A Blast From the Past!

By all accounts the very first ISL Luxembourg Alumni Reunion, “A Blast from the Past,” held on 17-18 June 2005 was a colossal success! The 115 student alumni joined a large number of current and former faculty members and parents for a two-day get together that included a barbecue at the school, sports tournaments on the soccer field and in the gymnasium along with a buffet lunch, and a dinner-dance at the Parc-Alvisse Hotel which closed the event.

Former students who graduated as recently as 2004 joined alumnus Chris Raup from the Class of 1975, now based in the USA, to celebrate their affiliation with the school known today as the International School of Luxembourg. Joining them and a few other senior alumni from the 1980s (including Robert J. Hall, Class of 1986; Omar Hoek Class of 1988; Ipek Akalin, Class of 1989; Chantal Hoek and Jason Muhl, Class of 1990) were some 90 alumni who graduated from high school during the 1990s and 2000s. Former students travelled from far and wide to take part in the festivities. Participants from the most distant locations included Marie Bateson (Class of 1998) from Australia, Natalia Franco (Class of 1998)  from Brazil, the Kline family (Jody, Class of 2003, Chris, Class of 2005, and parents Mark and Kim) from Hawaii, Shohei Hasegawa and Masahiko Komino (both Class of 1997) from Japan, Jieun Suh (Class of 2002) from Korea, Jason Muhl (Class of 1990) who lives in China and Tim Allen (Class of 1995) from the USA.

Not all of the student alumni were actually graduates of the school. The transient nature of the ISL community means that the majority of students only stay for about 2-5 years. In many cases, this is time enough to establish life-long friendships, but perhaps not long enough to actually graduate from the school. Of the student alumni present, 91 were graduates while 24 others attended the school at some point during their formative years. Jieun Suh (Class of 2002) from Korea is a case in point.  Even though she only attended what was then the American International School of Luxembourg for three years (1994-1997) completing grades 5-7, she still feels a strong connection to the school. As she put it in an email message following the reunion, “The three years that I've spent in Luxembourg have changed my life completely. I'll never be able to forget anything that I've experienced back then.” Jieun made the trip to Luxembourg from Hamburg, Germany where she was taking part in a study abroad programme.

In addition to guest speaker Marianne Hoffer-Hubert, the most senior faculty alumna, other special faculty alumni in attendance included former Upper School Librarian Maryann Barteau who now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and former Director Gerry Shields who resides in Farmville, Virginia.  Former Upper School science teacher Helen Wyss travelled from her home in the Loire Valley of France, and former Upper School history teacher Paul Aston (who has recently relocated to Beirut, Lebanon) came over from the UK. Former teachers Lynne Thill and Margaret Love, Lower School counsellor Bev Agolini, and registrar Jackie Bray, who still reside in Luxembourg, also took part. Romain Hoferlin, teacher and Assistant Principal during the 1970s who finished his career in the Luxembourg school system, was present at the barbecue on Friday evening.

Sarah Cordner, Lindsay Ster, Nikki de Falco Crawford (all from the Class of 1993) arrived from the USA the day after the reunion! Even though they were unable to take part in the main event, they held their own “mini reunion” on the following Monday and Tuesday. Events included lunch in a local restaurant and a party in their honour hosted by Upper School Technology Coordinator Seth Ruef and attended by faculty and other alumni who were able to extend their stay. Nikki sums up the sentiments of those who took part in a message to Coach Kasi, “I just want to thank you for all that you did to make last month's alumni reunion so memorable.  Even though Lindsay, Sarah and I had to miss the actual reunion dinner, we appreciate you taking the time to organise an additional luncheon with fellow alumni and former teachers. It was wonderful to catch up with the dedicated teachers who made our years at AISL unforgettable. Since the reunion, many of my former classmates and I have continued to stay in touch through email and have had a lot of fun sharing pictures from the trip.  Thank you again, and I look forward to attending the next reunion in 2010!”

The reunion weekend was launched at the annual year-end Faculty/Staff Barbecue. ISL Director Clayton Lewis explained that this “seemed to be the best venue to bring the highest number of current and former faculty members together with the student alumni.” Indeed. Some 300 people enjoyed sausages, steaks, salads and desserts at the Friday evening event which took place on the last day of the 2004-2005 academic year. Teachers, staff, and former students who hadn’t seen each other for years spent the evening catching up on old times. The animated conversations that carried on late into the night provide a measure of the far-reaching influence of the school and its people on so many lives.

Although Friday’s barbecue stretched into the warm summer night, Coach Kasi had everybody up early the next day for an active athletic agenda. Teams of “Past” alumni played games against “Present” students in a number of sports including volleyball, soccer, basketball, and softball. It is worth noting that the “Past” teams won all the games with the exception of men’s soccer. Coach Jason Muhl lamented, “We were a little too old for those young guys!” “Despite bruising and grazing my knee playing soccer it was a great weekend and I had enormous fun,” added former Upper School history teacher Paul Aston. Mark Kline, who coached both the men’s and women’s “Past” basketball teams, was delighted with the performance of his players. He singled out alum Tim Allen as the key figure on the men’s team. Enthusiastic spectators cheered all the players. There was time for more conversation over a buffet lunch and once the sports were finished it was time to get cleaned up for the evening’s party.

The dinner-dance at the Parc-Alvisse Hotel was attended by 124 people. Disc Jockeys Shohei Hasegawa from Japan and Rockin’ Ron Tuffel from Luxembourg delighted the dancers with their fabulous musical selections and animated commentaries. The entertainment continued into the wee hours of the morning and a good time was had by all. Graduate Jason Muhl commented that it was the best reunion he had ever attended and that he would like to see more get-togethers of this kind.

Favourable comments were received from a number of alumni following the event. Most, like Jonathan Foulds (Class of 1999) want to know when the next one will take place. He writes, “Thanks for organising a great weekend there. Tiring but ultimately very much worth it. I look forward to the next one.” Tim Allen adds, “The Luxembourg portion of my trip was definitely the highlight, especially the time spent with old classmates, teachers and friends at the school. I realise that there was a lot of hard work that went into planning and executing this kind of event and I don’t think it could have gone better! I had a great time, as it seems did everyone else!”

It is important to recognise the contribution of the school, in hosting the event, as well as the efforts of Alumni Coordinator and Former Athletic Director Coach Kasinathan assisted by Communications Coordinator and Lower School ESL Teacher, Marian Aldred. Assistant Technology Manager and Upper School Language Teacher Gilbert Hastert, ISL Receptionist Jo Ridosh, and parents Maureen Drews, Elena Cistrone, Kveta Ceska, and Sue Whicher also donated their time and expertise to the effort. Plans for future reunions are already under discussion. Director Clayton Lewis has indicated that he would like to see the school host a “Blast from the Past” in Luxembourg about every five years. On the other hand, the school’s 50th anniversary will take place in 2012... which as  Coach Kasi points out, is “just around the corner!”

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