The Sea to Sky School District is considering creating an alumni association.
It could help students network with graduates for work and education opportunities, said trustee Chris Vernon-Jarvis during this month’s school board meeting.
“[Former students] might feel the school did them some good,” said Vernon-Jarvis. “An alumni association would be very valuable in terms of money but I would like to stress that it has other values, apart from keeping people in touch and being a part of something.”
It can be a way for the school district to instill a sense of pride among past and current students, and, as a byproduct, it can also be a way for the school district to raise funds, he added.
It’s an idea Vernon-Jervis has floated a number of times during school board meetings, but this time was unique in the fact that the board was discussing ways in which it could put this idea into practice.
He got the idea from his days going to school in England, where alumni associations are commonplace for high schools.
Keeping former students in touch helped with maintaining a sense of community, empowering new students, and also was an invaluable fundraising tool, he said.
“A lot of our alumni go on to be business people and things like that. That’s a valuable resource,” said Vernon-Jarvis. “There are people you can tap — you don’t have to pay professionals vast amounts of money to do this.”
Supt. Lisa McCullough was supportive of the idea, but said that there currently aren’t any staffers available to co-ordinate an alumni association.
McCullough, however, was open to the idea of including a 15-hour per week position as part of a future budget.
No promises were made, however.
Over the course of the discussion, trustees determined that the program could work without a paid staffer if the school board managed to find a “champion” for the cause.
It was noted that Pemberton Secondary’s alumni initiatives have been successful because of one parent who went above and beyond to make it work.
As a result, the school district determined that it might be of use to put out a call for someone in the community who might be interested in taking on the project.
It would include co-ordinating email newsletters, maintaining contact lists of former students and organizing alumni events, among other things.
Anyone interested in applying for the job can email [email protected].
