For the first time in 12 years, Pottsville Area School District will have an alumni directory, thanks to the Crimson Tide Foundation.
"It will contain information about more than 10,000 of our graduates," Superintendent Jeffrey S. Zwiebel said Monday.
"We're hoping to have it out in late spring or early summer," Mary Ellen Setlock, the district's federal programs grant writer, said.
Pottsville Area graduates are urged to call 866-694-8499 to update their biographical and contact information with the district, Zwiebel said.
This is the first major project being spearheaded by the foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 2009 to bolster alumni relations at Pottsville Area. The group is working with Harris Connect Publishing on the alumni directory project.
The last time the district published an alumni directory was in 2001, according to Zwiebel.
"The new directory will cover graduates from 1933 through 2013. All proceeds from the sale of the directory will be used to fund the foundation's education projects to benefit the students of Pottsville Area School District," Wachter said.
The Crimson Tide Foundation was developed in 2009 by a group of Pottsville Area alumni, including John H. Liddle, Pottsville, the group's vice president.
A member of the Class of 1965, Liddle was a math teacher at the district who retired in 2006.
Founding members also include Liddle's son, John R., a member of the Class of 1995, who is now a section chief with U.S. Central Command, Current Operations Division, Tampa, Fla.
"In 2009, my son was home on Christmas leave and we were discussing the foundation at the United States Naval Academy. The question came up, 'Why don't we have something like that in Pottsville?' And I said 'that's a great idea.' And he wrote a proposal," Liddle said.
Liddle and his son discussed the idea with the district superintendent at the time, James T. Gallagher, who put them in touch with Craig S.L. Shields, Pottsville, who had a similar idea.
Shields, a member of the Pottsville Area Class of 1978, is the foundation's treasurer. He is the CEO of Barefield Development Corp. and executive director of the Pottsville Housing Authority.
"By the time the Liddles came around in early 2010, I already filed the paperwork for the 501c3," Shields said Monday.
"The three of us sat down, me and my son and Craig, and that's where the foundation was born," Liddle said.
On Feb. 22, 2012, the group acquired its 501c3 nonprofit status, Setlock said.
"We want to raise funds to buy things for students that the school doesn't provide," Shields said Monday.
Looking ahead, the foundation plans to hold fundraisers and establish a grant program to allow district educators to apply for that funding, Setlock said.
The "Venture Grants for Teachers Program" will be awards ranging from $250 UP to $1,000. They will be given to aid teachers in the design and development of educational material for "the implementation of innovative and creative classroom projects that will enhance student learning," according to the foundation's website.
"We'll be starting this up in the near future. It will be a competitive program," Setlock said.
One of the foundation's long-term goals is to expand the high school's journalism and communications program by buying equipment and software for instruction in digital filmmaking, web page design, broadcast journalism, 3D animation and digital graphics, according to the foundation's website.
"We'd love to have a curriculum based around that," Shields said.
Last year, the group donated $1,000 to the Pottsville Area High School Library, Shields said.
John Dalton, a member of the Pottsville Area Class of 1983, is the group's technical advisor. He is vice president of communications at Empire Education Group, Pottsville.
Dalton said Monday he's developing a short video to introduce the public to the foundation. It will be up on the foundation's website sometime in February, he said. ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
According to its website, the Crimson Tide Foundation's goal is "to strengthen the school district community by reuniting and supporting alumni while more effectively preparing current and future students for the challenges they will face upon graduation."
Board officers
- President: Robert W. Wachter, a former school board member who is executive director of AAA Schuylkill County, Pottsville.
-Vice President: John H. Liddle, a retired Pottsville Area math teacher.
-Treasurer: Craig S.L. Shields, who is the CEO of Barefield Development Corp. and executive director of the Pottsville Housing Authority.
-Secretary: Michelle McGinty, the director of guidance for Pottsville Area High School.
Meetings
5 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at the Howard S. Fernsler Academic Center, 1501 W. Laurel Blvd., Pottsville.
Website:
ctidefoundation.com