November has also been a chock-full month for the many alumni who chose to join our first Alumni Speaker Series event on November 5th featuring George Aelion ’70 (World Food Programme and recent program recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize) and the Alumni Council: Alumni for LA - A Career Panel Series, "Careers in the Arts" on Friday November 13th. Alumni also paused to join us all as we recognized our LA Veterans on November 11th via email and social media.

An LA First: Virtual Founder’s Day, November 9th, beamed globally to all alumni for the first time in school history! With many honors bestowed, including our newly-minted Greater Good Award recipient, Rebecca Fleischman ’09, it was truly a community and global event (Marius Starcke ’99 wrote to thank us for including him as he had tuned in from Austria!).

With a series of Virtual Holiday Alumni Gatherings scheduled for December across the country — beginning with Boston on Tuesday, December 1st — we are all very excited to have the opportunity to be “desk top travelers” and celebrate LA and the holiday season, with all of you.

With the year end in sight, we are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming back, on December 9th, Courtney Cox Harrison ’83, for our December Alumni Speaker Series. Courtney will inspire us to look forward and explore THE FUTURE OF WORK - a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Finally, on December 8th, our DEI Community Book Read and Discussion Series begins as we explore: Don’t Label Me by Irshad Manji. The discussion will be led by Raquel Majeski, Assistant Head for Equity and Community Life.

Jo-Ann Lovejoy P ’06, ’08, ’10

P.S. Finally, I look forward to hearing from you with your thoughts, ideas, and ways you wish to connect with Lawrence Academy. Be in touch! jlovejoy@lacademy.edu

GIVING TUESDAY, a national day of giving, will take place on Tuesday, December 1st, 2020. Stay tuned for exciting announcements from our Alumni Trustees at that time. We remain extraordinarily grateful for the many ways alumni support LA with their time as volunteer leaders and their many inspiring talents. We acknowledge, with appreciation, those who have supported the school in the past and those who are able to consider support of the LA Fund once again this year.

Tuesday, December 1, 2020 6:00-7:30 PM ET

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Wednesday, December 2, 2020 6:00-7:30 PM ET

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Monday, December 7, 2020 6:00-7:30 PM ET

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Tuesday, December 8, 2020 6:00-7:30 PM PT

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Monday, December 14, 2020 6:00-7:30 PM ET

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Tuesday, December 15, 2020 6:00-7:30 PM MT

Program Manager for Alumni Advancement Pru Glover.

Moderated by Head of School, Dan Scheibe on November 5th, George Aelion shared his views, from his home in Italy, regarding his career spent living abroad and his longest tenured role with the World Food Programme. A global citizen, George began his life’s work with the Peace Corps originally working to supply surplus food to needed countries.

The work of the World Food Programme has now shifted to emergency response where there are food emergency situations. His work has focused upon this humanitarian aid to support the lives of others. From work in Liberia, Ebola crises, stress points in Yemen and South Sudan, George has held steady to steward the work of the World Food Programme and its global impact. The recent awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to this organization galvanizes its global significance and validates a life dedicated to this work.

In the midst of all of this, George shared that he still manages to play tennis daily, something he perfected as a student at LA. George continues to live in Europe and is an active member of LA’s International Alumni Community. George has plans to return to LA in June 2021 to attend his 50th LA reunion, which was postponed last June.

BTW: Our own Pru Glover shared, "To read more about WFP, follow this link to CBS Sunday morning, which recently ran a segment on the WFP highlighting global food insecurity as we head into Thanksgiving. Tracy Smith interviews actress Kate Hudson and World Food Programme ambassador." Thanks Pru!

Click the pic to relive the day via Instagram.

Taylor Selé ’02

The second LA Alumni Career Panel, focused on careers in the Arts, took place on Friday, November 13th. Alumni Council members, Chris Hazzard ’03 and Ben Stone ’15 (picture, inset), served as the moderators of the webinar hosting a diverse group of panelists who offered insights on their respective career paths in a wide variety of artistic fields. Amaren Colosi ’97 (photography), Taylor Selé ’02 (acting) Jared Mezzocchi ’03 (theatre design); and Meg Lewis ’10 (movie production) each discussed their own individual journey toward his/her current role and shared how their time at Lawrence Academy provided them with both opportunity and encouragement to follow their creative interests. In addition, they offered thoughtful advice — often based on advice they received from LA faculty — on how to persevere through challenges in pursuit of those goals. Like the first Career Panel held earlier this fall, with permission of the participants, LA has recorded this event for future use by students.

Ian MacWilliams ’10, posted: "After graduating from West Point in 2015 and then the Army’s Ranger School, I served as an infantry officer with the 10th Mountain Division. During my tour in Afghanistan I received the Bronze Star Medal for my service as the second-in-command of an infantry company patrolling a region of Kandahar. I left the Army with an honorable discharge last May at the rank of Captain and have since started teaching high school history."

D. Reid Wiseman ’52, wrote: "I am a Korean War Veteran."

Norman C. Reed ’69, Col., USAF (Ret), wrote: “My family and I were in the USAF from May 1973 to Nov 2000.”

Rob Russell ’73, replied: "Greetings from a member of class '73. Such fond memories of stick ball on the Quad and sprinting up to the gym after a long hard practice on the athletic field (thanks Dick Pickering). I appreciate the tribute to the alumni veterans. I joined the US Navy four years after graduating from St Lawrence University and completed flight training and earned my designation as Naval Aviator in 1983. Serving on several aircraft carriers flying the FA-18 Hornet in the Pacific Fleet gave me a chance to truly see the world albeit from a rather intense and not so leisurely perspective. I now enjoy retirement from flying but always appreciate and value highly my time at LA where I first learned above all team spirit and molded my focus and determination. I have many blessing in my life and will always be thankful for the character the LA instilled in me. All the best to you and The Lawrence Academy."

Featured Member - Marianne Balfour ’88

Marianne is an experienced marketer focusing on customer relationship marketing for large consumer brands, such as Bose, Dunkin’ Brands, American Express, and Delta Airlines.

In these roles, she has been responsible for strategic planning, development, and execution of global campaigns and programs driving key business results for the brands business. One of her largest accomplishments was leading the execution and communications for Dunkin’s’ first-ever loyalty program and mobile app launch, DD Perks. Marianne was also a key contributor in managing cross channel marketing for the Delta client relationship supporting the award-winning SkyMiles program.

Cultivating relationships and delivering a brand's value and mission is what drives Marianne’s success.

In her spare time, Marianne has supported the Alumni Council of Lawrence Academy for the past 10 years, she has served as a board member for the Parents Association for both The Fenn School and The Willard Elementary school. She is a participant in foundations such as Raising a Reader, JDRF, Concord Carlisle Community Chest, Open Table as well as other community organizations.

Marianne has a BA in Communications from Boston College.

Planning for Reunion continues and we are pleased to share that we are planning to host a Double Reunion on June 11-12, 2021. LA looks forward to bringing all of the 2020 and 2021 Reunion Classes together (due, of course, to postponement of 2020 LA Reunion Weekend this past June) in a joint celebration. Read More...

Meanwhile, we are already working on the spring edition of The Academy Journal, so don’t miss the chance to be included in the magazine. Please share your class notes, news, photos, books you’ve published and what inspires you most these days with Pru Glover, Program Manager for Alumni Advancement and Trustees, today. We are excited to publish your news in your class notes and celebrate your lives as LA alumni.

The Elm Tree Gazette | Volume VIII | November 2020