President’s Message – May, 2023
Mixing and Matching Can Help
We hope this newsletter finds you in good health and good spirits. Not too down from the recent Bruins’ early round loss and not too high as we journey with our Celtics to the Conference finals! As we continue to strive for excellence in education at English, we are reaching out to all our esteemed alumni, to humbly request your support for our 200th Anniversary Fund.
Today, the Association is extremely excited to announce a $50,000 matching gift from alumni benefactors. Matching gifts allow your donations no matter what level to be matched, doubling the value and impact of your generosity. Over the years, the Alumni Association has grown and evolved, providing countless students with a ‘financial start’ for college success, most recently:
Jessica Lopes’22 who last year received a Nollman Family Scholarship to help with Wellesley College expenses
Blanca Ramirez’22 who is on her way to becoming a neuroscientist at Boston University. Blanca received a Stella & Emmanuel Mavridis Scholarship in 2022.
Thomas Thermidor’21, now a sophomore at Babson College. Thomas also earned a Stella & Emmanuel Mavridis Scholarship 2021.
An inspiring afternoon recently when the Selection Committee for the Stella & Emmanuel Mavridis Scholarship met to choose this year’s recipients. From left: Peter Thompson, tutoring volunteer; George Mavridis, scholarship founder and supporter; Blanca Ramirez ’22, last year’s recipient; Sage Marsters, Director of the EHS Alumni & Friends Tutoring Center and Mike Thomas ’67. Photo credit: John P. Murphy ’67
These awards become multiplied when you donate to our matching gifts. Last year alone, your generosity in matching gifts was at all time high of $67,500 dollars in matching funds. Thank you! There are many ways your gifts help enhance school enrichment programs we support.
One of them is our EHS Alumni & Friends Tutoring Center where we engage with seniors who attend the center for help with college essay and application writing, a quiet place to create ideas for writing expression and critical thinking. Tutors even join in classrooms with students for subject help.
In 2022, of the 45 seniors who frequented the Alumni & Friends Tutoring Center, 95% went on to gain college acceptances. Yes, 95%!
Your support also helps support extracurricular/sports programs Boston Public Schools does not such as Football, Baseball, Basketball and JROTC where EHSA has provided combined support of over $41,000.
We take immense pride in our English High’s students’ achievements, and we owe much of this success to the unwavering dedication of our alumni. Today, we call upon your generosity and ask you to consider contributing to our ongoing events for you, our Alumni also.
Don’t miss out on our second in a series of Alumni Fundraiser Breakfast Events taking place Thursday, May 25th at 9:00AM in downtown Plymouth. It will feature guest speaker Steve Kurkjian, former Globe Spotlight Team Award winner and Netflix show, This is a Robbery, contributor. It will be interesting to hear what Steve thinks after all these years, about the $500M in artwork is still not recovered from the Gardner Museum! He has his theories in his book Master Thieves. Register here to reserve you seat at our breakfast table.
Funding for high schools in Boston remains a challenge, and English is no exception. We rely on the collective goodwill of alumni like yourself to bridge the financial gap and ensure many of our working-class families’ students can benefit from and afford a top-notch education. Your contributions have the power to make a transformative difference in the lives of aspiring young minds, empowering them to reach their full potential.
We understand that everyone’s financial situation is unique, and any contribution, big or small, will be sincerely appreciated.
PS…Late entry, we just got notice of another senior being accepted to Wellesley College!
Onward!
Mike Thomas, ’67
President & CEO
The English High School Association
mthomas@englishhighalumni.org
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.
