Alumni News

1980s

Cynthia Cullen ’82 is living in Orleans and serves as Director of the Dennis town library. She was sorry to miss the Class of 1982 re-zoom-ion, but wanted to say hello to all of her classmates.

1990s

Congratulations to Mary Daly ’90 who received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After receiving a B.A. from Harvard College and her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, Mary did her medical residency in ophthalmology at Wilmer Eye Institute with a fellowship in cornea and external eye diseases at Moorfields. Two of Mary’s children now attend Falmouth Academy, accomplished musicians Sophia Legutko ’23 and Joseph Legutko ’26.

Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm ’90 began a new job as the Executive Director for the Maine Monitor/Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. The retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer, who served in such places as Iraq, Israel, and Nepal, among others, was always an advocate for independent journalism. In an online post, Mica said, “I[…] saw how an absence of independent and investigative reporting can leave citizens vulnerable and harm a society.”

2000s

Jeremy Gantz ’00 is now an Editor at TIME Magazine, where he helps put together the annual Best Inventions issue, to be published in November. Currently, he said they are sifting through a lot of nominations for innovative new products, services, and technology that deserve recognition, so it will be fun to see what they choose to highlight. Emma Mitchell PhD ’02, associate professor of nursing at the University of Virginia School of Nursing, received a $1.2 million grant from the National Institute for Health/Fogarty International for a project titled “Remote Resilience: Novel Applications of mHealth in Nicaragua’s Cancer Control Program.” Emma and an associate developed a mobile app called Azulado for women in underserved rural communities to screen for cervical cancer. In 2018 Emma was named an awardee of the Virginia Nurses Association’s 40 Under 40. She teaches courses on public health nursing, local and global health disparities, and cancer prevention in the Bluefields region of Nicaragua. In 2018, her study-abroad program received an $87,000 Jefferson Trust Award grant.

Andrew Kingman ’00 founded Mariner Strategies LLC, a law firm focusing on public policy in the data privacy, cybersecurity, and emerging tech sectors. He will continue to represent the State Privacy and Security Coalition as well.

Julie Kaidor ’02 is adding professor of education to her resume. She is teaching this year at Stetson University, as she continues teaching Fourth Grade as well. Noting in a post that she is excited to tackle this challenge, Julie advises, “Don’t let fear get in the way of your life. There are opportunities that await if you put in the effort, one day at a time.” Congratulations to John Hough ’07 on being named Publisher of the Falmouth Enterprise. He becomes the 4th generation of Houghs to oversee the Enterprise. John, who graduated from Northeastern University, has served in several capacities at the publication, including sales, circulation, and production. He was made assistant publisher in 2021.

Best wishes to Jesica Waller ’09, who was appointed Director of the Division of Biological Monitoring and Assessment at the Maine Department of Marine Resources. She continues to research lobster biology and ecology.

2010s

Congratulations to Dr. Tessa Hulburt ’11, who earned her Ph.D. in Human Movement Biomechanics from the Wake Forest School of Medicine. She will pursue research as a Postdoc at Emory University for three years.

After receiving a master’s degree in Economics from Georgia State University, Shamila Sarwar ’11 joined UNICEF as a Communications Officer – Media & Advocacy in Dhaka, Bangladesh. An exchange student at Falmouth Academy,

Shamila received her bachelor’s degree with double majors in Economics and International Relations from Wesleyan College. In her new position, Shamila focuses on writing human interest stories.

Ben Smith ’11 started a new position as an Assistant Vice President of Bank America while continuing his service as a USC recruitment officer. Ben and his wife Sarah were married in June.

Shaelyn Waller ’11 has a few more letters after her name now. Congratulations on earning her master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is now known as Shaelyn Waller MSN RN CPNP-AC, CHPPN, or a Master of Nursing, Registered Nurse, Certified Pediatric Nurse Practioner-Acute Care, and Certified Hospice-Palliative Pediatric Nurse.

Savannah

Maher ’13, a reporter for Marketplace, won six awards from the Native American Journalists Association during their National Native Media Awards. In all, she won four first places for Radio/Podcast Best Feature, Best News Story, and Best Health Coverage, and second and third place for a best news story. Savannah’s award-winning pieces were: “How One Indigenous Midwife Supports Farmworkers During the Pandemic” (NPR NextGen Radio), “Online Indigenous Language Learning Opens Doors for Far-flung Tribal Citizens” (Mountain West News Bureau), “Tribes’ $20B in Aid Could Be Transformative – if Feds Learn from Botched CARES Act Rollout” (Mountain West News Bureau), “Supreme Court Rules Tribal Police Can Detain Non-Natives but Problems Remain” (Mountain West News Bureau), “Push to Vaccinate Indigenous Americans Leaves Some Urban Indians ‘Out of the Loop’” (Mountain West News Bureau), and “How Employer Vaccine Mandates are Playing Out in One Tribal Economy” (Marketplace). John Faus ’16 was named to the 30 Under 30 list of next-generation leaders for Mid-Atlantic real estate. He is an associate for Marcus & Millichap, commercial property advisors in the Washington, DC area. In his statement, John said, “Learning the industry from the brokerage side is grueling, but it prepares you to handle challenging and complex deals.”

Greg Pickart ’16 has developed a new app called Jump To Recipe, available both on the App Store and Google Play. He said in the app’s description, “I wrote Jump To Recipe after an extensive search to find a simple and modern app to store my family’s recipes.” The goal of the app is to provide a place you can access written and downloaded recipes from any device. Mason Jones ’17 graduated from Northeastern University in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has accepted a job with GE Aviation as a Design Engineer for turbofan engines after completing two coop placements with GE.

FA lacrosse superstar Jane Earley ’18 did not disappoint at Middlebury College, leading her team to its third NCAA Division III title in seven years. The highest goal scorer at FA with 479 varsity goals, Jane also held second place, high school, for most goals in state and US history. She was named Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Player of the Year, Attacker of the Year, All-American (two times), and New England Small College Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Due to the pandemic, Jane took a year off and returned this fall to play at Middlebury for her senior year.

Shaelyn Yopp ’18 participated in Fashion Week in September in New York City where she walked with The Model Experience. She is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising at Framingham State University, and, once completed, will continue on to a Master’s program.

Falmouth Academy welcomes the following new additions to alumni families

Cassian Fischer Achenbach to Shelby and Ben Achenbach ’07

Thomas Nesib Hough to Tom Hough ’11 and Lauren El-Hajj

Julia McGroarty Sampaio to Humberto and Jane McGroarty

Sampaio ’02, P’25 and P’27

(right, with big brother Humberto ’27)

Theodosia Herzog Waller to Justin Waller ’12 and Brooke Herzog Waller