Spartan Educational Foundation Honors Dzurison at Annual Fundraiser

The Spartan Educational Foundation of Oak Lawn Community High School District 229 is planning its scholarship benefit at Stony Creek Golf Course on Friday, April 15, from 4-7 p.m.

As part of the event activities, the Foundation will honor distinguished retired teacher and speech/drama coach Tom Dzurison.

The event is being sponsored in order to raise money for student scholarships and teacher mini-grants.

For many years, the name Tom Dzurison was synonymous with Oak Lawn Community High School’s Speech and Theater programs. 

Dzurison began teaching at OLCHS in 1977 after graduating from Northern Illinois University.  Later, he earned a master's degree from St. Xavier University.

For 32 years, Dzurison taught special education at Oak Lawn, primarily teaching science.

In 1978, Dzurison took on the challenge of leading Oak Lawn Community High School’s theater program.  At the time, the program was underfunded and inexperienced.  He turned the program around. 

Dzurison directed plays for 30 years.  Under his lead, high school plays performed in a gym were transformed — to experiences that moved the audience. 

One of his favorite Oak Lawn theatrical experiences was the musical Barnum, which has a circus setting. For that show, the auditorium gym was literally transformed into a big top circus tent! 

In 1979, Dzurison added the role of assistant speech coach to his list of responsibilities.  He continued in this role until the early 1990s, when he became the head speech coach at Oak Lawn Community High School.  As a speech coach, Tom saw much success, including eight individual state champions and many team placements throughout the years.

In the early 2000s, Dzurison decided to try yet another extracurricular activity: competitive theater.  For six years, he directed the contest play and guided the directors of the group interpretation. He was able to secure one Contest Play state championship and two Group Interpretation state championships.

While Dzurison was a teacher, his passion always lay in extracurricular activities.  He enjoyed coaching and directing because under his guidance, students always seemed to surpass their own personal expectations. 

“The reason I did speech and theater for so long was to watch students improve," he said.  "Watching each student get better than before ... that’s why I coach.  Extracurricular activities teach kids responsibilities, and help structure their lives for college, and beyond.” 

Tickets are available for $40 a person or $400 per table.

For information, call 708-741-5601.