ALUM SPOTLIGHT

Homecoming

By J.J. McGawn

Amber Lawerence Kridel (’04) enrolled at Pegasus as a seventh grader after her father, who was her sole guardian, passed away. Amber’s grandparents adopted her, and while looking for a private school for Amber, her family stumbled upon Pegasus. “Nancy Conklin [then Director of Admissions] took a chance on me because I didn’t have a typical Pegasus family and thank goodness she did! The teachers and community at Pegasus welcomed me with open arms. It was a good change for me to be in a new environment with supportive teachers. Pegasus was an engaging, unique learning environment and I needed that. There were a lot of ‘God winks’ along the way.”

Amber attended Cal State Long Beach and graduated with a triple major in management, accounting, and supply chain management. Amber’s family owns and operates a baking manufacturing company where they make tortillas and other flat breads supplying McDonald’s and other restaurants. During Amber’s eighth-grade year her class took a field trip to her family’s manufacturing facility where the students had the chance to see the nuts and bolts of the machinery all the way to the final product. When Amber graduated from college, she started the recruitment process interviewing for an accounting firm, but her grandparents said, “No, no. That is nice, but the family business is where you will be spending the rest of your life, so you might as well start now.”

The strong relationships Amber formed in her two years at Pegasus continued after graduation. “The Bridges attended my wedding and all three baby showers. Well, Dustan didn’t go to the baby showers, but Chrissy did.” Amber attended multiple class reunions at the home of one of her classmates, and the reunions continued through college. “Those Pegasus relationships were fostered in a genuine way. To spend only two years at a school and have such strong connections and relationships with people speaks volumes.”

This winner of the student Pegasus Spirit Award in her eighth-grade year, found found her home at Pegasus and is thrilled to share the Pegasus experience with the next generation. The Kridels have a son in Kindergarten and a daughter in Pre-K.

“A Pegasus education is more than high level academics; it is an experience in a community with teachers who take the time to get to know each student. My daughter tends to be shy, but she is not shy at Pegasus, which is a blessing and a curse. She cannot stop talking there!” The legacy of the next generation of Kridel students have found a home in the supportive environment at Pegasus.