Alumni Reunion Brings Back Friends, Memories

The Northwest Academy is having its third annual Alumni Homecoming Reunion tonight, after the holiday party, at the First Unitarian Church.

This event was organized by the Alumni Association Council, which, according to Revan Williams, the vice-chair, is a group of local alumni who meet once a month to plan events and work on developing the organization further.

“A big part of the Alumni Association hinges on giving back to the school,” Williams said. “As well as maintaining a community composed of some really interesting and unique individuals, as Northwest Academy graduates tend to be.”

While maintaining the school’s connection with the alumni is very important to the Association, they also try to plan opportunities to reunite former students.

“The Alumni Homecoming Party is aimed specifically at alumni,” Williams said. “But faculty and staff have been invited to attend as well, to reconnect with their former students in a fun, casual setting.”

The Association not only wants to bring these former students together, it also hopes that the graduates will give back to the school.
“We want to keep in touch with our alumni and help them keep in touch with each other, too,” Laurel Keppy, the Director of Development, said. “The school and the alumni council want to help provide networking and social opportunities for our alums.”

Current Northwest Academy students are not allowed to attend this party. However, an open alumni panel will be available to students during the lunch event. This can help students visualize their own future experiences.

“I would say that our alums could be a great help to our current students in terms of information they could share with students about college and career choices,” Keppy said. “Perhaps also about sharing some life lessons that the alums learned while at Northwest Academy.”

Not only is the Alumni Association good for communication between graduates, but is also an active and successful fundraising group.

“(The Alumni Association) is demonstrating a culture of philanthropy through its efforts to raise funds for the Mara Forsythe-Crane Scholarship,” Keppy said. “One student each year will benefit directly by the efforts of the alums and the generosity of the donors who support the Fund.”