" A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL" from Ms. All-Classes 2012,,,

Ginni Harris Cozzi, '62 reports - Our committee has been working diligently to locate classmates using various resources; it is a challenging process to say the least! Our reunion dinner will be on September 22, 2012, at the Crowne Plaza in Clark from 6-10. Cocktail hour is from 6-7(cash bar) and then dinner and dancing (we have a DJ) until 10. We will be planning activities for Friday night, daytime on Sat. & breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning. We will be sending out a detailed flyer in January.

ALJHSAA NOTE: Take a minute and register  so that you can begin to privately share the past 50 years with classmates on Message Boards and e-mails, while getting  updates issued by your Reunion Committee! 

Considerable feed-back about the November 25th party at Senorita's has been received. Your Association publicized that event on this website based on, what turned out to be, inaccurate information provided by others. Attendance by an Association official confirmed both the inaccuracies and feed-back to date. We did not sponsor nor have any influence over the event and we must apologize to those disappointed alums attending that thought they were at an official Association function. Notwithstanding that inappropriate venue, we heartily endorse some form of annual event specifically for ALJ alums sponsored and administered by approved Association volunteers. Over the next several weeks, Association volunteers, led by Art Lundgren ’59, will develop the plan for an “All-Classes” 2012 events, its venues and details appropriate for an ALJ Alumni Association endorsement. We look forward to your participation next year. Suggestions, comments, questions?  Contact Art at a4062lund@comcast.net .

Welcome to our new online community.  Membership is FREE and available exclusively to our alumni and friends!

This is ALJ's private, online community created exclusively for ALJ HS alumni.   It is a secure, password-protected environment established by the ALJ High School Alumni Association.

Once you register, an email will be sent to confirm your membership and validate your email address.  Be sure to click on the link in this email so your account can be activated.

Please be patient with the site as it's being developed and content is being added.  *Most of the information on the site is for testing and development purposes and will be replaced with better content as soon as possible.

Become a member and take advantage of the following services:

• Reconnect with faculty and former classmates
• Organize class reunions
• Discover ways to support your school
• Share alumni news and activities

Features include:

• Message boards for In Memorial, Lost/Missing Alumni, Career & Volunteer Center, Class Notes, School & Alumni News
• Subscriptions to keep you updated by e-mail of classmates and message board updates
• Alumni directory that's searchable by class, by name or by occupation
• Lost / missing alumni directory to help find people that others are looking for
• Social networking (Facebook, Skype, MySpace and LinkedIn) support

Search for friends and make new connections with the online community!  All you need to do to take advantage of all the community has to offer is to proceed through the registration process to establish an account.

Thanks to a dedicated Reunion Team, the Class of 1961 just completed a fantastic reunion weekend filled with activities of all types! Many memories were revisited and many new ones were made by more than ninety participants. Remember to get those cards, letters and especially photos to Ray Caswell ASAP for all to share in the '61 Photo Album.

(editor's note: '62 is waiting in the wings to craft an even more entertaining series of reunion events!) 

Judges Choice #1, "Nightmares" Karen Fralick & Dan Belcher

Eileen Bergstedt Parkinson, '60 and her husband, Bob, reside in Sarasota, FL, where for the second year they chaired the Annual Siesta Key Crystal Classic Master Sand Sculpting Competition. Twenty-four master sand sculptors, representing 8 countries and working in pairs,created twelve 10 feet high sand sculptures on Siesta Beach, Florida, November 10 - 14. Since Nov. 10 was the 235th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Nov. 11  Veterans Day, a massive sand sculpture of the raising of the Flag at Iwo Jima was created to honor our veterans. Check out crystalsand.org for more information and plan a vacation on the country's no. 1 beach in the upcoming months!

Be sure to check out the list of reunions and events posted to the left in "Upcoming Events".  If you are a planner of a future event, be sure to read "Event planning information / add an event" for tips and information to make your event a success.

Thomas McManamy, Class of 1959

Keep your e-mail and mailing addresses current and you'll receive the details for all alumni information, activities, events, and reunions.

There can be more to a high school "reunion" than just sports, cocktails and dinner dances. ALJ will always be a significant part of what we are, or more precisely, what each of us has become. Alumni are a invaluable "life asset" that can be utilized to the best interests of current undergraduates,e.g. paying it back. The Friday of Reunion Weekend found most of the Class of 1959 at the Hyatt Golf Course, checking into hotels or visiting briefly with our friends, relatives and classmates. That is most ,except Len Baumel. Seizing the initiative back home in Austin, Len had made prior arrangements to meet with ALJ science and math students that afternoon. A summary of that classroom experience and follows. The Class of 1959 applauds Len Baumel for "paying it back!" 

Len reported..........

"As for my experience during Reunion friday with the current high school students, I can only say that when you get 40 kids willing to listen to an old geezer talk about himself, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Based on input from the guidance counselor, Ellen Zamboni, I started talking about college, and tried to get across the idea that you don’t need an Ivy League school to get a meaningful college education. I emphasized that math and science represents the language of technology, and that while cutting edge science is changing, the basics remain constant, and need to be learned.  I also reminded them that the technology that is current when they start college will most assuredly change by the time they graduate. They need to learn how to learn, not just the current technology, but whatever new comes along.  Their math and science is the foundation on which to build.

I then spoke about how I got my first job with Boeing, in Huntsville, Alabama and made a point of being willing to relocate. You must go where the work is. Being flexible is the key to advancement.  I also discussed my change of job from Boeing to Lockheed in Houston, being able to work on the Apollo Command and Service Modules and the Lunar Module allowing my involvement for the whole lunar mission rather than just the first few minutes of the Saturn V booster stages firing. I also stressed the importance of not burning your bridges when moving from one employer to another.  It is a small community and you will very likely encounter the same people and it is better not to have told them off when leaving your previous employer. 

I spent time talking about the Apollo program, and the sense of national purpose that directed that effort. The trade-off between building a space station first, and then moving on to the moon verses the lunar orbit rendezvous approach that was ultimately taken.  In spite of warnings about the short attention span of these students, I found them very receptive to the presentation.  In fact several students gathered around asking additional questions after the allotted 45 minutes was over. I was able to keep their attention for an additional half hour of conversation.

I thought that our alma mater was in good hands with these students. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of sharing my experiences with them, and would encourage others to share their experiences as well.  I just hope the students enjoyed it as much as I did."