As you probably know, the McDonald High School Alumni Association was created as a vehicle to provide scholarships to deserving graduates of McDonald High School.  Since our founding in 1994, we have provided over $44,000 in scholarship awards.  In recent years, however, there have been discussions regarding finding ways to have a broader impact on McDonald High School and its student body.  From these discussions, the idea of establishing a facilities endowment fund emerged, so that the Alumni Association could engage in fundraising to support facilities development and improvement initiatives.  To that end, the McDonald High School Alumni Association Facilities Endowment Fund was adopted and approved by the Alumni Association’s membership at the 2008 Annual Meeting and Dinner.                                                                            
            The McDonald Board of Education recently has announced that it will be proposing a levy to be considered in May 2009 to raise money to improve athletic facilities.  In furtherance of that goal, the Alumni Association has determined to initiate a fundraising drive for facilities improvement, which has been designated “Project Blue.”  As a first step in our efforts, we have formed a Facilities Committee as a special committee of the Alumni Association.  We intend to populate the Facilities Committee with representatives of many different constituencies.  While we already have obtained the commitment of several individuals to serve on the Facilities Committee, we would welcome the help of any individual who is passionate about McDonald High School and is willing to work and support the successful completion of Project Blue.  If you would be interested in serving in this capacity, please contact webmaster@friendsofmhs.com, or contact John Saganich at 216-479-6120.  We would love to have your help.                                                                                            
             We view the primary function of the Facilities Committee as twofold.  First, the Committee would assist in our fundraising drive through contacting alumni and friends for donations and helping with related projects in the fundraising process.  Second, the Committee would assist in educating various constituencies about Project Blue.  In this regard, we have identified a number of educational tools we would like to employ.  We are composing a list of anticipated questions and answers regarding Project Blue that will be posted on our website.  We hope that this effort will help provide clear, specific answers regarding what we are doing and what we intend to accomplish.  We also will open the blog section of our website to discussion about Project Blue.  We hope that this will allow concerned individuals to express their thoughts and opinions regarding Project Blue.  You also will notice various preliminary architectural renderings on this page.  We hope that these drawings will help you “envision” what Project Blue will look like upon completion.                                                    
            We are very excited at the opportunity to be involved in Project Blue and to continue to make a positive impact on McDonald High School and its student body.  Please let us know your opinions, suggestions, thoughts and concerns so that we can make Project Blue a success . . . and a reality.