Growing Strong! Building Our Alumni Community

from Good News - Summer 2022

by John Holt Public Relations & Content Writer

“...a brand-new Class Ambassador program,

in-person alumni events, early alumni engagement, and a return presence on social media.”

As we reflect on the 2021-2022 school year, we were excited to bring back many of our Good Shepherd traditions as well as move forward with projects put on hold due to the pandemic. One important project is the GSES Alumni Committee’s efforts to bring alumni back to our community.

“It is something we have always wanted to do and have been trying to do,” GSES Alumni Committee Chair Catherine Groen said. “It just needed to be the right time and the right place.”

David Harrel and Catherine Groen

Alumni Event at Topgolf Dallas, 2022 The committee started in the fall of 2019, yet in early 2020, had to pause as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the world. Before this, everything was heading in the right direction.

“We had several alumni on campus to speak,” Groen said. “We helped host a tour of the school for one class reunion that a class put together themselves. We were promoting our alumni through social media and were on our way.”

With in-person events not happening, the committee was limited in what it could do. Two virtual events took place during the summer of 2020, but that was all that was feasible. “At the time, we did not have a huge community to really invite to these events,” Groen said.

Fast forward two years and what has come to fruition is a brand new Class Ambassador program, in-person alumni events, early alumni engagement, and a return presence on social media. In March, the committee hosted its first-ever alumni event at Topgolf with 13 alums in attendance.

“We had several people RSVP even if it was a no,” Groen said. “The fact they were engaging and looking at it and communicating, I think, was such a positive step and shift.”

Class of 2021 Yearbook Signing Class of 2021 Yearbook Signing

Today, the committee has 10 members. Groen would like three to five additional members to join and is hoping the new Class Ambassador program will assist in obtaining larger numbers.

“We want to build structure, consistency, solidify early engagement, and create a committee that does not lose its shape when people transition off,” Groen said.

Committee members are expected to serve three-year terms and next year, Groen, a 1989 Good Shepherd graduate, will hand over chair reins to David Harrel, a current GSES parent, who attended Good Shepherd for part of his grade school education.

“David Harrel is an enthusiastic committee member,” Groen said. “He’s very passionate about Good Shepherd and had a positive experience here.”

Groen is proud of the progress occurring during her time at the helm, but also looks forward to what is still to come. Creating an online alumni directory for job networking, hosting a yearly holiday party, developing an application process for prospective committee members, and receiving class updates from Class Ambassadors are all goals the committee would like to accomplish down the road.

Class of 2021 Yearbook Signing

Alumni Event at Topgolf Dallas, 2022

Yet what is most essential and will never change is the importance of alumni always feeling a level of connectedness with Good Shepherd Episcopal School.

“We have some people who are doing amazing things,” Groen said. “Oftentimes, I hear, ‘oh, you are just a middle school. You are competing with the high schools for alum attention,’ and I would reply, I don’t think so. I think we have such a niche area where we are nurturing and caring about students at such an impactful time in their lives. I do not see us as competing with the high schools and colleges. I think we are in a world of our own.”

A world continuing to blossom each and every year through students – who eventually become alumni – modeling the school mission of learning with confidence, serving with compassion, and leading with courage.