CLASS NOTES

HELPING OTHERS find their path

Claudia Ramos

Class of 1996

When you speak with Claudia Ramos of the Class of 1996, it is apparent that she has a gift for setting others at ease. As a full-time mental health clinician with Novant Health, she works for the Employee Assistance Program to provide counseling support to employees and their family members. As a long-time behavioral health clinician in the health care industry, she has had her skills tested during COVID as she works with health care workers who need assistance dealing with stress from the pandemic.

Based on her COVID experiences, she decided to establish her own company to expand on her own needs as well as the increased calling she felt to help others. “I founded Vida Coaching and Consulting in 2021 because I realized that some people did not need longterm support. Some just needed life coaching and improved health and wellness through better understanding and life improvements,” said Claudia. While she continues with her fulltime position at Novant Health, her coaching and consulting firm allows her to expand her love of helping others. “I have been in the profession of helping people for years and wanted to take it a step further. I like to guide people with understanding their purpose while achieving goals in health, wellness, growth, development, and relationships. Some people don’t need a therapist. They just need someone to help them meet their wellness and daily goals. They need a cheerleader for them.”

While it has been more than 25 years since she was a student at GWA, Claudia fondly remembers some of the teachers who were cheerleaders for her. “I appreciate the example that Coach Don set for all of us. He was always positive, and he motivated us. My art teacher, Mrs. Mayes, was also always supportive. Not only was her art class educational, but she made me look forward to art and her classroom was so comforting.” And while a few teachers were known for being a little bit scary, they inspired students to do their best. No one wanted to let them down. “Mrs. Thigpen knew her stuff, and when you finished her class you had a good solid understanding of math, but students didn’t want to mess with her!”

Spanish teacher Norma Torres was very special to Claudia. “When I first came to GWA, I already spoke Spanish, so the school created a separate Spanish course for me. Mrs. Torres crafted special assignments for me since I already had the language skills. As a minority at GWA, I appreciated her helping me look at things from a Latino perspective. I did feel unique, but my teachers embraced and supported me.”

Claudia has taken the inspiration of the many cheerleaders from her past and channeled it into her own approach to others. She helped establish Aventureros Latinos, a volunteer group whose members are initiated via hiking adventures in the Carolinas. Anyone is welcome to join them. Their goal is to promote diversity and inclusion with the Latinx community and they are welcoming to all who want to come together to enjoy adventures outdoors and beyond. “So far, we have close to 1,000 followers on Instagram and Facebook as others look to join our community to enjoy nature, exercise, meet people, support one another, and make connections with different cultures.”

As a pioneer in the group, Claudia not only leads hikes, but also participates in hikes in other areas outside the Carolinas to bring back her experiences to the group. “I did a hike in Guatemala and was able to bring back my experiences and energy to share with other members.”

As an employee, a business owner and a volunteer, Claudia is helping others find their path on their individual journeys towards health and wellness.

learning TODAY. leading TOMORROW.

and Littlefield, the book discusses campaign fundraising by 2020 presidential candidates during the primary and general election. Jessie Jordan Fincher is a Georgia Metro Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Celest Lindsey joined Reeves Young as their first Talent Acquisition Manager in Oct. 2021.

Class of 1973

Maria Meadows Burdett

retired from her position as Director of Report Writing and Quality Control with Southern Research in Birmingham, Alabama. Moved to Wakefield, Rhode Island and lives minutes from the beach!

Class of 1976 Mary Carmichael

McMorrow has worked as a pharmacist for 40 years and now works parttime for an independent pharmacy.

Class of 1980

Mary Glenn Landt

recently moved back to the Landt family home in Oxford, Georgia. She works for Peraton, Inc. and is a Real Estate Agent with Karafotias Realty in Decatur, Georgia.

Class of 1981

Melanie Williams-Pazol

recently moved back to Monroe and built a house on her parent’s farm. Her parents are Bill and Margaret Williams, who were faithful volunteers in the early years of the school. She is looking forward to reconnecting with her classmates.

Becky Towler Slagle

is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and manager of the NP group at Texas Children’s Hospital – The Woodlands, Texas.

Class of 1983

Jeanie Sorrells Beach

moved into a part-time HR position with GWA after 23 years in full-time development.

Class of 1985

Lauren Bennett Turner

left her “jack of all trades” position with Jackson County Schools and moved to Orange Beach, Alabama. She now volunteers with the Coastal Resources of Orange Beach and enjoys being near the beach.

Class of 1989

Carl Jordan was selected as Teacher of the Year at Villa Rica High School for 2022 and was Star Teacher for the 2020-21 school year. He currently serves as Fine Arts Department Head at Villa Rica High School and visual arts liaison for Carroll County Schools.

Class of 1998

Adam Shumaker and his wife Magnolia welcomed their first child Amelie in July 2021.

Class of 1987

Amie Ward Cumming

retired from Newton County Schools with 30 combined years as a classroom teacher, school administrator, and district administrator. She now works for the Georgia Department of Education as a Research and Evaluation Specialist.

Class of 1993

Jason Fitch will be relocating back to the Monroe area after almost 20 years serving in the pastoral ministry in Washington State. He will be operating his father’s chicken farm. He looks forward to attending GWA football games this fall.

Class of 1995

Tony Jones returned to England after attending GWA and played professional basketball in England and Spain until 2006. Currently is a Physiotherapist with the Liverpool Football Club.

Class of 1997

Yates Austin is a founding member of the Advanced Visualization group at WithersRavenel.

Jon Swarner left Georgia Tech after 27 years to start a new position with Ametek, Inc. as a Manufacturing Engineer.

Class of 2003

David Eakes became a Senior Software Engineer for Kaiser Permanente’s digital division and relocated to Douglasville, Georgia.

Joanna Parrish was promoted to Senior Marketing Director with API out of Atlanta. She resides in Cumming, Georgia.

Tarianna Stewart is an experienced biomedical scientist and intellectual property (IP) professional. Her current efforts are directed toward the

development and licensing of existing IP from IBM Research to established companies and investors. She is a board member for Spruill Center for the Arts, Georgia IP Alliance and National Council on Patent Practicum. She has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Morehouse School of Medicine. Ted Kinney was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in the Navy in September 2022. He graduated from Naval Postgraduate School in September 2021 with a Masters of Electrical Engineering. He is currently a Masters of Business Administration candidate at Arizona State University. He started a new role as a Department Head and Program Manager at the Nay Experimental Dive Unit in Panama City Beach, Florida. His son, Ryker Kinney was born March 13, 2022.

Class of 2006

Michael McDaniel was promoted to Firefighter Lieutenant in January 2022.

Class of 2008

Kylee Knop Vargason

and her husband Mitch welcomed their son Brooks Lee Vargason on March 30, 2022.

Class of 2009

Bartlett Benton was named a Rising Star in the field of personal injury by Super Lawyers Magazine in 2021. Only 2.5% of lawyers

Jennis Watson

recently started a consulting firm for which she provides nonprofit management and bookkeeping services.

Class of 1999

Jessica Clary is the Director of Student Media at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Class of 2000

Courtni Sale

Karshagen was promoted to President at E2E Benefits in Duluth, Georgia.

Class of 2001

Cayce Myers is the Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Virginia Tech. He published a book, “Money in Politics: Campaign Fundraising in the 2020 Election.” Published by Rowman Hugh Williamson was promoted to manage the Amazon Web Services deployment team that builds fiber infrastructure in North and South America. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington, with his fiancé, Nicky, and their giant puppy, Gumbo. in Georgia receive this honor. He is an attorney at Benton and Benton in Monroe, Georgia.

Sarah Gregg is a practicing commercial real estate and public finance attorney at a national law firm.

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LEADING TOMORROW | GWA alumni class notes

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Kristopher Lewis was promoted to Manager of the Methodology Oversight Team at Vanguard. He is currently working on his MBA and CFA.

Lindsey Maxwell

Robinson was a recipient of Georgia Southern University’s “40 under 40” alumni award in 2021. She is the Manager, Federal Relations at Aflac.

Merrill Loggins-Taylor

works in forensic mental healthcare at Central State Hospital and was recently promoted to Behavior Specialist 2 with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities.

Class of 2010

Alison Murphy Korte is a Veterinary Technician at Banfield Pet Hospital. She is a married mother of three-year-old twins and an awesome 14 year old that she adopted into her life at 6 years old.

Cody Mauldin was promoted to senior distributor executive for Molson Coors in Seattle, Washington.

Class of 2011

Jake Bettis and his wife Katie Bender Bettis (GWA ’11) welcomed their first child Beau Bradford Bettis on March 8, 2022.

Brett Eckles recently started a new position as the Design Quality Engineering Manager for Asensus Surgical leading the Quality Engineering team in developing surgical robotic systems. He relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jennifer Partain is engaged to marry Casey Adams on March 25, 2023.

Class of 2013

Madison Allen Collins recently became a parttime tree farmer and a part-time photographer.

Kelly Delchamps moved to Atlanta, Georgia in October and is a therapist in a private counseling practice.

Allison Sims Mathis

married Matthew Mathis in October 2020.

Annelise Norman

graduated in May from UGA with a PhD in English.

Kelsi Nguyen Shubert

and her husband Casey Shubert (GWA ’13) welcomed their daughter Emmy Gray Shubert on March 8, 2022.

Class of 2014

Camille Beach was promoted to Cellar Specialist at Creature Comforts Brewing Company.

Hannah Cole joined the University of Georgia Wesley Foundation as an Associate Director.

Anna Millians Hunt

and her husband, Billy, welcomed their daughter Everly Faith Hunt on April 14, 2022.

Class of 2015

Mackenzie Britt accepted a position with Capgemini as a Salesforce B2B Business Analyst.

Caleb Morris is starting law school at the University of Georgia.

Class of 2018

Kate Hutter graduated from Georgia College and State University with a B.S. in Middle Grades Education and started teaching middle school math at Jasper County Middle School in August.

Izzy Ott is working toward a future career as a middle school teacher. She traveled to New Hampshire over the summer to be a camp counselor at Camp Cody for the second year in a row. She taught archery.

Class of 2020

Ben Howard just completed his second year as a business student at Georgia Tech and went on a study abroad trip to Oxford, UK. He served as a student assistant this past year in the business school.