West Oak Lane Charter School will host second annual alumni day next week

West Oak Lane Charter High School will host its second annual alumni day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 26.

The “Staying Connected: Our Past, Our Present and Our Future” event’s mission is threefold: To connect the alumni community with current students and faculty, expose students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers and highlight the school’s partnership with the Fox Chase Cancer Center.

The event will offer a “Fox Chase Cancer Center Science Career Fair” featuring working researchers, along with professionals from other STEM fields.

“STEM has a foundation in a lot of industries,” said Debbera Peoples-Lee, the Stenton Avenue school’s CEO, noting that it helps to expose students to those subjects early in their academic careers, to show them that there are careers to pursue beyond doctors and nurses.

The agenda

The event will feature an “alumni book scholarship-award ceremony.” Last year, 16 students received $100 each to go toward books; Peoples-Lee said she hopes to be able to give out the same amount this year.

Grads will also share their perspectives about high school with current seventh and eighth graders at a roundtable discussion.

“We, as adults, have tried to prepare the kids for high school and what to expect, but they don’t quite get it from us,” said Peoples-Lee. “But what we do know is peers listen to each other.”

She said she expects a big turnout from the graduating classes of 2009 and 2012.

For more information, go to the WOLCS Alumni Facebook page.