How to Find Classmates for a High School Reunion
High school reunions are a lot of fun but also a lot of work. Two of the biggest challenges are how to pay for everything and -- the thing that takes the longest -- locating and contacting classmates.
Most people respond well to hearing about an upcoming reunion, whether they choose to attend the event or not, but be prepared for some to show no interest or not return phone calls or emails. Typically, the majority of your class will get back to you, and a few may even thank you for the effort you're putting into getting everyone back together.
The single most important thing about gathering and maintaining contact information is staying organized.
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Things You'll Need
- Notebook
- Telephone
- Computer with spreadsheet software
- Internet access
- Yearbooks for all 4 years
Instructions
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1
Contact your former high school. See if there is an alumni association or coordinator who may already have class contact information.
Most high schools have their own websites, and many have a page on the site for alumni. Ask if information about your reunion, such as the date, time, location and contact information, could be added to the school site.
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2
Create a website for the reunion, if there isn't one already. Use your high school's full name, city and the year of your graduation in the title of the site, and, if possible, in the URL or website address. This will make the site easier to find when classmates begin searching for reunion information. Include an email address so classmates can contact you with questions, and develop a way for them to input their contact information onto the website.
Begin a Facebook or LiveJournal page for your reunion, using the school name and year so it will be easy for others to find it. Many people who graduated in the late 1970s and after have Facebook or LiveJournal pages, so this is a good way to have classmates find you.
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3
Prepare to stay organized. Have one notebook for your records if you're not keeping all your search results on your computer.
Or create an Excel spreadsheet with fields for names, married names, address, phone numbers (home/cell), email, spouse and children's names and ages. To keep things easy, sort female classmates by their maiden name.
List all your classmates on the spread sheet, along with any contact information you may already know if you've stayed in touch with classmates. This is the easiest way to stay organized; you can simply go in and add or change information as you find it.
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4
Gather yearbooks from all the years your class was at your high school, so you'll remember to seek students who moved away before graduation or left school for other reasons. Even if someone didn't graduate with your class, they probably had a lot of friends among you, and would appreciate still being considered part of the group.
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5
Begin the search. Using your yearbooks as a guide, start searching for classmates using Facebook and LiveJournal. Some women use their maiden names on their Facebook pages so old friends can locate them.
When you find one, send a personal message through Facebook, explaining why you're contacting them; include the link to your reunion site. Ask your classmate if he is in contact with anyone else from high school, and if they could provide contact information or send the link to the website on to anyone else.
As you find people, update your spreadsheet or note the information in your notebook.
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6
Search Linkedin.com; many people are registered there who may not be on Facebook or LiveJournal.
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7
Use a search engine, such as Google, Bing, Dogpile or Yahoo, to search for classmates by entering their name, especially if they have an unusual name or if you know where they may live or work. Many people have contact information through their own websites for business or hobbies, so this is a great way to find people.
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8
Let your fingers do the walking: Check whitepages.com or anywho.com to check the online phone directories across the nation to find people. You may have to call or write to a few until you hit the right person, so use the methods in Steps 5, 6 and 7 first.
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9
Check public records. Many counties have online public records, and since they are public, it is perfectly legal. Most counties' tax and deed records have internal search engines you type the name into. Obviously, this only works if you have classmates still living in the same county as your high school, or if you have an idea of what area they live in.
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Tips & Warnings
Carefully update information as you obtain it.
Stay organized.
Back up your file if you're keeping records on your hard drive.
References
- Photo Credit Digital Vision/Digital Vision/Getty Images
