Recently, the Bloomfield Hills High School administration together made a decision determining that in the future, high school alumni would have to schedule appointments to visit teachers as opposed to, as it has been in the past, simply coming to visit during the school day.

  “We love to have alumni visit, but if they don’t have an appointment, [a part of the new policy], it can be a distraction to the teacher who is teaching a class and is unavailable,” BHHS Principal Charlie Hollerith said. “As a part of this [new] procedure, it allows for both students and teachers to be more productive.”

   Although feedback to this decision has been mixed, we at the Hawkeye oppose this decision, believing that student-alumni interaction and alumni visits are a core element of a school community’s well being overall.

  Since beginning high school, many students can note and remember seeing high school alumni visit teachers and other members of our school community, but with decision, this will be a reality to a lesser degree, for alumni must make an appointment, adding a step that will diminish the number of visiting-alumni.

  And we at the Hawkeye believe that alumni visits form one of the most important elements of our high school, because they represent our high school’s legacy and impact on graduates far beyond their high school years.

  However, most of all, alumni visits represent values that students, teachers, and administrators in our school community actively strive for, and through alumni visits, we can gain active insight and advantages by being a member of a school community that actively invites alumni back.

  A frequently-referenced concept, it is known that through an active network of alumni, we can continuously build a stronger school and district community and continue to strive to reach values that can be accelerated through interactions with alumni.

  Instead of distracting the school process, school alumni truly enhance it by adding an entirely new dimension to school.

  And as a result, we should remember the value that originates from alumni.