As we approach the finish line of what has been an unprecedented year in Husky Nation, our alumni network has continued to step up and support our community. Every year the Alumni Office offers many programs and events allowing speakers to share their expertise and passion with our school community. Some of these programs include our Alumni in Residence, designed to feature the expertise within our alumni body and share life experiences and wisdom with students. This program is sponsored by the Class of 1969 Speaker Series Fund.
Learning from an entrepreneur
On April 12, we hosted our final Alumni in Residence of the year with Mike Lyon ’08—entrepreneur and co-founder of Pedestal Footwear. Mike spoke about his experience of turning a concept into a successful business. Mike shared tips and advice to our students that are pondering their life path, and answered audience questions about sustainability practices, issues he’s faced during his career, and even shared who some of his New Hampton School mentors were when he was a student. Typically, alumni participants return to campus for a couple of days, attend classes, speak to the entire community, and work with some of our clubs. It’s a great opportunity for alumni to immerse themselves fully in the school community while sharing their talents and expertise.
The recording for the evening can be accessed here.
Exploring real estate trends with the experts
On April 8 we hosted a panel of talented alumni who work in the real estate industry to discuss trends they are seeing and resources they’ve found while navigating this challenging pandemic market. Panelists were Collin Bray ’02, Kellie Eastman ’82, Jay Mitchell ’12, and Tracy Jenkins ’91. It was a great opportunity for our alumni experts to answer questions and offer their insight to fellow huskies who are trying to navigate the current market and to hear how they have leveraged the alumni connections and network within their careers. This program was part of our NHS Connects series which was created to provide professional networking opportunities for our alumni.
The recording for the evening can be accessed here.
Inspiration from a leader in coaching
On April 15 the Alumni Office and Head Coach Connor Gorman of the Men’s Hockey Team hosted Brian Riley ’78, Head Coach of Army West Point Hockey for a conversation about Brian’s New Hampton School experience, his playing and coaching career, and his focus on leadership as the coach of tomorrow’s military officers and world leaders.
Alumni, parents, faculty, and this year’s men’s varsity team joined the call and heard riveting stories and examples of what makes a leader. His overarching message to this year’s team was to “Be a good person and people will follow you.”
The recording for the evening can be accessed here.
Preparing our new class of alumni
Lastly, the Alumni Office hosted the senior class for Husky 101, a program that was established a few years ago to help our senior class understand the role they transition to as an alumnus of the school. The program kicked off with an alumni panel spotlighting our Alumni Association Leadership, Megan Collins ’98, Phil Sawyer ’68, and Kaleigh Teague ’10 who discussed what it means to be a member of the Alumni Association, what services are available to them, and how networking has played a role in their professional lives. Students were then assisted by the Advancement Office to create LinkedIn profiles, one of the many tools that were discussed that could help them network after graduation.
Living our mission
All these programs are sponsored by the Alumni Office and are supported by the Alumni Association. The association’s mission is to “expand the alumni network and to encourage alumni engagement with the school, the Association will support alumni programs and services, facilitate communications with the alumni community, and seek to strengthen alumni bonds with the school.” If you are interested in learning more or participating in one of these programs, please contact the alumni office at alumni@newhampton.org.
