A January 20th emailed newsletter from RJR Alumni President Karen Morris to over 11,000 alumni all over the world.
Happy mid-January!
I hope this newsletter finds you all safe and warm. Since our last newsletter on January 1st, many of you reached out to thank Harry Corpening for his service, to ask questions about upcoming events, to donate to the request to assist the homeless students, and to ask to be added to the newsletter list. THANK YOU for staying engaged with your classmates and with the alumni association. We can leverage the strength of our group to positively impact the current school community!
In today's newsletter, you will see information about:
The financial contribution the alumni made to support the homeless students currently attending RJ Reynolds High School
More information on the Hall of Fame events coming up in February
How to share information on your class reunions (Judy Dodd is seeking information regarding the Class of 1965--is there a 60th reunion being planned?)
How to get more involved with the Alumni and Friends
The WS Journal coverage of the arrests following the December 10th event
An Alumni Spotlight on Woody Faircloth--Class of 1986
It's not too late to order a commemorative brick for the stadium!
I am including all of the websites listed as well as links--if any of the hyperlinks fail to open for you, simply copy the web address and paste it into a new browser window.
Do you have any idea of an alumni to spotlight? Do you have questions you want us to try to answer? Please send your ideas for future newsletters to rjralumnipres@gmail.com.
Karen Morris
President, RJR Alumni and Friends
RJR Class of 1986
Director, WS/FCS Teacher Residency Program
1. THANK YOU for supporting the social worker's initiative to help the students currently experiencing homelessness.
On December 22nd, Harry Corpening sent an email to the Alumni that featured a recorded Zoom conversation with Lenatte Taylor (she is the social worker who assists RJR's 34 homeless students). The accompanying article on the Alumni website can be viewed by going to this link to that recorded conversation. It tells how people can send donations to assist these homeless teenage students. The alumni association presented a check for $3,400 for "social worker initiatives" (which Ms. Taylor can use to help address unmet needs these students have). That means all of these donations showed up in only 26 days! If you would like to help with this initiative, simply click on the link above to do so. Donations to the Alumni Association can be marked for specific initiatives.
2. Hall of Fame events in February
Sports Hall of Fame--February 14, 2025
he Sports Hall of Fame honors outstanding individuals associated with RJ Reynolds athletics. (Click to see more information). The induction ceremony will take place Friday, February 14th during a basketball game. The Booster Club will update the website and share information on this year's inductees soon through a press release. The website does not yet include the Class of 2025 information. We will share as soon as the inductee names are ready to be released!
Arts Hall of Fame--February 21st School-Wide Event and February 22nd FREE Community Event in the Auditorium
The fourth induction ceremony for the RJR Arts Hall of Fame will take place at 6:30 PM in the RJ Reynolds Auditorium There is no charge to attend the community event and tickets to the VIP reception are $75--the committee is actively seeking sponsorships.
If you or your family members have been impacted by the arts, consider donating to the RJR Arts Programs through this initiative. The funds raised will fund the Hall of Fame events, a scholarship for an arts-intensive senior, and the arts programs. Go to 99pledges to donate, learn more about the event and the inductees, and see how you can support the current arts programs/students at RJR.
Specific needs include costs associated with the Spring production of Hadestown, an audio workstation and equipment for the music department, upgrading the guitar program, costumes for dance and theatre, visual arts supplies and contest fees, conference fees for professional learning, and support for the school newspaper.
4. Consider getting involved with the Alumni Association!
The RJR Alumni and Friends Association Board of Directors meets virtually online, communicates with the 11,000+ alumni of our esteemed high school, and works to connect the alumni to one another and to the current school community. If you are interested in serving on the board (attend 4 quarterly online meetings and be a part of coordinating the work of the association) or getting more involved, complete this Google form.
5. Update on the arrests following the violence on December 10th
Many alumni reached out with questions following the shooting of a student that occurred after school on December 10th. Harry Corpening interviewed Principal Freeman on December 13th and posted that interview in an earlier newsletter. On January 17th, the WS Journal featured an article with information concerning the investigation and the arrests of five people in conjunction with the violence. HERE is an article on the alumni website that includes that W-S Journal information as well as the interview with Mr Freeman.
6. Alumni Spotlight--Woody Faircloth, Class of 1986
Woody Faircloth was involved in sports, academics, and extracurriculars while a student at RJ Reynolds. He lives in Denver, Colorado and works as an account manager for a telecommunications company. He founded a non-profit (EmergencyRV.org) in response to the 2018 fires in Paradise, California which matched donated RVs with victims of natural disasters. This non-profit is made up entirely of volunteers. It has been featured on various news shows and won many awards. EmergencyRV has most recently been working to deliver RVs to victims of the Los Angeles fires and Hurricane Helene in Western NC.
Woody, your high school alumni association is proud of you and is happy to share this work.
7. Bricks for the new stadium--it's not too late but you need to be QUICK!
The Home Field Advantage team will be submitting the brick order in the next week. The easiest and quickest way to submit your order is through their website: https://www.rjreynoldshomefield.com/paverstore.
Alternatively, you can mail in a paper form--but let them know that it is coming so they will know to expect it.
To avoid any delays, please be sure to keep each line to 20 characters (including letters, spaces and punctuation) per line. The 4x8 brick ($250) has 3 lines and the 8x8 brick ($500) has 6 lines.
In closing, let me reiterate that I agree with Harry and believe the words found under the following drawing of Reynolds High School are as true and valid today as they EVER were!
It continues to be our wish that EVERY alum will support the three ongoing RJR Alumni initiatives....both now and via their wills. To learn the details of doing this, click on the following image.
Feel free to forward this email to ANYONE you think would be interested in reading it.
If you want to add your email address to our list, or have us change your email address, or have us take your email address off our list: merely reply back with that request.
MANY thanks for your time and consideration.