2015

Sarah Tapscott
301-807-7821
st12@hood.edu

Travis Gilbert is the manager at the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society and Latimer House Museum in Wilmington, NC. Julianne Berg is about to complete her second year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Charleston, SC. Her second year, she served as the VISTA Leader for a group of 23 VISTAs all across Charleston. She hopes to move back to Maryland after she completes her year and get a job somewhere in DC’s nonprofit sector. Khyle Ball joined the army and is currently in San Antonio for nursing school. Lindsey Willhide received her master’s at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and is currently a licensed social worker at the Washington County Department of Social Services. Chelsea Rudy during the past few months has loved working with FCPS as a special education teacher. She also bought a new car! Nicole Kuehl continues to work for the federal government, and has begun a master’s degree program in applied economics at Johns Hopkins University. She will marry Russell Gingrich ’15 in Coffman Chapel in January 2017. Kristen Geatz was recently promoted to program coordinator with the international visitors leadership program at the Institute of International Education, where she works with the Department of State to bring international visitors to the U.S. to meet with Americans who share similar careers. Nicole Burda is a kindergarten teacher and loving it. Sarah Austin is now living and working in Connecticut and currently employed as a paralegal at a small law firm. She’s going to school to get her graduate degree in library science from the University of Washington. She’s getting married in June 2017. Michael Smith has been working his butt off while somehow managing to find time to play Magic: The Gathering with his friends. He works at Zenimax Inc. as a QA contractor and performs certification testing for the latest and greatest games. He’s begun to develop a voice acting career. Kara O’Leary has been enjoying her time employed with a political consulting firm on Capitol Hill and working directly with more than 30 democratic members of the House of Representatives but still keeps a Sunday morning shift at the 7th Street Starbucks in Frederick. She’s looking forward to her upcoming trip back to France this summer and planning her next European adventure! Natalie Guerra is now Natalie Maltais. She married her Canadian sweetheart and is now living with him in Woodbridge, VA. For the past year and a half, she has been working at Keyway Lock Service as a bookkeeper and accountant assistant. This winter, she will start applying for graduate schools so that she can start her computer science degree. Margarita Swissler is currently living in Colmar, France. She is working as an English language teaching assistant at two local high schools. She hopes to remain in France next year as a teaching assistant, but in another region, so she can continue to explore and learn more about another part of France. James Sola began working for Pace Analytical Services last year. He is contracted to Elanco, where he supports the development of proteins designed to improve the nutritional value of animal foods. Maggie Thomas is pursuing a master’s in business at Hood College. She’s been keeping busy with her photography and graphic design business, Maggie’s Creative. Over the summer of 2016, Natalie Hernandez began working at a2z, Inc. as a digital project coordinator, and became engaged to David Langan ’14. Ben Atha has begun a master’s program in biological sciences at Towson University. When he is not in class, he spends his time conducting research between two molecular biology labs and working as a teaching assistant. He is recently engaged to Aristie Abbott ’14. After earning her MA in developmental psychology, Caitlin Presley has continued her graduate studies for a Psy.S. degree in school psychology at Gallaudet University. Caitlin recently completed her practicum in Prince George’s County Public School’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program and is currently in search of an internship placement. I, Sarah Tapscott, have been busy working, opening a new company, singing with the Choral Arts Society of Frederick, and instructing color guard at Frederick High School.

2014

Bianca Padilla
301-437-8772
bianca.e.padilla@gmail.com

Hello, Class of 2014! Looks like we have continued to stay busy after graduation. Let’s see what everyone has been up to! Katelyn Jenkins Hansrote got married April 23 to Andrew Hansrote, and they are expecting a baby girl in February. Paige DeVore got engaged July 4, Melissa Caples married Greg Miller on Oct. 8, and Zach Lynch and Kelsey Knippenberg got married Sept. 24, 2016. Jackie Frenning got married in December 2015. Kali Ball is engaged. Kate Kopasek got engaged to John Black in Annapolis on Aug.13, 2016, and they are getting married September 2017 in Baltimore. Madeline Birmingham got engaged in October to Bronson Washburn and plans to get married summer 2017. They bought a house in Frederick this past June and are living there with their English Bulldog, Lucy. David Langan got engaged to Natalie Hernandez ’15. Jennifer Bentz got engaged in March, and she and her fiance are looking forward to welcoming their first child in March. Tiffany Zechman Flook bought a house and is expecting her second child in May. Erin Droneburg married Javier Zavala ’16 on August 27, 2016. Katelyn Jenkins Hansrote graduated with her master’s degree in social work in May from Shippensburg University. She is currently working as an older adult protective service worker at the Perry County Area Agency on Aging in Pennsylvania. Kali Ball is an intervention teacher at Salem Avenue Elementary Hagerstown, and Jackie Frenning started her MS in academic advising from Kansas State University. Kate Kopasek started working on her Master of Nonprofit Management degree at Notre Dame of Maryland University in August. She is currently working at Key Point as the case manager for Catonsville’s Community Outreach Program. Steven Powell is completing his Ed.S. degree. He is a school psychologist intern at Halifax County Public Schools in Halifax, VA. Kylee Loss is currently working with Building Evaluation Services and Technology as an environmental analyst, Jolissa Gue teaches kindergarten for FCPS, and I, Bianca Padilla am a fifth grade teacher in Montgomery County and will graduate with a master’s in teaching with National Board Certified Teacher Leadership in August 2017. Justin Bowens works as a program cost and schedule analyst for Northrop Grumman in San Diego, CA. Anela Alic is living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is working for Emirates airline as part of the business class cabin crew. Emily Kraatz is a first grade teacher and STEM education leader at Twin Ridge Elementary School in FCPS. She is persuing a master’s in educational leadership from Hood College. Tiffany Zechman Flook is teaching kindergarten in Frederick County. Molly Fabricatore will graduate from Salem State University with her M.Ed. in higher education student affairs this May. She is working as an area coordinator at Hood College for Shriner, Coblentz and the Marx Center. Katrina Villa recently graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Seton Hall University and now resides in New York. She recently began work as a registered nurse in the neurosurgical critical care unit at the Mount Sinai Hospital. Until next time, Class of 2014! Wishing you all a wonderful 2017!

2011

Megan Dancause
717-682-5267
mdancause@comcast.net

The five years since the class of 2011 graduated Hood College have flown by, but we haven’t wasted any time in accomplishing many things! Kayla Murphy Caw and husband Mat welcomed a baby girl, Elizabeth Murphy Caw, on Nov. 2! Katelyn Horn accepted a biologist III positon with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at the Okaloacoochee Slough WMA. Kathleen Grombacher-Irwin married Daniel Jurek in a private ceremony near their home in Seattle on July 30. The couple plans to settle in the Pacific Northwest after living in four cities across the country over the past three years. Morgan Lyons Kelley is currently teaching art to students with profound, multiple disabilities within the Baltimore City school system. She is expected to graduate in the spring from Johns Hopkins School of Education with a Master of Science in Special Education with an emphasis on severe disabilities. Morgan is also the mother to two little boys and she and her husband recently celebrated their one-year anniversary! Alexander McDuffie is teaching fifth grade science at Mater Academy of Nevada. In his spare time, he is coaching fifth and sixth grade flag football, where his team made it to the championships this month. He is also an adviser for the student council where he oversaw a trip to Washington, DC, to speak with senators about funding. Over the summer, Alexander has plans to travel to Ndola, Zambia, where he will volunteer with Northrise University in their Impact Ndola program. Dana Martindell Perry and husband Gregory celebrated their first wedding anniversary in August. Dana also started a new job as an MDS coordinator at Meridian Nursing and Rehabilitation in Shrewsbury. Emily Cucchi Raines moved back to Frederick with her husband this past spring. Emily also started a new position as marketing manager for Cetrom; a local cloud solutions provider. Kelsey Blackwell Roberts, MBA’13 and her husband welcomed a son, John James “JJ” Roberts, on March 17. Kelsey was recently promoted to marketing and business development manager at A2LA where she has worked since 2012. In her spare time, Kelsey is volunteering on several committees with Celebrate Frederick! Meghan Tomlin celebrated five years at United Healthcare and recently bought a house with boyfriend Andrew Bush.

2008

Megan Phillips Rosier
megankrosier@gmail.com
mkp11@hood.edu

Sarah Haney Koons
240-520-6523
sjh6@hood.edu

Sierra Bair Rhodes and husband Michael Rhodes ’06, MBA’09 had their second child, Ryker Wayne Rhodes, in July. On July 25 Amanda Rutten Aung and Min Zaw Aung were married at Strong Mansion at Sugarloaf Mountain. Steve Delaney made a career change, switching from teaching 11th grade English to becoming a middle school guidance counselor in Burlington Township Schools in New York. Addi Lucas Davis, M.S.’16 and husband Christopher Davis welcomed their first child, Theodore, born July 1, 2016. Steven Delaney reported, “In June 2016, after eight years of teaching 11th grade English at Woodbury High School (NJ), I was hired by Burlington Township Middle School as a 6th grade school counselor. I serve more than 300 students and love having a daily impact on their lives. (The 40-minute commute as opposed to my former 7-to-10-minute commute is a bit of a bummer, though!) Additionally, I was an instructor this summer for Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth; I taught a writing course, Heroes and Villains, to 5th and 6th graders at their Bristol, RI, site. I also had a busy wedding season including the weddings of Samantha Bear Lang ’09, Katheen Irwin Jurek ’11, and Ashley Cooper Thumma.”

2006

Sharia Barksdale
301-449-5891
rdy2xplore@yahoo.com

MJ Swicegood ’13 married Geoff Huntoon ’17 on Sept. 30, 2016, in Clarksburg, Md., at Seneca Lodge with friends and family. Geoff works as a development intern at Mosaic Power in Downtown Frederick, and MJ just accepted a position as evaluation manager at Lonza in Walkersville, MD.

1999

Anne Hambrick-Stowe Rankin
717-945-4585
annehambrickstowe@gmail.com

I want to start with a shout-out to Amy Countryman Stavely who was our class reporter since we graduated 17 (gasp!) years ago! Thank you! And, for now, I am happy to take this over; if you have updates, feel free to email or text them to me for future class notes! Speaking of Amy, in February, she returned to work as the financial secretary/office manager at Nichols-Bethel UMC in Odenton, MD. While it has been rewarding for her to be back at work outside the home, it has been a real adjustment. She is also serving as vice regent for the Anne Arundel Chapter, NSDAR in Crownsville, MD. She and her husband are actively working to preserve the c. 1753 historic farmhouse/tavern that they own. She says it has been an eye-opening experience learning about everything involved in historic preservation! Marissa Deener, M.S.’05 married Major Scott Brocious on June 4, 2016, at which point she became an instant mom to his three sons: Isaac, Noah and Luke. Marissa is beginning year 18 of teaching for Washington County Public Schools, MD. Jessica Palazzi lives with partner Tony and their two children in North Bethesda, MD. Son Henry turned 6 around thanksgiving, and daughter Molly turned 3 in the fall. Both are happy (but sometimes naughty!) kids that keep them on their toes! Jessica is still employed by Booz Allen Hamilton where she is now an intelligence analyst. This will be Jessica’s 18th year with the firm. She and her family love to travel and most recently have been spending long summers in Taiwan and Japan where the children get the chance to spend time with their paternal grandparents, who live in Taipei. Heather Howell married Timothy Wescott on Aug. 13, 2016, in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Parrott, VA. Angela Foshee ’00 was maid of honor. Heather and Tim currently reside in Seattle, WA, with beloved dog Stitch. Congratulations, Heather! Congratulations are also in order to Kelly Poltrok-Germain who had her first son, Noah Ryan, on July 22, 2014, and recently had her second son, Owen Kelly, on Nov. 22, 2016. She and husband Ryan live in Dumont, NJ, outside on NYC. Megan Reehee will be Owen’s godmother when he is christened in 2017. In spring 2015, Marissa Vigneault accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor of art history at Utah State University. She is now living with husband Bill and daughter Harper in lovely Logan, UT, surrounded by amazing national parks and the best winter skiing! Sounds like she’s living in prime vacationland! Helen Libby enjoyed being back on campus this past summer, and has been busy publishing a book chapter in “Injury Models of the Central Nervous System.” She guided a blind triathlete at the World Championship, Australia, and the Japan International Triathlon Union races and at U.S. Olympic Paratriathlon Development Camp. She is also scheduled to guide a blind runner at a Houston marathon in January 2017. Whew! As for me—husband Chris and I were married in 2014, live in Lancaster County, PA, have 3 kids (Zachary Ruslan, 9, Rachel Sunshine, 7, and Andrew Malachi, 11 months), and stay busy with running the older two to sports practices and games, music and dance lessons, cuddling with the younger one, as well as with church activities and with my work as a parish administrator. If you didn’t receive an email from me for this magazine asking for your news, please email or text me so I can get your updated contact info; I look forward to receiving your latest updates to include in the next magazine!

1996

Jewel K. Smith
703-969-0050
jewelsmith@hotmail.com

It is with great sadness that I report that two of our classmates passed since my last report. Abigail Acland passed away Nov. 9, 2016. Her memorial service was Dec.10 in Kennet Square, PA. The family requests that in lieu of flowers (Abby hated cut flowers, they always made her sad), donations be made to the Washington Area Clinic Defense Task Force or Doctors Without Borders. In addition, Jennifer Przychodzen passed away Dec. 6. Funeral services were held in Washington Boro, PA, on Dec. 10, 2016. In paraphrasing Winnie the Pooh—how lucky we were to have had their friendship, we had something that makes saying goodbye so hard. Tracy Wiser continues to be “bivocational,” working full time and as the part-time pastor at Monocacy Church of the Brethren in Rocky Ridge, MD. Tracy and her family still live near Hood! Jennifer Wolfe Pupa is excited that she has turned her research passion into real-life work, and she has gotten involved with Young Living Essential Oils. Jen has been spending a fair amount of time over the past two years studying how essential oils have a positive effect on the body and can be used to help balance health and maintain wellness. On her list of things to do is take classes toward an aromatherapy certification, but that is a project for when the kids are just a little bit older. We wish Jen the best of luck on her new endeavor! It has been a busy fall! I recently had lunch with Jacki Resop Amato ’95 and her daughter and future Hood alumna, Julianna. I met some newer Hood alums at the Hood alumni reception at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, on Dec. 10. I started a new job in December as well. I am the new director of operations at the Generic Pharmaceutical Association. I am excited to start another adventure— life seems to be full of those lately!

1995
Jacki Resop Amato
jresop@yahoo.com 

Hello, Hoodlums! I hope everyone had a healthy and safe 2016! Nothing can keep Jennifer Barbieri ’98 from getting married. Her original wedding date was Oct. 5, 2016, on the Carnival Victory, but Hurricane Matthew had other ideas. After Port Canaveral was shut down and everyone had to evacuate inland to Orlando, it finally came together on Oct. 8, 2016. She married Shawn Casey! Congratulations to the lucky couple! Finally, I got to see my Memorial girl, Jewel Smith ’96, after her return home from CA. We had a great lunch and visit, as always. Please feel free to email me anything throughout the year with updates!

1994

Sanya Cleary Wolstenholme
215-338-8627
lilmackvic@comcast.net

Hello, Class of 1994! Unfortunately, I do not have any new updates from Hood alums. I have heard about a lot of wonderful events happening in your lives, but unless you give me the okay, I cannot report it. Please reach out with a quick email. I would love to hear from you! As for my own family, a lot of memories were made when we traveled to Hawaii this past summer. It was nice to be together as Mackenzie begins her senior year and Tori her freshman year in high school. I am so happy they will have this year together. Rich and I are also a bit nostalgic…Mackenzie began applying to colleges—she has been accepted to all that she applied, now comes decision time. Hard to believe that we were all in her boat 23 years ago. I can only hope she will make lifelong friends and memories as I did at Hood. I hope to hear from you soon! Enjoy the season and stay warm!

1987

Marcie Kendall Gibboney

801-583-2434
mkgibboney@gmail.com

Greetings to the Class of 1987! Apologies that it has been a while since our last column. Work and two teenagers are a bit of a challenge! At this point I hope everyone has received information for our upcoming30th reunion in June. I know everyone always says this, but it is ridiculous to think it has been 30 years. Seriously? I only received a few updates, so I’m open to ideas for the best way to collect news. In addition, if anyone else would like to take on the job as class reporter for the next 30 years, I’m open to that as well and please send me an email and let me know if you are interested. Molly Reeder Chamberlain wrote that her family recently relocated from Washington, DC, to Newport, RI. Her husband, Doug, recently accepted a position as a professor at the Naval War College in Jamestown, RI. Her family, including her twin boys, age 9, are happy to be in New England and look forward to skiing this winter. Pamela Barres Fusco gave updates on her awesome kids: “My oldest son, Rob, 24, will be getting married next July in Newport, RI. He is quite a catch! He graduated from UCA San Diego with a chemical engineering degree three years ago. He is now pursuing a master’s in chemical engineering at UMass. Her daughter, Molly, 22, worked on the Marco Rubio campaign last year. She is now a project manager in Manchester, NH. She graduated from American University in DC in only three years! My youngest daughter, Emily, 21, is completing her senior year at UNH. She traveled to London last year and successfully completed a semester. She came home in May. She returned in July and was enrolled in an English literature course at Cambridge. She plans on studying at Cambridge for her master’s degree. My youngest child, Sam, is now in fifth grade and loves to help other kids in his class if they have problems, especially math problems.” On Nov. 3, Pamela had a total hip replacement. It was great to hear from Kathleen King Kinsey who provided her first update ever! She married her college sweetheart, had three daughters and moved all over the US and lived in Europe twice, played on a CA lacrosse team, raced triathlons and bike raced in Sicily, Italy. They settled in the Sacramento region after returning from Europe in 2011. Along the way she worked sales and business, left her career to raise three girls (3.5 years span for all of them) and stayed involved in community events in the places they lived. The marriage dissolved after almost 30 years, and the girls, now 15, 16 and 18, all live with her full time. Her oldest, Greta, is in the middle of a gap year between high school and college and is working with AmeriCorps City Year to mentor and tutor middle school students in a high-need school in Sacramento. Her middle daughter, Hallie is a junior in high school. She attended US Swimming’s Olympic Team Trials meet in Omaha in June 2016 for four races and is looking at colleges and universities all over the country. Her youngest, Annika, is also a swimmer and recently started playing lacrosse. Kathleen turned her passion for sports into a nonprofit youth swim team called the Folsom Wahoos Swim Team and she still swims, cycles and exercises daily. Please look her up if you find yourself out west kathleen.king.kinsey@gmail.com. Thanks to everyone for sending updates. If you have any news, please feel free to email me anytime at mkgibboney@gmail.com.