The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association ends its 2021-2022 fiscal year by issuing a $3,700 check to the Crooms AoIT athletics department. This donation aims to support athletics teams and sports clubs in their efforts to provide a full and enriching academic experience to Crooms AoIT students during their high school years. This donation is possible thanks to the support of alumni and community partners through the inaugural capital fundraising campaign for the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk.

The Alumni Association has also been able to deposit over $3,000 into a dedicated fund to support the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program. This deposit will help ensure the sustainability of the Athletics Grant Program for an indefinite period into the future. The Alumni Association plans to re-launch the athletics grant application process during the 2022 fall semester.

Alumni and community partners looking to specifically support Crooms AoIT athletics can directly support the team of their choice through the specialized donation page or support general athletics by purchasing a brick for the Crooms AoIT Alumni Panther Walk.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association is proud to announce the winners of three scholarships being awarded by the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association to the Class of 2022.

The $1,000 Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Community Scholarship is being awarded to Logan G. The Community Scholarship is meant to honor a student not only for academic and extracurricular achievement, but also for dedication to community service. This year, through the multi-scholarship application process, we had 48 applicants, all with different strengths: high GPAs, involvement in school activities, and community involvement. But, Logan stuck out from this year's crowded pack of applicants for having all the above qualities.

New this year, the Alumni Association is also honored to announce that Mariam S. has been awarded a $500 scholarship in honor of Joyce Shiflett. This scholarship is funded through a generous donation from Class of 2011 alumni Samuel Shiflet and his wife. Samuel noted that:

"Crooms is an amazing school which jumpstarts young careers in technology. The administrators, teachers, curriculum, and culture are all uniquely positioned to enable students in today’s technology industry. I owe my personal career success to the foundational knowledge this school provided to me. This school is an amazing force multiplier for young people and I want to ensure that continues. Second, and on a more personal note, my grandmother, Joyce Shiflett, passed away late last year and I have been struggling ways to honor her. She was the essence of grace and kindness and one thing that always stuck out to me was how much she loved her animals, especially cats. While reading the scholarship applications, one student’s love for animals also stood out to me along with their passion for this wonderful school. Whether it was volunteering more than 100 hours at an animal shelter or her plans to study veterinary sciences, I couldn’t help but smile as I read through her application."

Last, but not least: The Alumni Association is also proud to announce the return of the Tech Innovation Scholarship after a one year hiatus. The Tech Innovation Scholarship recognizes a graduating senior who has used their technical acumen to create or contribute to a technological project or product. Students are asked to submit their best project for review. This year's recipient proved to be one of the most unique project submissions we have had in the eight years of the program. Our recipient demonstrated how graphic design, video game modding, and video editing can be merged together to support an online community of video game car enthusiasts. The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association is pleased to announced James G. as this year's winner of the $750 Tech Innovation Scholarship.

Congratulations, and best of luck to all our scholarship winners, our other applicants, and the Class of 2022 as a whole in your future endeavors. Go Panthers!

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association is pleased to announce the creation of the Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program in recognition of the contributions of Dr Geoffry Alan Haines in the creation of the Crooms Academy of Information Technology’s athletics program. The Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program intends to offer at least one (1) grant to a Crooms AoIT athletics team or club each year indefinitely into the future. The new grant application will open during the 2022-2023 school year with more information being made available in Fall 2022.

Coach Haines – who passed away in February 2022 – helped ensure that Crooms AoIT students could participate in athletics, sporting activities, and sports clubs at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in pursuit of a full and enriching academic experience during their high school years. During the establishment of Crooms AoIT, Coach Haines ensured resources were available to help start the athletics program after the school was not initially envisioned to include organized sports. Coach Haines attended nearly every sporting event for Crooms AoIT in the early years. Croomies remember him as a teacher, coach, athletics director, medical director, part-time announcer, part-time score board operator, part-time water boy, and every other position needed to support a burgeoning high school sports program.

The Grant Program replaces the Athletics Grant Program launched by the Alumni Association under the patronage of Class of 2006 graduates Frank C. Bracco (2012-2018) and Julian Gordon (2019) and Class of 2011 graduate Gregory Raymond (2020). Previous iterations of the Athletics Grant required explicitly earmarked financial commitments from donors as it aimed to not utilize membership fees. The Coach Geoffry Alan Haines Athletics Grant Program replaces this funding model and is instead funded by a large initial contribution from an anonymous donor along with a dedicated funding stream (a portion of brick sales from the Alumni Panther Walk are earmarked to the grant program).

It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of Dr. Geoffry Alan Haines. Coach Haines served as the first athletics director at Crooms AoIT and was instrumental in establishing the athletics program at the school. The classes of 2005 and 2006 will remember Dr. Haines fondly.

During the establishment of Crooms AoIT, Coach Haines ensured resources were available to help establish the athletics program after the school was not initially envisioned to include organized sports. Coach Haines attended nearly every sporting event for Crooms AoIT in the early years. Croomies will remember him as a teacher, coach, athletics director, medical director, part-time announcer, part-time score board operator, part-time water boy, and every other position needed to support a burgeoning high school sports program.

After departing Crooms AoIT, Coach Haines went on to finish is PhD at the University of Southern Mississippi in educational leadership in 2007. He held several professorships at Delta State University, University of Southern Mississippi, and the University of Trinidad and Tobago before entering into semi-retirement.

In his spare time, Dr. Haines was a passionate fan of sports, regularly posting sports updates on social media - from hockey favorites like the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Solar Bears to major league updates from the NFL and NBA to college updates for basketball and gymnastics. No sport (or level of sport) was too niche for this consummate sports fan.

Dr. Haines will truly be missed and his contribution to Crooms AoIT looms large. The family is currently making private arrangements for his funeral.

The Crooms AoIT Alumni Association, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Tech Innovation Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes a Crooms AoIT graduating senior with a $750 scholarship in recognition of their technical acumen to create or contribute to a technological project or product, which could include:

• Open source software you’ve contributed to or created
• Animated or 3D video
• Live video project
• Website you have designed or built
• Video game you have designed or built
• Video game mods, maps, or scenarios
• Robotics project
• Network schematics
• Graphic design artwork
• Infographic
• Data visualization or dashboard
• Hardware design project (Arduino, Raspberry Pie, etc.)
• BPA, SECME, Art Club, Gamers Club, class, etc. technical project
• Any other technological project or product (including senior class portfolio projects)

The deadline for applications is Thursday March 24, 2022 by 11:59pm. The scholarship recipient will be notified shortly thereafter. We look forward to answering any questions you might have and carefully reviewing all applications received. Remember, this scholarship is only open to graduating Crooms AoIT seniors, so your chances of receiving the scholarship are quite high! If you have any questions, please reach out to scholarship@croomsalumni.com
Graduating seniors can find the application here: https://forms.gle/KJ5JP72X2arFJs1A8

About the Tech Innovation Scholarship: The 2022 iteration of the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Tech Innovation Scholarship marks the return of the program after a hiatus last year. This year marks the 8th iteration the Tech Innovation Scholarship. The scholarship is one of two scholarship programs sponsored by the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association - the other being the Crooms AoIT Alumni Association Community Scholarship, which is now in its 16th year of continuous offering and is included as part of the Crooms AoIT Multi-Scholarship Application (an application that allows for Crooms AoIT students to apply for 14 different scholarship programs in one application).