CLASS NOTES leader, delving into a wide array of interests and forming connections with many people. In the fall, Kelly was an integral part of the crosscountry team and played a lead role in the fall production Our Town. Additionally, he was a member of the Varsity Baseball team that won the 2019 New England Championship. Just less than 24 hours after his Winch graduation, Kelly drove to San Diego, CA where he interned for The Studio. Growing his name in the film industry, he went on to help shoot for the viral college account on YouTune - ImShmacked, with Major Lazer. Kelly began the 201920 school year at the University of Evansville where he was to continue his cross country and baseball careers, but ultimately, after being contacted by numerous artists and professionals in the industry, decided to pursue his dream of filmmaking. Kelly worked with David East while touring in Boston and recently returned from a month of filming in Puerto Rico. The short film he made while there will be released this spring for a travel company on YouTube. This summer, Kelly will film a cypher video in NYC and travel to other parts of the country to film! Raye Parks ‘19 is a freshman at the Fashion Institute of Technology where she is studying Fashion business management with a Sustainable minor. “I’m also I’m a fashion week volunteer for the school and other agencies. My ideal career would be a stylist for either tv runway or red carpet!” Rebecca Levine ‘19 is a freshman at Clark University where she is studying Comparative Literature
and Theatre Arts. She participates with Clark Musical Theatre as a stage manager. She has also written for Clark’s newspaper The Scarlett. Stefanie Caban ‘19 is a freshman at Franklin Pierce University where she is studying Criminal Justice. She is involved with Women’s Ice Hockey. A Cum Laude graduate of Winchendon, Michael Mills ‘19 is an acting major at the College of Fine Arts Department of Theatre at Texas Christian University. In only his first year, he was cast for roles in TCU’s productions of Sister Act and A Streetcar Named Desire. Michael is also a defenseman on TCU’s Division II Hockey Team, scoring his first collegiate goal on a slap shot blast from the point with 5:38 remaining in the 3rd period of TCU’s final regular season game to give the Frogs a 5-2 win. A teammate retrieved the goalscoring puck, which his teammates presented to Michael following the game. Mills was honored with Player of the Game!
FORMER FACULTY
FORMER FACULTY Raman and Alex Magay have been enjoying life in Greater Boston after many memorable years at the Winch! Alex is now the Director of Development and Alumni Affairs at Learning Prep School in West Newton, MA. Founded in 1970, LPS has established a wellearned reputation for providing a safe and supportive learning environment for students with complex language-based learning profiles. Raman is now a personal trainer, yoga teacher, health coach, and structural bodyworker and has been working with her clients online during the pandemic. They both enjoyed their vacation to Spain last summer and had fun catching up with Winch alumni Albert Roma ‘98, Moises Segura ‘00 and Jesus Vela Iglesias ’15. In February, Alex had fun climbing Mount Monadnock with his brother Chris, Elliot Harvey and Sam Johnson, and they had a great visit with Dan and Travis Shattuck after their climb. Alex and Raman would like to congratulate the entire Class of 2020 for all their hard work and wish them all well in their future endeavors. Boyan Hadjisotirou is living in Singapore and is the coach of the Sinagapore Tennis National team. He and his brother Ludmil ‘Udo” get to see each other a few times a year, mostly in Bulgaria. Dave Leahy wrote in: “Since I left Winchendon I continued to teach history for 12 years at a small private school in Quincy, MA called The Woodward School for Girls. I have continued to coach
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soccer. I have coached club soccer for all kid ages and for varsity high school teams, Thayer Academy and currently for Whitman-Hanson High School. I actually gave up teaching a year ago in order to coach full time. I currently work for a soccer club, The Galway Rovers, all year round and coach several teams, including my high school team. I live in Norwell, MA with my wife and two kids. I keep in touch with a lot of old Winch peeps from the 2003-2006 time period on Facebook. The Winch was where I started my adult journey. I remember this time fondly and how important my working there was to my life since.” After nine years of teaching physics, Harold “Hal” Pederson says that he “returned to playing guitar and singing folk music for several years, mostly at local “open mics” and a few small concerts.” He made several CDs during that time, which anyone from the Winch can have for free; just email him your mailing address at: Halped06@ verizon.net. He also has a Youtube channel with most of the songs on it: Halped06. We recently caught up with Vernon Wright who shared: “Teaching at Winchendon was my first professional job; I was 26 and recently married. I taught ESL and public speaking. My wife Kat, infant son Owen, and I lived in “Cottage”, an all-girls dorm. High points included the close-knit family feeling among the faculty and going out to eat at a Korean restaurant with South Korean students. I am still close friends with Elliot Harvey and occasionally hear from Elspeth
Wooster-Bigalow or Giselle and Sarkis Boyadjian. I taught for one academic year before pursuing a Masters of Divinity at Andover Newton Theological School. For the past 20 years, I have been a pastor of various Congregational, UCC churches from Helena MT to Attleboro MA. The ministry has led me to many exciting vistas, from writing speeches for senators, to doing justice work with local police forces. I am now serving a parish in lovely Scituate MA, on the sea. Kat and I have three children. Owen (23), River (19) and my daughter Brynn (15). They have all excelled at competitive swimming. When not pastoring, or helping out at swim meets, I enjoy sailing our small cruiser on the ocean with family and friends. We continue to be Siamese cat lovers.” Pam Blair wrote and shared: “Jack and I moved to Verona, VA, after I retired in 2016. We love living close to two of our four kids and five of our nine grandkids. Being able to spend time with them is a joy! I also spend my time walking, reading, teaching Sunday School and a Bible study, playing bridge, doing yoga, taking online courses, and my most recent avocation, oil painting. Joanna Draugsvold helped me to get started while I was still at The Winch, and she still offers really useful suggestions. Jack and I took a cruise down the Seine to Normandy a couple of years ago. That was a place that we had both hoped to see, and it was a very moving experience. I’ve also traveled twice to Daejeon, South Korea, to visit our daughter Annie, who is the literacy specialist at an international school. On the second trip, we also spent a week in Thailand, and I
took a side trip to Seoul, where I spent time with HaGyong Lee ‘06 and Ki Woong Han ‘08. They were delightful hosts, and I had a very memorable time with them. Jack and I continue to spend our summers on Prince Edward Island, where I love to swim, kayak, and bike. I miss the School and my friends there, but I love retirement!”
Painting by Pam Blair
Peter and Kristin Mantius moved to VT in 2014 when Peter started teaching history, working in a boys’ dorm, and coaching girls’ tennis at St. Johnsbury Academy. In 2018, Kristin joined SJA as an English teacher and girls’ soccer coach. They live in the neighboring town of Danville and have two children: Willa (7) and Wyatt (6). Kristin and Peter last visited The Winch in 2015 and talked with Dan Chretien and had lunch with the Giusti family. They saw Sam Johnson crushing the Vermont City Marathon in 2016, had dinner with the Leahy family in August 2017, and ran into Elliot Harvey hiking Mt. Lafayette in November 2017. They spend time with former faculty member
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