11/21/01
Hello, My name is Laura Leibowitz, I am a graduate of the class of 1982 and it is my pleasure as president of our organization to welcome you to the first event of the Highland Park High School Alumni Association. We are really just in our infancy, but the excitement and enthusiasm for this group has been wonderful. Those of us here tonight understand the unique experience that living in Highland Park and graduating from our high school has provided to each of us. Last May, seven alumni sat together to organize this event and officially create a vehicle for all alumni. Through this group we can honor and celebrate this special institution and maintain and support the relationships and memories of our years in Highland Park.
So now that we exist, where do we go from here? Since our newsletter has been mailed I am happy to announce the following developments. We have successfully distributed over 1000 newsletters, we currently have a membership of over 200 people, we have a website and an email address. Your board currently consists of the following members: Laura Dreifus Leibowitz , president, Sara Solberg Levine, Secretary, Grace Puleo, Treasurer, Gloria Schwartz, Newsletter coordinator, Barbara Roundy web master, Alan Gordon, Harold Berman and Leon Kroll, members at large. On behalf of your current board, I ask of you the following, if you are not a member please fill out a form tonight and leave it with your check for ten dollars. The majority of our costs right now consist of printing, mailing and publicity. We need a class representative from each class who can provide us with up to date directories and we still need a vice president to be a part of the board. There are notebooks on the tables, one for each decade. Please sign in with your current information and that of any friends or family members that you believe would like to be included on our list. Indicate your interest in being a class representative or committee member as well. Our largest undertaking at this initial stage is developing our data base. We are in touch with a publisher who will work with us to develop an alumni directory, but we need to begin by gathering as much up to date alumni information as possible. Anyone with data base experience, we need you!!
Our group is really an offshoot of the Highland Park Education Foundation, a group which provides grants and innovative programming to the Highland Park schools. I want to thank them for officially beginning this organization, providing us with by laws and the motivation to begin this group. I want to specifically thank Evy Jacobs , Diane Hoffman, and Nikki Tausig who have worked to get us to this point. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the evening. Our next general membership meeting will be in February on Thursday, the 21st. We have some door prizes that will be drawn for before the evening is over. Welcome to all and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.