Jean Martin Fowler: Graduated in 1960 from IHS and received her BA in Economics from Colby College in Waterville, Maine in 1964. She later received her Masters Degree from Pace University, NY City. Her career was spent in the information technology area spanning 1964 through 2003, an era of great advancement and change. While at IHS, Jean was one of the prime initiators of the first Foreign Exchange Student Program.

Carla: Carla Rodriguez has joined the committee to assist in the projects and mission of the fund. She graduated IHS in 1962 and was married, has a daughter and two grandchildren. She resides in Somerset and serves as president of her condo association. Right now she is semi-retired after 45 years as an executive assistant. She said she is enjoying the slower pace of being semi-retired and is looking forward to helping the scholarship fund in its mission.

Ron: Ronald Josias, a scholarship recipient and now a duly certified college graduate, has volunteered to help with the scholarship fund. He will be our second honorary member of the committee and we welcome him to our group.

Elinor Schmalstich (’42) has agreed to be listed as “Honorary” in connection with the IHS Alumni Scholarship Fund.