James Paterson: Alumni Committee Chair – What does the Alumni Committee do and who’s on it?

Great questions: I’m glad you asked.

The Alumni (Sub) Committee is a branch of the Out­reach Committee, with a similar mission and vision to the Family Guild. The main difference of course is that the Alumni Committee is comprised of “Old Boys” who attended the Academy for at least 1 year at some point since its inception. The primary mission of the Alumni is to support the Academy in their endeavor to enroll more students by bringing positive exposure in the form of success stories to those who are looking for educational options that public education, and even other private schools, can’t provide.

The Alumni Committee currently has active members who date all the way back to the early 80’s and up into the 2010’s. We are all very proud of our school as it is com­pletely unique in North America and offers structure, support, skills and adventure like no other.

The Alumni support this mission of promotion in a number of ways but most importantly, by celebrating our successes both during our time at the Academy and the many years since we ourselves slept in the bunks, marched on the parade square and ran laps.

Gathering together for RLA events is a great way to reconnect with everyone as well as to meet new friends. Currently Homecoming and The Fall Exercise are the two big opportunities for Alumni members to come togeth­er and celebrate life’s successes. It’s also a good time to connect with the new generation of boys and impart our wisdom of years lived, to them. The connection with the current boys is always strong as we have lived their lives many years ago and under­stand how difficult the road sometimes is.

The committee is also work­ing hard to collect memories and stories in the form of a digital alumni portal, direct­ly connected to the RLA web site! Designed as a secure type of social media, the intent is to share experiences, pictures as well as awards and, it’s another great opportunity to reconnect with old friends and promote RLA’s values which provided us much success in life.

Collecting and sharing positive stories of both struggles and success highlights our life achievement and demon­strates to current boys, parents and prospective families interested in a drastic change that the program works and produces good citizens who positively contribute to society.

The Alumni Committee meets monthly, and all alumni are welcome to take part in our meetings. The commit­ment is not substantial but does require effort.

We are proud to promote and celebrate our school and ultimately, we want to see the next and future generations do as well, or better than we did. And with that wish, we hope to see more Alumni take up an active role either with the Committee or perhaps just join us for an event and contribute to the portal! The more we can get the name “Robert Land Academy” out in a positive way, the more success we’ll see in our mission and ultimately in­crease the longevity of our beloved school for generations to come!