Student and Alumni News
July 1994 Seminar:
Judy Burke recently attended her 50th high school reunion during which, Judy writes, "I was asked about my schooling. To be able to say I had a Master's degree from Skidmore College brought me such joy! The Skidmore experience stays with me daily and continues to enrich the way I process information and interact with others."
July 1998 Seminar:
Polly Parkinson works with the Utah Arts Council. She is listed on the council's arts in education roster for both literary and visual arts and has been the artist in residence at several schools within the state. According to Polly, "Skidmore's cross-discipline approach allowed me to study the combination of words and images, and now I am passing some of those ideas along to elementary and middle school students. Recently, a fellow art teacher asked me to join her at the Gateway Chalk Art Festival, and we won Best Reproduction for our version of Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror this past summer."
January 1999 Seminar
Jesse Markay recently completed his coursework and comprehensive exams in the doctoral program in US History at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. This past spring he taught a class at UNM titled American Thinkers, American Thought. He relocated this past summer to Santa Rosa, California and is currently teaching two sections of a survey class, US History Since 1865, at Sonoma State University while working on his dissertation. Best of all he now gets to see his two granddaughters frequently.
January 2001 Seminar
Kate (Towne) Sherwin gave birth to her third son, John Dominic, on June 28, 2008. John joins big brothers Thomas, 4, and Gabriel, 2. In May, Kate began writing a monthly, family-related column for the Saratoga Today newspaper.
July 2001 Seminar
Jo Harney began serving last year as member and chair of visiting teams for the Middle States Association of College and Schools, Commission on Elementary Schools. Teams visit schools who are applying for accreditation or reaccreditation. A comprehensive written report by the visiting team follows and is used by the Commission to determine a school's eligibility for accreditation. She finds it gratifying to spend significant time in other schools and to collaborate with educators on the team in assessing how well a school is meeting its mission. She often returns home with many new ideas for her own school.
Jo also shared the tragic news of her thirty-year-old daughter Susan Haist's death on May 24, 2008 due to a sudden illness. Susan was the mother of Jo's two-year-old grandson, Noah, and wife of her son-in-law, Joel. Our sincere condolences go out to Jo and her family.
January 2002 Seminar
Hector Torres-Clavell is beginning his sixth year as Political Science Coordinator at the San Germán Campus of Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. He is the first professor on the campus to offer his subject entirely on-line. Hector recently reported, "In November of last year I began to suffer serious heart problems and on January 10, 2008 I underwent open heart surgery and a double bypass. My work with Distance Education came to the rescue. As a result, the University allowed me to teach full-time on-line during my recovery. Following my illness, the local Veteran's Administration Clinic asked me to create and lead a support group for veterans in our area. We're already working on this voluntary project in which I hope to continue helping others when I retire. I am now looking forward to finishing a very productive professorial career having gained the respect of my colleagues and leaving a pioneering online program as a legacy. In addition, I am often asked to speak to groups on politico-economic topics and on occasion appear on the radio as a guest expert."
July 2002 Seminar
David Chastain is pursuing a Ph.D. in Human Services, with a Counseling Concentration, from Capella University. He expects to begin his dissertation by fall 2009. Until recently he was teaching at Upper Iowa University part time while working full time for Madison Area Technical College (MATC) as the Health & Wellness Program Coordinator. He has taken a hiatus from teaching in order to concentrate on completing his doctoral coursework. He has, however, been asked to be the advisor for a MATC chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Somehow, he still manages to play guitar every day. In December, David's son will earn his Master's in Counseling from Appalachian State University in North Carolina.
January 2005 Seminar
Sarah Bertucci and her husband, Jason, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Mica, on July 13, 2008. Sarah proudly reports that Mica weighed in at a healthy 9 lbs. 10 oz. She and Jason are job-sharing a teaching postition in Vermont so that they can both have time home with Mica and in the work world.
Tanya Tobias was married this past summer, as well as started an arts-related networking organization called The Emerging Upstate Arts Professionals. Details of both are forthcoming.
January 2006 Seminar
Benjamin B. Bolger completed his Skidmore MALS degree in 2007. Benjamin also completed his doctorate from Harvard University in 2007. Since then, he has accepted a Visiting Assistant Professorship at The College of William & Mary's Department of Sociology. Benjamin continues to be involved in the efforts to promote sustainability and he is currently serving on the Board of Advisors for the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
Ruben Nazario is currently completing his final project while awaiting the publication of his second book toward the end of the year, a short novel titled Recuerdos de Plata (Silver Memories). He is also about to become the editor of a relaunched literary journal of the University of Kentucky's Department of Hispanic Studies titled Paréntesis Abierto (Open Parenthesis). He continues his "regular" job teaching at the College of Medicine (where he happened to mention he'd recently received a teaching award). Ruben is the father of two "raucus" boys, Sebastian, age 5, and Alejandro, one-and-a-half. In Ruben's own words, "Don't ask me how I do all this…I guess it's one of the benefits of an academic job, you can engage in all these projects and still have time to eat and sleep!"
July 2006 Seminar
Lisa Chalidze reports from the legal front, "Our precedent-setting case, Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins (custody/visitation rights of Lesbian non-birth mother of a daughter born in a Vermont civil union) has resulted in legal wins for us at the Vermont Supreme Court and the Virginia Supreme Court, and is currently on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. So, the decisions have upheld my client's legal parental rights though she is not the birth mother, by virtue of her legal status as civil union partner at the time of birth and her emotional bond with the child, Isabella. Also, I've been invited, and agreed, to join the Board of Directors of BOLD (Birth on Labor Day), a national non-profit organization devoted to effectuating change in the American maternity-care system to facilitate the empowerment of mothers-to-be in their choice of birthing options. As you can guess, this is a direct result of my Skidmore thesis."
Sharon McLelland is currently completing her Research & Methods course, drafting her Academic Plan and beginning her final independent study in preparation for writing her thesis. According to Sharon, "I am learning to cull time each day to be a graduate student from my life as a public health specialist, single mom and home contractor! No lawn has been set yet and I suspect I will have farmland weeds until after I graduate from Skidmore."
Jill Rafferty-Weinisch is settling in to her new position as Director of Performing Arts and Outreach at the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, NY, and has just announced the organization's first formal presenting season. Details at http://www.artscenteronline.org/gallery/index.cfm. She'll be making a brief return to the stage in a reading of Sandi Dollinger's new play "Yours Til Niagara Falls" on December 15, 2008.
Brad Ward is in his second year as a college counselor and history teacher at the Menlo School in California and is "finding things a lot easier this time around! I also enjoyed being back on the Skidmore campus for the summer seminar, seeing some old faces and meeting a bunch of new people!"
Leigh Peterson is working on her second graduate course at Skidmore. Leigh writes, "The prospect of working with John Anzalone is exciting to say the least. Right now, I am enjoying what is most likely the last stretch of nice weather in Iowa before winter falls upon us. Although, as a teacher, winter break is always something to anticipate when I can spend time with my family. I am still working on renovating my hundred year old home; we are putting in new insulation, and we are hoping to finish the fencing for my horse, Sparta, before winter. My eight-year-old daughter, Shelby, will be dancing as one of the orphans in a live performance of "Scrooge All Jazzed Up Like the Dickens" in December 2008, and my son, James, was recently selected to be a fifth grade student ambassador and travel to Europe to study for nineteen days in the summer of 2009. To say that he is excited is an understatement. Although admittedly, it makes his mother nervous to be away from him for so long. We are all enjoying ourselves this school year, and have much to be thankful for."
