Paying it Forward | Roxbury Latin kicks off the 2021 2022 Annual Fund with Mo Randall, José Flores ’22, and

“Paying it forward secures promise, hope, and in some real ways, the future—our future.”

Roxbury Latin kicks off the annual fund

On October 14 more than 300 Roxbury Latin alumni and faculty, parents and friends gathered in the Gordon Fieldhouse—enjoying good food and fellowship; expressing and receiving gratitude for a previously successful fundraising year; and hoping, together, that we could again achieve another record year in fundraising on behalf of the students, faculty, and staff of Roxbury Latin. Mo Randall, member of the faculty since 1976, and José Flores of Class I shared their stories that evening—examples of the transformative education and relationships that Roxbury Latin engenders and inspires, and that your gifts help to preserve. Below are excerpts from their remarks, as well as Headmaster Kerry Brennan’s closing appeal and words of gratitude.

Mo Randall

English and Classics Departments

Although I could fill my time here with story after story, the real purpose tonight is the here and now, and how our future efforts will support—and even enable—the “present tense” of this school year to reach its potential, to fulfill its destiny. As much as I am a defender of institutional memory, and as much as I am aware of how much the teaching and learning here stands on the shoulders of giants—Jack Brennan, Dave Rea, Steve Ward, Tony Jarvis, and my mentor and spirit guide, Joe Kerner, we are a present tense operation: We needed to be good today, and we need to be that much better tomorrow.

To that end, I want to take a moment to share some thoughts about a key constituency here, the faculty. Of course, as soon as I use the collective noun, I lose my point: The faculty is not a demographic. It is, instead, this amazing collection of caring and giving individuals who make the place what it is. It goes without saying, my colleagues are bright and committed to their respective disciplines and activities, but the real value of what they bring comes in terms of pastoral care. Being a good advisor has always been really important here, a distinguishing marker of who and what we are. But these last many months have presented us with unprecedented challenges, and I am immensely proud of my peers because they have consistently and impressively always put the welfare of the boys first.

In the face of the endless challenges of COVID, many boys scuffled and more than a few struggled. In case after case, the advisor stubbornly, and sometimes against all odds, stayed the course: counseling, advocating, comforting, triaging, caring. Moving the lens to this year, it has definitely been more of the same, continuing that same high level of pastoral care. We are up and operational; the start has been good; people are loving the vitality and energy of being back in the building, and so on, but we are not fully better. Half a year ago, I was part of an educational panel and my answer, when asked about the long-term effects of the pandemic on schools and school children, was that I thought adults would be mostly better within two years, because we had so much more life experience. For school children, though, my prediction was that it would be three to five years, the harsh reality being that academic skills needed to be rebuilt, personal connections needed to be re-established, and identity (personally and as a member of a community) needed to be restored. By my count, then, we are only a few months into this long-term recovery, and I have seen my colleagues face some Herculean challenges, acquitting themselves well with patience, resolve, caring, and love (yes, love, even when the boy in question wasn’t very likable)... Keep in mind that up to a third of the current school population has never had a full year of RL. The faculty has had therefore to double down on building up our institutional identity—how we act here, how we support one another, how to know (and practice!) our core values, what it means to be an RL boy, and so on. As you think about your efforts on behalf of the school, think about the challenges, and think about the good people here who are caring for your sons—not as a faculty, but as individuals, different as they are by interests and background, but strongly connected in caring about and for your sons.

Closing remarks here almost religiously have the speaker saying something such as: “Giving to RL is a great cause. It is a labor of love, so give until it hurts.” But that’s all wrong. Tonight, as we gather ourselves as individuals and team up with others to launch this campaign, the mantra can’t be anything about a “labor” at all. That word—as very many of you in the room know—means “work” or worse yet “suffering,” and I want to make clear that none of this is about or connected to suffering, simply because there is too much joy and hope and promise and aspiration attached to the endeavor. And I especially want to underscore that giving until it hurts is also all so wrong. You need to give—and to help others give—because to do so does good, because it feels good, and because it simply is good. Give—and help others to give—because your efforts are consequential, because those efforts help others, and because paying it forward secures promise, hope, and in some real ways, the future—our future. //

José Flores

Class I

I was born in Guatemala City, and raised in Remar-Ciudad de Los Niños, an orphanage for children who are socially excluded or abandoned by their parents. During the three and a half years that I spent there, there was no one I could call mother or father. The only adults in my life were the very limited staff at the orphanage. I never received the one-on-one attention that many kids experience as babies. It was not until I was almost

four that I first met my adoptive mother. On very short notice, she packed her bags and flew to Guatemala in search of a child she could call her own… I remember being so overcome with emotion when I met her and said goodbye to all the people with whom I grew up. We spent a few days at a local hotel before flying to the United States where, in Boston, I became a member of a family that shared important parts of my immigrant and Latino identity. My mother is Puerto Rican and originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, and my dad is from El Salvador. My journey to citizenship was a long one; it took years and included re-adoption on U.S. soil.

My greatest achievement thus far was getting into Roxbury Latin. Arriving here my biggest fear was not what sport or clubs I would be good at, or how rigorous classes were going to be, but rather how I would fit in at such a prestigious school. I knew no one, and for the first time in a long time, I felt alone. However, the people I met during my first days quickly helped me to conquer my fears. I remember greeting my big brother Chris Jimenez at the circle and sharing with him my summer adventures. He accompanied me to the Farnham Room where Mr. Thomsen, with his infectious smile, greeted me and offered a firm handshake. I remember the allschool handshake, which became one of my favorite RL traditions… Given what we have shared together ever since those early days, I know the friends I’ve made here will be my friends for life.

Since arriving at RL, I have become more confident, organized, honest, empathetic, and intelligent. My biggest takeaway, however, is my responsibility as a leader in a life of service. “From those to whom much has been given, much will be expected” has been ingrained into every boy’s mind. I’m so fortunate to be where I am now. So many other kids like me struggle every day. I’ve learned that no one is too young to give back to his community, and RL’s service opportunities allowed me to do just that. From cleaning up Eliot Burial Ground, to assisting kids at St. Theresa’s, to feeding homeless people at Haley House Soup Kitchen, each service event was a valuable experience.

Through the friends and connections I’ve made at RL, I discovered Agencia ALPHA, a non-profit founded by two inspiring women, Patrica Sobalvarro and Damaris Velasquez, committed to immigration reform and supporting immigrant communities. Last spring I participated in their three-month youth internship and became an assistant coordinator of the summer’s Dreamers Leadership Program, which consisted of 30 high school and college scholars. I helped organize vaccine clinics and arranged events like picnics, field days, and movie nights for the program. Last school year I led a fundraiser collecting money for hurricane relief for Central American countries. I partnered with Winsor, Dana Hall, and Newton Country Day to raise more than $5,000 in just three weeks. The skills I developed at RL by listening to the many guestspeakers during Halls, and by the constant encouragement from [my advisor] Mr. Brennan, helped me arrange these events and provided memorable experiences for me and my community.

I would like to thank the entire Roxbury Latin community for everything it has done for me and my family. This place has really become my second home. RL took a chance on me, and I did the

We’ve Always Been In This Together

“I’m so fortunate to be where I am now. So many other kids like me struggle every day. I’ve learned that no one is too young to give back to his community, and RL’s service opportunities allowed me to do just that... each service event was a valuable experience.”

same. I couldn’t have asked for a more loving, supportive, fun, and challenging school. Were it not for RL’s commitment to generous financial aid, none of what I’ve described would have been possible. I plan to hold on to everything I learned from this magical place and be inspired in my future endeavors, like countless students have been before me. //

Kerry Brennan

Headmaster

From José and Mo you have heard perspectives on what makes Roxbury Latin distinctive. In each of their cases a life has been positively changed as a result of affiliation with this school. In regard to the powerful, catalytic impact this school can have on an individual, his fate, and the difference he is allowed to make, I am no different. For I have been importantly challenged and affirmed by working in close concert with RL’s mission, its governors, its parents, its faculty and staff, and its boys. The reality is that however much that many of us who work at RL offer up, whatever gifts we have to give—whatever time and talent we have to give— we are made better by what it gives back to us. No institution in and of itself can be credited with that kind of agency, however, the people—the boys and the faculty and staff—breathe it in and breathe it out day by day, offering a synergy and an expectation that results in a magical experience—inclusive, empowering, challenging, loving. While several of us in this room are on the front lines of this proposition every day, all of you here tonight share in the responsibility for making the RL dream a reality. And you have given lavishly of your treasure in order that we all can do the work that we do—changing lives for the better. But you give another yet more important thing as well: trust, faith, confidence in us, and belief in a covenant that suggests that each of us will do his or her part in order to realize in this place a living city, a cauldron of ideas and striving and promise. Together you and we agree to do our best on behalf of a dream brought to life.

I would argue that at no time in our beloved, ancient school’s history have we been tested in quite the same way we were beginning on March 11, 2020. That was the day on which the school was gathered in the theater for a raucous, fun Hall in which our legions of robotics participants demonstrated the remarkable robots they had produced ready to launch contests and in battles with one another. At the end of that Hall, I dismissed the troops one day early for spring break, on the brink of a pandemic the contours and challenges of which we then would have no idea. For nearly 18 months we did our best to keep our school safe and healthy and also to advance our program and mission responsibly and boldly. That challenging period was framed by that March 2020 Hall and the Opening of Term Hall on August 30, 2021, during which the school again was gathered—boys with bright eyes and shining faces together once more at long last to celebrate our unity and our common pursuit of that which is true and beautiful and good—the RL formula for encountering the world and eventually improving it. “May the lustre of thy glory, through thy children ever brighter grow.”

Thanks to the greatest gift you gave us—your trust, support, and prayers—we persevered and we emerged stronger, more resilient, more creative than we ever had been before. Just for good measure, you complemented your kind words and cooperation with gifts the

“However much that many of us who work at RL offer up, whatever gifts we have to give—whatever time and talent we have to give—we are made better by what it gives back to us.”

likes of which the school had never seen. In a year in which we worried about balancing the books and providing everything that was needed for us to thrive, you again said “yes” to RL’s request for help, for affirmation, for continuity, for community. In doing so, you acknowledged this community of which you are an essential part and said if we are all going to sacrifice in some important, material way, I’m in. You can count on me. And so we did.

And so we shall again. Reminding us of our distinctive model and the need for each of us to do his or her part, I beseech you to continue to believe in us, to celebrate the association with excellence and admirable striving that we share, and to remember us with good and generous hearts. In advance and always, we thank you. // The 2021–2022 Annual Fund is making great progress toward achieving its goal of $4,000,000 thanks to the generosity of our alumni, parents, and friends. We have already received gifts and pledges totaling $3,368,615. We are 84 percent of the way there, but we still need your help!

Thank you to all who have already made a commitment to the 2021–2022 Annual Fund. If you have not yet contributed, please consider supporting Roxbury Latin. Every gift helps RL maintain tuition that averages $17,500 less than that of other local independent schools. Every gift helps bridge the $26,734 gap between the cost of tuition and the actual cost of an RL education. Every gift supports the admission and enrollment of qualified boys, regardless of their family’s ability to pay, and every gift helps retain and attract a faculty that is second to none.

Gifts, large and small, from each and every donor, make a tremendous difference to the talented young men who study here. Please join your classmates, fellow parents, and friends by making a gift today. //

Call for Trustee Nominations

The Committee on Trustees is seeking recommendations from any member of the Roxbury Latin community for trustee candidates to serve a sixyear term on the Board of Trustees. Please forward such recommendations by March 8 to the Committee on Trustees at nominations@roxburylatin.org.