St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) Alumni Association (USA) Inc

Click here for a copy of our constitution! 

 

You may read about historic happenings in the report  below.

History of the STETHS Alumni Association

(USA) Inc.

The association was incorporated on March 20, 1996 .  This step was taken after about two years of informal meetings between past students in the tri-state area and also Philadelphia .  The first meeting occurred during the summer of 1994.  Patrick Joseph, a 1978 graduate of STETHS along with Pete Smythe (1976) and Glenton Smith (1976) were instrumental in starting the group.  The first president was Patrick Josephs who served prior to the incorporation of the association.  The association’s mission is two-fold.  Firstly, the aim is to assist our alma mater in any way possible.  Secondly, the group seeks to promote fellowship between past students living in the U.S. One of its first acts was to have a small dinner at which long time vice principal of STETHS, Mr. Rupert Linton was honored.  This dinner was held in New Jersey at the residence of Dr. Glenton Smith. Later, on learning of the need for assistance of the STETHS Penn Relays Track and Field team a group led by past students from Philadelphia undertook the job of providing food, transportation and accommodations for the team while it was here in the United States for its event.  This first occurred in 1996 and was repeated in 1997. In June 1997, Miss Sonya Williams, a 1980 graduate of the school become aware of the association while planning a re-union dinner for the class of 1980.  She came aboard and the association took off from that point on.  The dinner was held in August of 1997 and alumni from as far back as the 1980'’ attended. Mr. Neville Fergurson contributed to the association by having an annual fund raising kids talent and fashion show at his church from 1996-1998.  All proceeds were turned over to the alumni association to be used in whatever way it saw fit.

The election of Roxroy Wellington in September 1997 marked a turning point for the association.  Under his leadership the number of registered members increased to almost fifty and the association was able to raise almost ten thousand dollars through fundraising events.  This was a significant improvement over the previous attempts at fundraising. As can be expected all has not been smooth sailing.  In 1998 we undertook a book-drive which was aimed at getting the school some much needed textbooks and reference books for its library.  We were not able to provide all the required books as Sangster Bookstore in Jamaica had some difficulty obtaining the books. 

We had some difficulty finding a permanent meeting place for our monthly meetings and this affected the membership and also the attendance at meetings.  Thanks to the efforts of Sandra O’Sullivan we were able to secure space at 1860 Utica Avenue and this has become our monthly meeting place since then.

Our past is not as distinguished as we would like it to be, but our mission remains the same.  We will continue to assist STETHS in whatever way we can and also continue to provide a means of fellowship between all past students living in the United States.

THE HIGHLIGHTS CONTINUE….

November, 1998

A new executive body was elected.  The elected members were as follows.

President                                  Donovan Wilson

First Vice president                   Pete Smythe

Second Vice President              Zonia Watkins

Secretary                                  Carlene Simpson

Assistant Treasurer                   Joel Watson

Liaison Officer              Michael Powell (replaced Sonya Williams who left New York )

 

The next Annual General Meeting was scheduled for October 23, 1999 but was subsequently postponed because of the absence of a quorum.  In the interim, planning was underway for a return to STETHS by alumni members in July, 2000.

 

Annual General Meeting

May 20, 2000 .

After verifying that a quorum of paid up members was present it was unanimously agreed that the executive body should be re-elected en masse so that it could continue its works towards Homecoming 2000 which was set for July 1-7, 2000 at STETHS.

 

Members OF the association returned to STETHS from July 1 – 7, 2000 for a re-union in Santa Cruz .

The first John H. Pottinger Grants was given during this week to two students who were nominated by their teachers and one whose father was murdered after serving as the longtime watchman/caretaker of the school for over 20 years.

Annual General Meeting

October 28, 2000 .

This meeting was postponed because of circumstances beyond our control.

February 10, 2001

Donovan Wilson was re-elected as president and Zonia Watkins replaced Pete Smythe as First Vice President.  Jennifer Lawrence was elected as Second Vice president, Carlene Simpson was re-elected as treasurer, Michael Powell as STETHS Liaison Office and Janice Johnson as Secretary/Treasurer.

February 16, 2002

The association held its Annual General Meeting and a new executive body was elected.

President                                  Zonia Watkins

First Vice president                   Sandra O’sullivan

Second Vice-President (vacant)

Treasurer                                  Carlene Simpson

Assistant Treasurer                   Janice Johnson

STETHS Liaison office             Michael Powell

Secretary                                  Michelle Kennedy

Ex-officio President                  Donovan Wilson

In the ensuing period since the last election Janice and Michelle moved away from New York and their positions remain vacant.  Donovan resigned his position as Ex-officio president. Michael has not been as active as he would like to be because of job and family related issues and Andrea Peart was asked to join the executive body as an ex-officio member.  Zonia, Carlene, Sandra and Andrea have done a remarkable job of keeping the association alive but we need additional support from past students.

A YEAR BY YEAR LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS…

Unfortunately, we have not been very good at recording our history.  Much detail for the period prior to October 2006 is missing and we will try to update this as soon as possible.

November 2007

A new meeting location was secured in Cambria Heights, Queens.  The address is 223-20 Linden Boulevard.

December 2007

First meeting held at the new location.  We also had a end of year dinner which was held at The Door Restuarant which is owned by a past student, Ms Joan Beadle.

June 26-28, 2008.  the Class of 1983 held a reunion in Jamaica and had several functions in and around Santa Cruz.  By all accounts the series of events were successful and the group vowed to continue working together for the benefit of STETHS. 

On July 6, 2008 a teleconference was held and  it was decided that we would begin planning for an Election of Officers, which is long overdue.  The last Election of Officers was held in early 2002.

Since taking office in February of 2002, President Zonia Watkins has tried valiantly to hold the group together.  A year by year list of accomplishments is given below.

 

President's report presented at the 2008 annual General Meeting. 

It has been a pleasure serving as President of the STETHS Alumni Association, NY Inc. for the past six (6) years. The role did not provide me any special privileges or perks but the most rewarding returns stem from the fact that each year our efforts result in the help of at least one less fortunate student back at our Alma Mata. Whether it was through the John Pottinger Scholarship Fund or to assist athletes at the Penn Relays, our efforts impacted the lives of many that we may never live to tell.

I have been encouraged by the yearly turn out at the Annual Summer Picnic that has become the highlight of the summer for many past students and their families and friends. The Glen Island Park has somewhat become our summer hang-out. I have enjoyed the preparations and the camaraderie each year. I have enjoyed working with the consistent few whose interest in the association is grounded. Much as it has been a struggle with improving membership from the Tri-State area, we were not discouraged with the persistent few who stood fast in their ideals: to work to assist the school. We were still able to accomplish some feats over the years.

Some highlights of past achievements:

• Donation of Computers to the STETHS Computer Lab
• Donation of Laser printer to STETHS
• Over $2000 Contribution to John Pottinger Fund over the years
• Yearly financial contribution and arrangement of meals to the Penn Relays Team through Team Jamaica Bickles
• Individual financial contribution to three past students with personal hardships
• Contribution to the All Nations Seventh Day Adventist Church Community Outreach Program
• Creation and maintenance of an Alumni Website
• Publication of Alumni Association Newsletter
• Membership of UJAA since 2001
• Yearly Raffle Fund Raiser
• Annual Summer Picnic
• Mini “Hang Out” ventures
• Group Outings – plays and dinners

Achievements:

Year 2007-2008

• Donation of $500 to the John Pottinger Scholarship Fund
• Donation of $1300 to the Penn Relays Team from STETHS
• Participant in UJAA Raffle which netted $4012.00
• Established a toll free number for telephonic conference calls

Donations to the scholarship fund went towards providing books, transportation fee and lunch for needy students. I want to thank every single individual who have contributed to the sustenance of this organization. I have to make mention of Carlene Simpson, Donovan Wilson, Sandra O’Sullivan and Linval Brown who have rarely missed a meeting over the years come rain or sleet. Not only have they sacrificed the time to attend meetings but they have consistently participated in the planning and execution of almost all activities we have undertaken.

Our alliance with the School has been more recently strengthened with the appointment of a new Principal. We now have a liaison with whom we can make direct contact to obtain recent update of activities at and about the school and other associations. We have the assurance from Principal Mr. Keith Wellington to maintain closer relationship with the school, to understand each others expectations.

I must extend my appreciation to other Alumni chapters and their leaders; Florida and the newly formed Georgia Chapter. We have formed an alliance through the realization that our ideals are similar and we are working towards a common goal. Fellow Alumni, ‘life becomes more meaningful by hopes realized’ (Ralph W. Emerson). I have realized a part of my dream to help my Alma Mata and I pledge to continue on the same path indefinitely.

Zonia Watkins

President's report presented at the 2009 Annual General Meeting

Today we come to the end of another year in the history of the STETHS Alumni Association (USA) Inc.  I present this report with pride and will look at some of our achievements over the past year.

It was Saturday, October 12, 2007 when three of us – Zonia, Carlene and me - met in Queens to discuss the state of the association.  We were faced with dwindling membership, poor meeting attendance and no reliable meeting venue.  The owner of the venue in Brooklyn had become unreliable.  We had not had an Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers in six years nor had we filed any tax returns since the organization’s inception.  The then executive body was trying valiantly but we needed a spark to move to the next level.  We decided to start a drive to get people interested in our organization once more as well as formalize the way the organization was run.  It is that drive and the outreach efforts from October 2007 to November 2008 which has brought us to today.  Here are some of the highlights that I want to report.

• We held an Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers on November 1, 2008.  The current executive body was elected at that time. Today we are holding another one on schedule as required by our constitution.
• We have been holding regular monthly meetings this year.  In fact, we have held five monthly meetings and one teleconference meeting over the past 12 months.
• This year we filed our tax return for 2008.  Our records are available for all members to review by request at any time. Carlene Simpson has been instrumental in keeping our books and I want to personally thank her for over 14 years of service to this group and nine years service in her role as treasurer.
• We made calendars available to our members for the first time ever.
• Meeting attendance has gone up and so has membership.  One of our monthly meetings had over twenty five persons present - the best attendance in almost ten years.
• We contributed $1000 to the Penn Relays this year and some of us contributed an additional $700 from our personal resources.  I must commend Zonia and also Gary Samuels from the STETHS Alum Corp for helping me to offset some personal expenses that I incurred in connection with that event.
• Our annual picnic at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle was the biggest one to date.  Over 125 past students, friends and family attended.
• Once again we funded the John Pottinger Grant and the award was made in December 2008 at the school’s graduation.  We will fund the 2009 John Pottinger Grant at the school’s graduation on December 3^rd this year and I will be present to make the award.  Furthermore, we will offer the first Roper Grant this year and hope to make this an annual grant also.  A past student has offered to make a contribution of $500 towards this inaugural grant.  I must say it was an honor to be invited to be the guest speaker at the event and I will speak to the graduating class on behalf of the New York area alumni in general and the members of this chapter in particular.
• We had our first dinner dance in almost eight years.  The event was meant to be a social occasion rather than a fundraising one and we all had fun that night!  I was personally gratified to see so many faces that I had not seen in years.  Of course, we were also delighted to end up with a profit of over $1500 after all expenses had been paid.
• Most importantly, we developed relationships with other past students that we have not seen in years and strengthened the relationships that existed between our regulars. 

We did not achieve everything that I would like to see happen but I think we did well. At one of our first executive meetings we agreed on several amendments that we need to make to our constitution and I hope that these amendments will be tabled today and ratified within the 21 days specified in our constitution.  The proposals are as follows;

• The executive committee term should be two years instead of one
• The organization’s name should be amended to STETHS Alumni Association (New York) Inc
• At least two meeting per year, excluding the Annual General Meeting, must be held
• No one may hold elected office unless they have been a member for at least six months and have attended at least 50% of all meetings held in that period.
• No executive member may serve more than two consecutive terms in the same position

The time has come now to elect a new executive body.  This group will lead us towards the 50^th Anniversary celebrations in 2011. We have done well this year but we can and must do better in 2010. I thank everyone for your support and remain willing to help my alma mater in whatever way I can.

 

Donovan Wilson (Class of 1980)

President 2009