Page 17 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 94, No. 2 Winter 2014
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of rehabilitation and regenerative medicine and co-direc-
tor of clinical education at Columbia University Medical
Center. Davis-Porada worked with Cole and Abbruzzese
by e-mail and phone, and together they built a project
that has since spawned a potential long-term relation-
ship between Davis-Porada and Gaynor Minden. A
college freshman now, Davis-Porada works at Gaynor
Minden part-time while attending Columbia University,
something she hopes will one day lead to a full-time job.
“I wouldn’t have been able to just e-mail someone I
Googled and get the same sort of close relationship and
willingness to help.” Davis-Porada says. “I think when
you’re an adult and you hear about a student who’s also
interested in what you like, you feel some sort of connec-
tion and want to help them.
“I gave a small presentation on my project at the
dedication for the Lindsay Center for Mathematics and
Science,” Davis-Porada continues. “Trustee Hilary Park-
hurst ’80 talked to me for a while, and it wasn’t so much
for specialized information about my project, but just moti-
vation and interest. Knowing that there’s interest and
that I could reach out to these kinds of people in the
future is a great feeling.”
In the fall of 2012, Ben Karp ’08 helped to establish
the New Orleans Prep School Connection, which brings
together New Orleans-based alumni from independent
schools (including SPS, Andover, Choate, Exeter, and
Groton) with a mission of “networking, potential recruit-
ing, promoting member schools, and taking on activities
that contribute to the community.”
For every formal connection made as a result of the SPS
alumni network, there are those that happen in less struc-
tured ways. Just ask Ben Bleiman ’99, who quietly estab-
lished the School’s burgeoning grassroots social culture.
In 2011, Bleiman founded the Bay Area Pelican Network,
the first of many informal SPS social clubs. For Bleiman,
the motivation for the Bay Area Pelicans came out of an
idea to provide alumni with less formal options for gath-
ering and connecting with one another, yet still rooted in
the shared traditions and themes of St. Paul’s.
“When I came out [to San Francisco], I went to all the
functions, but usually they were only a couple times a
year and they were very official,” Bleiman says. “Every
time I went to one I would end up with a group of alumni,
whether we had known each other or not, and we’d be
saying ‘we should get together more often.’”
Since Bleiman started the Bay Area Pelican Network,
the School has embraced all aspects of its cause, support-
ing social events through financial means when possible.
Bleiman can’t recall a particular “breakthrough” moment,
as far as alumni connections are concerned. He remem-
bers “a lot of little things,” like helping Berkeley student
Sandy McNaughton ’11 connect with friends to discuss
finance, and assisting new San Francisco transplant
Alison Twiss ’95 in finding an apartment. But whether it
be in small ways or big ways, the mission, says Bleiman,
is one and the same.
“Spending your teens in the woods in New Hampshire
is just so weird. If you didn’t do it, there’s no way you can
fathom what it was like,” Bleiman says, noting that com-
mon degree of SPS familiarity. “The network is here so
that we
can
act familiarly with each other. And the best
part is, we don’t have to do that awkward ‘I need some-
thing from you’ dance.”
SPS Alumni App:
This free and easily downloadable app provides a comprehensive database of alumni
contact information, an alumni GPS, formnotes, and a calendar of upcoming alumni events. This tool
can be downloaded by searching for
“SPS Alumni” at the iTunes App Store and Android Market
.
SPS Alumni Facebook Page:
This basic social networking page hovers around 2,600 “Likes.” To
join, search Facebook for
“St.PaulsSchoolAlumni.”
SPS LinkedIn Group:
This career-based SPS social network already boasts nearly 2,000 members.
This is a private group for SPS alumni only. To request membership,
click “join” at LinkedIn
and
your request will be reviewed by the School’s group manager.
SPS Website:
Alumni pages provide access to a host of information, allowing alumni to update
their information and search for upcoming events, among other features. To search the many
resources available, visit
.
SPS Pelican Network:
This grassroots social network was initiated by SPS alumni living in major
cities, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, South Florida, Washington, D.C., London,
Seoul, and Hong Kong. More information is available at
SPS SPARKS:
This service arm of the Pelican Network was initiated by the Form of 1970 as a “social
entrepreneurship network for sparking ideas, communication, and activities.” SPARKS hosts com-
munity-service-driven events around the country. For more information, visit
www.spssparks.org
.
SPS NETWORKING TIPS
