A Permanent Tribute · Batavia, Illinois
For a decade, Dennis Piron turned Batavia students into entrepreneurs. Now we're endowing a scholarship in his name — funded forever, with no annual fundraising.
We're raising $100,000 to permanently endow the scholarship. The Dunham Foundation has approved a $50,000 matching grant — so every dollar the community commits is now guaranteed to be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $50,000. The grant is released once the community's first $50,000 has been raised and received — so every gift given today moves the match closer to releasing.
We're raising the community half entirely from lead donors right now. With the Dunham Foundation's $50,000 match approved, every dollar a lead donor commits is matched dollar-for-dollar — the more we commit, the more of the full match we draw down.
Through the Batavia High School INCubator program, Dennis Piron guided countless students as they turned raw ideas into real businesses — coaching them through everything from pro-forma financials to pitch night in front of a room full of investors.
He taught them courage, teamwork, and what it feels like to bring something to life. This scholarship — awarded annually to a graduating senior who carries that spirit forward — makes his impact permanent.
"There's a tough love that prepares them in ways I don't know that college does. Nobody like him. Nobody." — Gary Ricke, Mentor
What good people children are. Given the opportunity to serve, to help in a community, to be part of something special — how willing they are to do it.Dennis Piron On what a decade of INCubator taught him
Student-run Batavia newspaper for seniors earns top prize at pitch night, plans to expand
When Batavia High School senior Bryan Wnek's grandmother was living in a care center, what she missed most was her newspaper. In Dennis Piron's INCubator class, that observation became a company. Guided by Piron, Wnek and classmates Ben Manikas and Lexie Kammes built The Windmill Weekly — a 12- to 16-page tabloid, printed in oversized type, for residents of care centers and assisted-living facilities.
At the INCubator's Pitch Night, their pitch won the program's top donation prize: a $3,400 check for equipment, a website, and marketing. The Daily Herald caught up with the team this month as they prepare for a July 28 ribbon-cutting at the Batavia Chamber of Commerce and plan an expansion into Aurora, Geneva, and St. Charles. All three students are carrying the business into next school year.
A student's observation, coached into a business that serves its community — that is the work this scholarship exists to carry forward.
Read the full story in the Daily Herald
"The students crafted this new business through the guidance of INCubator instructor Dennis Piron." — Dave Heun, Daily Herald
Voices from the 16-minute tribute reel — students, parents, and mentors on what Coach Piron meant to Batavia.
Add your name to the people carrying Dennis's work forward.
Give NowGive once, and the Dunham Foundation matches it dollar-for-dollar. Your gift is tax-deductible and goes straight into an endowment that funds a Batavia senior every year — permanently.
A leadership gift of $2,000–$5,000 is what moves this fastest — but every gift counts, and every gift is matched.
The Dunham Foundation has approved a $50,000 dollar-for-dollar grant — so your gift arrives at the endowment worth twice what you gave.
Your gift, doubled, joins the endowment held by the Batavia Foundation for Educational Excellence. The scholarship is funded for good.
This effort is organized by a volunteer steering committee — every member has already made a personal commitment to the scholarship.
The $50,000 match is secured, and it releases as soon as our half is raised and received. A single leadership gift, doubled, moves us meaningfully toward $100,000.
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