Search on for elementary school alumni
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

Shrewsbury - As I walked through the halls of St. Mary's Elementary School in Shrewsbury, I was instantly brought back to the days when I attended the school myself as a child.

I passed the seventh-grade classroom where Mrs. Saulnier beamed at me the day I finished the "impossible" verb conjugation quiz just minutes before the bell, the bathroom where my girlfriends and I spent countless hours talking about boys and preparing for school dances, the stairwell where someone dropped a grape, never knowing that in a matter of minutes then principal Sister Margaret would slip and break her hip.

I was looking for Sira Naras, St. Mary's new advancement coordinator. What I didn't realize was that she was looking for me too.

"You're kidding," she said when I told her I had attended the school from fourth to eighth grade.

"This is exactly what we're trying to do, reconnect with people," she said.

Naras came on as the new advancement coordinator following a grassroots campaign started by a group of St. Mary's parents who were interested in reintroducing former graduates to the school.

I am one of more than 700 former students the school had lost contact with. Naras said she knows it will take a lot of hard work to track the remaining alumni down, but she believes people will be grateful for the effort when she finds them.

"People love to stay in touch with their past. We see students come back to visit and are even sending their own children here," she said. "We're a family in the sense that we care about each other, and we want to reunite as many people as we can."

Naras, along with parent volunteers and Advancement Office creators Christina Nathan and Wendy King, has been exhausting school archives looking for last known addresses and phone numbers of parents who may still live in the area. She also has put the word out to existing families that may be in touch with former students, and posted a request for graduate contact information in the church bulletin.

"We just don't have the database that we should, and we have a lot of work to do," she said.

The next step will be an organized Internet search, where Naras believe she will be able to track down the bulk of the missing alumni.

"We want to bring people back, sharing their memories and getting involved with the school that meant so much to them," she said.

Once found, Naras, Nathan and King are hoping people's fond memories of their time at St. Mary's will encourage them to give back to their alma mater through either a financial donation or a donation of their time.

"We're looking for people to contribute not only financially but through help mentoring students, serving as a big brother or big sister, or volunteering for the fall festival or in the Advancement Office," Nathan said.. "It's the natural next step because I don't think people ever really leave us behind, even if they haven't kept in touch."

The Advancement Office is looking into possibly holding class reunions, holiday balls, and other fund-raisers in the future to help raise money for new technology and updated infrastructure, new initiatives and financial aid for families.

In recent years the school has hosted a Texas Hold 'Em night and a benefit concert at Mechanic's Hall, both of which King said were well received.

Although the school is hoping to increase its fund-raising abilities through the new Advancement Coordinator position, she said no financial goal has been set at this point.

"Whatever we're able to raise is the right amount at that time," King said. "As long as we continue to grow, we're on the right path."

Former St. Mary's graduates who would like to reconnect with the school can contact Sira Naras at 508-842-1601 or send e-mail to the Advancement Office at advancement@ stmayrsparish.org.