Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hall inductees honored by Fayetteville schools
FAYETTEVILLE — Sherman Lollar’s formal education didn’t extend much beyond high school, but he kept his mind sharp throughout his life, according to his oldest son.
“He never stopped learning,” said Pete Lollar, addressing Fayetteville High School seniors in the Performing Arts Center on Friday.
Sherman Lollar, a 1941 Fayetteville High graduate who went on to become one of Major League Baseball’s best players, was one of four people inducted this year into the Fayetteville Schools Hall of Honor. The Fayetteville Public Education Foundation runs the Hall of Honor.
The 2015 inductees were honored during a ceremony Friday for students and a dinner Thursday for hundreds of community members at the Fayetteville Town Center.
Lollar is the first person chosen posthumously for the Hall of Honor since it was established in 1997. He died of cancer in 1977 at age 53. Lollar made several AllStar teams during his career, but he struggled early on. He improved as he learned more about the game, Pete Lollar said.
Sherman Lollar also took an interest in business. Recognizing he needed something to do when his baseball career was over, he opened a bowling alley in Springfield, Mo., in 1960.
Pete Lollar, a doctor from Atlanta, described his father as a family man who never put too much pressure on his four children.
“He said, ‘Do the best you can. That’s all you can do,’” Lollar said.
An elementary school teacher, a film producer and an accountant — all Fayetteville schools alumni — also officially joined the Hall of Honor this week. All three addressed students at Friday’s ceremony.
Justin Minkel, who teaches second grade at Jones Elementary School in Springdale, said students frequently inspire their teachers.
“The stereotype is we are role models for you,” Minkel said. “A lot of times, you are role models for us.”
Minkel was named Arkansas teacher of the year in 2007. He dined with President Barack Obama at the White House last year to discuss teaching in high-poverty schools.
Minkel admitted to students he wasn’t completely comfortable with the U.S. educational system. Students are overtested, he said.
“I worry we are trying to shape these kids to fit a system instead of shaping a system to fit you,” he said.
Lisa Higgins joined her father, David Lashley, in the Hall of Honor this year. Lashley was inducted in 2001. He died in 2008.
Higgins became a certified public accountant in 1987 and opened her own accounting firm four years later. She was chosen for the Hall of Honor largely because of her long record of volunteerism in the community, including 12 years as a board member and treasurer for the foundation.
“I am very proud of this community. It has held me up and said, ‘Lisa, you can do it,’” Higgins said.
She said if she could give some advice to her high school self, “The most important thing would be to not compare myself to anyone else.”
To conclude her speech, she stirred up some school spirit by singing Fayetteville High’s fight song and invited audience members to join her. They hesitated, but eventually joined in, mostly by clapping along.
Larry Foley attended Fayetteville schools before his father’s job moved the family to Union City, Tenn., when he was in the eighth grade at Ramay Junior High School. He eventually returned to Fayetteville as a student at the University of Arkansas.
Foley went on to a successful career in journalism, starting as a television news reporter in Little Rock. He accepted a job as a professor in the Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas in 1993.
Foley also has earned acclaim as a film producer and director. His films have aired nationally on PBS and other networks. He shared with students his personal list of 20 rules to live by, many of which revolve around hard work, humility and character.
“Treat everyone with respect and dignity, even if you think they don’t deserve it,” Foley said.
He also advised students that when they make it to college, whatever success they had in high school will not matter any longer.
“The slate is wiped clean,” he said.