2000
Suzanne Benson
suzanne.isabella@gmail.com
15th reunion, June 5-7, 2015

More babies, new houses and jobs for the class of 2000! Lynn Whelchel-Wilson, M.S. ’07, her husband and baby bought their first home in Lititz, Pa., in April 2014. Lynn is proud to announce her new full-time job as a stay-at-home-mommy to Farrah Ripley. Lea Meyer and her husband Scott welcomed a baby boy, Asher Camden Horwath, on Dec. 26, 2013. Kayden Horwath, 2, is so excited to be a big sister. Jennifer Lidie Babu is still at Verizon and was promoted to manager last September. She is also active in her boy’s activities and volunteers for Pack 39 and Purcellville Baptist Church. Erica Crispens Sowash is working as a registered nurse at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She works on the bone marrow transplant unit and finds assisting in the care and treatment of this patient population to be both challenging and rewarding. Katie Ellison ’01 bought her very first home in the Beaverdale area of Des Moines, Iowa, this past November. She was remarried on April 26 to Rob Johnson and they are expecting their first born son on September 18. She still works at the Veteran Affairs hospital as the only low-vision therapist in the state and was just accepted into the Regents Alternative Pathway to Iowa Licensure teaching program! As for me, Suzanne Benson, I recently left my finance role at The Johns Hopkins University for a position (working from home!) as director of marketing and business development for 858 Flooring, LLC (www.858flooring.com). I also blog about family-friendly news and events in the Baltimore/Maryland/Virginia/DC/Pennsylvania area on my “Baltimore Mom” blog (www.baltimoremomblog.com). I still live with my partner/one-day-hubby and three daughters (9, 4 and 1½ years old) in our Parkville home, just north of Baltimore and continue to keep in touch with other fellow Hoodlums, collecting news for the Hood magazine and networking on social media. See you next issue!

Wow, a lot of great news to share this issue! First off, Lynn Maria Wilson and husband Justin Wilson, M.D., welcomed their first child baby girl Farrah Ripley Wilson on November 5, 2013. Congratulations! Stephanie Schmidt Hook and husband Benjamin moved over Labor Day weekend. They are back in Ben’s hometown of Cazenovia, N.Y. They fill their new country home with their four dogs; and spend their weekends with Ben’s 9-year-old daughter Natalie and a close group of friends, some new and some old. They are enjoying the change in lifestyle and the gorgeous drive home past the windmills! Stephanie has now been in practice in Syracuse for over five years as a doctor with Podiatry Services of CNY. Their new mailing address is 4147 Nelson Road, Cazenovia NY 13035. Katherine (Katie) Janke Swann and husband Rob welcomed their fourth baby girl, Izidora Matilda on October 8, 2013; Izidora joins sisters Alexis (8), Madison (5) and Gabriella (3). The family currently lives in Elkton, Md. (just south of Delaware). Katie returned to school in September to earn her master’s degree in Elementary Education. Katie is a stay-at-home mom who occasionally works as a substitute teacher for Cecil County Public Schools. Christina Collett and hubs Jeff Owens are enjoying the good life in Lititz, Pa., voted America’s Coolest Small Town 2013 by Budget Travel! Christina loves being a work-from-home mom and sr. sales director with Mary Kay; Jeff is purchasing manager for Pennsylvania’s first Carmax in Lancaster. Their two daughters Emerson Lila (4) and Lakyn Elizabeth (18 months) keep life exciting, wonderful and messy! Christina said, “A huge thank you to Dr. Boyle, the psychology department and to all my professors in the public relations department! It amazes me every day how my two favorite fields and all of the skills I learned in each meld to perfection in my career in sales and business/life coaching with Mary Kay! It is great how life works out when you are living your dream job! Thanks Hood College and my Hood Girls who made it magical and oh so memorable!” Jenifer Kilpatrick Sincevich M.A. ’03 recently launched her own birth-related business, Mandala Momma (www.facebook.com/MandalaMomma). She became a certified Dancing For Birth™ instructor earlier this year and enjoys teaching Dancing For Birth classes and private sessions in Hagerstown and Frederick. In addition, Jen is a doula-in-training through Birth Arts International and recently attended her first birth! Jen said, “Having kids changed my life in ways I would never imagined. It is a joy and an honor to witness other women on their motherhood journey.” Jen lives in Hagerstown with husband Alex, son Xander and daughter Triana. She had a surreal moment this Halloween when she was on the other side of the annual “Safe Harvest” event, trick-or-treating through the residence halls with two children in tow! Shervon A. Pierre worked at the National Cancer Institutes of Health after leaving Hood. She then went to medical school at Howard Univ. in Washington, D.C. and received her Doctorate of Medicine in 2009. Shervon completed her family medicine residency at Southern Regional Area Health Education Center (SR-AHEC) in Fayetteville, N.C., in 2012 and is currently working at Gaston Family in Gastonia, N.C. “So I am no longer just “Chi Chi,” I am Dr. Chi Chi. LOL! It has been a long hard road but I made it! Glory be to God!” she said. Congratulations, Shervon! Congratulations are also in order for Heather McCarthy who is thrilled to report she is engaged to Dr. Benjamin Joplin. A summer 2015 wedding is being planned. Sarah Parsons ’01 will be her maid-of-honor. Suzanne Benson and Grant Rowan welcomed baby girl Maya Sophie on Dec. 28, 2012; Maya joins sisters Bella (8) and Mckenna (3). The family still lives in Parkville, Md. (just north of Baltimore). Suzanne also recently launched her own business, Suzanne Isabella Marketing (www.suzanneisabella.com), which specializes in social media management/promotion for bloggers and small businesses. When first getting Suzanne Isabella off the ground, she went right to her college classmates (obviously a very entrepreneurial bunch!). Two of her very first clients were Kat Onrubia O’Toole (whose photography business KCO Photography can be found at www.kcophotosite.com) and Lara Wilson Girdler (whose two blogs can be found at www.ncreadergirl.wordpress.com and www.financiallessonslearned.wordpress.com)! “If you had told me back when Lara and I were sitting in accounting class together or when Kat and I were on the Hood Soccer team together, that we would all be businesswomen today, I would have never believed it!” said Suzanne. Suzanne also keeps in touch with other fellow Hoodlums and enjoys collecting news for the Hood magazine.

Christina Collett relocated to Lancaster, Pa., in February 2012. Shortly thereafter, she and husband Jeff Owens welcomed their second daughter Lakyn Elizabeth on April 17, 2012; big sister Emerson will turn 4 in January. Christina was promoted to senior sales director with Mary Kay this past June and is driving her third free car from the company, a new 2012 Chevy Equinox! Christina will celebrate her 10th year with Mary Kay in May 2013; she and Jeff, who married at Hood’s Coffman Chapel, will celebrate their 10-year wedding anniversary, May 25, 2013!

Vanessa Voundy Hawkins lives in SW Washington, D.C. (right around the corner from twin Venette Voundy). She has spent three years working in Montgomery County Public Schools, where she feels life is a little better as a teacher. She has a beautiful, busy 7-year-old daughter who takes up all of her time and energy! Lynn Whelchel-Wilson, M.S. ’07 and husband are all settled after their cross-country summer move from southern California to Lancaster, Pa. She is still working from home as a technology transfer associate for Fort Detrick’s USAMRIID. Lynn “misses California shopping, but is very happy to be near her family again.” Tracey K. Adams still lives in Catonsville, Md., and is about to celebrate 10 years of working at The Johns Hopkins Univ. She started nursing school in the fall of 2012 at the Community College of Baltimore County’s Essex campus and is looking forward to becoming a practicing nurse. She can be reached at traceykiddy@gmail.com.

Jenifer Kilpatrick Sincevich, husband Alex and son Xander are thrilled to announce the addition of baby girl Triana Antoinette, born at home on July 2, 2012. The family moved to Hagerstown, Md., one year ago, and is happily settling in; Jen also enjoys being on the board for Hagerstown Regional Childbirth Resources. Jennifer Babu is coming up on her 10th anniversary at Verizon in February 2013 and remains in Purcellville, Va. She is busy keeping up with her two sons, Aaron and Nicholas, and has been married to husband Vino for 10 years. She enjoys staying connected to fellow alums online and also holiday get-togethers.

Erica Crispens Sowash has completed her third semester of nursing school at the Community College of Baltimore County’s Catonsville campus. She anticipates completing the program in May 2013 and sitting for her boards sometime during the summer. In addition, she and husband Eli celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in October with a trip to New Orleans. Nellie Daugherty still lives in San Diego and works as a contracting officer for the U.S. Navy; two of her sons now live in that area as well. She has two grandsons, ages 5 and 2, who live in Maryland. She occasionally gets together with Heather Roth. Aimee L. Kaplan is an associate at Collard & Roe, P.C. in Roslyn, N.Y., where she focuses on trademark prosecution. She is also an adjunct instructor at St. John’s University College of Law, a member of the bulletin committee for the International Trademark Association and serves on the board of directors for the Nassau County Bar Association. She was recently named a New York Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2012. Aimee married Justin Wright in August 2011.

Kelly Brooks is enjoying the autonomy and flexibility of working from home in Frederick as a freelance writer and editor; she is the editor of Johns Hopkins Nursing magazine and contributes to other national and local publications, including Frederick Gorilla magazine. Cheron Jones lives in a newly designated historic neighborhood of Baltimore City, where she has resided for four years. After completing her master of business administration degree from UMUC in June 2011, Cheron joined the board of MATHS Middle/High Charter School and also promotes STEM through the Univ. of Maryland President’s Outreach Council; she even started writing a business plan for a nonprofit organization of her own. Cheron is excited that her son Dorian Hale will be entering into Gilman’s middle school this fall; she also welcomed her first niece into the world on Sept. 17, 2012. Overall, Cheron is excited about the possibilities for 2013!

Sarah Gulnac Wirth and family just bought a single-family home in Frederick. Her daughter started kindergarten this past fall and her son is now 2½ years old (“Do not forget the half,” he said). She stays in contact with many Hoodlums via Facebook. She and her family met up with Lisa Brown ’01 (who currently lives in Ireland) for the annual kite flying festival in D.C. this past spring. On Dec. 17, Sarah planned to be busy baking cookies along with Rachael Mock Phillips ’01 and Katrina Fauss ’01 for their 2nd annual Christmas cookie bake-off. Suzanne Benson recently bought a house in Parkville, Md., (just north of Baltimore) and is still working as a financial analyst with The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Her daughter is currently in second grade––at the same school where Nora Bucke’s son goes and on the same block as where Cheron Jones’ son goes to school. She keeps in touch with a lot of fellow Hoodlums and enjoys collecting news for the Hood magazine.

Adriane Eader Shell and husband Nick just celebrated the first birthday of twin daughters Raegan and Kendal and third birthday of son Coledon in late September. It was a very full, but fun year. Professionally, Dr. Shell was promoted to managing partner at Crossroads Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) and founded Maryland Necropsy Service, both in Frederick. Check out www.carefrederick.com and www.mdnecropsyservice.com. Do not hesitate to contact her anytime at ashell@carefrederick.com or (240) 405-8252 with questions or concerns about your fur children! Shaunquetta Johnson is in her second year of teaching after having received her master of science degree in elementary education and certification from the Univ. of New Haven in 2011. Her daughter is in her first year of high school and is a varsity cheerleader. Shaunquetta still resides in Connecticut.

Class Reporter: