SM East Class of ’62 looking for fundraising dollars, missing classmates ahead of 50th reunion

The Shawnee Mission East class of 1962 has issued a challenge to every graduating class that follows them to give back something to East. The GLAD62 Legacy Challenge (that stands for Golden Lancer Anniversary Donation) is a fundraising effort by the class to pick an area or program at SM East to focus its donation.

Member of the Class of ’62 endured soggy conditions marching in the Lancer Day Parade.

The 1962 class was the first group to attend all four years of high school at SM East. The class will hold its 50th reunion Sept. 20-22 and is still attempting to find more than 100 missing classmates. The 1962 class had 680 graduates and 230 people have registered for the reunion, according to Judy Reynolds Dutra, who is spearheading the challenge. More and 120 of those are classmates. Any 1962 grads who have not been contacted can check in on the class Web site at www.sme62.org or contact Steve Hann at 239-560-9183.

As part of the legacy challenge, the 1962 class has chosen safety and wellness as the place to apply its donated funds, which will be channeled through the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation, allowing teachers and administrators to apply for grants that fall within those guidelines. Anti-bullying, exercise, nutrition, security are a few areas that would qualify. “So many students are growing up with health challenges,” Dutra, a teacher herself for 33 years, said, and bullying is much different today.

The classmates want every succeeding 50th anniversary class to take up the cause, chose their own area for focus and raise funds for East. They have already been in contact with the organizers of the 1963 reunion. The ’62 group made its presence known at Lancer Day by braving the downpour either walking or riding in a convertible.