What Makes a Great Class?
By Vicki (Slauson) Vincent - FF/S
This time of year, the Alumni Office is consumed with planning for Alumni Weekend and 2010 is no exception. October 15-17 is just around the corner! This year, we will celebrate reunions for classes ending in 0 and 5. We have a lot of great classes, and all the class agents have been working hard planning their class parties and reaching out to their classmates. One class in particular has really taken their involvement to another level! The Class of 1990 began working at least two years ago in anticipation of their upcoming 20th reunion.
Class agents Bill Temple and Mary Margaret (Estes) Johnson have worked for months and months to locate “lost” classmates and gather e-mail address. It’s amazing because the Class of 1990 is the largest class in Darlington’s history, graduating 159 students! They have been able to locate over 95% of their classmates and have utilized all the modern (and not so modern) forms of communication – Darlington’s website, Facebook, e-mail, “snail mail,” telephones, etc. They have even created their own class website which is outstanding and worth a look!
Bill and Mary Margaret have recruited several classmates to help them create enthusiasm and contact fellow classmates. This summer, they held two phonathons, one in June and another in July, at Thatcher Hall (the new Middle School) to call classmates. Volunteers from as far away as Mississippi, Alabama and North Carolina came to call! They used the “tag team” approach, passing their phones around to maximize their effectiveness! At the July event, 15 members of the class were present – that’s more than some classes have had return for Alumni Weekend class events! They had a wonderful time looking through yearbooks, reminiscing and reconnecting.
The 1990 class leadership has decided to do something very unique for their class party. They have teamed up with two other great classes celebrating their reunions – the Class of 1980 (25th reunion) and the Class of 1995 (15th reunion) to host a huge band party on Saturday evening after the Alumni Cocktail Party at the Home-on-the-Hill. The classes have booked the music group Drivin’ N Cryin’ as well as a local band, BluTrain, to play at Darlington’s Lower School gym! The venue is special because it’s the same place the Class of 1990 held their senior prom, so this event should bring back a lot of memories.
Realizing that it is important to give back, the Class of 1990 has also chosen to honor a member of their class who passed away by making gifts to Darlington. They have set a goal to raise $5,000 for a memorial to Lisa Anne White. We will dedicate the memorial during Alumni Weekend. Other activities exclusive to their class are also planned for the weekend. A complete list of these events can be seen on their class website.
What makes a great class? Join us October 15-17 and see for yourself!
