Connections 2007

Connections 2007

view a slide show of student-made auction items

The Art of Lab
(15MB QuickTime movie)

Thanks to the support of the Lab community, Connections 2007 was a tremendous success!

More than 650 parents, past parents, grandparents, alumni, faculty, staff and friends attended a spectacular event at the stunning Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier on Friday, March 2. This year’s event was the best attended Connections in the past five years, and included a few special guests:

Senator Barack Obama and Michelle Obama made an unexpected appearance
We were delighted to have some of our distinguished Lab Alumni in attendance, including:
- Valerie Jarrett, ’73, CEO of the Habitat Company
- Arne Duncan, ’82, CEO of the Chicago Public School System
- Linda Johnson Rice, ’75, President and CEO of Johnson Publishing

Connections 2007 raised a record $414,000 (and counting!) to support Lab’s Music, Theater and Visual Arts programs through increased underwriting support, ticket sales, silent auction proceeds, raffle, and ad book sales. Thanks to the efforts of more than 100 committee members and volunteers, here are some of the great achievements of Connections:

More than $52,000 in business and community ad sales, more than doubling the size of last year’s ad book.
$55,000 in silent auction proceeds – including a winning bid of $9,000 for the Rolling Stones autographed guitar!
More than $10,000 raised from the sale of the one-of-a-kind trays made by Lab students.
$12,800 raised in raffle sales, thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers who sold tickets at Lab and to our junior and senior students who sold tickets during the event
More than $350,000 raised in underwriting, surpassing our original goal by $90,000.

In addition to lively cocktails, a rockin’ band, and the stunning ambience of the Grand Ballroom, guests were treated to a specially made video entitled “The Art of Lab,” featuring students, faculty and alumni, as well as a slide show of students and their art throughout the evening.

The success of this annual event would not be possible without the continued support of the Lab community. We hope you will mark your calendars for Connections 2008 on Saturday, March 1, 2008!