Bad Axe Public Schools and the Huron County Community Foundation proudly partnered in 2015 to form the Hatchet Fund. The Hatchet Fund is designed to benefit the excellent programs offered through the school. School funds are a great way for alumni, employees, and communities to support local schools permanently by giving to an endowment. As long as the school exists, gifts to the fund will continue to provide additional funding to the district for field trips, athletics and other extracurricular activities, fine arts programs, technology updates, and much more. The idea to start the Hatchet Fund came from the great people of the Bad Axe community who donate their time, talents, and money to our school programs. In working with HCCF the process to donate is very simple and donors will know that their gift is going directly to help with the high quality education provided to our students.
The Hatchet Fund benefits the school after the endowed balance reaches $5,000. Once the fund starts to grant to the District, how the grant dollars are distributed will be done through an internal application process and selected by the Hatchet Fund committee. Teachers and student groups will apply for funding for special projects, equipment, or other educational aides that helps assist with student growth in and out of the classroom.
If you would like to make a gift to the Hatchet Fund, checks can be made out to HCCF, writing Hatchet Fund in the Memo line, and send them to the Huron County Community Foundation at PO 56, Bad Axe. Gifts via credit card can be made online at huroncountycommunityfoundation.org. HCCF is a 501(c)3 organization that can accept estate gifts, stocks, investments, gifts of land, and gift of crops. Please contact the Foundation for more details on supporting the Hatchet Fund at 989-269-2850.
In January of 2018, the fund had grown enough thanks to our generous donors to begin awarding funds to applicants. The fund is awarded each year in the early spring months.
| 2021 | Mr. Don Schadd | $300 | CNC Software |
| 2020 | Mrs. Autumn Swartzedruber | $250 | Boosting Ceramics |
| 2019 | Mrs. Mary Booms | $160 | Reading Enrichment Student Books |
| 2018 | Mr. Ron Johnston | $115 | Middle School Physical Education Archery Unit |
Bad Axe Public Schools is honored to recognize the following individuals who have received the Bad Axe Distinguished Alumni Award.
Click Here for Complete Bio of Distinguished Alumni (in PDF)
| 2019 | Mrs. Janice Holz | Class of 1960 | Mr. Richard Etzler | Class of 1983 | ||||
| 2018 | Dr. Clark Herrington | Class of 1944 | Mr. Leland "Jack" Rochefort | Class of 1951 | ||||
| 2017 | Mr. Richard Lee | Class of 1957 | Mr. William "Bill" Tageson | Class of 1960 | ||||
| 2016 | Mrs. Cheryl (Rivard) Rice | Class of 1974 | Mr. Donald Clark | Class of 1963 | ||||
| 2015 | Mr. George Haley | Class of 1966 | Dr. E. Lea Schelke | Class of 1958 | Mr. James Volk | Class of 1957 | ||
| 2014 | Mr. Stephen Moore | Class of 1979 | Capt. Thomas Otterbein | Class of 1966 | Mr. John Rowland | Class of 1956 |
- Service to their community
- Serving as positive, inspiring role model to young adults and others in their community
- Distinction in professional and personal life.
Each year's class of Distinguished Alumni are inducted as part of the High School Graduation ceremony. The Class of 2020 inductees will take place on May 31, 2020.
1. Click on the link Distinguished Alumni Nomination Form by scrolling back to the top of this webpage.
2. Complete the nomination form by including:
- Contact Information of the Nominee
- Contact Information of the person nominating
- Description of the alumnus' contributions to their community, profession, or to the state/nation.
3. Nominations for the Alumni Award must be received by February 15 of that year for consideration. Nominations will be accepted at any time and all nominations will be kept on file for future considerations.
4. Nominations forms should be submitted to:
Bad Axe Public Schools
Board of Education Office
c/o Distinguished Alumni Committee
200 N. Barrie Road
Bad Axe, MI 48413
ONCE A HATCHET, ALWAYS A HATCHET!
The Friends of Youth is a long standing tradition established in conjunction with the annual Thumb Meet of Champions in the sport of track and field. Each year, districts from around the Thumb of Michigan select and honor an individual(s) who made a special contribution to youth and youth programs and is not restricted to athletic programs. Those selected are then recognized as part of the Thumb Meet of Champions held in Caro, MI. The following is the list of "Bad Axe Friends of Youth" who have earned this distinction representing Bad Axe Schools.
| 1987 | Ervin Ignash | 1988 | John Blackstock | 1989 | Bill Walker |
| 1990 | Lee Kahler | 1992 | Virginia Jias | 1993 | Mike Cottick |
| 1994 | Rich Cook | 1995 | Larry Gavitt | 1996 | Larry Swackhamer |
| 1997 | Sue VanErp | 1998 | Mary Rapson | 1999 | Scott MacGregor |
| 2000 | Mike & Marge Romzek | 2001 | Lowell, Beth, and Dave McDonald | 2002 | John & Gayle Ferris |
| 2003 | Wayne Brady | 2004 | John Rowland | 2005 | Jeff Maurer |
| 2006 | Wayne Turmell | 2007 | Jean Kociba | 2008 | Dave & Jeanne Howard |
| 2009 | Tom Laity | 2010 | Neil & Connie Fitzgerald | 2011 | Don Clark |
| 2014 | Lynnette Coon | 2015 | Debra Kervin | 2016 | Rick & Lori Kociba |
| 2017 | Theresa Byrne | 2018 | Julie Morneau | 2019 | Mindy Breault |
| 2021 | Sharon Binder |