The Gallery of Success honors distinguished BHS alumni who have contributed to their community and the world.

The Beachwood Board of Education created the Gallery of Success in 1985. Inductions are held every three years. Since its inception, 122 alumni have been inducted into the Gallery of Success.

The next induction ceremony will be held April 7 at BHS.

To be eligible for a nomination, a Beachwood graduate must exhibit achievements and distinction in one or more of following areas: leadership, humanitarianism, service, courage, creativity and/or career contributions that have benefited others.

Nomination forms are available on the website, www.beachwoodschools.org/Gallery, for the upcoming induction. Forms can be filled out by anyone: a friend, parent, family member, or even the nominee themselves.

Along with the forms, a packet of information about the nominee must be sent or e-mailed to Paula Zavell Rollins, the coordinator of the event.

The packet can include magazine or newspaper articles about the nominee, resumes, letters of recommendation, or other documents about the nominee and the ways they have helped the world. The packets for the upcoming Gallery of Success are due on Friday, Nov. 11.

After the committee reviews the nominations, ten nominees will be selected for induction into the gallery.

Rollins, who has been involved with Gallery of Success since 2003, works with a committee to read over the packets and vote on which ten nominees will be selected as a part of the program.

However, the committee does not interview or meet the nominees.

Rollins explained that this is why the packets are very important. They will be the only information about the nominees that the committee members will receive.

The committee meets three times. In the first meeting, they go review the induction process and start planning for the process.  During the second meeting, the members discuss the packets, and in the third the committee votes to decide on the ten winners.

As the coordinator of the Gallery of Success, Rollins does not vote, but she loves reading about the nominees and meeting the winners.

Rollins says that although the preparations have just started and the committee has only held its first meeting, a few nominations have started to come in, and she is excited about the prospects.

One of the committee members this year is BHS senior Swathi Srinivasan. Srinivasan joined the committee in mid-September when she was recommended to Rollins.

Srinivasan appreciates that the gallery gives recognition to alumni and informs students about their achievements.

”I think it’s pretty cool that we have something like this,” she said. “It’s inspirational to students, teachers and alumni.”

The alumni who will be selected this April will be invited to the high school, where they will be honored for their success and achievements by the student body, staff and community.

The celebration starts in the morning, with a breakfast for the winners and their family and friends. It is followed by a ceremony during which each of the ten alumni selected will give a short speech. The speeches are followed with a luncheon for the winners together with their family and friends.

Finally, there will be a “Meet and Greet,” a chance for students to meet the selected alumni and ask them questions. In the evening, there is also a special event for the honorees sponsored by Beachwood Schools Foundation.

The committee tries to get students involved in the process as much as possible. For example, past ceremonies have featured musical performances from students.

Rollins also believes the nominations help maintain the legacy of Beachwood schools. As she writes in a letter to the nominators: ”With your help, the Gallery of Success will continue to recognize the legacy of our students, alumni, and all of Beachwood.”