Overview
In September of 2003, the BC
Harris Company published a "WYHS Alumni Directory." While
the Whitehall School District, the Alumni
Association, and the webmaster of WYHS.org
(that's me) were aware of the project and
provided some assistance, the BC Harris Company took
complete responsibility for the entire directory
project.
The directory contains the class rosters for all WYHS graduating classes
from 1958 through 2002. Those class rosters are public records,
which allowed BC Harris to publish them.
The directory also contains current contact information for many WYHS grads.
The folks at BC Harris attempted to contact as many WYHS alumni
as possible to gather current contact information and get permission
to print that current contact information in the directory.
While they were gathering current contact information, BC Harris accepted
orders for the "WYHS Alumni Directory," and then printed
just enough directories to fill those orders.
The
directory is being sold only to WYHS Alumni.
Directory Availability
- BC Harris prints a very small over-run of directories,
typically between 20 and 30 copies. Those over-run copies
are available for sale, but will be sold only to WYHS Alumni.
- Some directories that were ordered and shipped get
returned to BC Harris and become available for
sale, once again only to WYHS Alumni.
- BC Harris will not print additional copies
of the directory. Once the over-run of directories
and any returned directories are sold, anyone wanting a directory will
have
to wait until the next directory
update
is printed, which will probably be in 2008.
- Folks wanting to check availability or order
WYHS Alumni Directories from BC Harris should
call their customer service department at 800-877-6554.
Directory Updates
- BC Harris does not have a system to update
the directory information after the directory
is published. They consider the project to be
closed, and won't do any more
work on the database until
work is
started on the next directory update.
- I'm
working on creating an "account" for every WYHS grad and
those who work or worked for the school
district. Each person with an account
will have the ability to keep their contact
information updated and indicate whether
or not they want that contact information
shared with the school, the alumni association,
their reunion committee, their classmates,
and/or BC Harris. Registering with the
WYHS.org site (which can't be done quite
yet) and giving permission to share your
contact info with BC Harris will allow
BC Harris to contact you when the next
directory is published (probably in 2008).
Why Wasn't I Contacted about the Directory?
Over 10,000 of us have graduated from WYHS since 1958. If
you weren't contacted about the directory, weren't included
in the directory, or your information was listed correctly,
rest assured that it wasn't done on purpose.
As I mentioned
earlier, the BC Harris Company did the directory
and was responsible for trying to locate WYHS alumni.
They make their money by selling copies of the directory
to WYHS alumni, so it is in their best interest to find
as many alumni as possible.
While the
BC Harris Company did contact a huge number of
WYHS alumni, there were a bunch of folks they couldn't
locate. For example, BC Harris never contacted me about
the directory. I ended
up calling them on the day of the deadline
to give them my current contact information. The lady
I talked with at BC Harris said
they showed me living someplace in Pennsylvania
and my wife (also a 1971 WYHS grad) living in
Findlay. I was a bit surprised at that, since
neither of us ever lived outside of Franklin
County.
Bottom line is that if you weren't contacted about the 2003 edition of
the "WYHS Alumni Directory," you're not alone. The good
news is that if you sign up for the WYHS.org mailing
list you'll know about the next alumni directory long
before it goes to print.
