’00

10th Reunion: October 8–10, 2010!

Jon Conant opened The Hive Cape Ann, a center for art, in Rockport, Mass. He describes The Hive as a working studio, gallery event space, and clubhouse. Jon founded Everlution Forms, a company featuring objects he makes from reclaimed wood. “Now, I’m starting to do more one­of­a­kind pieces with found objects and recycled materials,” he told the Gloucester (Mass.) Times newspaper. He also fires glass into retro cabinet hardware under the label Retroglassworks. www.thehivecapeann.com

Rachel Garton DePuy finished her general surgery residency in Denver and has taken a job as a general surgeon in Polson, Mont.

SuzanneKratzig graduated with a master of arts in international education from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In September, she moved to Haiti to work as international project coordinator for Accompaniment for Education Development Center’s IDEJEN project, a youth development project.

Andrew Rahbar Morrison is living in Houston, happily married to Kristen Rahbar Morrison, who received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology earlier this year. Andrew has been working at Shell Oil Company as an in­house lawyer for the past six years, and was recently appointed by the mayor of Houston to work as an associate municipal court judge on a part­-time basis.

Mark Towner is the manager of a new Freedom Financial Services office in Grand Junction, Colo. Mark joined Freedom as a loan officer and quickly became a top producer. His most recent position was assistant vice president of the Colorado Springs branch. Freedom is the top local originator of FHA home loans in southern Colorado and the fifth largest in the state.

’01

Josie Rodriguez ­Bouchier is living in northwest Denver, where she started her own Chinese medical practice, Immortal Palace. She earned her master of science in acupuncture and Oriental medicine from the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine in August 2008. Her certification includes clean needle technique and Chinese herbology. Her training included adjunctive therapies such as Chinese massage, friction therapy, acupressure, cupping, and dietary and lifestyle recommendations. She is a licensed acupuncturist in Colorado. See www.immortalpalace.com

JoAnn Lucero is associate director of alumni relations at Southwestern University in the Austin, Texas, area. She was previously employed as alumni services manager at Golden Gate University.

Alex Zolot received his Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Colorado­Boulder. After defending his thesis in February, he co­taught Physics 242 at CC with his former advisor, Professor Stephanie DiCenzo. He currently has a post­doctoral position at National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder.

’02

Joe Bair was ordained and is serving as the pastor of the Douglas, Wyo., United Church of Christ.

Larissa Enns O’Neil was named executive director of the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance. She started her new job in October. Larissa is faced with budget cuts, but says she’s excited about trying new programs. She says plans for the next year include a historic structure assessment of the Robert Whyte House, “beefing up” the Lomax Placer Mine to include more interpretive signage, and possibly re­roofing the Milne House.

Antonio Rosendo

Antonio Rosendo

Antonio Rosendo is the dean of curriculum and instruction and one of the co­founders of Atlas Prep in Colorado Springs. The new charter middle school (www.atlasprep.org) opened this fall with 100 fifth graders. It is committed to providing students in grades 5–8 with academic preparation, character development, and ongoing support needed for college.

Raegan Truax­ O’Gorman is founder and executive director of Playworks Education Group in Brooklyn, N.Y. The organization is in its pilot year of 30 Minutes A Day (30 MAD), which was developed to combat childhood obesity and offer a fun alternative to traditional “free play” or “recess” periods in public schools and after school programs around the nation. For information, go to www.playworksed.org

’03

Kyle DeBeer is the western political director for the Democratic National Committee. He works with Democratic elected officials, candidates, party leaders, and others in eight states: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Kyle says he loves the West. “As many of you know I was the fifth generation of my family to be born in Central Wyoming. Our family’s homestead — a two­room stone house that was built by hand — still stands beside the road from Casper to Shoshoni.”

Brianne Pyszka and her father, pediatric specialist Robert Henry, opened a new pediatric dentistry practice in Evergreen, Colo. Brianne attended Marquette University School of Dentistry. Her new practice, All Kids Dental P.C., features a jungle­themed environment designed specifically for children.

Doug Vilsack started Elephant Energy (www.elephantenergy.org), a nonprofit program that distributes small­scale renewable energy technologies to communities in Africa.

Jamie Kilgour, Lars Parkin ’07, and Scott Eaton ’84 met with CC Economics Professor Dan Johnson when he was in London. Dan was there as a part of a United Nations panel in Geneva. Jamie is in management consulting in London. Lars has been in London for 10 months, but is moving back to the U.S. to prepare for business school. Scott has been working in corporate finance and mergers for a decade, and is independent now.

’04

Heather Sackett, Jacqui Papineau, and Abbie Weiss attended the wedding of Andrea Bell and Ragnar Alne, June 6, 2009, in Breckenridge, Colo.

Attending the June 27, 2009, wedding of Sandy Pope and Kat Chapman at Shove Chapel were Logan Bennett ’09, Jordan Ramey, Dave Adams ’78, Derry Beach Adams ’85, Stephen McDonough, Claire Thexton ’09, Eric Burns, Susannah Strange, Betsy VanDeusen, Wil Edwards, Cole Bennett, Karen Rechnitzer Pope ’70, Kathy Rechnitzer Kelly ’71, Carson Bennett ’02, and Gail Rogers (CC employee).

Sandy Pope received his master’s degree in public history from Texas State University­-San Marcos in May 2008, and his master’s in secondary education from the same university in August 2009. He is working toward his Ph.D. in teaching of social studies at Columbia University Teaching College.

Chris Zink was on campus in April to talk to Professor Mark Smith’s economics class. Chris works n the Netherlands for a Dutch firm that specializes in rading carbon reduction credits under the European Union Emission Trading Scheme to reduce greenhouse gases.

Pictured here, Lacey Ramirez ’05 in her Peace Corps village in the province of Ouarzazate, Morocco. The two men are teachers from the local elementary school and members of the town NGO. They developed a project to construct a water cistern at the elementary school so that the children would have access to potable water. The men managed the project, while Lacey helped them raise 75 percent of the funds.

Pictured here, Lacey Ramirez ’05 in her Peace Corps village in the province of Ouarzazate, Morocco. The two men are teachers from the local elementary school and members of the town NGO. They developed a project to construct a water cistern at the elementary school so that the children would have access to potable water. The men managed the project, while Lacey helped them raise 75 percent of the funds.

’05

5th Reunion: October 8–10, 2010!

Kathleen Hinds received her master’s in music education degree in May from the University of Northern Colorado.

Lacey Ramirez finished her stint in the Peace Corps in Morocco. While in Africa, she met a fellow Colorado College alumnus in Casablanca. During her time there, she and Mohammad Lebbadi ’69 reminisced about the college as he showed her around Casablanca. Lacey is now in graduate school at Columbia University in New York City.

Torrey Stenmark received her master of science degree in April from the University of Washington.

’06

Rebecca Offerdahl Gados taught English in Japan or a year following graduation, and after that she hit he road. Rebecca traveled for 14 months on a bicycle hrough Asia and Europe and recorded her experiences on gonomad.com. In “Biking from Tibet to Nepal: The Longest Descent in the World,” Rebecca writes about her adventures, explaining how she and her then fiancé, Jon Moore, found themselves on the Tibetan plateau. “When Jon and I found ourselves cycling through China, it was only the next step to enter Tibet.” The couple took the Quinhai­Tibet railway, which had opened in the summer of 2007. On their bikes, they reached the Rongbuk Monastery and Everest Base Camp before embarking on the “longest descent in the world,” a two­mile journey down the Himalayas. At one point, they descended more than 6,500 feet in 18 miles. It took the couple 15 days (not including breaks) to ride from Llasa to Kathmandu — about 621 miles.

Spencer Gordon started Perfect Circle Renewable Energy with his father, John Gordon, in Atlanta. The elder Gordon launched the family’s successful main business, Gordon Document Products, 22 years ago. After college, Spencer became interested in biodiesel and returned to Atlanta to start the second business. The Gordons first powered only their office machine business trucks with biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil. Last year, the company produced about 15,000 gallons of biodiesel. This year, the Gordons told the Atlanta Constitution they expect production of 50,000 gallons and next year, 225,000 gallons.

Rachael Phillips received her doctorate of jurisprudence from Golden Gate University School of Law. She completed the law school’s Honors Layering Program, a highly competitive program that includes an intensive skills­focused summer session and apprenticeships.

Photographs by Emma Simmons were featured in “Celebrating India,” an exhibition at Maine Media Workshops’ Union Hall’s Workshops Gallery in August in Rockport, Maine. The workshop described Emma as “an emerging photographer whose recent fascination with (India) has resulted in breathtaking new photographs.” Emma traveled to Rajasthan, India, in October 2008, as a teaching assistant for photographer John Isaac’s Maine Media destination workshop there. See her work at www.emmasimmons.com

Brian Tafel completed his master’s degree requirements in sports pedagogy from the University of Northern Colorado in May. For the last two years, he served as director of basketball operations for Coach Tad Boyle’s Division 1 baseball Bears. He’s now teaching and coaching at Palisade High School near Grand Junction, Colo., where he is a social studies instructor and basketball coach.

Ben Beadle-Ryby ’09 posed for a graduation photo with Mike Edmonds, vice president of student life and dean of students.

Ben Beadle-Ryby ’09 posed for a graduation photo with Mike Edmonds, vice president of student life and dean of students.

’07

Briana Aragon received her master’s degree in comparative literature in May from Pennsylvania State University.

Ethan Watel and Lauren Bennett attended the June 6, 2009, wedding of Lauren Sengenberger and Michal Liceau in Krokowa, Poland.

’08

Jessica Gingold and her father, Al, rode their tandem bike 1,200 miles this summer, tracing roadways that followed the route of the Underground Railroad from Mobile, Ala., to the Ohio River and Cincinnati. The pair finished in time for the MLB’s Civil Rights baseball game with the Cincinnati Reds (Al’s team) vs. the Chicago White Sox (Jessica’s team). Daughter and father left from the dock where the last slave ship from Africa disembarked and rode through the Civil War battlefield at Shiloh on their route. The ride supported the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, a nonprofit center founded by Al in 1997. The center relies on civil rights laws to advocate for criminal justice reforms. Jessica blogged about the trip at www.civilrightsbikeride.blogspot.com

The Opera Theatre of the Rockies presented the Broadway opera “Street Scene” by Kurt Weill at the Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado Springs, Feb. 28 and March 1, 2009. The cast included CC graduates and students. Performers included, left to right: front row, Vinnie Gumlich ’09, Cynthia Whitman ’11, Linda Ellis Cummings ’85, CC Lecturer in Music Dan Brink, and Adam Dickerson ’13; back row, Rachael Meyers ’10, Malcolm Ulbrick ’03, Jeff Marshall, and Elan Jimenez ’06.

The Opera Theatre of the Rockies presented the Broadway opera “Street Scene” by Kurt Weill at the Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado Springs, Feb. 28 and March 1, 2009. The cast included CC graduates and students. Performers included, left to right: front row, Vinnie Gumlich ’09, Cynthia Whitman ’11, Linda Ellis Cummings ’85, CC Lecturer in Music Dan Brink, and Adam Dickerson ’13; back row, Rachael Meyers ’10, Malcolm Ulbrick ’03, Jeff Marshall, and Elan Jimenez ’06.

’09

One-Year Reunion: October 8–10, 2010!

Ethan Axelrod is the editor of the Denver edition of the Huffington Post. (www.huffingtonpost.com/denver/) The site launched in September, joining sites in New York City and Chicago; a Los Angeles site also is planned. Ethan is the son of top Obama advisor David Axelrod and Susan Landau Axelrod ’74. He says he has been interested in journalism for a while, and he has “always been a follower and admirer of news reporting.”