President’s Message – March, 2023
We Keep On Trucking
Dear English Alumni,
I may be speaking a bit too soon but for some of us, this has been the ‘winter of our contentment’ with few snowstorms to slide around in and shovel. I’m guardedly feeling it’s almost Spring which stirs thoughts of Red Sox baseball bats, lengthened daylight hours and what our alumni are doing.
No matter what the season, English High School Association keeps looking for ways to include all alumni in our events and communications. And we always love to hear from you about what you are thinking. Send your thoughts by email to info@englishhighalumni.org or give us a phone call at 857-547-1391.
Here are some of our plans for the coming year:
- Breakfast reunion/fundraising events
We have four in the works at various locations. First up is April 21st at 9:00 am at the Newton Marriot. SAVE THE DATE and stay tuned for details. - Increased giving to provide scholarship and programming support for English High students.
Watch for new and more convenient ways to give including becoming a monthly sustaining donor. - More stories about our English students, their diversity, talents, hopes, dreams and achievements.
Look for the story in this newsletter about three English students who have received scholarships to a prestigious summer program at the Berklee College of Music. And in case you didn’t know, Berklee College of Music was founded by Lawrence Berk, an English High alumni from the class of 1927 Read more about it here. - Better integrated communications between the school and EHSA
If you have an idea for an alumni event, please contact our EHSA office. We’d love to hear from you!
What can you do to help better English High and our Association?
Get in touch with us! Let us know where you are and how to contact you for sports/event schedules, changes and the like. Is your ‘Alumni Profile’ up to date? If not, you may miss out on events and news. Get in touch with a classmate. S/he may not be receiving our informative monthly newsletters.
We have a robust database of 11,000 alumni to draw upon. One question I get a lot: Where is or have you heard from so and so? If so and so is in our database (alums usually are 90% of the time), we can connect you. Also, if you have professional/career advice you’d like to share with our young folks, let us know. You may want to talk to our students in a related-field course they are taking. Any group’s value lies in its dissemination of helpful information for its members.
New! Monthly Sustaining Donor Plan
Speaking of members and giving, we are reemphasizing our Monthly Sustaining Donor Plan for all alumni. Especially if you cannot make a larger donation at one time, giving a smaller amount multiple times might work for you. The concept is simple and it’s easy to make a gift on a monthly basis, small or large. We will accommodate gifts of any amount, whatever is comfortable for you. We hope this program will appeal to younger alums who may like the convenience of giving monthly. To find out more or better yet, to set up your monthly gift, CLICK HERE.
English High Boys Basketball snapped Lowell Catholic’s 9-game winning streak to reach the quarterfinal game.
News from English High School
We want to give a big shout out to the English High Boys’ basketball team for making it to the Elite 8 in the Division 3 State Tournament. After hard-fought victories over Bristol-Plymouth, Latin Academy and Lowell Catholic, they fell short against a strong Old Rochester Regional squad. Big kudos to Coach Eric McCoy 95 for being named Coach of the Year for Division 3!!
Alumni Giving
We encourage alumni everywhere and of any means to consider a ‘stretch gift’ this year and next to help us achieve our $1MM fundraising goal in 2023. Your gift could mean a scholarship to a deserving student or an extra ‘essay writing’ session in the Alumni and Friends Tutoring Center for a senior college applicant. Our answer to where “will my gifts go?” is shown below; our Mission remains constant:
‘A legacy that supports and inspires students in their educational pursuits and celebrates distinguished alumni achievement’
Tell all your alumni friends to join our English Alumni community.
It’s easy to sign up and join the mailing list through our website. Keep your eyes peeled as we will have several event announcements in newsletters and on our website and social media.
Big News!
Last year you helped us raise a half-million dollars !
In 2022 we raised $500,000 toward our $3MM goal over three years. Not bad considering, we only focused on major fundraising starting in July. Our goal for 2023 is to raise $1MM in support of school enrichment programs.
Today’s students need our help. They have the same needs we had when we attended English.
Consider Making A Gift Today
Onward!
Mike Thomas, ’67
President & CEO
The English High School Association
mthomas@englishhighalumni.org
