Titusville Alumni Association

Goal: $2,500.00

Specific Need

The Titusville Alumni Association is grateful for the opportunity to participate in Crawford Gives! Our goal this year is to raise $2,500 to purchase a high-quality scanner and system that will facilitate the digitization of our alumni heritage collection. The goal is to digitize fragile vintage alumni records (dating back through the late 1800s), photographs, and memorabilia from the three schools TAA represents: Titusville High School, Pleasantville High School and St. Joseph's Academy.

Mission

The Titusville Alumni Association is a 501(c)(3) community-based nonprofit organization that was organized in 1996 to “Link the past with the future through the present.” The mission of the TAA is to help graduates use their time, talent and financial resources to work together for the common good of present students, graduates, the Titusville Area School District and the community of Titusville.

Profile

The Titusville Alumni Association (TAA) was organized in October of 1996. The TAA is a unique non-profit organization in that very few High School Alumni Organizations exist in the United States educational systems. We’ve been leading the way since 1996 as one of the few high school alumni associations in the nation in that we provide a variety of services and support to our generations of Alumni. Our current budget has been built up since 1996 when we offered our first $250 scholarship, to where we now offer $30,000+ in scholarship awards every year to graduating seniors, with a few renewable scholarship awards.

Beyond developing the scholarship program, the TAA began writing and publishing a twice-yearly print newspaper (Issue #57 is in the works) that is sent out to 8,000+ Alumni and friends. We have more than 11,000 Alumni on our master list and seek to update and maintain the list regularly. No fees are charged for Alumni to receive the publication, but the Alumni generously support TAA with the financial donations. TAA also sponsors a variety of Alumni activities including an annual, rapidly expanding, All-School Reunion in August to coincide with Titusville's annual celebration of the Oil Festival, and is currently developing more student-based activities inside the school to support the rising senior class. Over the years, TAA has maintained a very close-knit network of Alumni, who have in return contributed far more than just financial support, they have also donated heritage and historical items; Alumni have contributed to Innovative Grants which are available to teachers for funding special projects not covered in the regular school budget; and Alumni have also been vital to a variety of capital projects for the Titusville Area School District such as Carter Field renovations, restoration of the historic Colestock Auditorium, and also playground equipment for several of the District's elementary schools. Histories of the school system, the community, and related activities have been compiled by individual classes throughout the decades, complete with old photographs which tell many stories and connect generations of Alumni families who date back to the early 1800s and through the earliest days of the region's oil boom.

The extent of the TAA heritage collection continues to grow weekly, and TAA seeks to create both in-person and digital research exhibits from this expanding collection to preserve and create public research and genealogical support.