Class Notes

Dr. Sarah Trimble and her husband, Andrew Evans, recently moved from a small town in Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana so that Sarah could start a new position with the Naval Research Labs at the nearby Stennis Space Center. They are looking forward to many new adventures in their new city, including being able to attend more UMW alumni events.

Bryan Keys and Kathleen (Watson) Keys had a wonderful time sharing their career experiences with UMW students during the Spring edition of UMW Career Chats. Bryan and Kathleen are also expecting a baby girl mid-October 2018!

Dave Pierandri and Cassandra (Ratti) Pierandri were married on August 26, 2017 at Upper Shirley Vineyards in Richmond, Virginia. Jacqueline Nova ‘13 was maid of honor, and several other UMW alums were there to celebrate with us.

Michael Ballard and Allison Sleeman, both class of 2010, were married on June 20th, 2018 in a private ceremony at the Loudon County Courthouse in Leesburg, VA.

I would like to note that I currently live in Crozet, Virginia and (this may be late, but I’m still working on it) in the spring of 2017, was selected to be a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship recipient through Towson University. I lived, for six weeks, in Cusco, Peru with 13 other teachers from around the US in June, July, and August of 2017. We had Spanish class in the mornings and then classes or excursions to learn about all aspects of Peru and Peruvian culture and life. This scholarship requires, after living in Peru for six weeks, I need to create a curriculum for my certified area (English) and disseminate the information for teachers to use and apply in their own classrooms. I will culminate my responsibilities with the program in the summer of 2018.

I also directed my school’s one-act VHSL competition team to place third in the state with a cutting from Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa (I run the theatre department, as well as teach English, at William Monroe High School in Greene County).

This is totally scatterbrained but thought I’d share. If you need clarification or any questions answered, please let me know!

Best,

Virginia

Christopher O’Kelley ‘12 was promoted to President of Art First Gallery in downtown Fredericksburg.

Robert Higgins completed his PhD in green chemistry from Colorado State University this June, and was awarded a NatureNet Science Fellowship for his work on the reactivity and separation of rare earths. Robert has received funding for two years to continue his work on developing novel and earth-friendly scientific procedures towards developing low-carbon energy systems as a Post-Doctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.

Courtney Cherico (now Hall), a 2014 graduate of the University of Mary Washington, married Nicholas Hall, class of 2012, on April 15, 2017

Katherine DeCecco, Class of UMW ’14, is currently serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in US Army serving in the Republic of Korea in the 2nd Infantry Division.  Katherine received her Master’s in History from George Mason and was commissioned an Officer in the US Army in May 2017.

Erin Clark became the Executive Director of the Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail in Warrenton, Virginia.