Class Notes

"Thirty-five years after helping put together UPrep's first girls' varsity soccer team, I traded my cleats for a pickleball paddle. Pickleball was just a weird game we used to play in the courtyards at Temple Beth Am. It has finally made its way to Ojai, CA, where I live (and play) with my husband, Alan, and our dog, Luna."

Amy recently moved to Hong Kong with her family to continue her work as a school counselor at Hong Kong Academy following nine years at Seattle Country Day School. Amy's husband, Todd, teaches third grade and her two children are in 8th and 10th grade. Working in a small school with a close knit community, Amy is reminded of her time at UPrep. She is grateful for the learning and guidance that her teachers provided and the lifelong friendships that were formed in the classroom and on the pickleball court. As an educator and a mom, she is hoping to provide a similar opportunity for her own children.

"As my hobby/side job of private chef/whole pig roaster is on hiatus, I am spending my time down here in the Willamette Valley expanding my other DIY skills. I have been exploring hand-papermaking and made my own pulp beater, press, and molds. Next, I will be learning to carve wood blocks and making ink from the oak galls here on the property or from my own home, and I want to make charcoal to do some printing."

"I opened a custom gluten-free baking company earlier this spring - butter + sugar (www.buttersugar.net). Inspired to learn to bake AND to learn to bake gluten-free by my son's celiac diagnosis nine years ago, I've finally taken my love of all things sweet to market. I currently deliver my baked goods to more than 10 coffee shops in Fairfield County, CT, and enjoy baking custom cakes for my family and friends. Plans for the future include packaging and selling to gourmet groceries, and maybe, maybe, someday a retail shop. Wish I could ship to Seattle!"

"I am living in Seattle with my kids, both current students at UPrep. (Dante is in the Class of 2024 and Giovanna is in the Class of 2026.) As the principal of an elementary school in Seattle, I am in the midst of remote/distance learning with my school community and we are all staying safe and healthy. I am grateful to have my family and friends nearby and I feel so lucky for my own children attending UPrep to continue their learning during this time. As a proud UPrep alumna, it's a lot of fun to meet many former Pumas as they come through my school! I have also seen a number of former students at UPrep, which has also been fun. Looking forward to getting the class of 1992 together for our 30-year reunion!"

"Hello, everyone! I'm honored and humbled to announce that my new children's book, Umijoo, has just won the Nautilus Book Awards gold medal for mid-grade fiction, The Nautilus Book Awards are some of the most highly regarded awards in modern American literature. They specialize in acknowledging and elevating "Books for a Better World," which is all that Umijoo has ever striven to be. To all the old friends and UPrep classmates who supported the Umijoo project: Thank you all so much. It never would have happened withouth you!"

Austen lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two daughters, Lucy (7) and Selah (5). She teaches ESL to refugee women in nearby Clarkston - the most diverse square mile in America. If you're ever stranded in the ATL airport, get in touch!

(www.andrewjarvispoet.com)

Andrew has been writing relentlessly since graduating. His last three poetry titles, "The Strait," "Landslide," and "Blood Moon," have earned a total of 12 literary honors. He recently received silver medals in poetry from the Nautilus Book Awards and the Colorado and Florida publisher's awards. Andrew earned his M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and encourages everyone to pursue advanced degrees to fulfill lifelong dreams. He recently purchased a solar-powered home in Orlando, Florida, and spends his free time reading and writing in the sun.

Elisheba has been an integral partner in the recent founding of the Wa Na Wari black arts space in Seattle's Central District. The building, a classic Seattle Craftsman home, has a rich history and now provides a space for artists. The name "Wa Na Wari" means "Our Home" in the Kalabari language of Southern Nigeria. "Art is the convener," says Elisheba. If you would like to learn more about this organization, check out www.wanawari.org.

Teresa traveled to Seoul to visit friends and central Vietnam to trek through the world's largest cave in 2019. She had the pleasure of hosting her former UPrep English teacher and mentor-turned-friend Stephen Thomas for dinner when he visited the States. She also published blogs on the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides website as well as essays in Entropy, Queen Mob's Teahouse, and Berfrois. A collaboration with musician Gregory Giles on horror-film depictions of climate change appeared in the anthology Berfrois: The Book, which was blurbed by environmental activist Lucy Lawless, aka Xena: Warrior Princess. 

Bryce lives in Montana where he is a rancher, conservationist, and author. He is also the Field Director of People and Carnivores whose mission is to restore natural carnivore populations to the Northern Rockies. His passions lie with sustainable ranching and coexisting with our natural habitat. 

In early Spring 2019, Bryce published a book entitled Down from the Mountain. In it, he chronicles the persistent battle between ranchers and the local, natural carnivores while following the life of a local Grizzly Bear sow. 

After earning a PhD in psychology from Florida State University, Andy did postdoctoral research on the social psychology of moral decision-making at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2018, he moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, where he continues his research and teaches as a lecturer at the University of Cantebury. In his new country, he has started surfing and mountain biking, and also enjoys hiking the many nature trails.

"My life has changed more in the last four years than ever before! I met my fiance, Mark Keller, while working together at Seattle's Olson Kundig. Yearning for fresh experiences, we traveled the country looking for landscapes and communities in which we could build a prototype of our patent-pending home-building technique. We spent some time with Mark's family in Maine and Virginia. Highlights included camping and hiking across beautiful country in Arizona and Utah.

In 2018, we started our own architecture studio, TYP, with the goal to design lean, resilient, healthy homes - we support the 2030 Challenge and perform life cycle assessment for every project. We are building our own zero-carbon, zero-energy home in Roslyn, Washington.

I copyedited articles for the spring ARCADE magazine. I've enjoyed sinking my mind into language and the mechanics of writing - a passion I've nursed since UPrep days with Ms. Ghavamian, Ms. Patella, Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Duxbury.

My dear mother, Susan Aldrich, passed away suddenly in February; I can say with sadness that the world is a different place without one's mother in it and I miss her terribly. 

We currently live on Capitol Hill; reach out to us for anything, architecture or otherwise!"

"At the very end of 2019, my son, Wesley, was born! He is my first child, and so far he is happy, curious, funny, wonderful, and healthy. He is already a massive Seahawks fan and I could not ask for a better son. Besides that, I just finished my 11th year teaching high school math and computer science in Southern California. I have also become obsessed with golf. Over the past year, I got to play at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach, and Nick Peterson '04 and I went on a three-day golf trip that we are hoping to make a yearly tradition. Life is good!"

"I became a self-employed artist in the fall, and I've just hit a milestone of 50 paintings! It's a scary time to be entering the arts, but there's nothing I'd rather be doing. Daily painting has been an anchor, and posting my work has been a great way to connect with the Seattle community and with artists from around the world while everyone is at home. You can see my work at www.cleopatratheartist.com." 

"On May 16, I graduated (virtually) from Tulane University School of Medicine, receiving both my MD as well as a master's in public health and tropical medicine. Even though it was virtual, my dad was still able to hood me in person, and I received the best surprise: video messages of congrats from my best friends and fellow former Pumas, Colette Kent, Hannah Asher, Nina Rabins, and Erin Bosetti (all class of 2008)! In July, I started residency as a pediatrician at the University of Tennessee in Memphis."

Sam was sworn into office as Commissioner at the Port of Seattle in January 2020.

"Kia ora from New Zealand! For the last two years, I've been sailing around the Pacific on my 55 ft. catamaran Zephyr after leaving my job managing Apple Watch engineering. First up, I sailed to Alaska to go get myself into some trouble with ice and bears; mission accomplished! During the winter, I sailed down to Mexico, where I spent most of my time in the famous Sea of Cortez and Banderas Bay. Last summer, I rustled together a crew of six adventurers, including Johnny Valencia '08, to sail across the Pacific via French Polynesia and Tonga. Now I'm in New Zealand, soaking up the friendly culture and giving Zephyr some much needed TLC after having sailed her more than 20k miles since 2015. Check out the voyage on Instagram: @voyageofthezephyr."

"I can't believe it's been a year since I graduated from Agnes Scott College. Since then, I have been working at Emory University while I study for the MCAT and apply to an MD/PhD program. I am a research specialist in the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology and I conduct experiments using electrophysiology that focus on human diseases. Since this pandemic, we have been busy working to upgrade our lab to a Biosafety Level 2+ in preparation for testing COVID-19 patients' biofluids with high throughput and robotic electrophysiology assays."

"I recently graduated from Whitman College with a bachelor of arts in environmental sociology (class of 2019) at the same time as many fellow University Prep classmates. In the year since I've graduated, I moved to Oahu, Hawaii, and worked as PADI Divemaster at a small shop called Aaron's Dive Shop before getting my PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor certification with them in February. Although I miss the rain and home, the water here is a little bit warmer and clearer than the Puget Sound."

"I graduated from the University of Oregon in June and have accepted a job at Artisan Electric in Seattle as a solar sales consultant! Looking forward to what is to come. Go Puma forever!"

Grace graduated with a business degree from the University of San Diego in May 2020. Her San Diego-based company BootyCamp USA focuses on personal training and group fitness classes. While finishing her degree, Grace also worked for Rebecca Alexander, an author and motivational speaker.