By Lewis Diuguid, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Krista Howard walked into Palmer’s ice cream café with poise, confidence and professionalism.

A lot has changed since we first met in the mid-1990s at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kan. The shops, movie theaters and other attractions at the Legends didn’t exist when I followed her Class of 1999 for four years to learn what it was like to be a teen and teacher.

I hope to see many of the students again this weekend at their 10-year reunion. They have endured a lot, including skyrocketing college costs and the worst recession since the Great Depression. But they’ve soldiered on, and despite demographic shifts many still live in Kansas City, Kan.

Howard was president of the Class of 1999. She has been working since September with classmates Kendon McClaine and April Dotson to bring the class together for its first reunion.

“We are very eager to reconnect with all of the classmates,” said Howard, who works at Carlisle Tire & Wheel in Edwardsville, is married and has a 2-year-old son. “We hope everyone will be excited and they will come.”

The reunion organizers have used the Internet, MySpace and Facebook as social networking tools to bring people together. One invaluable Web site has been www.classcreator.com. I was added as an honorary classmate to the site and even had e-mail waiting.

These electronic social networking sites didn’t exist when the now-nearing-30 young adults were teens. But they’re essential now.

The three organizers hope at least 100 people from their class of 180 will be as curious as they’ve been over the last 10 years and will attend the Friday kickoff. On Saturday, they’ll have the more formal reunion. The organizers want people to register online, show up, have a fabulous time and reconnect.

“Everybody wants to know how everybody’s doing,” said Dotson, who went to nursing school, has a 5-year-old son, and for two years has been an administrative assistant for Wyatt Pharmaceutical. “I hear a lot of classmates say it doesn’t feel like 10 years. But it feels like 10 years to me.”

The Class of 1999 Web page says: “You’ll laugh, cry and reminisce with some of your oldest friends. You won’t have to lie about your age. Rekindle or begin new relationships. Enjoy an evening without the kids.”

To help get an idea of what the Class of ’99 will face, last month I went to the reunion of the Washington Class of ’47 for perspective.

June Lewallen, ’47 reunion attendee, said the young people “shouldn’t worry about whether they’ve made a big success of their lives.” That will come later. “Just be yourself, and enjoy the moment.”

Renewing relationships is the key, said Pat Theroff, a ’47 reunion organizer. “In the end, that’s all you have,” she said.

Bill Smith, president of the Washington Class of 1947, promised the younger generation a “wonderful experience.”

“But you know they keep changing,” he added with a wry grin at his reunion in Wyandotte County Park. “They get older ever year.”The Class of 1999 “kids” are older, too. Many have school-age children of their own.

McClaine is among them. The Check-N-Go manager has a 7-year-old son in second grade at Hazel Grove Elementary School in Kansas City, Kan. He and his wife also have a 4-year-old daughter and are expecting a third child this summer. Like other people in the class, he is going back to college for a degree to better himself and his family.

Howard said: “I’ve completely enjoyed reconnecting with April and Kendon. You think you know how you’ll turn out and who you’re going to be. Essentially God and the world have a whole ’nother life for you.”

The reunion will help the Class of 1999 discover that, renew old ties and form new ones for a better future.

Lewis W. Diuguid is a member of The Star’s Editorial Board. To reach him, call 816-234-4723 or send e-mail toLdiuguid@kcstar.com