ALUMNI NEWS
this summer to aid in establishing its first emergency medicine residency program and work in emergency centers on several different islands...followed by a week of vacation with her new fiancé, Dallas Griffin. Unfortunately, her yorkies, Max and Jax, will have to wait for her in Houston! In a funny twist of fate, Lacey Liedtke has ended up in Midland, Texas where her parents lived during the first year of their marriage. She is engaged to Ross Brunner, who grew up in Midland and attended TCU. Ross is in oil & gas, which is what brought the couple back to Midland. Lacey and Ross will be married in Houston in January, and then plan to reside in the Wild, Wild West! Jessica Jones Meyer is an agent with John Daugherty Realtors in Houston. She and her husband Peto are staying busy keeping up with their toddler Peter. Rebecca Kates Miller says, “I’m very excited to report that my husband Ben and I just had our first child, a baby girl named Kara Sophia Miller, on April 24th. I’m enjoying being in the middle of all of the craziness and lack of sleep that life with a newborn entails. Other than that, I’m still living in Houston with my husband and two labs, and working as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.” Lee LaGrasse Nichols is still living in Dallas working part-time as a nurse practitioner in outpatient cardiology. This summer she will start as clinical faculty with Baylor’s nurse practitioner program. She adds, “Josh and I love being parents to Dinny--can’t believe she’s a toddler now!” Lauren Paul moved to Chicago in January and is working as a freelance violinist. She is also busy planning a Labor Day weekend wedding in Boston. Lauren and her fiancé are looking forward to traveling to Italy for the month of July to participate in a music festival, and then returning to Chicago for the foreseeable future. Mary Rambin is still posting away on her lifestyle blog, MoreThanMary.com, and has officially launched MTM Digital Strategies, a consulting company that builds websites and trains companies to use social media to execute online campaigns to generate more business. This year, Mary brought back her signature CLICK bag for Tootsies. She recently made the move Atlanta to be with her long-time boyfriend, KC
Estenson. Lisa Kaplan Rosenzweig has been living in San Antonio for two years with her husband Shawn. She works for Silver Ventures’ real estate team on the redevelopment of the former Pearl Brewery. Lisa says, “if you haven’t been down to San Antonio, it’s something exciting to see!” The biggest news in Lisa’s life is that she and Shawn welcomed a baby boy, Reid, in May. Murphey Harmon Sears reports she is “still living in Dallas, working for Genesis Women’s Shelter, and loving life!” This year Murphey rode in her fifth MS150 bike ride and was honored to be a top fundraiser. Go Murphey! Katalina Sharkey de Solis is living between New York and Paris and is currently the director of digital for Chanel (i.e. all online activities + all activities offline that have a digital component). Eve Smith is still living in Brooklyn. She works as an independent branding and sustainability consultant, which has afforded her the space and freedom to teach yoga part-time. Eve says, “I’m very into Buddhist studies and my meditation practice. In fact, I will be spending three weeks meditating silent and solo in a (pimped out) yurt in the desert near Tucson in August.” Eve also loves spending time with her seven-year-old dog named Mia that she got from the Houston SPCA. Whitney Stubbs spent the fall of 2011 in the backcountry of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, completing a Semester for Outdoor Educators through the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Since then, she’s settled in the Bay Area while waiting to begin a Master’s program in Education at Stanford this fall. In her spare time, she cooks and tries to get outside. Stacy Sweet has been working at CapitalSource Bank in DC for the past five years, and is currently the Loan Officer for the Professional Practice Lending group. She is engaged to Eric Patlovich, a 2003 graduate of the University of Virginia, in September in Lake Forest, Illinois (where her parents now live.) Stacy and Eric are looking forward to their honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Rome. Traci Thompson reports, “It’s been a crazy year with a lot of changes! I started my own interior company, got engaged, and will be moving to Dallas after my October wedding in
KINKAID ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Elizabeth Mims Bender ’02 TELL US ABOUT YOUR CURRENT EVENTS (FAMILY, HOBBIES, ETC): My husband and I were just married in October of last year, and we are living in Houston. We like to travel, take our dog on walks around the neighborhood, and spend time with friends and family. WE ARE AWARE THAT YOU JUST PLANNED YOUR 10TH REUNION REUNION. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE. Our recent Reunion Weekend was a great experience! The Distinguished Alumni Awards program was a remarkable way to start off the weekend's events. The speakers were so accomplished, and it was inspiring to hear their stories. Later, at the reunion celebration, it was fun to catch back up with some members of the class I hadn't seen since high school graduation. We all couldn't believe that it has already been ten years! WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION AND CURRENT CAREER FOCUS? DO YOU FEEL THAT KINKAID HAD AN INFLUENCE ON YOUR CAREER? Currently, I am the Upper School Dean of Students at The Emery/Weiner School, where I also teach sophomore and senior English. It's exciting and meaningful to be able to work with students in various ways on a daily basis. Often, I think back to the ways that Kinkaid teachers instilled a sense of pride in their students who worked honestly and diligently, and I try to relay those same values to my students. IF YOU COULD GIVE A "SHOUT OUT" TO YOUR FORMER TEACHERS OR CLASSMATES, WHO WOULD THAT BE AND BRIEFLY WHY? The entire Kinkaid Faculty deserves an enormous thank you. Looking back at my own experience, I remember the passion and excellence that the teachers and coaches brought to their respective fields. I would like to extend a special thank you to all of my former English teachers for helping me to develop a love of language and character study. I consider myself lucky to have had teachers like Mrs. Kate Lambert, whose enthusiasm for clear, concise writing and in-depth textual analyses is magnetic and has positively influenced my own teaching experience. Had I not had such devoted teachers in my own high school years, I may have never embarked upon what has become a deeply rewarding career in education. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING? Now that it's the summer, I'm hoping to read Tinkers by Paul Harding, and The Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
WE WANT YOUR NEWS! New Job? Newly Wed? New Baby?
Share your latest updates by writing to your class correspondant or emailing alumni@kinkaid.org.
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