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GS Foundation Delivers Final Tally
Education
foundations, corporate donors, and most importantly, alumni and their
parents raise over $700,000 to keep GS alive. Thanks to you, Governor’s School 2012 is saved.
Are You a Seeker or a Target?
Thanks
to the work of GSAA members, the GS Foundation, and a lot of local press,
the GSAA is now in touch with more alumni than ever before. We have current
contact information for nearly 6,000 alumni. But that is still less than
one in five of our 32,000 alumni. So we are asking each of you to help us
find your classmates in our Each One Reach One
campaign. Check out the page. If you are a Seeker, you need to find
your Target. If you are a Target, then someone is looking for you! Perhaps
you can help them by seeking them in return. And if you happen to know how
to find any of the Target alumni, let their Seeker know!
Governor’s School 2012 is a Go!
Thanks
to an incredible outpouring of support from Governor’s School alumni like
you and many local educational foundations and corporations, the GS Foundation has raised over
$525,000 in pledges and donations. That is enough to open one campus for up
to 300 students. While this still short of our goal of opening both campuses,
the fact that we were able to save GS at all is a miracle. For an
organization that has raised $10,000 to $20,000 annually for the past
decade, the step up to raising a half million dollars in less than four
months is truly amazing, and a testament to the great love we all have for
a program that gave us all a chance to stretch our wings and fly.
Let me
take a moment to share my appreciation and thanks to three great GS alumni
whose efforts have been key to making this happen.
First, I
would like to thank David Winslow (GSW 1970, Instrumental Music). David is
a professional fundraiser by trade who has helped raise millions of dollars
for North Carolina organizations from the Battleship North Carolina in
Wilmington to the NC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. His knowledge,
skill, and abilities have been the key element of our success. He has
worked long hours and logged many miles on behalf of Governor’s School.
Without him, we could not have come close to our goals.
Second,
thanks go to Scott Gayle (GSW 1968, Math). Scott has put much of his
personal and professional life on hold for the past three months in order
to take on the position of Fundraising Campaign Chairperson for the
Foundation. He has worked with great enthusiasm and energy to recruit, organize,
and assist the many fundraising events that have been held these past two
months. The scope of his efforts stretch from many cities in North Carolina
where events were held, to Washington, DC and on into New York. And through
it all, he has been calm, diligent, organized, and committed.
Finally,
my greatest and most sincere thanks and appreciation go to Roice Fulton
(GSW 2000, Natural Science). Roice is the Vice-President of the GS
Foundation, but in the absence of President Joe Milner (on sabbatical in
England), Roice has stepped up and devoted his
time, energy, and incredible organizational skills to the project. It is a
testament to his skill and dedication that we old men (Scott, David, and
myself) were led in this effort by a man twenty to thirty years younger
than us. Roice has crisscrossed the state many times in the past three
months, traveling to all the remote corners of North Carolina to meet with
donors, to attend fundraisers, to answer questions, and to raise the flag
of Governor’s School. When not living out of his truck, Roice has developed
and maintained the redesigned GS Foundation web site, implemented a mass
e-mailing service that has brought in tens of thousands of dollars in
donations, set up the PayPal service that makes it easy for us all to
contribute, and coordinated the activity and communication of the entire
fundraising effort. He is tireless in his efforts, and his every word and
action in these past months have been a testament to his love of the
program. I have been involved with the Alumni Association for seventeen
years, but I stand in awe of the efforts of Roice Fulton. When the doors of
GS open next summer, it will be because of his efforts and his refusal to
let this program die.
If there
is ever a book written about the history of Governor’s School, those three
will be the heroes of this darkest hour in the life of the program. From myself, and from all the alumni, you have our deepest
and sincerest thanks.
There are
many others whose contributions were no less important: Kristen Lozoya who held the first fundraiser and established the Keep the Torch Burning
web site. Hunter Baxley who single-handedly organized a GS talent show in
Rockingham. The band Jonas Sees In
Color and their lead singer Ryan Downing for the benefit concert in
Chapel Hill. And there are more too numerous to mention.
Finally,
my thanks goes to YOU, the alumni, for your assistance, support, and contributions
to help keep the torch burning, to give the next generation of North
Carolina’s students a chance to share this unique, incredible, and totally
enriching experience we call Governor’s School.
Jim
Hart, GSAA President
Help Find Fifty In Fifty
As
an alumni organization, our strength is in our numbers. Over 31,000 of
North Carolina’s top students have attended Governor’s School and are in
our database. But thousands of those records are decades old. Help us
increase our numbers by finding fifty alumni near you with the Find Fifty In Fifty program.
Governor’s School 2011 Campaign
Due
to the NC General Assembly’s decision to cut state funding for Governor’s School
completely, the GSAA and GS Foundation are working together to raise
awareness, raise interest, and raise money to support Governor’s School in
the future. It is our plan to have Governor’s School completely funded by
private and corporate donations beginning in 2012. And so, we need your
help. The 501(c)(3) arm of Governor’s School, the
GS Foundation, has begun our campaign to fund GS. Please help us make a
good start by making a donation at the GS Foundation Campaign
Site.
A fast
start to this campaign is critical. The Department of Public Instruction
must decide before mid-September if they will hold GS next year at all. A
quick, positive reaction to our need will go far in encouraging them to
continue the program. So donate today!
Legislature 2011-2012 Budget Cuts GS Completely
Preliminary
information that we are receiving indicates that the General Assembly's
plan for next year's education budget includes cutting Governor's School
completely or placing the full cost of the progam
on the students. Read here to see what you can
do to help. [Updated, June 22, 2011] The budget passed by the House and
Senate and on the way to the Governor cuts GS funding completely. Read for
details!
Join Our Facebook Group
The
GSAA is on Facebook. Connect with other alumni at the Governor's School
of North Carolina Alumni group.
Join the Alumni Forum on Yahoo!
Stay
in touch with alumni, collaborate with other GSers,
and find out what happens beyond the summer sessions. Just click the
link to left to the GSAA Yahoo Group.
Write Your Legislators!
If
you have just returned from Governor's School, the GSAA asks that you write
your state legislators and tell them what you thought of the program. Every
year, Governor's School has to prove its value to the people who fund it,
the state government. Your letters go a long way to convincing them that GS
is worth keeping. You can find out who represents you at The General Assembly Home
Page. Look on the right for the Who Represents Me lookup, find
out who your representatives are, and write them. It's the best thing you
can do for the Governor's School, so please, write them today.
Looking for Fresh Content
Attention
all alumni, we are looking for new, fresh content for the NCGSAlumni site. We are looking for
digital photos and even digital videos. We are looking for your stories and
memories. We are looking for success stories, and we are looking for
your article on what Governor's School meant to you. Please contact Sam Sanders (Art 71) to learn how to
submit your material.
Update Your Information in the Alumni Database
Help
us keep in touch with you! Please update your contact information in our Alumni Database. Everyone is in there,
whether you joined the GSAA or not. From 1963 to now, you can find
long-lost friends, and help them find you!
About GSAA...
The
North Carolina Governor’s School Alumni Association is a service
organization comprised of people who once attended the NC Governor’s
School. It is not a non-profit organization, and it is not a registered
political action committee, though it does have as its core goal to support
the Governor’s School through contributions and raising public
awareness.
What Does the GSAA Do? 
The
purpose of the GSAA is threefold:
1. To
promote and raise public awareness of the Governor’s School.
North
Carolina’s Governor’s School is the oldest Governor’s School in the nation.
It is a part of our statewide heritage. Today, there are over 50 governor’s
schools in over 35 states, many of which were modeled on the North Carolina
concept. Despite that heritage, many people in our own state have never
heard of the Governor’s School, and many who have heard of it do not know
what it is. Particularly, many members of the Legislature have never heard
of it. So part of our goal is to make our state aware of the Governor’s
School and to focus attention on this excellent program among the
legislators who provide the funding for the School. We do this through
letter-writing campaigns and by promoting GS among high-school guidance
counselors. Several attempts at wider-ranging media coverage have gone
nowhere, as GS is simply not controversial enough to attract the attention
of the papers and television.
2.
To provide funding for the Governor’s School’s student activities.
Due to
the shrinking budget for GS, many programs related to student activities
were cut from the budget in the mid-1980’s. These
programs, while not essential to the mission of the School, were considered
essential to the sanity of the students and faculty. Simple things, like
music for parties, social events, ice cream and lemonade, and gas for the
bus would not be available if the GSAA did not make a donation each year.
Even with our support, the funding for these events has been scant for the
past few years. So a large portion of our proceeds goes to this. In a way,
the students from each class are given the opportunity to provide support
for the class that will follow after. Without this support, the social
interaction of GS would dwindle, and along with it the opportunities for
students to make new friends and interact with their peers. The GSAA
believes that this social growth is equally as important as the
intellectual growth that GS fosters.
 3. To provide a forum through which
alumni can stay connected.
This is
primarily accomplished via our web site, and secondarily via our annual
Alumni gathering. Our goal with the web site is to keep track of all GS
alumni and make contact with those who have been lost over the years. We want
to provide a place where all alumni can come and make contact with one
another, find long-lost friends, connect with their classmates, and stay
informed on the news about Governor’s School. Since we get very little
media attention, the web site is probably the only place to get news about
GS. On Alumni Day, we try to provide the alumni with an annual return to
Governor’s School, so that they can re-experience the atmosphere that
changed their perceptions of themselves and their environment. For many, GS
was a life-changing experience. Through alumni gatherings, we attempt to
let alumni experience that again.
Along
with these primary goals, the GSAA also selects the members of the GS
Foundation Board and assist with setting policy for the Governor’s School
via their permanent position on the Department of Public Instruction’s GS
Board of Governors.
Read
more at GSAA Membership page.
GSAA News
Check out the GSAA News!
Attention All GS Alumni!
The
GSAA was founded in 1986. However, the school itself began in 1963.
Therefore, there are thousands of potential GSAA members with whom we have
lost contact. If you are one of these members, please let us know where you
are by e-mailing us or
updating the Alumni Database with your
new contact information. Please include the year and school you attended,
your Area I, and your maiden name.
NCGSAlumni.org offers:
·
 Links to the Yahoo discussion groups to communicate your comments to other alumni readers.
·
Photo album
·
Memories: stories and flashbacks of
Governor's School
·
Links to websites managed by the state
and alumni
·
Email addresses of alumni
·
Forms to submit your contact information
or website URL's
·
Current news from staff and alumni.
·
GSAA organization information
·
Campus visitor information
·
Downloadable files
For
detailed information on Governor's School of North Carolina, take a look here.
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