LYNN — After a brief hiatus, Lynn Classical High School (LCHS) class of 2014 graduate Jacqlyn Culwell put her writing skills to use to revive the school’s alumni newsletter.
Culwell spent some time working at The Item and is now a teacher at Classical, where she leads the school’s newspaper club, which she also restored.
The Alumni Association, led by former Lynn Classical Principal Gene Constantino, has awarded more than $1 million since its inception in 1995.
“Having worked at Lynn Classical as a teacher, guidance counselor, vice principal, and principal, I have seen firsthand how the Alumni Association has enhanced our school throughout the years,” said Constantino. “I want to thank Jacqlyn Culwell, a teacher at Classical who is also a graduate of the class of 2014, for publishing this.”
Culwell was approached by Constantino to take on this project, for which she said she had many fresh ideas. As a graduate of LCHS, Culwell said she was happy to do something for her alma mater.
First off, Culwell said she wanted to incorporate color, since the newsletter had always been in black and white. She also said she wanted to adjust to the advances in technology and social media by creating a PDF version of the newsletter so readers can easily share the project, ultimately gaining a broader audience and, it is hoped, more donations.
Her goal was to create a template that followed the typical newsletter layout and could easily be reused for future use.
“It’s definitely reminiscent of past newsletters, but it now has the color pop and the theme of the green and gold,” she said.
Culwell maintained the usual contents of the newsletter, including showcasing and highlighting experiences and achievements of alumni, providing updates on aspects such as inductions to the LCHS Hall of Fame, and an alumni obituary section.
To make these adjustments, Culwell said she used websites and tools that she also implements in her newspaper club.
“It took a while, only because I wanted to make sure Gene was happy with it,” she said. “Only because I know this is like Gene’s baby since he is the president.”
The newsletter consists of interviews and recollections from alumni, including state Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), Bowdoin College graduate David Morales and Patricia “Pat” Flynn, Bentley University’s first female faculty member in its economics department.
The alumni acknowledged how LCHS shaped them into who they are today and included advice and tips to current students and recent graduates.
As a fairly recent graduate herself, Culwell said her hopes for the newsletter include involving more graduates from the last five to 10 years, saying that younger graduates have been accomplishing so much in such a short time.
“There’s a lot of opportunity to really make this more modern and a little bit more accessible to the younger generations of Classical alumni, which is another thing that we talked about,” Culwell said. “We definitely want to reach out to more alumni from years past — even as recent as last year’s class — and get them involved in becoming donors to the Alumni Association so we can fund scholarships for graduates.”
Culwell said it is important for alumni, especially those who have moved away, to know they can be involved and make a difference. She said there are so many people she graduated with who are doing amazing things but may not realize they can still be a part of Classical.
“It’s important to keep the connection of once a Classical Ram, always a Ram,” she said. “I think that is the shared hope for everybody.”
Culwell said she has always wanted to fund a writing scholarship because she has the mindset of always wanting to give back to Classical since the school gave her so much.
“It’s important to keep the spirit of giving opportunities back alive,” she said.
The LCHS Alumni Association is active on Facebook where it posts about alumni and information on events, scholarships and donations. It encourages LCHS graduates to reach out with updated emails and addresses so they can continue to be involved with their alma mater. To learn more about the alumni scholarship, visit lynnclassicalalumni.org or the alumni Facebook page.
