LinkUs 2022

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Cotting School’s Alumni Newsletter SUMMER 2022

Alumni Reunion 2022 There were smiles all around at the alumni reunion in the campus center on May 22, 2022. We were so glad to be able to invite alumni and their guests back to campus for the first in-person reunion in almost three years. The new gymnasium provided a spacious setting for remarks from Cotting President Bridget Irish, as well as Alumni Association President Caroline Steaurt ’11. We even had a vocal/guitar performance from Georgia Burns ’16 and her father Bob.

From left to right, Lily Saha ’14, Alpona Saha, Ryan Connelly ’15 and Tim Connelly at Alumni Reunion.

Beyond the formal program, guests enjoyed delicious refreshments and lawn games on Manzo Court. Alumni also had the chance to look through past yearbooks and purchase gear from the Cotting Corner Store. We can’t forget to mention that the candlepin bowling alley was open and offered a fun setting for socializing! We are so grateful for the chance to continue to be connected with the alumni community. Their support and attendance is greatly appreciated! We are already excited for the 2023 gathering–in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out and share your latest news with us.

“Best Summer Ever” Movie Screening On April 8, 2022, Cotting School partnered with Zeno Mountain Farm to put on a movie screening of Zeno’s feature length film, “Best Summer Ever” (available on Hulu and other streaming platforms).

Current students, alumni and guests were welcomed into the auditorium for the viewing and a special Q&A session with some of the cast and crew following the movie. A bunch of Cotting alumni were a part of the movie’s creation, and it was great to hear about their personal experiences in the film and with Zeno

Mountain Farm in general. The Cotting PTO even ran a concession stand, offering the perfect movie snacks and drinks!

Left: Sara Young ’21, Sara Frost ’10 and Alex McDonald ’10 attended the Best Summer Ever movie screening.

Right: Best Summer Ever cast & crew (including Cotting alumni!) offered a question and answer session after the film.

www.cotting.org

ALUMNI UPDATES

Share your news at anytime to advancement@cotting.org or 781-325-7997

1990 Jason McCollin, ’90, is an International Special Olympian and has won seven medals (one gold, three silver and a bronze) as a gymnast. The medals were for floor routine, pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and vault.

1992

Patricia Dabrowney ’60

President Bridget Irish with Stephen ’74 and Sharon Johnson in the Cotting Campus Center last fall.

1974 David Murphy, ’74, worked for 19 years as a framing carpenter building homes, and for 30 years driving 18-wheel tractor trailers. He says, “I think it’s time to let someone else have ALL THE FUN!”

1980

Richard Johnson ’67 with his former teacher and Trustee Emeritus Ray Killian.

Joseph D’Amato, ’80, still lives in Las Vegas, where the weather is nice and always feels like vacation. He and his wife reside in a 55 and older senior community, enjoying the good retirement life, and like to get out when they can.

Though they enjoy where they are, they are looking into moving to Phoenix, Ariz., after taking a trip there. They like to go out to watch free live music at casinos. He is glad to see that casinos and hotels are back open again. Joseph notes that he is still trying to live the musical dream by playing drums in a band. He says that he misses and thinks about everyone from Cotting and wishes all a wonderful summer!

1987 Kim Sturrock, ’87, has taken up chair yoga.

A very happy Barbara Hardaway ’68 and her vaccine card in Guatemala.

Karen George, ’92, is involved with Cheerabilities in Bow, N.H. The organization recently traveled for events in Lowell, York and R.I.

1993 Sarah Collins, ’93, and her boyfriend David will celebrate 12 years “going steady” in August 2022!

1996 Erik Kruszewski, ’96, retired in late May after over 20 years with Trader Joe’s. He continues to travel, and his most recent trips have included Yellowstone, Jackson, Wyo., Kentucky Horse Farm State Park, a friend’s horse farm in Aiken, S.C., and hiking in the Smoky Mountains. He divides residences between Beaverbrook Step Program in Watertown and family homes in Newton and Cape Cod.

1998 Brendan O’Keefe, ’98, works at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel and the Bear Hill Golf Club. He lives in his own apartment in Wakefield, Mass., and was recently engaged to Kate Bartlett!

Tara Poor, ’98, works at Whole Foods in Bedford two days a week. She goes to Club 600 for stretching and exercise.

She and her boyfriend Brian have been together 25 years! She has an in-law apartment at her family’s house that she takes great care of. She also heads to Aruba every year for two weeks.

2004 Sarah Garibaldi, ’04, misses everyone at Cotting School! She is still working hard at Minuteman.

2005

Gregory Walsh ’01 exploring a new trail.

2001 Gregory Walsh, ’01, has become active in Braintree because town meetings are on Zoom, and he’s glad to get involved in things he never would have if it wasn’t for Zoom. He never misses a Commission on Disabilities (COD) meeting because they discuss how to improve accessibility in Braintree. He applied to be on the COD and is on a waiting list for a seat to become vacant. He is learning a lot about his town. Gregory recently joined a weekly chess club at the Rockland Senior Center, and he also plays bingo weekly, where he has made lots of new friends.

During the pandemic, he discovered many walking paths and rail trails to explore in Boston, Dorchester, Norwell, Natick and Rockland because they are level, wide and easy for a wheelchair to negotiate.

2003 Alana Russo, ’03, is a barista part time at Bitty and Beau’s Coffee in Melrose, and loves it. She is still an active number on the Bedford Housing Authority tenant board. Her brother was married in June and Alana was excited to be a bridesmaid. She still does Springboard with her friends in-person and on Zoom.

She also keeps in touch with her friends from Cotting!

Tyler Lagasse, ’05, competed in golf during the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Fla., in early June.

This was his fourth time appearing there (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022). He is employed at the PGA Tour Superstore in Natick.

He has continued to make speeches– virtually and in-person–about his autism and Special Olympics. Last fall, Tyler was accepted as a Flutie Fellow by The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism. He is also a member of the board of directors for Special Olympics Massachusetts.

In regard to the campus center, he feels honored that the school has built something so special for current and future students.

Shawn Koehler, ’07, has worked for over a year at Hannaford in Leominster.

He is also a volunteer with the St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry, which operates at the parish he belongs to.

He is a member of the Lions Club and Knights of Columbus organizations.

Shawn attends an adult respite program twice a week. To stay active, he attended the alumni basketball games, is working on his third degree black belt and participates in the Special Olympics in unified basketball and swimming.

After volunteering at Cotting for many years, Kevin Mahoney, ’07, was hired as a full time employee at Cotting in September 2021. He is a Program Assistant and helps out with gym classes with Dan Cuddy and in Industrial Arts with Bill Phelan. He also works with the after school program. When not at work, he likes going to sporting events.

2006 Jeff Ashe, ’06, shares that he is a vlogger/ podcaster. He’s a proud uncle of three nieces and nephews, and he recently went to San Diego for the third time since August 2021. He has many social media channels and can be reached on Twitter @IntheLifeofJeff.

2007 Sarah Hooper, ’07, enjoys going to her day program, JRI, in Northborough. They go to the YMCA, bowling and for walks, and they also do painting. She spends a lot of time with her dog, Boo, a 13 year old mutt (a “Peekapugapoo” to be exact)--they are best friends! She lives at home with her mom, dad and sister, Rachel, as well as her Gram. Some of her favorite activities are minigolf, puzzles, books, long rides in the car, shopping, family movie nights and drawing. Sarah also enjoys alumni soccer, basketball and baseball.

Christa-Marie Bercy ’08

2008 Christa-Marie Bercy, ’08, attends Charles River Arc’s Day Program in Needham. She enjoys gardening, shopping and eating out at the Cheesecake Factory and Legal Seafood.

She also helps with South Shore Support Services’ bingo games on Saturdays.

2009 Lucy Morse-Fortier, ’09, wishes she could have attended the alumni reunion, but she was visiting Seattle to see her brother and her nephew Leo for his birthday.

www.cotting.org

2012 Katie Atchue, ’12, is back at her day program after being out for a year and a half because of the pandemic. She loves to spend time with her niece, Carsen, and nephew, Carter. She’s still sewing dog beds and pillows, although not as much as before. She also participates in paint nights online with the Brain Injury Association, and loves to do craft projects and online color by numbers. Katie was happy to be back with her alumni friends playing basketball and baseball this past year. She recently celebrated her 31st birthday!

Sara Frost ’10 traveled to Spain this spring with 17 other individuals from TILL/Springboard.

2010

2013

Sara Frost, ’10, traveled to Spain this spring. She went with 17 other individuals from TILL/Springboard. She said it was fun to see all the sights, from Madrid to Barcelona!

Kristina Gillis, ’10, really likes working at C’est La Vie in Northborough as a host, server and barista. She enjoys participating in Waypoint activities and CCV, a chorus affiliated with Harvard University.

Lauren Zolla, ’10, has worked for ten years and is still living in her apartment.

Her brother’s dog, Jaxsen, visits her on days off and weekends. Maxwell spends time with her during the week as well.

2011 Thomas Lydon, ’11, works as a staff employee for Planet Professional, taking on different assignments for companies that are short-handed. The time waiting in between assignments can be annoying, but the chance to learn new skills, polish up old ones and meet new people makes it a worthwhile endeavor.

Christopher Campbell, ’12, graduated summa cum laude from North Shore Community College in 2021. He now attends UMass Boston, and is majoring in moral and political philosophy. He is working on writing a book about the history of the American atheist movement.

He has interviewed Dan Baker, president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

He has also spoken with Aron Ra, a famous atheist podcaster.

Michael Camille ’11 and his niece Phoebe.

Michael Camille, ’11, became a very proud first-time uncle to Phoebe Camille in February 2022. He is also proud to share that this year, he celebrates his 10th year as an office assistant at Ashland Diesel, Inc.

Eric Benson, ’13, left Cotting (reluctantly!) to attend and board at Riverview School on Cape Cod. After four years, he completed high school and the GROW Program (post-high school) in 2017. Later that year, he began the day program at Shared Living Collaborative in Merrimac, Mass., working on a farm.

In 2018, Eric moved to the north shore to be a part of the residential program and has since lived in two different residential settings, including his current home in West Newbury. He continues to work, now on a horse farm, and is also learning to ride! He also spent part of each week working in the cafe run by the Shared Living Collaborative in Amesbury–it has not resumed full-time operations since the pandemic, but he hopes to be able to return there soon.

Eric goes home on weekends to spend time with his family. He has very fond memories of his time at Cotting!

Kaila MacLeod, ’13, has gone to the Friendship Home day program since May 2014. During the pandemic, she continued with Friendship Home through daily Zoom sessions. She lives

at home and tries to get out and socialize as much as she can. She went to Disney World to celebrate her 30th birthday in March 2022. She is excited about joining an online augmentative communication device group called “Impact Voices”. The group meets twice a month to play games and talk about what they each like to do.

Kayla Pigeon, ’13, enjoys going to the Friendship Home in Norwell, where she gets to see friends and workout at the gym.

She won a gold medal at Special Olympics bowling! Her sister Melinda got married in October 2021! Kayla gave a speech at the Friendship Home gala in April, which was very exciting. Her boyfriend Alan and she celebrated their third anniversary on July 6th and went out to dinner. She thinks about her Cotting friends and teachers all the time and hopes everyone is doing well!

2015 Daniel Landers, ’15, recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from UMass Amherst and began working as an editor for the Massachusetts Literary Quarterly.

Tristan Teixeira, ’15, attends JRI MetroWorks in Northboro four days per week. On his day off, he bakes and cooks. Being the RoadRunners’ “Mr. Scoreboard” was a favorite winter activity, but with the change in seasons, Tristan attends baseball games both at Polar Park to see the WooSox and the collegiate league Worcester Bravehearts. When the weather is warm, he attends outdoor concerts with his family. Tristan enjoys going to the Worcester Art Museum and taking art classes. He is looking forward to becoming an uncle in August.

2016

Will Fahey ’14 plays sled hockey and is a founding member of the Boston Ice Storm Sled Hockey team.

2014 Will Fahey, ’14, is still employed as a ticket taker for the Patriots and Red Sox home games. At Fenway, he is at Gate E (stop by and see him if you’re at a game!). He is also thrilled to work for his lifetime idol, Tom Brady, at the TB12 Sports Therapy Center in Boston as a front end associate. Finally, he is an employee at Mass Advocates Standing Strong, where he is a trainer for several programs. Will continues to play sled hockey and is a founding member of the Boston Ice Storm Sled Hockey team.

The team recently returned from the National Disabled Festival and made it to the championship game. Will is a drummer in a band called Title Town (a part of the MUSE Foundation) and spends a good amount of time helping with dwarf goats on a farm in South Natick called Positively Goats. Will lives in a condo in Wellesley Center with his roommate Brian and is a proud homeowner!

Georgia Burns, ’16, lives in South Yarmouth on the Cape with her parents and Taxi (their Bichon Frisée). She has a new friend, Mary Kate, who sings and plays the guitar. They’ve been singing at O’Shea’s, a pub in Dennisport. Georgia just celebrated her 27th birthday at the pub, and it was so much fun! Her friends from her program, Life, Inc., were there.

Megan Leyden, ’16, works at Saint Michael’s School and goes to the Plus Company two days a week. She is looking forward to traveling with her family and two dogs in New England!

2017 Julie Burns, ’17, was a fellow this year at The Boston Children’s LEND Program.

She learned how to be an advocate for the disability community. Now she’s looking for a job to utilize what she’s learned in her courses!

Brenna Siegfriedt, ’17, was recently nominated and accepted to be an LIT with Waypoint Adventure. She continues to work for Boston Ballet as a Teacher’s Assistant and at The Caning Company as a chair caner. She enjoys spending Mondays with her awesome nephew, Lincoln. He just had his first birthday in April. Brenna was glad to be

able to play basketball again with the Roadrunners and served as the team’s captain. She is also glad that the alumni had their own baseball team at Cotting this past spring. Brenna has recently applied to jobs in pet care and is excited to try it out!

Alexandra Talbot, ’17, finished her latest program at Northern Essex Community College. She attended “Project Search”, in which she worked different internships on the college campus. While honing her job skills, she also worked on resume writing and job interview skills.

Perrin Troiano, ’17, works at Target in Methuen and is responsible for cart collection and restocking. In January, he adopted a black lab named Clover from the Northeast Animal Shelter after he was rescued from tornadoes in Tennessee. Clover’s nickname is “Mr. Wiggles” and he is two years old.

Perrin shared that he had a blast playing basketball this winter in the awesome new gym at Cotting!

2018 After graduation, Melissa Chiasson, ’18, attended the vocational program in her hometown until she turned 22 years old.

In March 2021, she started working at Shaw’s as a bagger. She has now worked there for over a year and enjoys working with others and meeting new people.

Sam Erickson, ’18, has his own apartment and also goes to the Price Center. He enjoys Roadrunner basketball and alumni baseball. Some notable occasions in 2022 include attending Red Sox opening day and traveling to New York City to see his brother!

Katie Farmer, ’18, continues to work at the Hudson Animal Hospital. She also volunteers at the Northeast Animal Shelter.

Katie continues to swim three times a week and went to the summer Special Olympics games. She continues to ride at Lovelane and enjoys seeing many of her Cotting friends there. Katie participated in Special Olympics horseback riding and earned two gold medals!

www.cotting.org

ALUMNI UPDATES (Continued) Rebecca Kourepenos, ’18, attends Walnut Street Center three times a week and likes to do crafts, music on Zoom, go for walks and to the movies with support staff, friends and family.

She is excited that some of her favorite organized sports have started back up, including Cotting soccer and basketball and Miracle League Baseball.

Sylvie Lammert, ’18, has been volunteering with preschoolers and at a farm. She enjoys singing with the SNAP chorus in Lexington, hiking with Waypoint and playing Roadrunner basketball. She loved seeing her Cotting friends at the alumni reunion!

Andrew Mahoney, ’18, is currently working at Murphy’s Insurance Agency.

He also volunteers at Windrush Farm working on their grounds and maintenance team. He enjoys singing with friends at SNAP chorus and participating in Horse Academy at Lovelane. He is excited for a trip to Alaska this summer!

Davis Raymond, ’18, stays active with horseback riding, kickboxing and track and field.

2019 Elizabeth “EB” Barrett, ’19, is an associate at Walmart and loves it!

Natalie Lyons, ’19, is with the Franklin HMEA Employment Program. One day a week, she works at Tri River Medical Center in Uxbridge. She started this job when she was still at Cotting. She is looking forward to performing at Disney in December with her dance team from Beatz Dance in Grafton. She is still playing basketball with the Roadrunners!

2020 Emma Davis, ’20, attends the Minute Man Arc Day Program in Concord, where she gets to do fun activities like cooking, art projects, going on nature walks, and going to parks. She misses all her Cotting friends and hopes they are all doing amazing.

Lucas Mahegan ’20 (right) with some Cotting friends!

Anthony Longo, ’20, is at American Training in Wakefield with a lot of Cotting friends.

Lucas Mahegan, ’20, works three days a week at a wood shop in Merrimac, Mass. He loves getting together with his Cotting friends every other Wednesday to go hiking, organized by Waypoint Adventure. Lucas became an uncle in November 2021! His nephew’s name is Sunny! Lucas loves visiting him in Maine, where his sister lives. He plans on doing a lot of boating, swimming and having fun this summer!

Since Tommy Papazian, ’20, was at Cotting, he graduated from League School in March 2022, where he was a residential student. He is currently living in Watertown at a residence called Panteline, which is run by Beaverbrook.

Delaney Supple, ’20, goes to the Price Center in Newton three days a week. She likes it a lot and goes with Sam. She also hikes with Waypoint with her Cotting friends, rides horses at Lovelane and enjoys being a Roadrunner!

2021 Anna Dykens, ’21, volunteers weekly at the Animal Rescue League and MSPCA. She also does weekly yoga, stretching classes and horseback riding. She attends musical theater and is looking forward to starting drama lessons. Anna is travel training and has obtained a transit card. She is researching housing options/applications and is looking into continuing education and exploring career options.

Isabelle Pallett, ’21, attends Beaver Brook Step Day Program.

Kyle Reilly, ’21, attends American Training in Wakefield. Fellow Cotting alumni are in his class.

Will Piotrowski ’21 goes to JFCS (Jewish Family and Children’s Services) and likes it a lot. He recommends it to any fellow Cotting alumni!

Peter Sclafani, ’21, attends American Training in Wakefield, and some of his fellow alumni also go there. It’s like Cotting 2.0!

Ben Wallace, ’21, is taking art classes, volunteering at Lex Media (a local cable access station) and exploring life as a new graduate!

Sara Young, ’21, participated in the Boston Children’s Hospital LEND Fellowship this past year. She also graduated from the EPIC Service Leader Program. She is creating art (painting) as a business–find it at “Sara Sassy Designs”.

IN MEMORY We send our condolences to the family and friends of the following Cotting alumni who have passed away: Daviana Jean Bennett, ’18 Patricia Dabrowney, ’60 Alice Ebersole, ’59 Joseph “Dennis” Gill Pamela McLaughlin, ’58 Barbara J. Thompson, ’61

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