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Schools

Reconnect with Old Classmates Through the New BPS Alumni Association Website

If you're a Seaholm or Groves graduate, catch up with your high school friends.

If you have ever wondered what happened to your old high school crush, the head cheerleader or maybe your friend from down the street that you lost touch with, ponder no more.

Birmingham Public Schools is working to reconnect alumni from Seaholm and Groves high schools through the new BPS Alumni Association website.

"Our community is a strong one, with many graduates coming back to the neighborhoods and enrolling their own children in the district," said Anne Cron, Alumni Relations Coordinator. "This isn’t a community where people meet briefly in school and then move on; they make connections and commitments that last well beyond their high school years."

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In September, the Birmingham Education Foundation and the district collaborated to create the alumni site. Invitations to enroll were sent to over 12,000 graduates. 

While membership is free, some graduates have opted out of joining. However, Cron notes that an additional 200 students not named on the initial alumni list have found out about the association and signed up. 

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According to one of the surveys polling 2,000 graduates, approximately 80 percent of Seaholm alumni are interested in the association, as well as 72 percent of those from Groves.

Still in its early development stages, the creators of the website are putting together a list of contacts for each graduation year. Reunions, activities, surveys and membership sign-up, as well as links to other class pages are also listed on the website. A quarterly newsletter is in the works for the future.

The district sees the BPS Alumni Association as not only a way to bring together old classmates but as a means to pair current students with these mentor-like figures.

"We have an opportunity to connect our students with people who literally have been where they are standing and considered the same life paths that students are considering today," said Cron. "Our alumni will have a chance to make a difference in a place that maybe a teacher or fellow classmate or even another alumni helped them years ago."

The BPS Alumni Connection can be found on the Birmingham Schools website. To learn more about the program, contact Anne Cron at 248-203-3066 or by e-mail at ac14bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us.

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