alumni | class notes been appointed the new academic principal. Watson has spent 17 years as a history teacher, the last nine years at Voc-Tech. He coached high school and college men’s basketball for 11 years, and was on the Dartmouth Select Board from 2009 to 2015.
THE 2000s
Katrina Semich ’11, MPA
Development Associate Marie Stopes International-US Katrina Semich’s passion for advocacy flourished during her undergraduate years at UMass Dartmouth. As a double major in English and Women’s and Gender Studies, she was inspired by Athena Mota, former Director of Advocacy and Communications at YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts, became involved with SouthCoast Serves, and volunteered to maintain and coordinate the campus garden. In 2013, Katrina decided to pursue a graduate degree and moved to Washington, DC, to obtain her Master's in Public Administration from American University. She graduated in 2015 with her Master’s, with a concentration in policy and program evaluation. Semich secured a position as a development associate with Marie Stopes International-US (MSIUS). Marie Stopes International, one of the largest international family planning organizations, gives some of the poorest and most vulnerable women access to family planning and reproductive healthcare. “It was through the connections that I made during my senior year at UMassD that gave me the opportunity to apply for my current position," she said. Katrina’s position focuses on new business development and grants management with U.S.-based private foundations, partner organizations, and individuals. She also is responsible for helping develop grassroots fundraising. "The best thing about working at Marie Stopes International is contributing to its impact," Semich said.
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Cathleen ColleranSantos ’00 of Taunton, MA, was recently named president of the American Nurses Association of Massachusetts. Jesse Green ’00 of Medway, MA, has transformed a collection of tree stumps into a wooden sculpture celebrating Boston area sports teams. Green, a professional sculptor whose use of a chainsaw earned him the nickname "The Machine," tiltled his latest work the “World Championship Tree.” Green transformed the four stumps into human fingers bearing championship rings for each of Massachusetts major sports teams: The Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins and New England Patriots. Green studied fine arts at UMass Dartmouth. Jason M. Karaffa ’01 of Greensboro, NC, works as the Legal Counsel at Volvo Financial Services. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2006. After law school, he worked in the New York offices of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP and DLA Piper LLP in their financial restructuring departments.
Adam Vareika ’01 of Raynham, MA, was appointed the assistant vice president for Child and Family Services at Seven Hills Rhode Island. Vareika brings a wealth of experience working with adults and children as a licensed independent clinical social worker. He is a diplomat in the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and is certified in education and as a school principal, special education administrator and adjustment counselor. Before coming to Seven Hills Rhode Island, Vareika served as assistant vice president of Behavioral Health Services at Child and Family Services of Newport. Emilio Cruz ’02 of Webster, MA, received an appointment to serve as a member of the Sex Offender Registry Board, and serves as an Adjunct Professor at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester. Stefanie K. Gazda, MS '02 of Salem, MA, earned her PhD from UMass Boston. She published a paper in Marine Mammal Science in March that shows that working with barrier dolphins lets divers catch more fish than they would alone. Dophins in Florida Bay trap fish inside rings of mud, which is one of the specialized foraging tactics found in different bottlenose dolphin populations. The Cedar Key dolphins Gazda studied may help explain why these different methods arise and how they spread. Do they simply depend on a dolphin
population’s habitat and prey? Or do they represent a kind of cultural tradition? Gazda hopes to find a job that will let her keep studying the dolphins of Cedar Key, FL and nearby waters. Susan J. Sylvia ’03, MAT ’07 of Acushnet, MA, an English teacher at the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, has been selected for two prestigious honors. Sylvia, a former administrator at New Bedford Public Schools and English and ELL department chairman and summer school director at Voc-Tech since 2010, has been chosen to be a member of the Department of Education preparation review team and has also been appointed a leadership mentor by the National Council of Teachers of English for the 2016-2017 school year. Nathan D. DiPerri ’04 of Lunenburg, MA, was a featured artist when the Lunenburg Library held a signing and discussion of his new collection of newspaper comic strips, My Guardian Grandpa. DiPerri has worked as a freelance illustrator, theater director and playwright. His illustrations have been featured in Cruising World magazine, and a stage play, Miss Wallace Rhymes With William, that was published by Heartland Plays Inc. Michael Carlozzi ’05 of Wareham, MA, was hired by the Town Administrator to the full-time position as chief administrator of the Wareham Public Library. Carlozzi, formerly worked as the technology