Alumni Day 2011

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Governor’s School Alumni Day 2011, a Rally for Governor's School in Raleigh and Winston-Salem

Greetings, Alumni from all across the state, all across the nation, and across all walks of life. This year, more than ever, the Alumni Association urges you to attend Alumni Day.

Why? Because this year, we are combining Alumni Day with a Rally for Governor’s School. The NC Legislature has passed a budget the cuts over $1 billion from education, including cutting the entire budget for Governor’s School. It remains to be seen whether 2011 will be the end of the NC Governor’s School. But whether state funding is eventually restored to the budget or GS continues with tuition and/or private donations, it is time for all alumni to come out and show how much their summer at Governor’s School meant to them.

If you have always planned to attend Alumni Day but never did, this would be the time to make it a priority. Not only will we be showing our support for GS, it may also be your last chance, ever. (I’m not trying to be melodramatic. If GS does not receive funding from some source, either the state or donations, it is unclear whether there will be any future sessions, and therefore any future Alumni Days.)

So please come to the Alumni Day Rally for your campus. For many of us, GS was a life-changing experience, a chance to grow and learn and express ourselves that we had never known before. If GS has changed your life in a positive way, we ask you to come and help us keep this program alive for future generations of North Carolinians.

From GS East Director Michael McElreath:

Dear GSE Alumni,

It would mean a great deal to the program for you to join us at the Rally to Save Governor's School on July 9. Despite its illustrious history and phenomenal success for the nearly 50 years, GS remains a relatively well-kept secret in NC. A large rally suggesting the numbers of people affected by GS (not just alumni, but their families, friends, teachers, co-workers, clients, patients, students, etc.) would help us remove the veil and save Governor's School for future generations. If you value what GS did for you and want other students to share in that experience, we hope to see you and as many folks as you can bring with you on July 9!

Michael McElreath
GSE Site Director

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ALUMNI DAY RALLY AT GS EAST

Alumni should arrive on campus at Meredith by 10:00am. Please park in the lower parking lots on the east side of campus. Meredith College is holding freshman orientation on the same day, so be respectful of those you see on campus.

Alumni are encouraged to arrive at 10:00am at Vann Hall, where Michael McElreath, the GSE faculty, and representatives of the Alumni Association will bring you up-to-date on the current situation with the GS budget and what the schools, the GSAA, and the GS Foundation are doing to keep GS open.

You will then be given an opportunity to help immediately. The greatest resource that we have available to us is our alumni. Unfortunately, the Alumni Association has lost contact with many of the alumni over the years. But in the last few weeks, the GSAA has been working with data providers to get what they think is good contact information for 10,000 previously-lost alumni. Bring your cell phone and you can help us by calling some of these names and confirming the contact information or attempting to find them as a kick-off to the GSAA’s Find Fifty program.

After lunch (which may be had on-campus), there will be a rally on the courtyard, followed by the annual Alumni Day Ultimate Frisbee Challenge and post-game reception. We hope to have local media at some portion of the day’s events.

Throughout the day, videographers will be set up to record alumni answering the question: What has the Governor's School experience meant in my life? These videos will be used in web advertisements, YouTube videos, and possibly television shows supporting Governor's School. Come with your 30-second answer.

ALUMNI DAY RALLY AT GS WEST

8:30-10:15 Registration and Refreshments

(FAC North Gallery)

Please make sure to wear your nametags

from registration throughout the day.

10:15-11:00 Opening Assembly (Hanes Auditorium)

Lucy Milner, GSW Director

Jim Hart, GS Alumni Association

President

Joe Milner, GS Foundation President

Roice Fulton, GS Foundation Webmaster

11:00-11:30 Meeting for Alumni Foundation Officers (FAC 306)

11:15-12:15 Alumni Reception with GSW Faculty and TACs*

(Club Dining Room)

12:15-2:00 Lunch** (Refectory or Off Campus)

2:00-3:00 Optional Seminars (see inside)

3:00-5:00 GS Alumni Reception (Cool Gym)

5:00 Campus Closes for Alumni

8:00 Orchestra Concert (Hanes)†

(Required for current students. Alumni are

invited back to campus to attend this

event.)

Volunteer Projects

8:30 am-5:00 pm
_______________________________________________

We have prepared various ways in which visiting alumni can help contribute to the ongoing efforts to sustain the Governor’s School. Volunteer projects will be available for you to undertake during the day, and we encourage you to come and go freely between the volunteer stations and other events.

Update Contact Information (FAC Lobby, 8:30-10:15; Cool Gym, 3:00-5:00)

Please stop by this station during registration or the reception to update your contact information in the GSAA database if you have not already done this online before coming. If you’d like to be involved in future volunteer efforts to help fundraise for GS, enter your name into a volunteer directory during the reception.

Video Project (FAC North Gallery, 8:30-10:15; Club Dining Room, 11:15-12:15)

We will be recording video clips of individual alumni responding to the question, “What has the Governor’s School experience meant in your life?” Using the clips, we will create a video for the general public and potential donors that can attest to the importance of this program.

Letter Writing Campaign (Computer Lab in the Old Chapel, 3:00-5:00)

Help us get the word out! We’ll have letter-writing supplies as well as the email addresses for newspapers across the state so that you can share why the Governor’s School has been important to you. We hope that letters to the editor written by alumni will attract support from our North Carolina community. A list of local North Carolina papers and their contact information can be found on the North Carolina Press Association website at www.ncpress.com.

Personal Phone Challenge (Ongoing)
We challenge you to call five people you know—friends, family members, or fellow alums—to personally inform them of the urgent need for private funds and ask them if they would be willing to donate money through the Governor’s School Foundation website at www.ncgsfoundation.org

Fifty in Fifty: Fifty Alumni in Fifty Days (Ongoing)

Our alumni should be the backbone of our efforts to save Governor’s School. But there are thousands of alumni for whom we have bad contact information. The Fifty In Fifty program is how we will find them. Here’s how it works:

1) Join the Fifty In Fifty program by emailing your name and zip code to gsaa5050@yahoo.com.

2) We send you possible contact info for 50 alumni living in your area.

3) Over the next 50 days, you will try to find those 50 alumni and get current contact information for them. We’ll arm you with telephone scripts and guidelines on how to make contact and get information.

4) When you get good contact information, enter it into our alumni database at <http://ncgsalumni.org/cgi-bin/ncgsaadb/ncgsaadb.cgi>.

Visit http://ncgsalumni.org/GSfiftyfifty.htm for more information.

Optional Seminars

2:00 pm-3:00 pm

______________________________________________________________

I Read Some Marx and I Liked It B. Phillis, Area II (FAC 28)

There are many misconceptions about Marx. Come learn more about his political, economic, and historical theories.

Chickenosaurus Rex? K. Russell, NS (Science 102)

What are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs? Remarkably preserved fossils and recently discovered T. Rex bones containing ancient DNA may point to more feathery family members than previously believed.

Buster Keaton’s Surrealist Nightmare: The General M. Morris, Area II, C. Cleaver, A/V (Hanes)
Buster Keaton’s 1926 classic comedy/adventure, The General is considered by many critics to be his masterpiece. Written and directed by Keaton himself, The General is based—incredibly—on a true story form the civil war, and shows Keaton at the peak of his artistic (and acrobatic) powers. Recently nominated as one of the greatest films of all time by the American Film Institute, The General will be presented featuring a live piano accompaniment by Charles Cleaver. A unique experience, not to missed!

High School Theater After GSW B. Close, Theater (Drama Workshop)
Governor’s School theater alums will talk about their experiences and answer current students’ questions.

CONTACT US

If you have questions concerning Alumni Day, you can contact the GSAA through the following means:

E-Mail: president@ncgsalumni.org
Web: www.ncgsalumni.org

Registration: You can check your membership status by looking up your own record in the Alumni Database.

Alumni Day is the one way that the Alumni Association raises money for the Governor’s School. With that in mind, we did decide to waive any admission fee other than the Alumni Association membership fee that many of you paid last year.

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Governor’s School Alumni Day 2011, a Rally for Governor's School in Raleigh and Winston-Salem

High School Theater After GSW B. Close, Theater (Drama Workshop) Governor’s School theater alums will talk about their experiences and answer current students’ questions.

High School Theater After GSW B. Close, Theater (Drama Workshop)
Governor’s School theater alums will talk about their experiences and answer current students’ questions.