Board of Directors

The Sedona Educational Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) entity separate from the school district. The foundation is governed by an all volunteer board of directors. The board members are from the business community and the community-at-large. Through their leadership, the SEF will secure funding and award monies to provide supplemental resources that enrich and enhance teaching and learning in the Sedona District.

Jennette Bill: Philanthropist, Rotary Club of Sedona Village
Jake Weber: VOC Business Owner, Retired
Randy Hawley: SOCUSD Governing Board President
Kathy Wright: Sedona Resident, Former Governing Board Member
Lew Hoyt: Sedona Resident, Community & Student Champion
Heather Hermen: Parent of a student in the district, self-employed, VOC resident
Dennis Dearden: District Superintendent

Jennette Bill, Board President

Jennette Bill is very excited to serve on the Sedona Oak Creek Educational Foundation Board of Directors.  “It is such an honor to be part of a foundation that enhances education through funding supplemental and innovative programming that will excite teachers and students in our district as well as provide scholarships for post high school education.”

For most of Jennette’s adult life she has volunteered furthering causes that benefit youth.  These have included cub scout leader, girl scout leader and chair for the Sedona girl scout program, PTSA president, school boards, and more than ten years of leading Rotary projects related to youth. She also loves being involved in her community.

Jennette grew up in Sedona attending the Brewer Road School and then Cottonwood Elementary.  For high school, she along with most Sedona kids, rode a bus to Jerome every day.  One high school year she attended Verde Valley School and would ford Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing when the creek level wasn’t high.

Jennette has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Arizona and worked in that field in San Francisco and Tucson before moving back to Sedona in 1988. Wanting to devote more time and energy to their family, she became the office manager for their dental practice for 28 years.  All three of the Bill children attended Sedona Oak Creek School District Schools and went on to earn degrees from the University of Arizona.

Jennette believes that Sedona kids deserve the best education we can give them, one that has them excited for learning and sees them growing as thoughtful, kind individuals.  She believes in the motto “Sedona Values Education.”  This Foundation gives an opportunity to show it.

Randy Hawley, Board Secretary

Randy grew up in Freeport, Illinois.  During his high school years he was very active in a variety of school activities. He was in the student council and captain of the football, basketball and track teams.  He then attended Northwestern University on a track scholarship. From the time he started school Randy always wanted to be a teacher, so when he went to Northwestern he majored in education.  When he graduated he took a job as a special education teacher.  During that time he also went to summer school and received his Master’s Degree from Northern Illinois University.

He taught special education for three years and then became a guidance counselor.  During that time he also coached football, swimming and track and was selected as the conference swim coach of the year twice.  For the next 35 years Randy served as an elementary and middle school principal and Associate Superintendent for Human Resources in suburban Milwaukee and Chicago.

Randy’s wife, Frances, is also a retired school administrator.  In her career she served as an English teacher, elementary principal, Director of Instruction, superintendent and national consultant.  He has two adult children.  His daughter is an attorney in Chicago and his son owns his own real estate development company in Milwaukee.  He has three grandchildren who all attend elementary school in suburban Milwaukee.

Randy and Frances built their home in Sedona in 2003 and have been living here full time since Randy’s retirement in 2012.  Because of his passion for education and helping children he ran for and was elected to the School District Governing Board in 2016.  He has served as its President the past 4 years.  He is also a charter member of the Education Foundation and is excited about working to connect the Community and the School District in order to enhance the education of our students.

Kathy Wright, Board Treasurer

Kathryn (Kathy) Wright grew up in Porterville, Calif. She graduated high school and Jr. College in her hometown.

At age 19 she moved to Wilmington, California and graduated from Harbor College with an RN nursing degree.

In 1971 she married Serge Wright (the love of her life). They have 3 children – Ryan, Kendra and Trisha.

She worked in the Surgical ICU at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California. In 1973 she and Serge moved to Sedona and she worked on the first team in the new Coronary Care Unit at Marcus J. Lawrence Hospital (now Verde Valley Medical Center). She then worked for Dr. Richard Griesenbeck until the first of her three children was born in 1976.

During the years of childrearing she volunteered for March of Dimes as local organizer and state representative and served as Director of Children’s Ministries at Christ Center Wesleyan Church.

Kathy served on the Mingus Union High School Board of Directors until Sedona formed its own school district. Kathy was the first President of the Sedona-Oak Creek School Board and served on that Board for 6 year. She currently is a “Certificate Holder” for Northern Arizona Healthcare (a group of community members who hear and share news about Northern Arizona Healthcare activities, needs, and successes).

Now, mostly retired, she helps with the management of professional office spaces in Flagstaff and Sedona. And best of all – has more time to enjoy family and friends.

Serving on the Sedona-Oak Creek Education Foundation Board has been very satisfying because it has shown her the full circle that our community has made in supporting the children – our future!

Lew Hoyt, Board Member

Lew went to the University of Southern California on an athletic scholarship, and was Captain of the USC track team for two years. He was one of the first athletes in the world to high jump over 7 feet. He won the National Collegiate Championship in the high jump, and was an alternate member of the USA Olympic teams in 1964 and 1968.

After graduation from USC, with a B.S. in Geology and an M.S. degree in Systems Engineering, Lew became a fighter pilot in both the USMC and USN. After a year of combat in Vietnam, Lew was selected to be the General’s aid to the Commanding General of MCAS, El Toro, California. Thereafter, Lew became a flight instructor at the “elite” Navy Fighter Weapons School, affectionately known as TopGun. Lew is the only pilot in the world to have flown and instructed at TopGun, and also with the Israeli Air Force and two Arab Air Forces, of Egypt and Kuwait. Lew was also selected to fly airplanes at the “top secret” Area 51, which has now been declassified.

After 23 years as a military fighter pilot, Lew also enjoyed a 25 year career as a commercial airline Captain, with both Western Airlines and Delta Airlines.

Lew purchased his first home in Sedona in 1988, and retired full time from San Diego to Sedona in 2003, with his wife, Nancy. Although Lew and Nancy have no children, Lew spends his “free time” coaching, mentoring, and motivating the students at the Sedona Red Rock High School.

Lew was the founder and chairman of the first Sedona Miracle in 2006, raising $741,000, which was distributed to the Verde Valley Sanctuary, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Sedona Community Foundation. From that, he brought the Sedona Miracle to the Sedona 30 organization, and has been intimately involved in each of the Sedona 30 Miracle events.

Lew is an active member of the Sedona community, a member of the Church of the Red Rocks, and a past Board Member of the Sedona Film Festival. Lew has been a member of the Sedona 30 since 2003. Lew was Sedona’s 2006 “Citizen of the Year.” He is also a cancer survivor.

Dennis Dearden

Mr. Dearden is known nationwide as an extremely talented educational leader and brings a distinguished resume to his position in Sedona. Mr. Dearden was the Superintendent of the Marana School District and Casa Grande Union High School District, both in Arizona. Mr. Dearden came to SOCUSD in the summer of 2018. Before his time as Superintendent, Mr. Dearden served as the Cluster 1 Assistant Superintendent for Fairfax County Schools in Virginia, where he was responsible for 22 schools and nearly 20,000 students near Washington, D.C. All 22 schools in Cluster 1 earned full state accreditation, and the 3 high schools (Langley, McLean, and Herndon) were included in the 2005 Newsweek Top 100 high schools in the nation.

Prior to working in Fairfax County, Mr. Dearden served as a principal at the high school and middle school levels in Grand Junction, Colorado. He also spent 20 very rewarding years in the classroom as a social studies and special education teacher and has a strong coaching background at the middle school, high school, and college levels. Mr. Dearden earned a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education from Simpson College (Iowa), a Master's in Special Education from Drake University (Iowa), and his administrative certification from the University of Northern Colorado.