Class Notes

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1950s

1955

Susan Ratcliffe Sour recently completed researching and writing The First Fifty Years: A History of Sewickley Academy Senior School. It chronicles the story of headmaster Cliff Nichols hiring the young Jim Cavalier to build a high school and all the major events in school life thereafter. Over 850 faculty, staff, and alumni are included by name, quotation, or photo in the book. The Class of 1955 became a pilot Grade 10 class – not the first one, since there had been others in the 1930s and early 1940s – but the last one before a true high school became viable.

1970s

1972

1955 The Grade 10 class in 1955-56, left to right: Wynnkie Paffard, Joan Foesdisch, Carolyn Malone, Pat Graham, Susan (Dorothy) Ratcliffe, Sue Wheeler, and Sibby Hull. A lasting legacy for Sibby Hull is the Hull Room given by her family in SA’s Lower School.

1974

Henry Shenk shares: “For the past 2.5 years Mark and I have endeavored to restore a big old house in Pittsburgh’s East End. Constructed in 1906 by my great, great grandfather’s firm, The Henry Shenk Co., it was built for the Berger family of New Castle. Situated on almost 2 acres, it has been slowly decaying for quite a few years. But, through dreaming, perseverance and sinew, she is slowly being returned to her gracious self. I say this as I contemplate 1972 Left to right: John Wise ’72, Meghan (Fawcett ’72) Wise, the planting of two Michael Jackson ’07, and Mike Raftis ’07 enjoyed the Dave Matthews Band concert in Washington state. See more in 2007. thousand daffodils, much like the Oliver tract along Blackburn, in what was a wildflower garden leading from the front terrace to Fifth Avenue. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier or in better physical shape, thanks to this piece of Pittsburgh’s glorious past.”

1974 The century-old planters at the entrance to Henry ’74 Shenk’s house were saved by Mary Odom ’76 when the Rea estate in Sewickley was torn down.

1978

Chip Carton was honored to cut the ribbon for the 30th year of the Pittsburgh Walk to Defeat ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). He was grateful to those who were able to support this important effort to aid this difficult disease.

1980s

1983

1983 Knox Thompson ’83 and his brother, Todd ’85, met in Yaak, Montana, for a week of hunting and fishing this October.

1985

Will Potter’s son Theodore Ellis was born on May 14 at 1:30 a.m. and weighed in at 6.5 lbs. Theodore is a smiley chatterbox who loves laughing, especially when one is pulling on the Halloween witch’s springy legs on the refrigerator and watching

them bounce back. He loves meeting people and is fascinated by listening to conversations and joining in. Theo gets Mandarin lessons from his Grandma every morning for 30 minutes.

For Christmas, Dad is setting up his vintage train set in Mommy’s living room on a 5’ x 10’ plywood base which will be decorated with 20 or so buildings from the “Plasticville” line. Multiple orders for additional rolling stock have been placed on Ebay. Daddy is very excited. Mommy is getting nervous it might never get taken down. Baby can hardly wait!! Todd Thompson joined Medtronic this year as a director for medical safety after 20 years of clinical practice. “I never thought that I would have a remote job! I continue to apply my neurosurgical skills, in a very different role.” Read more about Todd and his family in his Alumni Council bio on page 17.

1985 Will ’85 Potter’s son, Theo 1985 Todd ’85 and Di Thompson with their dogs Telli and Hoss.

1990s

1999

Clay Deutsch shared, “In 2017, after many quixotic attempts at fame, the most promising of which was a band formed with alums Gaetan Pettigrew ’99 and Tommy Deutsch ’01 (there have recently been talks about a major network ‘Behind the Music’ documentary as well as a reunion show perhaps at a Reunion?? If only we had an in with the booking agent!), I followed in the footsteps of my sister, Eleanore ’03, and her family and relocated from Los Angeles, California, to Sewickley. We were happily shortly joined by our brother, Tommy ’01, who, not wanting to miss out on the fun, moved back with his family from New York (Julia [Deutsch ’04], Julia, come in Julia!).

other SA alumni. I’m looking at you

Molly (Ruscitti ’97) Howard, Katie (Straka ’97) Arbogast, Eleanore (Deutsch ’03) Hodzic, and Emilie (Smith

’04) Rubin!”

2001

2001 Natalie Kasievich ’01

“In 2019, my brother and I did what any middle-aged adults with a surfeit of lacrosse knowledge and a plus-10second 40-yard dash time would do. We decided to put this knowledge to good use as volunteer coaches on SA’s boys lacrosse team. I’d like to use this page to encourage others to do the same. It’s rewarding! I then began teaching at the Academy in 2021 in the Arts Department and have since become the Alumni Engagement Officer and Director of the Campbell Art Gallery. It has been a tremendous joy and privilege to be back at SA. Hello to the class of ’99! I miss you all and hope you are doing great! Please reach out, come visit any time, and send in your class notes!”

2000s

2000

Virginia (Nimick) Elliott moved back to Sewickley in 2019 with her husband, Brent, and two children, Charley and Griggs. She continues to work as a Trial Attorney with the Department of Justice. After more than 15 years in New York City and Washington, D.C., they are enjoying the slower pace of suburban life. She writes, “It has been wonderful (and weird!) to have my kids become friends with the children of so many

2003

Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra (Greensburg, PA) has named Natalie Ann Kasievich as its new executive director. She is the former board president of the Edgewood Symphony, a community orchestra of volunteer musicians, and former executive director of the Portiuncula Foundation of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neuma, both based in Pittsburgh. A lifelong musician, she began studying the violin at age four and began playing orchestral music at nine with Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra Symphonette. She continues to play locally as a freelance violinist and with the Edgewood Symphony. Natalie has a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Wheeling Jesuit University and a master’s degree in public management from the H. John Heinz III College at Carnegie Mellon University. She previously worked as an engagement leader for Thrivent Financial.

In a press release, she said, “When I worked on the board of the Edgewood Symphony, I had fallen in love with arts management, so this is the perfect opportunity to combine my passions for orchestral music and management!”

2003 Spencer Nimick ’03 with his fiance, Susan Duncan. After living in Europe and the U.K. for a while, Mary Grace (Mock) Holt and her husband, Andy, are settled back home in New York City. They welcomed their first child, Hugo Edward Holt, on May 1. He is named after his two grandfathers. In 2015, Spencer Nimick graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a master’s in data science and an MBA with a concentration in marketing. He now works as a data science manager at McAfee. He recently became engaged to Susan Duncan. They are planning a March

2006 Flora Kietzman, daughter of Parry (Macdonald ’06) Kietzman

wedding, and look forward to seeing 2003 classmates Brandon Means, Travis Modic, Kelsey Pegden, as well as Nick Batyko ’00.

2006

Parry Macdonald Kietzman sent this update: “I am currently a bee specialist on a research team at Virginia Tech, where we are working on a multiyear sustainable agriculture project to create pollinator habitat in cattle pastures in Virginia and Tennessee. We refer to it as the “Bee-friendly Beef” project, and more information can be found at our website, beesandbeef. spes.vt.edu. We are collaborating with researchers at the University of Tennessee and the Smithsonian’s nonprofit, Virginia Working Landscapes. Although my appointment at Virginia Tech is research-focused, I was given the opportunity to teach a course called Ecological Agriculture, and I am loving being in the classroom. My husband and I also welcomed our daughter, Flora, to the family on January 24th of this year. She joins big brother, Hal (aged almost 5), and is a wonderful addition!”

2007

Mike Raftis ’07 and Michael Jackson ’07 visited John ’72

and Meghan (Fawcett ’72) Wise

2007 Mike Raftis ’07 and Michael Jackson ’07 at the summit of Mt. Spokane in Washington.

at Wise Acres Farm in Green Bluff, Washington, over Labor Day weekend to mark the 13th anniversary of Colin ’07 Wise’s death. They all went to a Dave Matthews Band concert, and the two 2007 classmates hiked Mt. Spokane during their stay. Anna Zappala and her husband, Patrick Auth, were married in Tuscany, Italy, in June 2018. The couple now resides in Sewickley with their son, Graham, who was born in April 2021. Graham is already very fond of Sewickley Academy’s campus.

2010 Mac Nimick ’10

2010s

2010

Mac Nimick graduated from the University of Richmond in 2014, and obtained a master’s degree in counseling from George Washington University in 2020. He now lives in Denton, Texas, where he works as a Licensed Professional Counselor, focusing on childhood and family issues.

2007 Graham, son of Anna Zappala ’07 and Patrick Auth, enjoys the soft grass on SA’s campus.

2014

Bard College at Simon’s Rock alumna Chazlee Myers was awarded an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) grant by the US-Italy Fulbright Commission to provide assistance to local English teachers in Italy and act as a cultural ambassador for the U.S from October 2022 to June 2023. Chazlee is one of only ten ETA grant awardees for Italy. As part of her thesis, Chazlee had already created a four-week language learning lesson plan for middle school students in three languages, German, Italian, and Spanish. She chose to focus on middle school since many students stop their language studies around that time in their education, often because there’s not enough cultural immersion. Her lesson plans included a strong emphasis on the cultural components of learning a second language. Although she majored in German Studies and Photography at Simon’s Rock, she selected Italy for her Fulbright. She found during her prior study abroad in Germany at the University of Marburg, that German schools already emphasize teaching English as a second language, whereas the emphasis is different in Italy. Additionally, she saw and connected with how Italy took a leadership position in addressing rising migratory conflicts and advocating for the voiceless. Her focus will be on working with at-risk populations, especially young African women and young refugees.

2016 2017

Sterling Myers, who was a FAME Scholar, Poise Scholar, and Jack Kent Cooke Scholar, graduated as valedictorian of the Kiski School Class of 2017. He went on to graduate from Harvard University, Class of 2021, with degrees in biomedical engineering and Mandarin Chinese. Sterling is currently applying to law school.

Logan Cole reported, “I am finally living out my wildest dreams and pursuing a Juris Doctor degree at Barry University’s D’Wayne O. Andreas School of Law. While in law school, I have the privilege of working at a criminal defense and immigration law firm. Although there are many aspects of my job that are interesting, the most exciting part of my duties as a legal assistant include preparing the argumentation for asylum applications. My interest in law stems from my desire to advocate for those who don’t have the ability to advocate for themselves and to represent Women of Color in law, as the first lawyer of my family! Logan served as the Pittsburgh Fellow with IGNITE National, a nonpartisan organization that empowers young women to harness their political powers and trains them to run for public offices. She hosted a virtual event last May about the school-to-prison pipeline, which is affecting Pittsburgh area schools at an alarming rate. She hosted two experts from the Just Discipline Project. Read more about Logan in her Alumni Council bio on page 16.

2018

Emmy Rose Francek graduated with a BS in biomedical engineering from the University of Oklahoma with an impressive list of special honors: • Graduated Summa Cum Laude,

President’s Honor List all 4 years • Awarded Outstanding Senior for the College of Engineering, Class of 2022 (700 graduates) • Awarded Outstanding Senior for

Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2022 (49 graduates) • Letzeiser Award Winner (citizenship and achievement) • Campus Life Award (volunteerism and participation) • Cited in 5 published articles in the field of Nanomedicine

2014 Chazlee Myers ’14

On May 14, 2022, she culminated her four years by leading the procession and carrying the flag for the OU College of Engineering class of 2022 in the graduation ceremony. Emmy will remain at the University of Oklahoma for one more year to complete her master’s in biomedical engineering.

2020s

2020

Alexis Barlock was crowned Miss Pennsylvania International 2022 at the Blair County Convention Center (PA). The pageant is for “communityminded, accomplished women ages 19 - 30” and provides “each contestant the opportunity to learn about customs and family life in other countries along with the chance to share her platform efforts.” As an SA student, Alexis was a fouryear starter on the softball team. A powerful and successful pitcher, she was named Athlete of the Week by the Sewickley Herald in her junior year. She signed to play softball for the University of Mount Union where she finished her sophomore year studying political science. She hopes to come back on SA’s campus for a visit in her official capacity as Miss Pennsylvania International 2022. Eiley Doyle is a student at Wesleyan University and recently started her own online pottery business eileyspottery.com. She found her love of pottery through Mr. Lalomia at SA and built on those skills through her sculpture classes at Wesleyan. She also worked as an apprentice for a pottery studio in Park City, Utah, where she lived with her brother Todd Doyle ’16 for a season as ski instructors.

2020 Alexis Barlock ’20

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