Th ose wh o Soar

Journey Malinda Bryant

What higher praise for an academic institution than to inspire a student to be a teacher? For a student’s experience to be so positive and inspirational, that she be moved to pursue that path for herself speaks volumes. Such is the story of Madeleine Seidner. In Madeleine, The Pegasus School sparked a love of learning, but more broadly, a love of the educational environment as a whole. She credits the overwhelming positive attitude of the students—for learning, for intelligence, and for their school in general as a motivating force. “At Pegasus,” Madeleine says, “it is absolutely cool to be smart. Students don’t try to hide their intelligence or academic abilities.” Recognizing this is not the norm, she

also praises how much Pegasus students love their school, and support each other’s unique and individual gifts. “Pegasus is a learning community of smart and unique people, creative teachers and learning opportunities that definitely inspired me to want to be an educator.”

Madeleine graduated from Pegasus with the class of 2005 and went on to continued success at Mater Dei High School. At Mater Dei, in addition to acting as Editor-inChief of their student newspaper, Madeleine supported her community by founding the Operation Smile Club with fellow Pegasus alumna, Kendra Eaton ’05. Operation Smile is a non-profit organization helping to fund life-changing surgeries for children in need. She was honored for her hard work with a service award for performing over 400 community service hours during her high school career. During this time, and through her charity work, Madeleine’s love of working with children and helping those less fortunate continued to blossom.

After graduating from Mater Dei in 2009, Madeleine went on to Gonzaga University where she majored in Communications and Public Relations with a minor in Sociology. She intended to pursue a career in public relations for non-profit organizations. After various PR internships and a short stint in the corporate world, Madeleine quickly realized the corporate environment was the wrong path for her. Her passion was working with students, and she belonged in a classroom. She followed her heart, and obtained her Master of Arts in Teaching Secondary English at the University of Southern California.

In regards to her gravitating toward teaching English specifically, Madeleine cites her love of reading that was fostered and nurtured at Pegasus. She has fond memories of Mrs. Gorsage reading to her class from The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler in the fifth grade. Madeleine believes “being a reader makes a person a lifelong learner.” She revels in her position as a freshman English teacher to be able to bring a similar love of reading to her own students.

Returning to her roots, Madeleine has been teaching English at Mater Dei since 2015. In addition to teaching English and Honors English to freshman, she is also the Lower Level Class Activities Advisor for freshmen and sophomore students.

Michael Rouleau, Pegasus Class of 2011, has taken the Pegasus motto “Where Bright Minds Soar” to heart. As an astronautical engineer, he is reaching for the stars on a daily basis. And while the connection between elementary and middle school education to space engineering may seem tenuous at best, Michael credits The Pegasus School with many of the driving forces behind his success.

Michael believes that Pegasus taught him to be proactive in seeking out the help he needs. Teachers were not only available, but students were encouraged to interact directly with them in finding answers to their problems. He learned not to be intimidated in interacting with people of all skill sets and levels of authority, and not to be afraid to admit when he needed help. This self-advocacy has helped him in academia and on into the workplace.

Michael also gained an understanding at Pegasus that everyone learns differently. Recalling struggles with memory and focus early on, Michael remembers Ms. Olivadoti’s third grade as a turning point. He recalls, “From her class, I was able to better understand my own limitations and strengths and... to balance them.” Not only has this helped to understand how he best learns, it has expanded his awareness of how to communicate best with others.

Perhaps most importantly, Pegasus left Michael with the priceless gift of a willingness to try and fail. The atmosphere at this school encourages students to try new things, to follow their curiosities, and to take the path less travelled. Michael says, “I think a lot of the biggest and most significant moves I have made in my life...have stemmed from my willingness to put myself out there in a position where I don’t always know the outcome and have to trust my gut instinct.”

After graduating from Pegasus, Michael went on to Sage Hill School, where he focused on math and physics classes and was the founding member of the Robotics Team. From there he matriculated to the University of Southern California majoring in Astronautical Engineering. While at USC, it was his decision to join the USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory that has shaped his career path.

The USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory is an undergraduate organization wherein students design, build, and fly the largest rockets ever operated by any university group—recognized as one of the foremost engineering teams in the United States. Michael was honored to be a part of the program last Spring that constructed a rocket that was the first student-designed rocket in the world to successfully reach space. For Michael, this project has defined his journey.

Michael is currently working with the Northrup Grumman Corporation as a propulsion manufacturing engineer on several large space programs including the James Webb Space Telescope. He is also pursuing his masters degree in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Management – originally at USC, and continuing at Purdue University in the Spring.

For further information on this project, please see their website at www.uscrpl.com.

Malinda Bryant, alumni parent to Rachel (’14), Jackson (’16), and Carter (’19), is a long-standing supporter, volunteer, and advocate for the Pegasus community. Contact: malindab@mac.com

Benjamin Jenkins

Kellee Kim '04 on the most recent season of the Emmy-winning CBS show, Survivor, which aired last fall.

02 Alene Tchekmedyian ’02 is a writer for TheLos Angeles Times who covers the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Previously, she wrote about the county’s criminal courts and breaking news throughout California. Before joining The L.A. Times in 2016, Tchekmedyian reported on crime and policing for the Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader. Tchekmedyian grew up in Huntington Beach and graduated from UCLA.

04 Kellee Kim ’04 earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University

Sue-Ling Choquette '11 at her graduation from the University of California, Davis.

of Pennsylvania. She focuses on acquisitions and life sciences real estate at LPC West, the west coast arm of Lincoln Property Company, a nationwide real estate company. Prior to the Wharton School, Kim graduated from Harvard and helped launch a biotech-focused hedge fund, EcoR1 Capital. She then worked in business development at one of the hedge fund's portfolio companies, where the company was able to partner with Allergan for $50M upfront and over $2B in potential commercial and regulatory milestones. Kim was a contestant on the most recent season of the Emmy-winning CBS show, Survivor, which aired last fall. She works in LA, is an advocate for wilderness conservation and gender equality, and spends her free time skiing and playing Settlers of Catan.

07 Sareen Tchekmedyian ’07 is in the national touring cast of Broadway’s musical Anastasia. She understudies the role of Odette and also covers seven different ensemble dancers in that show. Tchekmedyian is a classically trained ballet dancer who has performed with the Sarasota Ballet and Houston Ballet II.

09 Jason Brandt ’09 moved from Georgia to Stamford, Connecticut to work as a full-stack data engineer for the World Wrestling Entertainment Corporation.

10 Sarah Groux ’10 founded her own social media marketing and management business called Innate Social. Groux has made a tremendous impact with many businesses, such as Disney’s Star Wars brand, Shot X, and others using social media. Her agency experience has broadened to food and beverages, and restaurants and hospitality, but Groux is open to working in any industry.

11 Sue-Ling Choquette ’11 began work at VICO this past October as a project coordinator and executive assistant for Brian Cullen, who is the president and CEO at VICO and the chair of the Pegasus Board of Trustees. Choquette supports market research of project leads and opportunities. She also manages VICO’s customer relationship management software by reviewing and updating it with city council agendas and meeting

Alex Christiano '15 at New York University.

minutes concerning the projects in development. In addition, Choquette supports Cullen with administrative tasks, like accounting and calendar scheduling, and organizing files and folders in Google Drive. It has been exciting for Choquette to learn about the infrastructure industry.

12 Cameron Hamidi ’12 is completing his third year at Cornell University in New York. Hamidi majors in computer science and has developed two cell phone apps. Hamidi completed a paid internship last summer as a programmer. Aside from English, he is

Lauren Lilly '15 in her freshman dorm room at Oregon University.

L-R Danika McKee '15, Lauryn Lilly '15, Elena Plumb '15 and Linda Cullen '15 last spring at the Mater Dei Senior Musical.

Andrew Smith '15 at the 2019 US Youth Rowing National Championship.

Nicole Weber '15 was recruited as an athlete for Berkeley’s NCAA Division 1 Women’s Rowing team.

fluent in Japanese and Spanish. Hamidi can also converse in Korean, Farsi, Africans, and French.

Erik Suh ’12 plays lacrosse at St. John’s University in New York City and has been named one of ten semifinalists for the prestigious Arthur Ashe Jr. Male Athlete of the Year. The award, established by Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine, honors minority scholar-athletes who excel in their athletic pursuits, maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5, are at least a sophomore academically, and have been active on their campuses or in their communities. Of the 1,000 scholar athletes nominated, one male

L-R: Maya Jaffe '15, Daniel Fishman '15, Alex Desbans '15 and Josh Cheadle '15 at the Annual Scholarship Awards Dinner, hosted by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.

and one female athlete will be selected Sports Scholar of the Year.

Suh has won 40 face-offs over twoplus seasons at St. John's University. In the classroom, Suh maintains a 3.968 GPA in working towards a combined BS/MBA in Finance; is enrolled in the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society since 2018; has been a member of the BIG EAST AllAcademic Team throughout his time at the university; and was appointed to the Dean's List in 2016-2017 and 2017–2018.

15 Alex Christiano ’15 is a freshman at New York University (NYU) in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan. He is majoring in politics and Spanish and hopes to work within global food politics. Christiano was recently featured in an article in the Washington Square News for his love of cooking. As an avid chef, Christiano enjoys cooking often in his dorm and

experiments with any ingredients on hand. Christiano began posting recipes on Instagram that provided tips and tricks for simple meals for college students, especially those who lived in the dorms. You can follow Christiano @christianocooks.

Lauren Lilly ’15 graduated from Mater Dei during the spring of 2019 and is now a freshman at Oregon University. She is majoring in political science with a long-term plan to attend law school. Lilly joined the sorority Gamma Phi Beta and was appointed as the sorority's community service chair. When she's not studying, Lilly enjoys going to the university's incredible recreation center and attends football and basketball games.

Sydney Little ’15 began attending Rice University in Houston last August after graduating from Corona del Mar High School last June. Little is excited to become familiar with the new city. She is grateful to Pegasus teachers (Mrs. Wilder, Mr. Swiger) for instilling in her a love of language and history, which she plans to study.

Andrew Smith ’15 and his teammates at Newport Aquatic Center in Newport Beach won the gold medal last June at the 2019 US Youth Rowing National Championship in Sarasota, Florida. Not only did his 8-man lightweight rowing boat team win the national championship, they also set a new time record for the course in the event. Smith, a Sage Hill School alumnus, attends Colgate University in New York.

Nicole Weber ’15 is a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley. After attending rowing camps at UCLA, Stanford and Cal Berkeley, she was recruited as an athlete for Berkeley’s NCAA Division 1 Women’s Rowing team.

Sierra Green '16 at the Student Enhancement in Earth and Space Science internship at NASA last summer.

She discovered the sport of rowing following 13 years of pre-professional ballet training, which included merit scholarships to elite ballet programs at the Kirov Academy of Washington, DC, Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle and the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center in NYC. The transition to rowing allowed her to pivot her strong physical and technical skills to this demanding and exciting team sport.

Lauren Sognefest ’18 won her sixth consecutive International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation PanKids title.

Recently, at the Head of the American regatta, Weber rowed in the winning boat as part of Cal’s Freshman Eight team at Gold River, CA. She is enjoying campus life and the rigorous academics provided by Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources.

Maya Jaffe ’15, Daniel Fishman ’15, Alex Desbans ’15 and Josh Cheadle ’15 were four of the five students nominated for academic awards at the 58th Annual Scholarship Awards Dinner, hosted by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. The yearly event honors academic excellence and community service from students who attend the three high schools in Newport Beach — Corona del Mar (CDM), Newport Harbor and Sage Hill School. Students from these high schools were honored for their high scholastic achievements and community involvement. Local businesses are also provided with the opportunity to show their support of their academic efforts.

16 Sierra Green ’16 was selected for the prestigious and extremely competitive Student Enhancement in Earth and Space Science (SEES) summer internship at NASA last summer. Out of 600 applicants, she was offered one of the 54 internship positions available. Green traveled to The University of Texas at UT’s Center for Space Research and worked with scientists and engineers to conduct authentic research from data received from NASA’s earth observing satellites. She also designed Mars habitats, lunar exploration and analyzed images from the International Space Station. Green conducted hands-on activities, field investigations, attended presentations by NASA scientists and engineers, and worked on various NASA missions. Sierra will attend MIT in the fall, 2020.

Miya and Hana Stauss ’16 launched the first coding club at Sage Hill School, OC Coders club. The Stauss twins had an initial membership of 85+ students. The club has developed a 4-week free coding curriculum for four sessions throughout the year. Topics of study include Python, Java and Javascript—all taught by UCI graduates. In addition, OC Coders hosted two free Hour of Code events at Sage and had over 100 fourth- through eighth-grade students attend. The Stauss twins pursue OC Coders because they want to inspire students of all ages to try coding. In 2018, OC Coders hosted an “Hour of Code Faculty” event, during which the students gave coding lessons to the teachers and staff at Sage. The Stauss sisters believe coding is the language of the future and their goal is to provide