The 2020-2021 fiscal year at Lawrence Academy will close on June 30, 2021.

While this year will be remembered for many things, not the least of which is associated with the word: challenging.

I remain extraordinarily grateful to all alumni who joined and led our many Alumni for LA Career Panels, Alumni Speaker Series, Holiday Zoom Parties (magician included), Alumni Roundtables. Others volunteered their precious time as Alumni Council Members, Alumni Trustees, Class Agents, Reunion Ambassadors, Class Agent Executive Committee Members, and shared their Zoom links to help navigate LA’s first Virtual Reunion Class Social Hours. Still, others helped create On-Demand Virtual Reunion Programming, wrote personal congratulatory letters to LA’s 2021 college graduates, and inspired our youngest alumni of the Class of 2021 (as they were inducted into LA’s Alumni Association).

Meanwhile, so many "Jumped Back In" to support LA through the Alumni Trustee New Donor Challenge or competed for bragging rights and some real LA inaugural hardware, The Reunion Giving Cup, by participating in the Reunion Challenges (results shared below).

Alumni participation in the life of the school has grown tremendously, and alumni participation and support of the LA Fund and the school’s endowment have also increased. With a few hours remaining (midnight on Wednesday) in our fiscal year, there is still time to support LA’s goal to reach 20% alumni participation.

Thank you for a wonderful year in the life of Lawrence Academy. Together, we have made the very best of the year we were given, and thanks to the grit and tenacity of LA alumni, we found a way to power through it, have some fun, learn many things, and joyfully reconnected with each other virtually. I look forward to seeing you all in the coming year. I thank you for keeping LA close to your heart and for caring as all of you do.

P.S. Our deadline for submissions to the Fall Academy Journal is August 15th for a publish date of November 2021. Please submit your fun and inspiring news and photos to me at jlovejoy@lacademy.edu or Pru Glover, Program Manager for Alumni Advancement and Trustees at pglover@lacademy.edu.

On Saturday, June 12th, Lawrence Academy gathered virtually for LA’s LIVE and On-Demand Virtual Reunion Programming and Class Zoom Social Hours to celebrate the reunion classes of 2020 and 2021.

We enjoyed seeing all who chose to participate as we acknowledged reunion alumni with a celebratory slide show. We were all inspired by an overview of LA today and a vision for its future. Moreover, we recognized — with heartfelt emotions — the impact of our teachers as we awarded the Alumni Faculty Appreciation Award posthumously for 2020 to Arleigh “Doc” Richardson and 2021 to Vincent “Vin” Skinner. We thank Steve Heinze '88 and Joe Donohue '72 for their thoughtful remarks, respectively, acknowledging the impact of both Doc and Vin.

We also gratefully acknowledged the impact of our alumni with the Amos Lawrence Award, presented for 2020 to Ben Lord '75, Sandy Sweeney Gallo '75, Witney Schneidman '70, and 2021 Brian Drolet '01, Sam Pelham '83, and Paige Beede '16.

Finally, the inaugural Reunion Challenge Awards were presented, as noted below. We also acknowledge our first runners up and applaud their enthusiasm for LA:

Congratulations again to the Class of 1970 and the Class of 1966 for their receipt of the Reunion Giving Cup.

We remain extraordinarily grateful to all alumni who chose to participate in any way, shape, or form in LA’s FIRST Virtual Reunion Programming, helping to make all of our time together especially meaningful.

You may revisit our Reunion Programming below (click the graphic):

LA’s youngest alumni were inducted into the Alumni Association on Wednesday, June 2, following their graduation rehearsal with great pride and a fun picnic around the turf field. Led by Alumni Council President Carolyn Balas-Zaleski '84, senior students were welcomed by alumni council members Catie Floyd McMenamin '97, Marianne Balfour '88, Patrick Donoghue '06, Lindsay Latuga Howard '00, Paul Husted '64, Ann Steward McGuire '03, and Kevin McDonald '70, all of whom offered congratulatory remarks and an invitation to remain involved in the life of the school. Each new alumni also received their class of 2021 banners and LA pin.

Director of Alumni Advancement Jo-Ann Lovejoy offered closing remarks, who invited the seniors to send in photos taken with their 2021 banner to be included in the fall Academy Journal.

Enjoy all of this year's commencement exercises virtually via our Class of 2021 page. Simply click the image to visit the collection...

For more information about this summer's alumni initiative or any of the DEI programs at Lawrence Academy, email Raquel Majeski, assistant head for equity and community life.

The Elm Tree Gazette | Volume VIII | June 2021