July 14, 2023
Hello, Friends,
Happy summer!
Today's Happenings will be my last one as I write to share the bittersweet news that I will be departing from The Albany Academies on August 16. I have been offered an opportunity to continue my career at my alma mater Providence College in major gift fundraising and return to the place that helped shape me into the person I am today. I am deeply grateful to all of you for your dedication, generosity, and support over these past 16 years and excited for the future of the Academies. It has been an honor to get to know so many of you and to work together on important initiatives and programs. I am also so pleased to introduce you to Joe Cheeseman, the new Chief Advancement Officer (see below). Joe and I have been working together this week and both feel as though we've known each other for many years. I'm sure when you meet Joe, you'll feel the same way!
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Welcome Our New Chief Advancement Officer
Please join me in welcoming Joe Cheeseman to The Albany Academies in the role of Chief Advancement Officer. Joe started in this position on Monday, July 10, and will lead the Institutional Advancement Office as The Albany Academies mounts our next capital campaign.
Joe was most recently the Director of Development at the Nueva School in California, where he led a $100M capital campaign. Prior to Nueva, he was the Chief Development Officer at the South Seaport Museum in New York, where he led the development efforts and managed the membership and volunteer programs. Before this, he was Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the Providence Day School, where he significantly increased donor participation and annual giving.
Joe holds a BS from Southern Connecticut State University and is enrolled in the Human Capital Management Certificate program at New York University. He is currently serving on the Conference Committee for CASE, The Council for Advancement and Support of Education. CASE is the premier global nonprofit association dedicated to educational advancement professionals.
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Alumnus to Lead the Board of Trustees
At the June board meeting, Dr. Eric Lewis '83, P'17 was elected the next Board of Trustees President. Eric joined the board in November 2010 and served as the board treasurer from 2015 to 2023. Currently, he serves as a Director of the MPS Management Program, SC Johnson College of Business, at Cornell University. His professional affiliations include the American Accounting Association, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, British Accounting Association, Institute of Management Accountants, and Multinational Finance Association. Dr. Lewis holds a Doctorate Degree in Accounting from Union Graduate College, a Master's Degree in Accounting from Union College, and a Bachelor's Degree in Finance from Siena College.
I'd like to extend a sincere thank you to Nancy Carey Cassidy P'13, '15 for her 8 years of service as the Board President. Appointed to The Albany Academies Board of Trustees in 2013, Nancy served as board chair for 8 years. Her work leading the board and collaborating with the school’s leadership team to ensure our long-term success has been invaluable.
Congratulation to our newly elected trustees Richard Ward '85, Sara Strope '96, Andy Safranko '91 P'23, '26, and Dave Hollander P'19.
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Alumna Appointed as the New Girls' Varsity Golf Coach
We are excited to welcome Natalie Squillace '14 as the new Girls' Varsity Golf Coach. She played on the boys' varsity golf team under Jak Bestle while a student here at the Academies which helped jump-start the creation of the girls' team. She went on to play in college and participated in junior PGA tournaments. We look forward to seeing our accomplished alumna on campus!
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Videos Now Available for Commencement 2023
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Summer Camp Brings Hundreds of Campers to Campus
The campers in our rocketry camp had a blast building their rockets last week as part of the week-long program! The campers enjoyed watching their hard work fly into the sky.
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The Albany Academies' Musical Theatre camp held an amazing show last week after only two weeks of rehearsal. Congratulations to all of our campers! |
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Admissions office all summer
The Academies’ Admissions Office is open throughout the summer and welcomes prospective students in grades 1 – 12 to take a tour. If you are interested or know someone who is interested please visit our admissions webpage or contact the Director of Admissions, Shellie Carr at 518.429.2348.
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Mark your calendars!
Please mark your calendars with these important upcoming events:
Legacy of Dreams – Friday, September 29, 2023
Homecoming – Saturday, September 30, 2023
Spring Gathering – Saturday, April 20, 2024
Golf Outing – Monday, June 17, 2024
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Please note: We made a change recently and plan to include Class Notes as a regular part of our Happenings newsletter. Our intent is to get these news items to you more quickly than we are able to if we include them in the A2 magazine. We hope this will help you learn about what your classmates are up to in a more timely manner. Also, seeing Class Notes more regularly might inspire our alumni/ae to send their news items to our office more frequently so we can share them with you. To that end, if you would like to submit a class note for publication please send it to pallutin@albanyacademies.org.
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2006: Rebekah Sokol '06 was recently appointed Felony Supervisor, analogous to Bureau Chief in the DA's Office. She was also recently in the news for working on a big case.
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1991: Peter Bilfield '91 stopped by for a visit last week. He was in town from his home in Connecticut visiting his folks, and he decided to spend some time "in his old haunt." We toured around looking at the names on the plaques, visiting the old gym, the library, and the buttery, as Peter recalled former teachers and classmates.
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1979–1998: Mr. Roosevelt Nicome stopped by for a visit. He has been living in his native country Trinidad since his retirement as assistant principal in Yonkers, NY. Many of you will remember Mr. Lincome as your Latin, Spanish, or maybe French teacher between the years 1979 and 1998, or as the coach of JV soccer and modified Tennis. He also led many student trips to Spain and Trinidad during his time at The Albany Academy. He was so thrilled to visit his former classroom and recall stories about his students and his son Sheldon '85. The 1998 yearbook was dedicated to Mr. Nicome. These are the opening sentences: "Rarely in life do you meet a person whom, upon first meeting, you know you will remember for the rest of your life. Few people possess that kind of character, teeming charisma, and self-confidence, with a genuine love for life. Mr. Roosevelt Nicome is one of those people." You'll be pleased to know Mr. Nicome has not changed. For a few moments his "gregarious peal of laughter" echoed down these halls once again.
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Please be sure to let us know if you have some news to share. We love reading about what you’re up to. I hope you have a safe and enjoyable summer! |
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Ann Wendth
Chief Advancement Officer
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