May 6, 2022
 
Hello, Friends,
 
I have a lot to share with you this week, including information about some potential campus changes under consideration which you may have already heard about, several congratulatory notes for students and alumni/ae, and some sad news.
Class of 1970 Pavilion Ribbon Cutting
You are invited to join us for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Class of 1970 Pavilion on Saturday, May 21 at noon. The pavilion, which is located on the north side of the main Albany Academy building, is a gift from the class to the school. Members of the class made a pledge to raise more than $220,000 (which they exceeded!) to fund the design and construction to honor the class’ legacy and provide outdoor classroom space, a venue for annual events such as Reunion and Commencement, and a place for summer campers to engage in camp activities outdoors. Our thanks to class members for this wonderful gift!
Alumni and Alumnae Golf Tournament Planned
As her May Project, Albany Academy for Girls senior Meleena Ottati ’22 is organizing an Alumni and Alumnae Golf Tournament, the first in many years, to take place on Monday, June 20 at the Colonie Country Club. We hope you will join us as part of a four-person scramble, followed by dinner and drinks, at this fun-filled event. The cost is $200 per person for golf and dinner and $75 per person for dinner only. For more details or to register, please visit www.albanyacademies.org/alumniae-golf-tournament-2022.
Team Wins NYS Bar Association Regional Tournament
Congratulations to The Albany Academies Mock Trial Team on winning the New York State Bar Association Regional Tournament on April 30 at the Saratoga Springs City Center. The team won three trials in one day to claim the championship! The judge selected the Academies team as the winner of the region after noting that the team presented like real lawyers, the witnesses were incredibly believable, and the closing statement was one of the best he had ever heard, including in the Supreme Court. Team members move on to the State Finals Tournament to be held on May 23 and 24. This is the first time the AA team has advanced this far since 2003. Thank you to the coaches - Carol Crummey McCardle '04, Tim Service, and Dr. Stephen Brown - and the students from AAG on a job well done. Good luck in the state finals!
Reunion is Two Weeks Away
We hope you have made your reservations to attend Reunion 2022, which is coming up soon on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, May 19, 20, and 21. There is still time to register and you don’t want to miss this fun annual event. You can find the full Reunion schedule here and can register here.
AAG Commencement Speaker Announced
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Meenakashi Gupta ’99 will be the Albany Academy for Girls 2022 commencement speaker. Dr. Gupta, who participated in our Alumni/ae Speaker Series in the spring of 2021, is a practicing retina surgeon at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai in New York City. We look forward to hearing her address our graduating students and their families.
Hall of Fame and Distinguished Alumni/ae Inductees to be Honored
Our Class of 2022 Athletic Hall of Fame will take place on Thursday, May 19 at 6:30 p.m. to kick off Reunion weekend. Our Class of 2022 Distinguished Alumni and Alumnae will be honored at the Welcome Reception on Friday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m. Please help us celebrate these outstanding individuals:
·      AA Hall of Fame inductees: Tim Alston ’77, Robert Beaulieu ’85, TJ Conti ’97, Tim Harris ’82, Mark Nemith ’02, Devon Wemberly ’97, and the 1996-97 Boys Varsity Basketball Team
·      AAG Hall of Fame inductees: Maddie Daly ’10; Jenny Evans ’92; Bridget Malicki ’11, and Molly Ortolano ’05
·      Peter Kim ’87, Distinguished Alumnus
·      Suzanne Walsh ’87, Distinguished Alumna
·      Emanuel “Manny” Pollard ’12, Distinguished Young Alumnus
·      Brittny Belmonte Razzano ’04, Distinguished Young Alumna
State of the School Address
Last week, we notified our professional community and parents about some administrative changes that will be in place for the next academic year. We are implementing a restructuring plan that is necessary to align our labor costs with our projected enrollment. We are also exploring some potential changes to the realignment of our campuses by division. You can learn more during our Head of School’s State of the School address on Saturday, May 21 at 11 a.m. in Caird Chapel.
Add Your Support to the Reunion Giving Page 
Have you seen the leaderboard on the Reunion giving page? To date, we have 500 alumnae and alumni donors from every class going back to 1943, with 1940 represented, too! Check out the video message from the archives featuring our volunteer archivist John McClintock '57 at give.albanyacademies.org/campaigns/reunion-2021. As John says in his video, “The future relies on the past as well as the present.” We are grateful to all the alumnae and alumni who have already made their yearly gift to our Annual Fund. Please consider adding your name to the leaderboard today. Our fiscal year ends on June 30. 
AAG Students Participate in Help a Habitat Program
This spring, Albany Academy for Girls second graders have been involved in a program called Help a Habitat through the Albany Pine Bush. The students participated in a virtual field trip to learn about the Karner Blue Butterfly and its dependence on blue lupine at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. They have been growing blue lupine in their classroom for the past month. Eventually, the lupine will be transplanted to the preserve to continue to help the butterfly population. In addition, the students worked with faculty members Eve Whelchel in dance and Renee Reh in art to develop an artistic piece honoring the Karner Blue Butterfly. Please enjoy their presentation, which will be submitted to the Albany Pine Bush Preserve and highlights our STEAM programming at the Academies. You can find it here.
Academies Baseball Standouts Recognized
Albany Academy Varsity Baseball players Aidan O'Keefe '22 and Teige Kimbler '23 were recently recognized in the Times Union as they competed against their rival, LaSalle Institute. Aidan is committed to playing baseball at the University of Richmond. To read the full article click here Alumnus Ben Seiler ’18, a student-athlete at Siena College, was also recognized in the Times Union for throwing a spectacular game for Siena in the contest against Niagara University on April 23. Ben pitched 154 total pitches through nine innings and had 19 total strikeouts, which tied for third-most Division 1 strikeouts in a single game this year. To read the full article click here.
Annual Scholar Luncheon
Our annual Scholar Luncheon was held on April 24 in the Stevens Center. This annual event celebrates our endowed scholarship recipients and their families as well as their benefactors who have created special opportunities for their students. Thank you to the many alumni and alumnae who attended the event and shared their stories with our students. Pictured are Joan Dembinski ’55 (The Joan R. Dembinski ’55 Scholarship for “Scientific Dreams,”) Mary Wren (The Virginia O’Cain Wren Scholarship), and Dr. Douglas North ’58 (The Douglas M. North ’58 Scholarship).
Spring Gathering a Big Success
Our thanks to the alumni and alumnae who supported our annual Spring Gathering on April 30. It was a wonderful evening held at The Kenmore Ballroom in Albany in support of merit scholarships and financial aid for students at the Academies. We also extend a big thank you to our co-chairs, Trustee Kaari Standard P'20, '23 and Trustee Elissa Smith P'23, '25, '26 for their leadership.
Art and Science Joined as Pre-K Students Study Frogs
Our youngest learners at The Albany Academies have been immersed in science and art as part of the Lower School STEAM program. View this video here to see our Pre-K students create artwork to accompany the science project they are learning about - the life cycle of a frog. They are artists one day and then scientists and mathematicians another day!
Dance Student to Perform at SPAC
Congratulations to dance student Addy Dinkels ‘28, who auditioned for and was selected to perform with the New York City Ballet at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center this summer in a product of A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Kudos to our dance teacher Eve Whelchel for all she did to help Addy prepare for her audition.
Visit with Alumna Pamela Carroll ’81
Chris Lauricella and met with Dr. Pamela Carroll ’81 in Boston on May 5. Pam is the Chief Business Officer at Roivant Discovery, a biotech company pioneering a physics-driven approach to drug design that is tightly coupled to chemistry and biology research and development. Their unique platform is purpose-built to develop novel small molecule therapeutics to address biologically and genetically validated, but previously intractable, protein targets. We were given a fascinating tour of the labs and their new building where several other biotech companies are also located in the Seaport area of Boston.
Note From an Alumnus
We received a lovely note and photograph from Dr. John Kimmey ‘40 recently thanking us for sending him an AA hat. He also expressed his happiness at having his novels and three volumes of short stories included in the Academy’s archives. It’s always so nice to hear from our alumni! 
Alumnus’ Play Heading to Off-Broadway
Alumnus Tom Flynn ‘65 recently shared that his 10-minute play, Poet on the Rocks, will be included in the off-Broadway New York Theater Festival at the Latea Theater on Suffolk Street in New York City in May. Congratulations to Tom on this great news!
The Passing of a Very Special Alumnus James Caird ‘52
I received a call this morning from Cindy Caird about the passing of her husband and beloved alumnus Jim Caird ’52. Jim has been such a special friend to the Academies over many, many years and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts are with Cindy and their family at this time.
As this note proves, spring is a busy time here at The Academies. I hope we will see you soon at one of our many upcoming events.
Take care and be well,
Ann Wendth
Chief Advancement Officer