Faculty & Staff

Kiski Welcomes New Hires and Returns

STEVEN BRACHNA is our new Network Administrator. Steven comes to Kiski from the Smail Auto Group, where he was an assistant IT administrator. He is a US Army veteran, who served for seven years. Steven lives off campus.

BRAMBLE BURAN was most recently the Director of Enrollment and Financial Aid at The Albany Academies in Albany, NY. Mrs. Buran earned her biology degree at Bowdoin College. She started her career here at Kiski, as the Assistant Director of Communications and Director of Public Relations. Her talents took her to positions in Oregon, Florida, and New York. Bramble returns as the Associate Head of School for Enrollment Management. DAVID “BO” BURAN has also returned to Kiski from The Albany Academies, where he was the Science Department Chair. He earned his degree in biochemistry at Bowdoin College. Bo will serve as the Chairman of the Science Department, teaching chemistry and physics, and will be the Head Football Coach. You can read more about the Burans’ return on page 33.

MITCHELL CZERNIAK is our new Assistant Director of Admissions. Mitchell is a graduate of Carthage College with a M.Ed. in higher education. He received his B.A. degree in psychology from the College of Wooster. Mitchell and Catherine Benton make their home in Hoag and will be married in December 2020.

CHANGING ROLES AS OF JULY 1, 2020

After managing the Admissions Office for two years, Adam Schapiro will share Associate Head of School duties with Mark Novom. Together they manage daily operations, internal school programs, discipline, and residential life.

Ryan John has assumed the role of Director of Strategic Initiatives. He now oversees all external programs, including international partnerships with other schools and summer auxiliary activities.

Faculty Plaudits

FACULTY LED ART COLLABORATION Along with Mrs. Patricia Argyros, Carter Fuhrer ’23, Antonio Stabile ’23, and Tony Ye ’23 worked to create a multi-medium piece of art to enter for a show at Rowe Gallery at the Greensburg Art Center. The painting is called "Pattern Splash." To enter the exhibit, the artwork had to be created with a member of the Greensburg Art

(Left to right): Antonio Stabile '23, Carter Fuhrer '23, Mrs. Argyros, and Tony Ye '23 display their combined efforts. Center, which Mrs. Argyros is. Carter, Antonio, and Tony did their part by drawing black and white patterns on paper using photos as research for different interesting patterns. The patterns were cut out along with other papers and the class laid out the composition of the painting on the canvas. Mrs. Argyros finished the piece by connecting the patterns and adding her own ideas. The Collaboration exhibit was on display from February 2nd until the end of March.

CLYDE SLEASE TEACHING PRIZE Created by Clyde H. Slease III ’62 in appreciation for the dedicated teachers who touched his life while he was a Kiski student, this award is given to a faculty member, who in the opinion of his or her colleagues, has made a significant impact on the boys he or she teaches through creative and innovative pedagogical practices, solid knowledge of subject matter and sincere interest in the students. This year’s winner, is Mr. Gino Colella. Mr. Colella creatively incorporates the 350acre Kiski campus as a living classroom. He is also active with the Kiski Clay Breakers and Kiski Sportsmen Society. Mr. Colella created an innovative Prezi detailing our local ecology that can be found at bit.ly/ColellaPrezi.

Mrs. Carla Ross (left)and Mrs. Leslie Poston (right) attending the People of Color Conference.

Mr. Esteban Vazquez (center) takes a group of Kiski Boys to the movies.

Mr. Tyler Hawkins (center) enjoys driving practice at Top Golf with a few Kiski Boys on a weekend trip.

Mr. Andy Scott '85 teaches woodworking skills to Jude Gardner '23.

Professional Development

In the last seven months, the Kiski faculty has navigated the challenges of teaching through Covid-19 safety protocols with aplomb. When the decision was made at spring break to finish the year online, the faculty underwent intense training in-house guided by Mr. Brendan Moriarty ’86, Mr. Marcus Muster, Dr. Craig Olear, and Mr. Brad Kwiatek. This training focused on the new technology involved as well as the best practices for online learning. This multi-day training ensured that the faculty was ready to export the best of their teaching to the virtual space, but it also focused on our students and how to make them comfortable in the classroom. These discussions became reality as the training began for the ONE Kiski program. Faculty participated in an intensive online course for teachers with online students and then trained together again for in-house professional development specific to our goals. This successful preparation has led to a strong start to our academic year.

Adaptations to our program were not the only events. The faculty also met several times with Mr. Malcolm Thomas, Program Director for Reaching Black Male Mentoring and Manhood Development in Pittsburgh, in Authentic Educator workshops with a goal to help students and those who work with students to have greater effectiveness starting in early 2020. That training will continue throughout the year.

Mr. Gino Colella continues his stellar performance toward his Master’s Degree at Slippery Rock University. Mr. Gregory M. Forsythe is pursuing his doctoral degree at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

During the first week of December, Mrs. Carla Ross and Mrs. Leslie Poston attended the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference in Seattle, WA. This year’s conference theme, 1619. 2019. Before. Beyond. Amplifying our Intelligence to Liberate, Co-create and Thrive, commemorated the 400 years since the first British ship carrying captured Angolans arrived in North America, initiating enslavement of Black African people. The conference provided a full schedule of presentations and workshops to help educators build more diversity, equity and inclusion at schools like Kiski.