Class Knox made an affiliate partner of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group.
Maureen Olesen ’07 and Sergio Alvarez Fernandez—June 25, 2016
Michael Sales ’07 and Rachel Spencer—October 10, 2015
Kanjana Rajaratnam ’09 and Josh Hartshorne— August 15, 2015
LEFT TO RIGHT: Chelsea Bagot Wunnicke ’07, Catherine Miller Armstrong ’07, Emily Quade ’07, and Maureen Olsen ‘’07. Not pictured but also in attendance was Rebekah Richardson ’07.
LEFT TO RIGHT: Jennifer Presley Trocke ’07, Michael Sales ’07, Rachel Sales, Chor Lee Campbell ’06, and John Campbell ’07.
LEFT TO RIGHT: Adam Vera ’09, Lily Wirth ’10, Kanjana Rajaratnam Hartshorne ’09, Deana Rutherford ’09, Laura Weiss ’09, and Mike Payne ’09.
Class Correspondents: Celine Gura Matthiessen 6417 Marlar, The Colony, TX 75056-7119, 469-384-1805, celmatthiessen@hotmail.com Tammy Thorsen Ragnini 912 S. Summit, Barrington, IL 60010-5057, 847-382-4022, rragnini1@yahoo.com
1993 Laura Bernhardt: “My current employer (Buena Vista University) recently decided to eliminate its philosophy and religion program. Sadly, this means that my tenured job disappears at the end of the 2016-17 school year, and I’m currently looking for a new gig. On the plus side, I also just finished a master’s degree in library and information science at San Jose State University, so I will probably escape the horrors of the academic philosophy job market and move on to something new and exciting and library-related. Until I find that magical library job, though, I’ll serve out the rest of my time in Storm Lake, Iowa, teaching my remaining students in the major and getting ready to move on to bigger and better things.” ❯ Melissa Agar: “The past year has been relatively exciting. I finally joined the world of property owners and bought a house, so I’ve spent the past year settling in. It’s definitely still a work in progress! Professionally, I still teach at Monmouth-Roseville High School. I teach English and also direct the school’s drama club and coach the speech team. Our team has taken the regional championship three of the past four years, and this year, one of my kids made it to the top 14 in the state in her event.” ❯ Scott “Peter” Waldspurger: “‘Peter (Von Brown) Waldspurger’ still writes novels, but now primarily focuses on writing and drawing a webcomic. It follows the day-to-day adventures of Talbot and his pals, who just happen to prefer remaining in their werewolf forms. Because werewolves want to hang out and have pizza, just like regular people. And they do, in a town called Wolverton. Read it at wolverton.thecomicseries.com and
tapastic.com/series/Wolverton. ❯ Alex Marshall: “I am well, although dealing with the unexpected passing of my father, Thomas Hanson Marshall. It took me a second try, but in May, I was promoted to captain-paramedic with the Salinas Fire Department. I am now a supervisor at the fire station and at emergency scenes; thus, I am required to make quick decisions, at times with little information. It is a welcome change. I enjoy being a father.” ❯ Alex Hopkins writes that, after 22 years of sales in the laboratory research market, he decided to become a real estate broker. He now works for Windermere of Kirkland-Central. “A big HELLO to all of my classmates and friends!” he says. Class Correspondent: Rebecca Gillan Ballard rballard@knoxalumni.org
1994 Hello, all! I’m excited to start my stint as the class correspondent, something I’ve actually wanted to do for a very long time. When the opportunity arose, I knew I couldn’t pass it up. ❯ Carlos Bill updates us with a move south of the border. “After 18 years in Arizona working in education as a teacher and principal, I have resigned and moved to Mexico. I plan to live in an eco-community in a beach town on the Pacific coast, teaching environmental science at an international green school and helping to build and open a high school.” ❯ Bob Connour states, “Things in my world are pretty normal: three kids—Lewis, 16, Maria, 14, and Joey, 10. My wife of 18 years, Jackie, is a professor at Ohio Northern University. I just finished my 16th year as a professor at a big Northwest Ohio community college. I hope to get back to Knox for Homecoming sometime soon!” ❯ Gabi Kupfer Zolla is “headed into my 16th year at a national nonprofit, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), that connects learning and work for adults. Daughter Ruthie starts eighth grade this year, and son Wilson enters fourth grade. We live in Lincoln Square in Chicago.
This summer, Ruthie and I went on a service trip to Nicaragua, where we taught English at a summer camp. Wilson went from playing baseball to watching baseball all summer!” ❯ Ralph Pennel “still lives in the greater Boston area (Somerville—seven years now). I’ve taught poetry and expository writing at Bentley University since the fall of 2014. My first collection of poetry, A World Less Perfect for Dying In (Cervena Barva Press), was published in 2015. I still work as the fiction/managing editor of Midway Journal (midwayjournal.com), which is now in its tenth year of publishing. I still love East Coast living.” ❯ Matt Richardson married partner Douglas Konja at the Michigan Renaissance Festival in September 2015. They were married in full Renaissance regalia, and the reception that followed included acrobats, juggling, comedic performance, dancing, sword fights, and live music. Wendi Fornoff ’92 was Matt’s “best woman.” Matt also made a career change in 2015 and now works as a Java developer at the University of Michigan. ❯ As for me, I’ve had quite a few moves and shifts. After four years in the Bay Area for my husband’s medical fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Stanford, we moved back to Atlanta, Georgia, in 2014. Chris and I first met here in 1995 when we were working on master’s degrees in public health and before either of us went to medical school. I now work at Emory as a physician, specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation. When I’m not working, I am shuttling one or all of our three children to playdates, the swimming pool, etc. I also enjoy squeezing out short stints to write. I write for my food blog, a digital tome that has become a years-long love letter to my children, at www.storyofakitchen.com. ❯ Keep the updates coming! Class Correspondent: Lisa Preston-Hsu 217-649-7889, story.of.a.kitchen@gmail.com
1995 Instead of the usual updates this time, I asked a different question of my 1995 classmates: What is
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