By Nicole Falco
While attending a reunion last summer, Emily Kleinman Schreiber, class of 1961, got to talking with Bernie O'Brien, a former teacher at South. O'Brien suggested to Kleinman Schreiber that she would be an excellent choice to start an alumni association. After all, she had been involved in the planning of many of her class's reunions.
"Fortunately, she's taken the ball and just run with it," O'Brien said. "It's long overdue, especially with the 50th anniversary coming up."
Not long after that first conversation, Kleinman Schreiber, now a Bellmore resident, heard that Dr. Stephen Lando, South's principal, had called a meeting to begin planning the anniversary celebration. She asked if she could attend. "Once I started going to Dr. Lando's meetings, I said I guess I'm doing it," Kleinman Schreiber said.
At one of Lando's meetings, she learned that an alumnus, who also taught at the school, had begun the process of forming an alumni association back in 1995, but had never followed through with it. After some digging, Kleinman Schreiber learned that the Valley Stream South High School Alumni Association had been incorporated on June 15, 1995. She has since sent away for copies of the incorporation documents.
Kleinman Schreiber said she consulted the presidents of North's and Central's alumni associations for advice, and credits Lando, Nancy Russo-Rumore, a former teacher at South, and current teachers Nell Landman and Madeline Silverman for helping to make the group's inaugural meeting a success. Twenty-three people attended the first meeting on Nov. 30 in the school library.
"It's very exciting," Kleinman Schreiber said. "A lot of people had come to the meeting who hadn't been back since they graduated."
Her fellow alumni stepped up to serve as the association's first officers. Kleinman Schreiber was sworn in as president, Paul DeMartino as vice president, Dennis Shapiro as treasurer, Roberta Brill Birnel as secretary and Eileen Howell as historian. "It's our job now to reach as many alumni as possible to get them back for the 50-year celebration, and also to get them to send their dues so we can start giving out scholarships," Kleinman Schreiber said.
She said her motivation for organizing reunions and for taking the helm of her alma mater's alumni association is the joy she gets out of bringing people together. "I get a giant kick out of seeing people see classmates they haven't seen in 40 years," Kleinman Schreiber said. "It's almost like being a matchmaker. I also enjoy the challenge of finding people."
So far, the association has at least one contact from about 40 of the school's 48 graduating classes. Kleinman Schreiber said the group will serve as an excellent resource for alumni, particularly when they want to organize class reunions, and that one of its major functions will be awarding annual scholarships to graduating seniors.
"The school deserves an alumni association," said Russo-Rumore, who retired as department head of Languages Other Than English in 2002. "South High School is a very special place, made that way by the faculty and students there through the years. I'm surprised it took so long. Central has one. North has one. We were like the odd man out, and our school is a very spirited place."
The school's spirit will be on display when it hosts its 50th anniversary festivities on March 11. Plans include brunch, a benefit concert and building tours.
"I think [the alumni association] is one of the best things to come out of our 50th anniversary celebration," Lando said. "It will serve as a way for us to reach out to people so they can come back and enjoy the celebration, and get back to their roots."
The organization's next meeting is Thursday, Jan. 12. For more information or to find out how to become a member, e-mail Kleinman Schreiber at Cre8em@aol.com.
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
