Alumni Stay Connected

Darrin Revitz ’92 and Nate Ahment ’98 started their term as CEE Alumni Council chairs this fall. We checked in with Darrin and Nate about their time as Center students and why they stay involved on campus to this day.

What is a favorite CEE memory of yours?

Nate Ament: I’ve been a Dallas Cowboys fan for as long as I can remember. When I was in 6th grade, Emmitt Smith (my childhood idol) happened to be visiting campus. Reveta, knowing how big of a fan I am, pulled me aside and took me into her office where she introduced us. I haven’t washed that hand since.

Darrin Revitz: Some of my favorite memories involve Gar Burke’s encouragement of my love of performance. I was involved with ‘Lullaby of Broadway’ for many years – one year, during our production of Oliver a student had to drop out and I was asked to replace him in the role of Mr. Bumble. I was a second grade female and gladly strapped a pillow to my stomach, put my hair in a hat and was thrilled to have the opportunity to prove myself. Gar instilled a love, confidence, and fearlessness on stage that I still carry with me today; I’ve worked professionally on stage and in voiceover since I graduated from college.

What inspires you to stay involved at CEE?

NA: My best friends to this day are not those I met in college or at work. Rather, they’re all the kids I grew up with at The Center. I feel so fortunate to have relationships like these that span over 30 years. When I walk onto campus, I’m immediately transported back to the “good old days” filled with hot dog and pizza lunches, capture the flag, music with Gar, computers with Scott, and of course, competing as hard as possible for that coveted Olympic medal! To still have teachers at the school who taught me 25 years ago, not only recognize me and remember my name, but recall anecdotes about me as a child, is pretty special. I’ve now been a member of the Alumni Council for many years and am incredibly excited to currently be serving as co-chair with Darrin.

DR: What inspires me the most to stay involved at The Center is to give back to a community that gave me so much. The school has changed greatly since my time there, but the foundation has remained the same: incredible teachers offering a second to none education, helping children learn to work together but not be afraid to stand out. It’s an extended family I am so grateful for and I appreciate how special it is that some of the faculty were teachers when I was a student (which was a very long time ago)! I also enjoy connecting with other alumni at this point in our lives – we all have a common bond even if we didn’t know each other while at school. It’s wonderful to form these new connections later in life.

What is the Alumni Council up to this year?

NA: The Alumni Council is making it a priority to get alumni more involved. Whether you’re a recent graduate or someone who hasn’t been back to campus for some time, we want to create exciting opportunities for everyone to reconnect with former classmates, as well as the school itself. Stay tuned, lots of fun updates to come!

DR: Nate and I are very excited for many of the events in the new year including the Graffiti party prior to Building B coming down (that was our “new” building in 1989!) and the ten year celebration of the CEE Poker Night.

We hope that with the changes on campus, alumni will come back to see for themselves what the future of the Center looks like. We also are working to establish networking sessions between notable Center community members and alumni who might be interested in their career field. We know we have incredible resources within this community and know so many people would benefit from being on either side of the table!

Alumni: Have an idea? Want to get involved? Please contact Laura Maher, Director of Advancement, at MaherL@cee-school.org.

ALUMNI GIVE BACK

Created by The Center’s Alumni Council in 1998, the Alumni Community Service Award aims to strengthen the connection between CEE and our alumni while continuing our commitment to fostering engaged and conscious members of our community.

The program awards a $1,000 stipend to a selected student in grades 9-12 to fund a project directly or to provide monetary support while the students are volunteering.

At the Alumni Council Meeting this January, the 2018 Alumni Community Service Award recipients joined us to share their projects and how the grant from CEE helped support their efforts. We are so proud of our alumni, and can’t wait to see how they continue to change the world!

Ethan Hodess ‘14 and Bryce Louie ‘14 planned an event to raise funds for the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition. Their CEE grant helped secure a venue and through sponsorships and ticket sales, they raised over $5,000 which the Food Coalition was able to use for Thanksgiving meals, a new laundry service, sleeping bags, and other critical supplies.

Matthew Burkow ‘13 volunteered with children at The Help Group, making lasting connections with kids with special needs who face autism spectrum disorder and other attention, developmental, and learning challenges. Matthew explained how the CEE core value of inclusion helped him build a strong bond with the students.

Mason Maxam ‘15 used the funds to support The Pad Project, a student-led nonprofit she is involved in that seeks to bring access to safe menstrual products to girls around the world, providing “pad machines” to these communities and building awareness through their award-winning documentary, Period. End of Sentence.

Will Toth ‘13 spent the summer helping kids in the community make their own guitars from scratch. Through the Making it Forward program he started in 2016, children met regularly to work on building a guitar, providing an opportunity to learn the value of making something themselves and exploring the art and science of music making.