Dedicated to Summit’s Success Affinity for The Summit inspires alumnae giving
By Tami McMann A school as historic as The Summit, now in its 131st year, is guaranteed to have generations of families among its graduates. Consider the four branches connected to the parents of Terri (Rohde) Tobler ’70. The pair, Bill and Joan (Schulte) Rohde ’47, met in a second-grade classroom at The Summit and made their First Communion together. Somewhere, there’s a photo of the two children on the jungle gym at Summit. Bill and Joan crossed paths again much later, eventually marrying and enrolling their daughters, Terri and Carol, at The Summit. Terri grew up and was married in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel in 1981. Her three children are Summit alumni and she currently has two grandchildren in the Montessori program. Numerous members of her extended family are also among our alumni base. Those are certainly deep roots, and deep roots are often watered by a river of affinity. A love for The Summit inspires alumnae like Terri to both volunteer and use their financial resources to strengthen the school. Terri is a sponsor of the Angel Donor Program and her generosity ensures a seventh-grade girl can attend The Summit just as she did. “It’s important to me that she has the opportunities down the road that Summit provides,” she says. Although she attended Summit from Grades 8-12, Terri first walked through the door as a precocious 3-year-old whose mother had her hands full. “She brought me to Sister Ellen Marie and asked, ‘Will you take my daughter?’” Terri recalls with a smile. “The youngest children [in the school] were 5, but they made an
Terri (Rohde) Tobler ‘70
exception and let me go to kindergarten for three years. I loved it.” Returning in eighth grade, Terri was part of a class of only 36 and remembers Summit as a wonderful, happy place. “We were a spirited group, and I think we drove the Sisters crazy,” she laughs, “but we were very close. I’m still close with my classmates.” At Summit, the opportunities for community service made a deep impression on Terri. “Giving back was always very important to me,” she says. “I was elected to an outreach position and helped the Sisters plan ways for us girls to volunteer. It was very eye-opening to interact with people from different backgrounds.” The experiences influenced her to study social work, sociology and nursing in college. Today, Terri draws on her expertise in planning Summit class reunions to fulfill her role on the Engagement Committee of the Alumni Board, another way she gives back to The Summit. “When I graduated, there weren’t as many opportunities to stay involved with the school, so a lot of us fell away,” she says. “I want to get people involved again. That’s what I like – connecting people.” Summit Magazine 11
