Graduates of Clay County Schools

CLAY-WIDEN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP

The Clay-Widen Alumni Association (CWAA) is now in its thirteenth year at Clay County High School. The first meeting in the fall of 1991 had four people in attendance, Cindy Willis, Anita Stephenson, Mary Ann Triplett, and Earl Perdue. We have grown to 1925 members and keep growing stronger. It is made up of alumni and friends from Clay County High School and Widen High School. These two groups work together for the same goals, to offer opportunities to Clay County High School students and to renew old friendships. We would like for you to join and become a member. As a member you will receive three to four newsletters a year; hopefully these will keep you informed of the whereabouts of old friends and what is currently happening at Clay County High School. Our organization also sponsors an annual reunion in conjunction with the Golden Delicious Apple Festival. This reunion is for all graduates or attendees of any class of either Clay County High School or Widen High School. We also take part in the Widen Day festivities--we know the Widen graduates especially look forward to this. As a tribute to Widen High School classmates we host a reception the night before Widen Day. We invite everyone, no matter what their school affiliation, to attend this reception.

We do not intend for the fall reunion to replace regular class reunions, but we hope that all graduates will find it a welcome addition to their scheduled reunions. The fall reunion is your chance to visit with other graduates from other years. We are elated that some classes have planned their reunions in conjunction with this event, but we do understand that some classes still want to have reunions in the summer. This gives folks from distant areas two opportunities to “come home.”

When you think of "coming home" we hope that you will think of other current and future graduates of Clay County Schools. You can keep in contact with people from those “Good Ol’ Days” or you may be able to help a future graduate who still needs assistance with the transition from school to work. How can you do this? By joining the Clay-Widen Alumni Association. Through the quarterly newsletter you can keep track of graduates from different years and a part of your membership dues go into a scholarship fund for a deserving future graduate.

Past presidents include Mary Ann Triplett, Anita Stephenson, Roscoe Bee, Joann Legg Reed, Dale Morris, and currently Jerry Linkinoggor.

CWAA is a busy group. We won an award in the School's Ahead program for having one of the best school-community relationships in the state of West Virginia. We have recently established a Friend and Alumni Partners in Science group to help science and math students with career information and science fair projects. Alumni members have also helped in school fund-raising projects such as collecting aluminum cans, candy coupons from Mallo Cup and Smoothie candy bars, Target and Kmart programs and virtual online fundraisers, etc. The Alumni members helped pay for the band to get new uniforms and helped send the Dance Team to Orlando. Some alumni members become business partners or donate items to the school that students and programs need.

Some classes are very active in the CWAA. Some classes fundraise for scholarships that they give through the Alumni. Some classes are very active in attending the reunions. The class of 71 is actively working to build the Silent Auction that we have during the reunions. Carolyn Creswell Stock is in charge of that project.

Someday, we would like to see Clay-Widen Alumni Association chapters in every state. After all, we have members in most states, but we have graduates in every state and in several countries. It would surprise you to know where people are and what they are doing that have the same roots as you, Clay County!

The people of Clay County have always been some proud, hardworking people. We have had pride in our high schools since 1912 when Clay High School began and since 1932 when Widen High School began. We can join now to help and support students of Clay County High School. We extend this invitation to you to "reconnect" with Clay County, to once again have a bond with the school of your heart. We may not be able to bring you back to Clay County, but we can certainly try to bring a little of Clay County to you.

Widen graduates, please do not feel left out. I graduated from Clay County High School in 1977, but I lived in Widen when I was born. My parents, grandparents, and family were all from Widen. Though I grew up in the town of Clay, I feel that I have the best of both worlds. For a lot of us, we have connections to both schools, both worlds. Join our group! It will be what we make of it!

We also realize that there was a time when it was not practical to graduate from high school, those of you that were educated by life's ups and downs are still eligible to join the Alumni Association. We recognize the great contribution you have given our community--some of you are our entrepreneurs from whom we could all learn. We welcome all students who have attended any of our Clay County schools and those adults who have earned their West Virginia Equivalency Diploma through our school system. Help us spread the word and make our membership grow. Today, students need so much more to prepare for the twenty-first century!