Our beloved Quaker Sam will be the focus of our Giving Tuesday fund-raising campaign effort this year.

Many of our alumni are unaware that a living Quaker Sam mascot has been missing from school events for nearly a decade. The Salem High School Alumni Association is working with Salem Senior High School to bring back Quaker Sam in 2023.

Our school's original mascot was actually a Quaker lady shown in a sketch strolling with a Quaker man in the 1929 Quaker Yearbook. The first solo appearance of the Quaker man was in the 1936 Quaker Yearbook which included a picture of papier-mache figurine of a plump, jovial guy dressed in traditional Quaker garb.

In the early 1950's Perry Calvin created a cartoon of the Quaker man which appeared in the Salem News after every Salem football and basketball game to give readers a quick, humorous summary of the game. In the fall of 1953 SHS student Joe Hajcak '54 sketched a Quaker man to adorn badges that Varsity S club members sold as a fundraiser. Coach Cabas instructed him to add "Love Those Quakers" to the design, and the catch-phrase stuck.

The Quaker man had acquired the name Sam by the time SHS student Jim Pasco '57 painted "the symbol of SHS spirit" on the jump circle of the gym floor. Sketches by Carol "Lucy" Luce Stanford '59 gave Quaker Sam a whimsical personality in the later 1950's Quaker Weeklies and Yearbooks. From the 1960s through the 1990s, there were only slight modifications to the design of Quaker Sam as the happy mascot who cheers on the SHS Quakers.

We will be asking our alumni and friends to support our efforts to bring back a live Quaker Sam on GIVING TUESDAY.

All donors will receive a complimentary Quaker Sam magnet for donating to this most worthy effort.

LOVE THOSE QUAKERS!

On May 21, 2022, 131 scholarships were awarded totaling $533,050 and given to 80 SHS Class of 2022 graduates, 1 undergraduate (band camp), and 30 postsecondary alumni (111 total students).

Since 1908, the Salem High School Alumni Association has given $8,869,697 in 3,224 scholarships.

We congratulate all Salem High School graduates and postsecondary students on their outstanding accomplishments.

We hope that these scholarships, which have been provided through the generosity of alumni and friends of the association, will help our students pursue their career aspirations.

Local businessman and community advocate, Todd D. Olson, Salem High School Class of 1981, has been selected by the Salem High School Alumni Association as the 2022 Honored Alumnus.

He was recognized and featured as the guest speaker during the SHSAA Scholarship Award Ceremony on Saturday evening, May 21, 2022, in the SHS auditorium.

An Open House followed the event in the SHS cafeteria.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Deming Lowry was a 2005 graduate of Salem High School and a 2009 graduate of Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism. A kind and compassionate young woman, she believed that selflessly helping others was an integral part of a meaningful life. She passed away in October 2020 at the age of 34.

Generously funded by the W. Robert Lowry family, the Elizabeth (Lizzie) Lowry Memorial Compassion Scholarship recognizes the quality of compassion in a graduating student.

This scholarship is for graduating high school students. Applicants will need to have demonstrated acts of compassion during their high school experiences or in special activities either inside or outside the traditional high school environment and must be enrolled in a bachelor’s or an associate degree program or in a technical program of study at an accredited school.

Matthew Yerkey ’82, DDS, and his wife Wanda have philanthropically funded the E. Blair Yerkey Memorial Ohio State University Scholarship in memory of their son, Ethan Blair, who passed away in 2005 from a seizure disorder at the age of 21 months.

The scholarship is designated for a Salem High School graduate who currently attends The Ohio State University. Applicants need to describe how they live with or have overcome a life challenge.

The first scholarship was awarded in 2022, the year that Blair would have graduated from Salem High School.

We are happy to welcome visitors Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Come and explore more than 100 years of Salem High School memories. Visit our newly renovated lobby and second floor.

Alumni and friends may also call the office at 330-332-1427 for assistance and to request a visit.

We follow local guidelines for COVID safety.

Planning a reunion or gathering of alumni? Let us know what you have planned, and we will post it for others.

Our database includes 20,000 alumni from as far back as the first graduation class of 1865.

We also have an extensive collection of Salem High School yearbooks back to 1893 both online and at our office.

The Salem High School Alumni Association Societies recognize the generosity of our donors who have made a difference in the lives of Salem High School graduates for more than 100 years.

For more information, please contact us at 330-332-1427.

We honor our past members and look forward to our future.

The Salem High School Alumni Association has a database of more than 20,000 alumni dating back to the first graduating class of 1865.

Consider a memorial donation which will help fund our scholarships for the benefit of future alumni.

Memorial Society recognition is bestowed on individuals or families who have given or bequeathed funds or for whom memorial donations have been made totaling at least $10,000 but less than $100,000.

Named Scholarships and higher-levels of recognition are bestowed for donations of $100,000 or more.

Salem High School Alumni Association is proud of the rich military experience of our alumni.

We have information on hundreds of alumni who have served in the military.

Feel free to search and admire the distinguished careers and accomplishments of our alumni.

Please encourage other alumni or their families to submit their military information.