Bennett High School Alumni Association

Investing in students today,  tomorrow and forever

“There’s just something magical about Bennett High School,” shared Neil Lange, President of the Bennett High School Alumni Association. Neil spent his entire career teaching there and describes his alma mater as a special place that creates lifelong relationships for students.

Margaret Puzio, Neil’s former colleague who serves as First Vice President of the Alumni Association, added, “The whole focus of the Alumni Association is on the students and the Alumni Association works hard to provide support that creates that magic.”

Established in 1999 to provide curriculum-enriching activities to current students, the Alumni Association faced its most pivotal moment in 2013 when the school was slated to close due to underperformance. At that time, the Alumni Association came together to advocate for the school, developing an extensive plan that ultimately helped keep it open.

As the Alumni Association continued to expand its membership – which today includes upwards of 600 alumni from around the globe – its leadership knew they wanted to establish an endowment for perpetual support of Bennett’s students. This includes awarding grants for field trips and enrichment activities, such as providing earth science students with mineral and fossil specimens from the Buffalo Geological Societies Gem and Mineral Show.

The Alumni Association had already established scholarship funds at the Community Foundation, so it was a natural decision to establish a new fund there.

“We needed to have a place that our membership would trust; the Community Foundation was that place,” noted Margaret.

As Bennett High School is celebrating 100 years in 2025, the Alumni Association continues to support the school, which currently serves 500 students and boasts a graduation rate of nearly 90 percent, and its members appreciate the ease of working with the Community Foundation.

“The Community Foundation sincerely cares about us and makes sure that we’re in the best position possible to work toward our goal of supporting a high-quality education in a Buffalo public school,” said Neil.

This story is featured in our 2024 Annual Report.