Alumni Notes

Carol Austin ’54, widowed for three years, recently found the time and energy to take on a new and fun job as Vocal Coach for the musical Pride & Prejudice (her favorite author’s book!). She reports it was a challenge working with 24 new people while being masked, but wonderful to work with many trained and active singers and actors who were dying to get back on stage. They were receptive to Carol’s advice, and in the end, they put on six amazing performances!

Brooke Cook ’64 sends her best to her Shore classmates and hopes they are all through the worst of the pandemic with few consequences. Since August 2020, she and husband Jeff have been the primary care providers for their grandson, John Ransom Silipo Cook (aka “JoJo”), which has been “a gift in many ways and a fulfilling experience.” Their son Ransom and his wife Mari live just 5 minutes away, so caring for JoJo during the workday was the obvious solution to their childcare dilemma when their maternity leave ended. Their other son, Will, and his wife Erin were married in September 2020 and live in Cohasset, Mass. Brooke’s grandchildren are doing well: Karina is a nurse in the Emergency Department at Boston’s Children’s Hospital; Sarina is soon to finish college at UMass Dartmouth as a psychology major; Antonio Jr. works alongside his father at the Massachusetts Convention Center; and Christina finished her freshman year at Brookline High School. Since losing their mother (Brooke’s daughter, Sarah Pope Da Rosa) in March 2016 to a sudden and severe asthma attack, they have remained close as a family, and live within walking distance of Brooke and Jeff’s home. Brooke has been able to audit courses at Boston University and Wellesley College and sees friends, exercises, and stays involved in her community. Brooke is grateful for every healthy day and for the opportunities she has been given, including her arrival to Shore Country Day School in Grade 7 so many years ago.

Brooke Cook’s grandson, John Ransom Silipo Cook (nickname “JoJo”), born April 2020.

Brooke Cook’s grandchildren L-R Karina, Sarina, Antonio, Sr., Christina, and Antonio, Jr. (“AJ”). Taken in the summer of 2021 at the top of Mount Greylock in Williamstown, Mass.

Lifelong Shore friends of Chris Kauders ’71: Lower row, left to right: Susan Walker, Lisa Crockett ’71, Susan Poor ’72, Polly Hewson ’71. Standing left to right; Chris Abbott ’72, Ben Sprague ’71, Becky Putnam ’71.

Chris Abbott ’72, Ben Sprague ’71, and Chris Kauders ’71 at a Red Sox game in 2019. Class of 1975 alumni catching up over tea. L-R Amy Frothingham Ford ’75, Wendy Morgan Richardson ’75, Marion Hewson Knowles ’75, and Julia Blagden Emby ’75.

Chris Abbott ’72 writes that Shore classmates gathered at the Eastern Yacht Club following the memorial service for Christopher P. Kauders ’71, at the Old North Church in Marblehead, Mass. on August 27, 2021. “Chris was a wonderful friend, exceptional husband and father and accomplished lawyer and arbitrator who died July 31, 2021, of lymphoma in Boston. Chris left us much too early and will be missed by a legion of family and friends.” Shore published a feature on Chris in the December 2021 Shore Stories newsletter, which can also be found on Shore’s website. Wendy Richardson ’75 continues to keep in touch with her classmates from Shore, and recently had a few of these friends over for tea!

Edith Iler-Wiedemann ’80 stays connected with Shore by serving as an inaugural member of the Shore Alumni Association Executive Committee. She lives with her family in Sun Valley, Idaho, and works as an executive functioning coach for students with learning differences.

Alexandra “Wickie” Rowland ’82 is a landscape designer, illustrator, and writer, whose “pandemic project” came off the presses and is now out in the world. Her children’s picture book, Finding Forget-Me-Nots: The Story of a Mindful Elephant is about a little elephant who is made fun of because he forgets everything, but eventually saves the day. Additionally, Wickie’s son, Ben, recently published the first chapter of his doctoral dissertation. He is studying the effect of climate change on honey bee viruses. The link to Wickie’s website is: wickierowland.com/finding-forget-me-nots.html#/

Eliot Hoyt ’83 recently recounted fond Shore memories by looking through the ’82 and ’83 yearbooks. He is now the Managing Principal of Brightview Design Group’s Denver Office.

George Noble ’85 serves on Shore’s Board of Trustees and is chair of the inaugural Shore Alumni Association Executive Committee. He lives in Winchester, Mass. and works as Director of Advancement at Middlesex School.

Nelson Ryland ’85 and Geroge Noble ’85 in New York City

Nelson Ryland ’85 recently won a News and Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Newscast for his work on Vice News Tonight, a nightly news show. He also got together with George Noble ’85 for dinner in New York City, and is glad to be back in touch with the Shore community.

Barbara Wilcox DiLorenzo ’90 shared that her third picture book One Thursday Afternoon (Flyaway Books) was published on September 6, 2022. The story focuses on a girl processing her emotions surrounding a school lockdown drill. She shares her anxiety with her grandfather and he listens. Together they spend an afternoon in the park, painting and listening to the birds. With creativity and companionship, she feels better. Barbara shares that this book was inspired by her own brushes with real lockdowns in 2018.

Rebecca Devaney ’94

Rebecca Devaney ’94 graduated with an MFA and sold a movie to MTV before realizing that her passion was in EdTech and entrepreneurship. She has founded five companies, including one that produced science teacher training videos and another, Doga Towels, that worked to create the world’s most eco-friendly towel, which she sold in 2019. Her newest company, Culture Theory, aims to bring emotional intelligence and technology together for powerful change. Culture Theory is currently building the first ‘listening academy’ with a partner loneliness hotline. Outside of work, she and her husband and dogs live by the beach and can be found either gardening or working on their Lifetime podcast. Rebecca greatly credits Shore for teaching her how to learn quickly and critically with a heart for service.

Brandon Stroman ’94 is an attorney who provides transactional guidance to small businesses and nonprofits in the Los Angeles area. He also volunteers for urban food justice and educational initiatives. Brandon is an inaugural member of the Shore Alumni Association Executive Committee.

Devin Stroman ’96 has had a busy few decades since graduating from Shore! After completing his undergraduate studies in New York, he went on to medical school and ultimately completed his residency and fellowship training at the University of Southern California. Having specialized in Adult Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, he departed Los Angeles and headed north for the Bay Area where he now lives and works as a senior administrator for the State of California’s Telepsychiatry Program. Currently, he supervises a wonderful team of doctors based out of San Quentin State Prison and attends to the diverse mental health needs of an incarcerated patient population. In his down time, he can be found outside running, hiking, chasing the snow in Tahoe, or enjoying all that the Bay Area has to offer with his wonderful wife and six-year-old son.

After Josh Pressman ’97 passed away from cancer in August 2020, friends and classmates raised funds for a batting cage at Shore in his memory. On June 11, members of the Shore community gathered on campus for the dedication of the Joshua Pressman ’97 Batting Cage (See pages 60-61). Josh’s family was in attendance along with Shore alumni, families of alumni, current and former employees, and students. Speakers at the event included Head of School Clair Ward, Athletic Director Nancy McNall, former Head of School Larry Griffin, and classmate and friend Grant Cooper ’97. Other attendees included Josh’s wife, Flori Pressman, and their two sons; his parents, Shari and Ron Pressman; extended family; classmate Chris Monaco ’97 and his wife and children; Louise Huntoon P’94, ’97, ’02; John Monaco P’97, GP’33; Geoff and Kathleen Neal P’97, ’05; Varsity Baseball coach and P.E. teacher Mike Pannozzi; Varsity Softball coach and Director of Finance and Operations Ann-Marie Flynn; former faculty Cathy Griffin P’00, ’02; Joanne Harder P’92, ’94; Peter Wilder P’12, ’12; David Riester ’79 P’25, ’27, ’28, and current students Mai Do ’22, Tien Do ’24, Lam Pham ’24, and Ben Riester ’25.

Jasmine Hillard Young ’97 shares that she is currently on assignment as a travel nurse at a critical access hospital in rural Vermont, and coincidentally discovered fellow Shore alum Alexandra Roman Vaughn ’96 working at the same hospital on a travel assignment as well! Associate Director of Upper School Admissions at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera, Calif, where former Shore Lower School Head Brad Weaver is a new member of the Board of Trustees! Kelly is a Growth Equity Investor in the Private Equity Group at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco.

Connor Cash ’08 reconnected with Shore in May by serving as a panelist for the Alumni Association panel entitled “Business Leaders Navigating Towards A New Normal.” He is the founder and CEO of Caesar Sustainability, a startup focused on sustainability data collection, and is based in Washington, D.C.

Molly Friedman ’08 is the co-owner of Sandpiper Bakery in Ipswich, Mass., and recently reconnected with Shore by catering an on-campus event with baked goods from Sandpiper! Molly also served as a panelist for the Alumni Association’s virtual panel, “Business Leaders Navigating Towards a New Normal” in May.

Nate Morgan ’08 graduated from the full-time MBA program at University of Virginia-Darden School of Business in May and moved to Boston, Mass. In August, he joined the investment team at HubSpot Ventures in Cambridge, Mass., HubSpot’s corporate venture capital fund.

Arthur Piantedosi ’08 reconnected with Shore by serving as a panelist for the Alumni Association Virtual panel, “Business Leaders Navigating Towards a New Normal.” Both Arthur and his brother, Carmine Piantedosi ’10, work for their family business, Piantedosi Baking Company, in Malden, Mass. Arthur is pursuing his MBA at Northeastern University.

Alexandra Roman Vaughn ’96 and Jasmine Hillard Young ’97

Alexandra Vazquez ’01 and her husband, Andres, are thrilled to report the birth of their daughter, Pilar, on September 9, 2021. They live and work in London, and look forward to their visits back to the North Shore.

Thomas Roberts ’06 recently graduated from Tufts Medical School and will be pursuing surgical training at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Lowell Abbott ’07 and wife Kelly Wallace Abbott visited Shore in August 2021 with Lowell’s father, Chris Abbott ’72. It was Lowell’s first visit in a long time, as she and Kelly live outside of San Francisco in Mill Valley, Calif. Lowell shared stories of her favorite memories at Shore during her 10 years there, and recalled the many friends she made and still keeps in touch with! Lowell is now the

Lowell Abbott ’07, and wife Kelly Wallace Abbott visiting campus

Pictured left to right: Becca MacDonald ’08, Trevor Gotfredson ’08, Kate Enright ’08, Larry Griffin, Alex Yen ’08, Haillie Crockett ’08, Arthur Piantedosi ’08, Andrew Smeallie ’06, Alastair Smith ’10, and Thor Vutcharangkul ’10.

Tori Burke ’11 and boyfriend Matt Hoeman

Alex Yen ’08 has continued to remain connected with Shore, becoming an inaugural member of the Alumni Association Executive Committee. She also hosted a “mini Shore reunion” at her ’80s-themed wedding in September 2021.

After completing a year in the Rotating Internship Program at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, Mass., Jake Stokes ’09 was offered and accepted a position on their General Medicine staff.

Victoria “Tori” Burke ’11 began her career as an Investment Analyst at John Hancock in Boston, Mass., and recently moved to Charlotte, N. C., where she transitioned into a new position within NASCAR’s Strategy & Innovation team. When she’s not at the race-track, Tori can be found soaking up North Carolina’s warm weather, doing some form of outdoor activity with her dog, Weller.

Taylor Chin ’11 has remained connected with Shore and is an inaugural member of the Alumni Association’s Executive Committee. He also served as the moderator for the May virtual Alumni Association panel, “Business Leaders Navigating Towards a New Normal.” After working for an economic consulting firm, Taylor is preparing to pursue an MBA at Columbia Business School.

After Shore, Eliza Dorsey ’11 attended The Governor’s Academy and graduated in 2014. She then took her lacrosse talents to The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she won three ACC Championships and one National Championship while studying Communications. Returning to New England after graduation, Eliza started her career in private aviation at Wheels Up Partners, LLC, where she works today while residing in Boston, Mass. Eliza continues to be passionate about downhill skiing, hiking, and enjoying time with her family and friends. To this day she is best friends and close with the friends she made at Shore in Kindergarten.

Luke Samperi ’14 was a Division 1 athlete for Bryant University, and graduated in spring of 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration concentrated in Team and Project Management. He is currently working towards an MBA in Global Supply Chain Management.

Luke Samperi ’14

Katherine “Tookie” Wilson ’15

Katherine “Tookie” Wilson ’15 made the NESCAC Women’s Soccer’s All Conference First Team, which in addition to being a nice recognition, brought back a lot of fond memories of her time playing for Shore. Last season, Tookie started all 15 games for the Jumbos and was a standout defensive force for the team.

Abi Borggaard ’17 is heading into her junior year at Tulane University and sailing on the NCAA Division 1 Co-Ed and Women’s Sailing Team. The team is a top 10 ranked national team and she sailed on the team that placed 8th nationally at ICSA match racing nationals in November. Harrison Wilson ’17 ran in the New York Marathon last November, and as a first-time marathoner, posted a respectable 4:24. He hit the wall at 20 miles but kept on pushing. Harrison raised $4,000 for Acumen, a nonprofit that provides funding to social entrepreneurs around the globe bringing innovative ideas and technologies to help address unmet needs.

Charles Minney ’19 has accepted a place at Northeastern for Mechanical Engineering in the fall, and his family is delighted to now be a total Husky family!

Harrison Wilson ’17

Ashley DuKatz ’20 recent single, “Waiting For”

Ashley DuKatz ’20 started her journey with music at Shore, and her first single, “Waiting For” (co-written and performed) was released everywhere that music is sold on October 22, 2021.

Abi Borggaard ’17