President’s Message – January 2024
2024: The Year for You to Get Involved with EHSA
Dear Fellow English High Alumni,
Over the past several years the English High School Association has worked hard to strengthen and engage the English Alumni community. We produced our historic 200th Anniversary Gala; held Alumni Breakfasts; Supported the Alumni & Friends Tutoring Center at EHS; granted scholarships to promising graduates; provided much-needed sports equipment; and more. Some Alumni members have enjoyed hands-on involvement with students sharing their expertise and experience with classes and athletic teams at the school. For 2024 EHSA is planning another full plate of Alumni activities which we believe will be fun, useful and fulfilling for many.
Many Alumni have asked, how can I get involved and how can I help? The answer is there are many standing opportunities and we are always eager to tailor opportunities to your particular experience or interests. I’d love to talk with you about it — please reach out. Here are a few opportunities to get your thinking started:
Grab a Coffee with the CEO – This one is easy do. Give me a call anytime for coffee (before I call you!) and we’ll talk about how you can get involved with EHSA and the best way your experience and expertise can benefit today’s EHS students. These coffee sessions have proved productive and informative for Alums I’ve already met with. Call me at 857-547-1391 or email mthomas@englishhighalumni.org
English High Alumni Breakfast Events – These breakfast gatherings have been popular in recent years as an opportunity to reconnect and reminisce with fellow Alumni. We invite expert speakers on topics of interest and they have enlightened all of us for the most part. This year we’re planning a Winter Alumni Breakfast on ‘Air Travel Safety’ that will feature and outstanding speaker from the Class of 1962. Our first Alumni Breakfast of 2024 is on forThursday Feb 22 at the Marriott Hotel in Newton — CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND TO MAKE YOUR RESERVATION
Volunteer for the Big EHSA Database Update This year we’ve embarked upon an alumni profile update program to verify information in our 17,000 alumni Salesforce database. Up to date alumni profiles are critical to our success and to keep English Alumni engaged and informed. Our goal is to verify at least 9,300 phone numbers and emails this year and we need help to reach it. To volunteer, contact Bill Gallagher in the EHSA office. bgallagher@englishhighalumni.org
Become a Speaker for a EHS Career Pathways Course – English High students and instructors in the Career Pathways Program very much appreciate it when English alumni speak to classes to share their career and life experiences. Career Pathways courses include: Business/Finance/Entrepreneurship; Design & Visual Communications; Health Assisting & Wellness; Programming and Web; and Legal & Protective Services. If your expertise is in any of these areas, consider becoming a Alumni Speaker — the kids would love to hear from you and it is a fulfilling way to give back. To get an idea of what’s involved, read this recent article about Judge Thomas Connors ’68 experience as an Alumni Speaker. Interested? Contact me to set things in motion mthomas@englishhighalumni.org
Big News About the EHSA Scholarship Program
2023-24 has been the year of outstanding financial support for our seniors’ college ambitions. As stated last month, we have a commitment of well over $150,000 endowed in scholarship funds ready for 2024 with more to come. This is a remarkable accomplishment given we started asking for gifts only four short years ago. More importantly, it sends the message of steadfast alumni support to all students and highlights what our efforts can produce to ensure our seniors succeed. Read more about our current scholarship programs here.
I am most gratified to report that part of this endowment includes our newest named scholarship – The Cullen Family Scholarship — thanks to the efforts and perseverance of English grads John ’65 and Frank ’68 Cullen. John and Frank Cullen are angels for their largess and willingness to give back for themselves as well as their father, John Cullen Sr., (nicknamed ‘Muscles’) from the English High Class of 1939. Read more about these remarkable and giving alumni in this newsletter.
Anyone can establish any scholarship of any amount with various payouts to students. Just call Mike.
Our Fundraising Campaigns Continue – Fundraising is our lifeline to the future. If we accomplish our $380,000 fundraising goal for the year, we can continue to provide our Alumni with a plethora of programs and information. Thousands of Alumni connections resulted from these programs last year! Unrestricted gifts empower these enrichment activities for students and alumni alike. Not the least of which is this Alumni Newsletter.
Alumni Newsletter Kudos – You might want to know that each month our editorial group makes a fervent effort to produce an exciting EHSA Alumni Newsletter. Our Dream Team consists of: Classmate Stan Hurwitz ’67, our creative PR person; PJ Welsch, our Editor in Chief, keeps us on track; Bill Gallagher, EHSA Office Director of Operations; and ombudsman Daniel Eramian ’66, an accomplished media expert and advisor. All of the team collaborates to create entertaining subject matter. Think this comes easily? Try doing this each month, three years running and see when you run out of breath and/or ideas. They are the best!
One Final Note — We want to thank all who donated to EHSA last year, making it a very good fundraising year for the Association. This year we can do even better. If we missed your gift last year, my hope is we will see you this year. Our common goals depend on it. Anyone can help, at any level of giving; it all counts.
Mike Thomas, ’67
President & CEO
The English High School Association
mthomas@englishhighalumni.org
PS: The English High School Association of Boston is a 501 C 3 organization and any gift, small or large, is fully is deductible. We are committed to provide resources to English High School, its students and teachers and to serve our loyal alumni – that’s you!
