The article below was submitted by Teddy L. Gruver, CCHSAA President, and appeared in the April 2006 issue of the CCHS newspaper "The Talon" and in "The Beacon", the CCHS administrative team's newsletter.

 

 COLUMBIA CITY HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

 

The Columbia City High School Alumni Association, also known as CCHSAA, was formed on June 15, 2005 by CCHS alumni Teddy L. Gruver, class of 1957.

The CCHSAA mission statement is to  promote school spirit, loyalty and fellowship among alumni, students, faculty and staff of CCHS through a variety of activities.

The CCHS Alumni Association  has a free web site located at www.cchsaa.org on the Internet. CCHSAA webmaster Brenda Reeg Robison, (‘60) created the user friendly site, whose interesting and useful features make it worth visiting the web site often.

The CCHSAA web site has a CCHS alumni database for all classmates and past students to enter their personal profile information. The site provides a forum for staying in touch with teachers, classmates and friends of CCHS.

All Officers and Board of Directors,  are listed on the CCHSAA website, along with alumni news, class reunions and message board. You can click on the CCHS Fight Song, school history, by-laws and other important CCHSAA information. You can also listen to CCHS radio station 91.5 FM.

Steve Doepker, Principal of CCHS, and Jim Huth, Assistant Principal, have been appointed to the CCHSAA Board of Directors. The association will work closely with school officials through out the school year.

There are currently about 15,000 CCHS alumni from 1881 to 2005 in the CCHSAA alumni database. CCHSAA Class Coordinators for each class school year are selected to keep the CCHS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION informed of class news, reunions,  and class events throughout the year. CCHSAA class coordinators encourage classmates to enter their personal profiles to the alumni database and to participate in alumni activities. 

CCHSAA  ambassadors will be visiting class reunions held each year in Columbia City to talk about the association and gather alumni information.

Programs in the works by the Officers and Board of Directors include “Alumni Day” to be held with the “CCHS Homecoming” and “130th CCHS ANNIVERSARY” the first weekend of October 2006.  Long-term suggestions include an Academic Hall of Fame, Athletic Hall of Fame, Administrative Hall of  Fame, scholarship programs and items needed within the school system.

Donations to the CCHS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION are tax deducible (IRS 501 C)  and will be handled by the Whitley County Community Foundation. All donations should be made payable to the CCHS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION and mailed to the association‘s address, 600 North Whitley Street Columbia City, IN 46725.

An anonymous alumni  recently donated $1,000 to the CCHS Alumni Association to help with continuing support of the association and the free alumni web site www.cchsaa.org 

A CCHS student can easily move between the CCHSAA web site and the school web site by clicking on connecting links posted on each site.

Directions to enter personal profiles to the CCHSAA database are as follows:

1. Go to www.cchsaa.org

2. On the opening page, left side click “alumni database”

3. Scroll down to “Class Roster”

4. Click on your “ School Year”

5. Find your name under class members

6. Click on your name

7. In the upper left hand corner of your profile, click “Update Entry”

8. Fill out the CCHSAA personal data form

9. Answer the privacy option questions

10. Click “submit” at the bottom of the page

11. In about 48 hours you will receive a confirmation if submission is approved by the webmaster.

The Columbia City High School Alumni Association
600 North Whitley Street
Columbia City, IN 46725-0527

Telephone:  260-244-6136, extension 3459

More information may be obtained by sending e-mails to cchsaaorg@aol.com with copy to cchsaaorgpres@aol.com