Passing the Torch

As this is not only the close of the academic year, but also my final letter to you as President, I am reflecting more than usual. There are many differences between when I started in the role of President and where we are now. Many are due to the impact of COVID-19 and our new social distancing reality, but most are due to the hard work of the Executive Committee over the past four years to continue to enrich the lives of the alumni community. I am incredibly proud of the Executive and I want to thank them for their contributions. I would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Advancement Office: Maria Jordan, Marin Anderson, Scott Ackley ’04 and David Lee (now retired) for their hard work and support. Lastly, I would like to thank Headmaster Steve Beatty ’86 for his guidance and encouragement.

I am proud of the work we have done to strengthen the size, framework and governance of the Alumni Association. In particular, I am proud of our new Strategic Plan, which will help guide the Executive for the next four years.

Despite COVID-19 and its impact on our extended community, we remain committed to providing value for alumni. Now more than ever, relationships and connection with each other are important. Interestingly, the mental health theme for this issue was set prior to the current global pandemic, but could not be timelier. In order to help our alumni community take care of their mental health, we continue to have a support hotline to speak with Ms. Andrea Kaye, the RSGC Senior School Social Worker. If you or anyone you know is struggling, please reach out to her at 647-792-8992. We look forward to launching more facets of our Healthy Minds initiative in the fall to further support our alumni in times of need.

Looking ahead to the fall, we are excited to launch a more formalized mentorship program, introduce our communications plan, continue with the inter-alumni association initiative, and expand Healthy Minds. We will continue to run events that are of interest to our alumni community. The RSGCAA will continue to look for ways for our community to stay meaningfully connected.

With the future in mind, I would like to introduce Eddie Beqaj ’08 and Riley Wong ’12 as our incoming President and Vice President, respectively, for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 terms. Under their leadership, I have no doubt, the Alumni Association will continue to innovate and serve our community well.

I wish you and your families a healthy and happy summer, and look forward to seeing you soon.

Drew Blanchette ’96

RSGCAA President

alumni@rsgc.on.ca