More than 70 recent Pine-Richland High School graduates and retirees returned Dec. 20 for the school’s annual Past Graduates and Staff Day.

Organized by Jean Whalen, director of college and services, and Frank Hernandez, principal, the day is aimed at facilitating dialogue between graduates and current students to provide insight about experiences at college.

“The purpose of Past Graduates and now Past Staff Day is to continue to build a sense of a strong community and positive culture at Pine-Richland,” said Hernandez. “It is very important that we help our current students learn more about what lies ahead for them, and we also gain valuable input from our past graduates on what they felt most and least prepared for post-graduation.

“With our past staff, we simply want to reconnect them with their former colleagues and honor how important their careers were to our school.”

The first Past Graduates Day was organized by Whalen in 2007.

“The purpose was to welcome back our students to speak with current students about their college and career choices,” she said.

Throughout the years, Past Graduates Day has occurred off and on; however, a committee approach with Hernandez, Whalen, assistant Jake Cawley, and students Prisha Dargan, Annabella Orlanda and Sanika Das has helped to ensure that many graduates and past staff return each year.

Guests were treated to breakfast hosted by the high school PTO and Sodexo food services. Jeff Byko, former English language arts teacher, was the guest speaker and talked to students to offer words of encouragement and to have them share what they are doing now.

Graduates visited junior and senior class homerooms to talk to students about their Pine-Richland experiences and how they decided on their current paths. They also answered questions about their college and/or career experiences.

Alumni also hosted breakout groups that students visited during lunch: Navigating College Academics and College Student-Athletes. Alumni in the academic breakout ground talked to students about their first year in college, including their courses, how they felt most and least prepared, what they’re doing to ensure success, how they handle challenging coursework, and what their assessments and projects look like.

In the college athletics group, alumni shared their experiences with recruiting, typical in-season and off-season days, balancing academics and athletics and differences between high school and college athletics.

“We hope this day will help students connect learning to life,” said Whalen.

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