There are two established scholarships:
The Mario Conforti Scholarship:
In the summer of 1981, the students and alumni of WCMS lost a very special friend
– Dr. Mario Conforti. A long-time instructor at WCMS, Mario left his indelible imprint
on the school’s curriculum and the lives of its students. As a tribute to him, the
Alumni Association was founded and a trust, The Mario Conforti Memorial Scholarship
Fund, was established and is administered by the Alumni Association.
During Mr. Conforti’s involvement at WCMS he instilled in the students a deep sense
of personal worth and the wisdom to recognize that others also have a similar personal
worth. He used the fable of the Prince and the Frog to make his point; he taught
his students how to care about themselves and that it is ok to show others we care
about them. It was through his influence the FROG became the mascot of the School.
The Bob Toohey Founder’s Scholarship:
In 1997, to recognize his twenty-five years of service to the school and his founding
of the Alumni Association, the board and members of the Association instituted a
second annual scholarship, the R.J. “Bob” Toohey Founder’s Scholarship.
As a Credit Union volunteer, Bob graduated from District 4 School, as WCMS was formerly
known, in 1975. While attending District 4 School, and at the reqest of Charles
M. Clark, he organized the transportation of incoming students arriving at the Ontario
International Airport.
During the 1981 WCMS Alumni Graduate Program, Bob was asked to assist with the organization
of an alumni association for Western CUNA Management School by the Class of 1981
and those attending that year’s graduate session. Taking that request seriously,
Bob spent numerous volunteer hours to assure the foundation of the WCMS Alumni Association
would provide for a future organization that both benefited the WCMS as well as
all those who attended the School, past, present, and in the future.
Following Bobs retirement from Southern California Edison, and uncertain of what
lay ahead for his personal life, Bob advised the Alumni Board that he felt it best
if he did not run for reelection to the WCMS Alumni Board of Directors in 1987.
By a resolution of the Alumni Board and approved by the general membership, R.J.
“Bob” Toohey was declared Chairman Emeritus of the WCMS Alumni Association during
their annual meeting on July 24, 1997.