It’s Time to Reunite!

“It’s  time to reunite!” The phrase is all around the school, up on the billboard and below every  school logo with the number 70 on it; however, many students, teachers and parents still don’t know what it means.

On December 13, 2016, The Columbus School Board of Directors approved a project, It´s Time to Reuinte!, which both celebrates the 70th anniversary of the school and works towards the creation of a community for alumni, forming a platform in which they can interact, help and support each other.

The Project

“We want to position and consolidate a center for alumni which will promote the union and solidarity among alumni of The Columbus School by offering meetup spaces, activities and benefits that will help strengthen the bond between alumni and the school,” Astrid Muñoz, Head of Marketing at TCS, said.

Along with Ms Muñoz, numerous people are working to make this project happen. She is working alongside a committee of alumni which includes one alumni representative from each decade from the 1960´s to 2016. The Board of Directors, the school administration and the student council are also taking part in this project since it affects everyone in the school community.

“My role as the Personero of The Columbus School is to help the administration plan, organize and attend the events,” Ricardo Jaramillo, TCS Personero, said.

The Process

This new project is still in the process of developing a method by which they can accomplish the reunification of as many alumni as possible and are variety of strategies.

A private facebook page was set up with old and new pictures, as well as information about nearby events (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1767677860180797/). However, the main goal is to update information in the database from alumni who moved abroad or changed their phone numbers and emails in order to contact them when needed.

“We are at a stage where the main goal is to update our database and use social media to connect everyone,” Muñoz said, “Updating the database has been a pain in the back but we’ve been working hard on it and it’s something that we have to be promoting constantly.”

The team in charge of this project used the school’s 70th birthday celebration as a platform to launch this program. The campus walls were covered with old school pictures, a hall of fame, and numerous signs encouraging alumni to communicate with the school.

It is imperative for students to be aware of this project and to understand that they are part of The Columbus School community even after graduating.

Potential Outcomes

The school believes that a variety of positive outcomes will result from this program. 

“It’s important for alumni to keep contact with each other because it’s a link of solidarity and support, they’ve shared almost 14 years of their lives together, and they can still contribute to the bettering of our school in all possible areas,” Muñoz said.

The school started the program with the idea of creating a family-type atmousphere in the community. The hope is that this will result in the enrollment of more sons and daughters of alumni due to the feelings of safety and familiarity with the school.

“This project could also help us increase the number of children of alumni who will enroll in our school program in the years to come. It is a great joy for us to have alumni coming back home with their children because it reaffirms the conviction and love that they have for this institution,” Muños added.

There are about 3,243 Columbus School graduates between the years 1964 to 2016. If all these people were connected and willing to interact and support one another, the school believes this could have a significantly positive impact in improving the sense of community among all The Columbus School stakeholders. 

“The best thing about this project is reuniting classmates that haven’t seen each other for a while. It also gives them the opportunity to do business through contacts established during their school years” Jaramillo said. “I think I will never really graduate, I will always be present in the school.”

“This is just the beginning so the outcome will only be evident over time, and the consolidation of the center of alumni,” Muñoz said.

Alumni Reaction

Each individual alumnus relates to this project differently according to their age, profession, and personal interests. Most of the alumni contacted through the program have had a positive reaction.

“I think it is important for the school to be in contact with alumni because of the the economic, knowledge and experience contributions that they could bring to the institution,” Santiago Londoño, Class of ’91 and former Secretary of Interior of Antioquia, said.

Another benefit of this project is to help preserve the culture and identity of the school. Alumni who now have kids of their own, can also talk among each and receive support as well as feedback with regards to the school.

“As a mother who is about to enroll a daughter in the school, I think different alumni could help me by sharing their experience as school parents and explain how the school has changed and evolved since we were students,” Julianna Arriola, Class of ‘87 and Money Manager at BTG Pactual, said.

Younger alumni are also starting to realize the importance of having a school community. Most of them referred to the networking that occurs after 14 years of school and the importance of keeping in contact with classmates as well as younger and older generations of alumni.

“Once we move on, and our classmates start becoming the future business owners, and leaders of our country, having them as contacts can open a lot of doors. This type of community of alumni could help us expand not only in our personal, but in our professional life as well,” Juanita Molina, Class of ‘15 and marketing student at EAFIT, said.

“I think this project is a great idea because it can be used to contact older alumni who have more experience and larger businesses,” Daniel Castrillon, class of ‘14 and Business Engineer Student at EIA, said.

Castrillon also addressed a problem that many related to. When students graduate, they stay in touch with only a few of their closest friends.  However, classmates lose contact with those with they’ve shared some of the most important years of their lives with. He, along with most alumni, think the best part of this project is to to see old faces, relive happy memories, and reunite.

“I am personally looking forward to seeing what people that went to school with me are up to today. I know for sure, many of my classmates have already achieved great things!” Molina said.