Alumni Portraits & Profiles - Vol 2

A L U M N I P O R T R A I T S & P R O F I L E S

V O L U M E

2

A L U M N I P O R T R A I T S & P R O F I L E S V O L U M E 2

At All Saints Academy, we are proud of the many ways our independent thinkers, principled leaders, and humble learners are positively transforming the world. Please enjoy these stories and photos shared by ASA graduates.

T A B L E

O F

Shalini Allam, ‘09 Nick Barnett, ‘10 Luke Brocco, ‘06 Marianne Boggs-Hoggard, ‘01 Kyle Cummings, ‘06 Katherine Fitzwater, ‘08 Erika Fox, ‘12 Jake Griner, ‘15 Andrea Henricks, ‘09

C O N T E N T S Justin Hollis, ‘99 Mark Kaylor, ‘08 Zac Kluytenaar, ‘99 Emily Kormann, ‘12 Elizabeth Lyle, ‘03 Ian Martorana, ‘07 Will Pou, ‘00 Jonathan Salm, ‘09

Shalini Allam ‘09

Shalini attended All Saints Academy from elementary to high school and graduated in 2009. After graduating, she attended Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, where she majored in Chemistry and was heavily involved with community outreach. During her time in Winter Park, she participated in a number of Alternative Spring Breaks where she traveled with a team of students to various cities across the country to do community service. After college, she moved to Philadelphia and worked as a Patient Advocate with AmeriCorp’s Philadelphia Health Corps.

Shalini enjoys helping people, especially the needy, which is why she spent her time in Philadelphia helping uninsured patients in medically underserved communities get free medications. She had great joy seeing the faces of the helpless lit up in happiness when they received their needed medications. She then went to medical school at the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine from 2014-2018. She is currently working at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC as an Internal Medicine Resident Physician. Every day she wakes up from her bed and goes out to save the lives of as many people as possible. This is a modern hero that hardly gets enough credit.

“One very important thing in a building is the foundation,” says Shalini. “When a building is erected on a solid foundation, there is every certainty the rest of the building will stand the test of time and weather. Meanwhile, if a building is erected on a weak foundation, the whole building crumbles to the ground within a short period.

This can be used as an analogy to education: if a student attends a great high school, the educational foundation of that student will be very good, and it will help that student in the higher institution to pursue any dream they choose to pursue, unlike a student with a poor educational background.” According to Shalini, All Saints Academy was an excellent foundation for her and all other students who are privileged to attend All Saints Academy.

Even though it has been almost ten years since she attended All Saints Academy, she still keeps in touch with several of her friends who she met in school, especially in Mrs. King’s math class, Mr. Thompson’s Chemistry class, Mrs. Doty’s 3rd-grade class, and Yearbook.

Nick Barnett ‘10 Through his upbringing, Nick Barnett has always had

Since returning to Lakeland, Nick has worked for Publix

an appreciation for how local business and development

Super Markets Charities on a number of special projects,

have the potential to positively impact the local

including the Jenkins Scholars program, which supports

community. He also lives by the credo that one should

high-achieving students who have overcome adversity

strive to be a lifelong learner––regardless of whether

on the path to serving others. Nick is also working with

that learning focuses on urban development, innovations

Lakeland’s former Parks and Recreation Director, fellow

in education, community partnerships, forecasting the

community leaders, and world-renowned architecture

business models of tomorrow, writing biographies, or

firm Sasaki on the Bonnet Springs initiative, which will

curating the messages found in obscure world literature.

convert a former industrial site in north Lakeland into a new urban park for the city. Having seen firsthand the

After graduating from All Saints Academy in 2010,

value of the kinds of creative problem-solving scenarios

Nick moved to Atlanta and attended Emory University,

posed in NuVu’s studios, Nick has involved current All

obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in English, with a

Saints students’ projects in the idea and planning phase

minor in Philosophy. Nick married his wife, Ashley, in

of Bonnet Springs.

December of 2015, and began working on his Master’s in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire

Nick continues work on a variety of writing projects,

University, which he completed in 2016. Nick and Ashley

and will soon undertake the responsibility of composing

returned to Lakeland in 2017, and Nick enrolled in

a biography about George Jenkins, and the foundation

Florida Southern College’s School of Business and Free

of Publix Supermarkets.

Enterprise, through which he completed his Master’s in Business Administration in the summer of 2018. Through continued education, all while staying involved in the local community, Nick and Ashley have made pursuit of knowledge for the purpose of giving back to Polk County a priority.

Luke Brocco ‘06 Luke Brocco is a graduate of All Saints Academy Class of 2006. After graduating from high school, he attended Clemson University for undergraduate studies where he obtained a degree in Construction Management. Working in the field of construction management for six years took him across nine different states where he worked on large industrial projects. Luke has always had a passion for making a difference in his field of work, and he dedicated himself to helping young people along their journey in life.

In 2016, Luke decided to walk a different path, away from construction work. He spent a year in Polk County where he worked at Lake Wales Care Center as the Facilities Manager.

In 2017, he enrolled in Florida State University, to pursue a Master’s Degree in social work. Luke is currently a Fellow with the Florida State University College of Social Work Interprofessional Fellows Program; a dynamic society devoted to offering inter-professional educational opportunities to a select group of MSW students. The organization is interested in promoting the social work profession through interaction and collaboration with other professional communities.

While pursuing his Master’s degree, Luke has involved himself in activities that will improve his skill and add to his experience in the field of social work. He started working as an assistant in an elementary school, teaching. By the summer of 2018, he was a case management intern with the Big Bend Homeless Coalition where he assisted homeless veterans. His goal is to work as a school social worker when he completes his Master’s degree.

Luke joined All Saints in the 4th grade, and the experiences he had while in All Saints shaped him to be the man he is today. Luke enjoyed independence as a student, and the freedom to decide how he spends his time taught him a valuable lesson. He feels it was a great benefit for students to be able to choose for themselves.

The learning environment at All Saints left an indelible mark on Luke. He enjoyed the care and attention he received while at All Saints, where he felt welcomed and wanted. This is a feeling Luke wishes to pass along to his students, one of the reasons he chose to work as a school social worker.

Marianne Boggs-Hoggard ‘01 Upon graduating from All Saints Academy in 2001, Marianne Boggs-Hoggard attended Florida Southern College, in Lakeland, Florida. She started college pursuing a degree in Business Administration. After a year, however, she decided to switch to a major that interested her more, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology with a minor in Sociology. While in college, Marianne spent her spare time working part-time with her family business, Metal Mart Systems, Inc., a manufacturer/distributor of commercial HVAC ductwork.

After college, Marianne became an active member of the Junior League of Greater Lakeland and served numerous years on the Reading is Fundamental committee. The excitement she gets from the kids when she purchases, packs, delivers or passes out thousands of books to students in several of Lakeland’s Title 1 elementary schools was rewarding for her. According to her, “I can’t put into words how much I loved passing out the books. The kids were always so excited that the ‘Book Ladies’ were at school that day!”

Marianne has always been a hardworking and creative person, and she puts all her effort into everything she does. This could be seen when Marianne’s father, H.T. Boggs, retired in 2012, and she took over operations at Metal Mart Systems.

The machinery that was used by the company when she took over was the original machinery her father brought down from West Virginia when they moved to Florida in the late 1980s. Under Marianne, however, Metal Mart added spiral HVAC ductwork, improved integrated systems, modernized equipment and upgraded the company’s fleet. Marianne was

also able to make some creative changes that will enhance the productivity of the company. While Florida is Metal Mart Systems’ main area of sales, they also provide services in the Bahamas, Oklahoma, the Carolinas and many places in between.

Marianne had a wonderful experience at All Saints Academy, and does everything in her power to involve herself with improving the school. She devotes most of her volunteer hours to All Saints Academy and all three of her children attend the school. She was a New Parent Ambassador last year, and is currently serving her second year with Halo Fund. Marianne lives with her husband, Joseph, and their three kids in Bartow.

Kyle Cummings ‘06 After attending All Saints from 6th-12th grade and graduating in 2006, Kyle went on to attend the University of Florida. During his time in college, he studied Building Construction in the School of Design, Construction & Planning, while also becoming an active member in the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. The University of Florida was a big place, especially compared the to the 52 person graduating class of 06, but Kyle wouldn’t have had it any other way. The All Saints community was one he could always rely on as he found himself getting accustomed to life of Saturdays in the Swamp with 90,000 people & freshman classes of 3,000.

With multiple construction management summer internships behind him, Kyle decided to choose a different career path after college graduation - one that took him to New York City in 2010. Kyle’s career kicked off in the digital advertising industry, working for a number of start-up companies in different sales and partnerships roles. Four years into his career in New York, he joined Facebook, where he currently works. His tenure at Facebook has included a number of different roles spanning from sales and marketing to product and operations. He currently oversees the global product operations for all new products across Instagram, WhatsApp & Messenger. After four years at Facebook Kyle still realizes how fortunate he is to work there.

Living in New York and working for a global organization like Facebook has enabled Kyle to see different parts of the world while meeting and working with people who come from many different walks of life. While in New York, Kyle met his wife, Chiara, from Australia, by way of a lifelong All Saints friend, Merris Badcock. Kyle and Chiara married

in Sydney, Australia with many All Saints classmates in attendance, and they’ve since moved to Brooklyn with their toy poodle, Elvis, where Chiara progresses in her own career as a lawyer and corporate counsel for WPP, the largest advertising conglomerate in the world.

Kyle’s home may be New York, but there will always be a part of All Saints that guides Kyle throughout his life.

Attending UF, then moving New York and working for Facebook from such a seemingly small community like All Saints and Polk County has taught him that, “you’re never defined by where you were born, what you studied, your first job or the honest mistakes you make along the way.” According to Kyle, “you’re defined most by the relationships you build and the way you make people feel. If you can dream it - you can almost always do it with the help of those closest to you.’

Katherine Fitzwater ‘08

Katherine Fitzwater credits All Saints Academy with giving

Katherine also feels that the foundation of math, English

her a foundation for college and a career in marketing. The

and communications skills she received at ASA have

teachers and faculty helped instill in her a strong work ethic

taken her far. Feeling comfortable speaking in front of

and drive to succeed at a young age. She and her classmates

others and speaking up when she believes she knows the

were held to a high standard, to which she continues to

answer to a question are all skills she began learning as a

believe all work should be held.

student at ASA. This confidence has served her and the Lakeland Community well. Katherine is a board member

After graduating from ASA in 2008, Katherine attended the

with the Junior League of Greater Lakeland, serving as

University of Florida, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s

Communications Vice President, Chair of the United Way

degree in Advertising with a concentration in Business in

of Central Florida Young Leaders Society, and a graduate

2012. She then returned to her hometown of Lakeland, where

of Leadership Lakeland Class 34.

she started with the Curious Jane Advertising Agency. She has been there for five years, and is now a Senior Account

Katherine is grateful that she has been able to maintain

Executive, working with franchises nationwide and leading

many relationships with faculty, teachers, peers and

corporate marketing campaigns.

parents she met while attending ASA, and believes she would not be where she is today if it wasn’t for ASA.

“The education I received at ASA and the relationships I was

According to Katherine, “the principles ASA instills in its

able to build while I was there have helped me tremendously

students, the freedom to make your own decisions in a

over the past ten years,” says Katherine. “Not only was I

safe environment and the opportunities to try new things

extremely prepared for my college courses at the University of

that are provided to the students is huge in helping shape

Florida, but I was also prepared to live and work in a diverse

where you will go in the future.”

world. I was prepared to go into a world where I can work alongside individuals from all cultures, religions and beliefs and feel comfortable.”

Erika Fox ‘12 Erika Fox graduated from All Saints Academy in 2012. After graduating, she decided to polish her talents in the University of Central Florida where she graduated after four years with a Bachelor degree in Radio-Television. During her time at UCF she did a total of 5 internships in hopes that it would help her stand out in a world full of equally eager students who wanted to break into a pretty competitive field – the professional sports industry. For those who knew her during her years at All Saints Academy, the degree she pursued was not a surprise, nor was her career path in sports media.

Getting a job in sports media is not usually easy, and people will often dissuade people from going into such a career.

However, Erika was undeterred and ignored the naysayers.

Her efforts paid off when she got her first internship in the sports world as a video intern for Orlando City, the Major League Soccer team. She enjoyed her internship period, but afterwards it wasn’t easy to get an actual job. She knew it would take time to make a break into the world of sports media, and she was willing to wait for her time. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait for long and got a job with her favorite childhood team, the Dallas Cowboys, having competed with over 3,000 other applicants.

The time she spent with the Dallas Cowboys was one of the best times of her life. She was able to develop herself and also collaborated with popular legends of the game. The experience she had with the Cowboys helped her to prepare for the work she is currently doing, which is the Social Media Manager at FOX Sports Southwest, a role that is a dream come true for her. Instead of only covering the NFL, she also

gets to cover the MLB, NHL, NBA, college sports, and more.

She has been able to work with many professional athletes and has enjoyed getting to know them as people instead of untouchable gods.

Erika never imagined she would reach this stage of her career in such a short period of time. She gives credit to All Saints Academy for helping her achieve her goals. She had many mentors who pushed her to go for her dreams and encouraged her all throughout her process.

Jake Griner ‘15 Jake Griner is currently a senior undergraduate student at

During the fall 2016 semester, Jack began his

Florida Southern College, majoring in Biochemistry and

involvement in the Association of Honors Students,

Molecular Biology. His interest in science started in his

the student organization within the Honors Program.

early life with the help of his grandfather, who was a retired

Through this group, he identified a lack of thesis funding

chemist. However, the interest increased in high school, where

for student research, and decided to do something about

he started a Chemistry Club at All Saints Academy. During

it. Jack investigated the situation, surveyed students,

his senior year, Jake applied to two schools: Johns Hopkins

and presented a proposal to the college president which

University and Florida Southern College, but he was not

received a positive response.

accepted to Johns Hopkins. This rejection was initially a great disappointment to Jake, who enrolled at Florida Southern.

Jake is currently working on his Honors Senior Thesis

After some time, he got over the frustration of not getting

Project, a yearlong research endeavor, with his thesis

into Johns Hopkins, and now sees going to Florida Southern

advisor Dr. Brittany Gasper. The goal of the project is to

as a blessing, especially because it gave him the opportunity to

see if HDAC inhibition in chordoma is a viable strategy

spend time with his family after the death of his father.

to sensitize tumors to radiation therapy. Outside of his research, he is still involved in the world of science. He

Jake lost his father when he was an 18 year old freshman at

is particularly excited about an upcoming event he is

Florida Southern College. It was a challenging experience, but

planning about Organ Donation. This event will feature

gave Jake a renewed passion for science. Being driven to learn

multiple speakers, including a transplant recipient and

more about chordoma, the cancer that claimed his father, he

a researcher studying corneal transplants. Outside

reached out to Josh Sommer, the Executive Director of the

of science, he is a fan of modern art and has been

Chordoma Foundation, who connected him with a group at

practicing meditation for the last six months.

the National Cancer Institute. With support from his college faculty, he applied to join the lab as a summer intern and was accepted. He spent the entire summer break –– 14 weeks — working in the lab.

Andrea Henricks ‘09 After graduating from All Saints, Andrea Henricks attended

Andrea was admitted and

Harvard where she studied Molecular and Cellular Biology.

started medical school at

She felt lucky to be prepared with the strong academic

Northwestern University in

background All Saints Academy provided. At Harvard,

Chicago, and is currently

Andrea was on the crew team, volunteered at the Children’s

in her final year. Living and

Hospital and was a science and math mentor for elementary

studying in Chicago has

and middle school students. She spent the summers

been a whirlwind learning and growing experience.

doing research at Harvard and at Oxford. She also had

She is excited to be applying for residency in

the opportunity to volunteer at a non-profit healthcare

Obstetrics and Gynecology this fall.

organization in Santiago, Chile.

Andrea has enjoyed a number of experiences since After Harvard, Andrea received a Fulbright Scholarship to

graduating from high school, and she appreciates

teach English in Thailand. She was teaching in a combined

that All Saints Academy helped develop her self-

middle and high school in a small town in Northeast

confidence and motivation to pursue all these various

Thailand and was responsible for educating 800 students

experiences. Since leaving All Saints, she has stayed in

in the school. The year in Thailand was amazing as she

touch with friends from high school, and she is always

not only taught students the English language, but also

excited to visit them in their new cities or see them

learned from her students and colleagues. She also used

when they’re all home for holidays. Her siblings also

the opportunity to travel extensively and connect with her

attended All Saints Academy, and her mother remains

grandpa’s family in Northern Thailand. After her Fulbright

involved with All Saints Academy, so she gets to learn

program in Thailand, she followed her boyfriend to London,

about all the exciting things happening in Winter

where she spent a year working for a healthcare startup,

Haven while she is away.

tutoring, babysitting and mostly making the best use of her free time to travel and relax before starting medical school.

Justin Hollis ‘99 Justin Hollis’ journey at All Saints started out with a “grownup” decision at the ripe old age of 15. He was at Santa Fe Catholic in Lakeland when his parents approached him about going to All Saints. His siblings were attending All Saints, but because he was about to enter his sophomore year and had many friends at Santa Fe, they gave him a choice. Having been troubled with a lot of learning disabilities, he was excited to discover that All Saints goes the extra mile to provide students with the best learning process. All Saints is a place where you can get involved in as many things as you want.

After graduating from All Saints, Justin attended Stetson University with two of his classmates: Zac Kluytenaar and Blair Peterson. The years he spent in All Saints proved to be very helpful as he was able to use those experiences in real life situations to improve himself. He started working at Computer Renaissance where he handled new store openings, franchise sales, and operations. After a while, he decided to open his own franchise in Winter Haven. A couple of years later, he sold it to someone within the company.

While in college, Justin interned in DC with Adam Putnam, a young Congressman from Polk County, and enjoyed the period immensely. After a successful campaign, he and his wife Rachel moved to Tallahassee for a few years. There he became the Deputy Director of Legislative affairs handling policy initiatives, legislative & regulatory issues, and drafting important legislation for the Department of Agriculture.

As his family started to grow, he decided to move closer to his family. Fortunately, he was asked to run Commissioner

Putnam’s re-election campaign, an event he remembers to be to be one of the best experiences of his life.

The relationships Justin formed at All Saints Academy with friends, teachers, and staff who were mentors to him, made him overcome all the challenges high school brings. These were the most important parts of ASA for Justin. Now, as he drops his son Mercer off for Kindergarten at ASA, the beautiful memories and friendships he made come flooding back. From the creation of the senior lounge to flipping a friend’s truck in the retention pond where the lower school stands today- he has many great memories on campus.

Mark Kaylor ‘08 After graduating from All Saints Academy, Mark was

on their Facebook page and YouTube channel. During

fortunate to receive a scholarship to study classical guitar

his time in France, Mark was a musician in residence at

at Florida State University. He spent six years learning from

the Fondation des Etats-Unis. He had the privilege of

Bruce Holzman, a world re-renowned pedagogue. Mark

collaborating with musicians from all over the world. He

has always known about the excellent reputation of the

also took advantage of the active cultural program at

music school at FSU, but had no idea of how influential his

the Fondation des Etats-Unis and performed regularly

professor was in the classical guitar world. Mark built a strong

for a public audience.

relationship with his professor and they still often meet on a weekly basis to talk about music, coffee, and other seemingly

Mark has always maintained a private guitar studio

trivial things that Mark finds incredibly inspirational.

both in person and via Skype. He has recently created a mailing list where he gives a few free Skype lessons a

Upon completing his Master’s degree, Mark decided to chase

month. Connecting with people from all over the world

another dream and move to France. Initially, he planned to

has been extremely rewarding for him, and he is very

be in France for a few months to study French, but, luckily for

interested in the future of online learning. He is currently

him, got a job teaching English and decided to stay. While in

developing a website where he can host classical guitar

France, Mark participated in a variety of activities, including

video courses and teach as many people as possible.

taking accordion lessons and river rafting in the Pyrénées.

Helping people is one of the core values he learned as a

Last year, he was honored with the Paris Guitar Foundation’s

student in All Saints Academy.

Young Artist Scholarship. This opened the door to more exciting opportunities, including performing concerts,

The best way to keep in touch and see what he is up to is

studying with amazing French guitarists, and teaching at

by following him on his Instagram page @mark_kaylor

French conservatories. The Paris Guitar Foundation also

or by visiting his website www.MarkKaylor.com.

produced a professional video of his playing and promoted it

Zac Kluytenaar ‘99 Zac joined All Saints Academy during junior year in

The years Zac spent at All Saints Academy were

high school, and embraced everything about All Saints,

splendid, and he spares no detail when glorifying the

especially the unique educational environment the school

good name of the school. He believes in what All Saint

had to offer, until the day he graduated. After graduating

Academy provides so firmly that he proudly enrolled his

from All Saints Academy, he attended Stetson University

daughter and can’t wait for the day she will graduate

and found himself to be rather comfortable with the

so that he can hang her diploma next to his. Zac was

transition to the next level of education, having been

among one of the earliest classes to graduate from All

mentally prepared by the experiences he had while in All

Saint Academy. According to Zac, it was an honor for

Saints Academy.

him to have graduated from a school as remarkable as All Saints Academy, and his family looks forward to

After two phenomenal years at Stetson, he had a

contributing to All Saints Academy and their continued

change of direction in his life when he transferred to

excellence for years to come. In his words, “well done

the University of Florida. After two years at UF, he

All Saints, it has been such a pleasure to watch how far

graduated with a BS in Finance with Honors and was

you’ve come.” He is very proud of the school that served

ready to take on the world. Zac’s life since graduating

as a foundation for becoming the proud man he is today.

from the University of Florida has been an incredible and exciting journey. He has had the pleasure of experiencing everything from heated negotiations around a conference table to having his hand raised in the cage as a professional MMA fighter. He has been an employee and an employer, a student, and a teacher, a son and now a father. He even had the distinct honor of coaching some exceptional young men as All Saints Academy’s high school tennis coach. Through all those moments and experiences, the lessons he learned as a student and an individual at All Saints Academy have never left him.

Emily Kormann ‘12 Emily Kormann matriculated to Simmons College in Boston and graduated summa cum laude with a double major in English and French. During her junior year at Simmons, Emily spent a semester abroad studying in Nantes, France, and lived with a host family there. At the end of her term abroad, Emily traveled through Europe for several more weeks before returning home. While an undergraduate, Emily worked in the Simmons College undergraduate admission office as a tour guide, applications processor, and interviewer. After graduation, she accepted a position in the graduate admission office at Simmons College and remained there until the spring of 2018. Emily now works in the graduate admission office at Suffolk University in Boston, and her recruitment territories include India, where she had the chance to travel on behalf of Suffolk for several weeks in fall 2018.

A ‘lifer’ at All Saints, Emily enrolled in Pre-K 3. Emily loved her years at All Saints and made lasting friendships there.

She regularly sees ASA classmates Sameera Mathan and Aaron Henricks, who currently live in Boston, too, and keeps in contact with Nikhita Allam and Evelyn MacDougall.

Emily credits the faculty at All Saints with preparing her for boundless opportunities. Bambi Guy’s French classes and her advice about living abroad allowed Emily to realize she could do the same. Father Rick Gomer encouraged her to present during chapel when she was in Grade 6 and too short to see

over the podium. Jeannine Wright taught Emily dance and also encouraged her managerial and organizational skills by selecting Emily as a dance company assistant.

Ryan Walsh’s Lyceum and AP English classes trained Emily for the rigor of college level academic writing and introduced the thrill of academic discourse.

All Saints was the first step on Emily’s international journey. It prepared her for the demands of college academics, and thanks to All Saints’ emphasis on developing life skills in addition to academic ones, smoothed her transition to a new home in Boston and extended stay in France. Her travels while studying abroad included trips to England, Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands, and she is delighted to have the opportunity to travel once again as part of her graduate admission work. Despite her travels, Emily never feels far from her All Saints family. While in Chennai, India, Emily visited with Sameera Mathan’s extended family who made her feel welcome and at home there.

Elizabeth Lyle ‘03 Since graduating from All Saints in 2003, Elizabeth has been making her way steadily to the northern side of the country for school and jobs. Her first stop was Charlottesville, VA, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and History from the University of Virginia in 2007, graduating with Distinction. The University of Virginia has been a big part of the Lyle family tradition since both of her parents attended the school years before, and then her brother Guy (ASA Class of 2007) attended immediately after she graduated. While at the University of Virginia, Elizabeth continued singing and doing theater like she did at All Saint Academy. Most of her afternoons and evenings were spent in rehearsals and performances with her acapella group, her choir, or her cast mates for a show.

After graduating from the University of Virginia, her next stop was Washington, DC, where she joined the Boston Consulting Group as a management consultant. After about three years of case team meetings, clients, late nights, and an amazing but steep learning curve, she decided to take a twoyear hiatus to attend Harvard Business School and get back into the classroom. She graduated with her MBA in 2012, decided to stay in Boston, and was lucky enough to rejoin the Boston Consulting Group, where she in now a Senior Principal in the firm’s Leadership and Talent Practice Area, helping clients with leadership development, talent strategy, culture change, etc.

Elizabeth is someone who enjoys exploring places and trying new experiences. While the weather in the north is brutal,

especially during the winter, she endures it because she gets to live in the middle of American history, which is ideal for a history nerd like her (plus the lobster rolls and summer are totally worth it). Lately, her life outside of work is full of trips to explore beautiful New England with her boyfriend, hikes, nonstop fetch with their rescue dog from Arkansas named Callie, and learning how to ride her road bike. In fact, she recently completed the Pan-Mass Challenge (a 164-mile ride over two days from Wellesley, MA to Provincetown, MA) to raise money for cancer research, which was an amazing experience. Her next stop may be Maine, but she promises her mom and dad that she won’t go so far as Canada.

Ian Martorana ‘07 Ian was among the graduates of All Saints Academy’s Class of

After graduating from All Saints and being admitted

2007. After graduating, he attended the University of Florida

into college, he felt like he was far more prepared for

where he majored in Political Science with a minor in History.

the task ahead of him. According to him, All Saints

He graduated from UF in 2011 and ventured into the world

Academy helped to accelerate his maturation process,

of politics where he worked for Florida US Representative

promoted a level of creative freedom and also enhanced

Cliff Steams and then US Representative Gus Bilirakis, before

his critical thinking, which shaped his journey into the

becoming Press Secretary for House Speaker Paul Ryan from

world after graduating from high school. He went out to

2015 to 2017.

the world prepared for whatever came his way, bested the challenges he encountered, and became a man many

Ian left politics recently and is currently working for the Bulleit

young people look up to.

Group, a San Francisco-based strategic communications firm. The company helps young start-up companies learn

Ian loved to read and write from his childhood days, and

how to articulate their products effectively. Ian is based in

still loves reading and writing. He set a goal for himself

Washington, DC.

to be read 52 books by the end of the year. He also owns a food blog where he frequently writes. His blog address

All Saints Academy is a school known for giving students the

is: https://www.ianmartorana.com/

freedom to develop and grow in their different passions or interests. Ian was part of the first group of students to take

Ian still maintains a cordial relationship with his friends

the Lyceum classes, which gave him the abilities to grow and

from middle and high school.

develop, and proved very useful for him when it came to accomplishing his tasks. It also helped him to take ownership of his life at a young age when most people would not have had that experience.

Nicole Tieman Photography

Will Pou ‘00

In 1994, Will joined the fledgling Hampton Campus as an eighth grader, graduating six years later in the Class of 2000.

He recalls how, during his first year, Will and his classmates spent about as much time building the campus as learning.

While he’s sure they actually spent more time learning, that’s not what he remembers. There was half a day spent unboxing and setting up new desks for classrooms, other days getting the brand new Compudyne computers set up. Interestingly enough, they even made the network cables from scratch!

Take the bulk cable and cut to length, carefully position the eight inner wires and crimp the plastic plugs on each end. It’s a skill Will is still fondly using today.

All Saints led to four years of college at Elon University, where Will graduated with a BS in Business Administration.

During his four years at Elon, he worked at Campus Safety and Police. To paint a picture, when Will arrived, they were still using an ancient filing cabinet and paperwork system for tracking vehicle registrations and issuing parking tickets.

More importantly, Will met his future wife, Tessa, at Elon. In May 2012, Tessa and Will welcomed their son, William Knox Pou IV, to the world.

After Elon, Will remained in North Carolina, not far from his college stomping grounds, working at the new Badcock Furniture distribution center in Mebane, NC. Rising from loader to shift supervisor, Will transferred to Retail Operations to become a store manager. After three years working with customers, the company transferred Will back

home to Florida to join the Supply Chain Management Team in Mulberry. In this role, Will was responsible for managing inventory levels by forecasting future demand and placing orders with overseas factories to meet that demand. It was a scientific guessing game. With inventory, it always seems you either have too much or too little – never just right. In total, Will spent about 10 years with Badcock moving through the company.

Throughout this time, however, Will kept applying for openings at Amtrak – a place he has wanted to work since his days at All Saints. He remembers Pam Danis telling him to go for his dreams. She had no doubt that Will would work at Amtrak someday, even though he had begun to give up on the dream. In late 2013, Amtrak finally invited Will to test and interview for the position of Assistant Passenger Conductor for Miami. Will was the only external applicant hired.

Just over a year later, Will was promoted to Passenger Conductor. Back when driving home from All Saints in the afternoons, the drive often corresponded with the arrival of Amtrak trains in Winter Haven. Will remembers stopping to hang out for a bit, see the trains come and go and watch conductors yell “All Aboard!” and roll off into the distance. Today, Will Pou calls “All Aboard” and rolls off into the distance, sometimes wondering if that high school kid watching from the station will one day be standing where Will now stands.

Jonathan Salm ‘09

Studying at All Saints developed Jonathan’s brain and character in the best possible ways. From analyzing Radiolab podcasts in Theory of Knowledge class to studying Virgil’s Aeneid in its original Latin, to understanding mind-numbingly difficult calculus proofs, All Saints instilled in him the intellectual creativity and work ethic needed to succeed in college and beyond.

According to Jonathan, All Saints sparked his interest in the humanities, which he carried with him to Washington and Lee University, where he majored in English and minored in Philosophy. During his time in college, he wrote a senior thesis, “The Matrix as Literature in Action,” which explored the intersection of pop culture, philosophy, and media that brings about change in its audience. Beyond academic instruction, All Saints also provided ample opportunity to grow outside of the classroom. An independent study during his junior year resulted in the Wings Radio podcast with co-host Jill Hollis. In 2008, the iPhone had just launched, podcasting was still in its infancy, and the majority of podcasts were downloaded via iTunes and later uploaded to iPods - unlike today’s world of smartphones, connected devices, and on-demand content. At All Saints, the freedom to create Wings Radio proved to be an incredibly valuable first experience in the ever-changing media world.

During his senior year, Jonathan perfected his writing skills as Editor-in-Chief of Wings newspaper, which paved the way for him to take staff writer and columnist positions at Washington and Lee’s Ring-Tum Phi and freelance writing gigs for The Ledger and a content marketing startup. These

experiences helped him launch a career on the business side of media and tech in New York City. Today, Jonathan leads business development for the tech startup SpokenLayer, the largest provider of voice-driven media for virtual assistants and connected devices such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Amazon Echo, Google Home, etc.... Much like podcasts in 2008, he believes that voice-driven media in 2018 has only just begun to transform how audiences consume and discover content.

Media companies are in a constant state of flux, and this is perhaps doubly true for early-stage startups. Succeeding at this intersection requires creativity, resourcefulness, and great problem-solving abilities. Jonathan’s experience and time at All Saints helped build a foundation for him to succeed in this competitive world.

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