CLASS OF 1996 | 2023 | FALL ISSUE
1996ers family: As we leave the summer months behind, I wish all my classmates well as we look forward to all the fresh blessings of the fall season. Now on to some great updates from folks!
Emily (Merowitz) Tedeschi writes in that after working for 18 years at the largest health system in New Jersey, she joined CommonSpirit, one of the largest health systems in the country, working in their national foundation office as system director of prospect development and research. She asks any of her classmates who are fundraisers or people who work with fundraisers, “let me know; there are always jobs opening up in our 80-plus hospital foundations, mostly on the West Coast.”
Dacque Tirado had dinner and drinks with Dan Mirsky ’97 in Silver Spring, Maryland—the two caught up on all the happenings in their lives, shared pictures of their kids, and recounted great memories from their Middletown days. He also writes that he had an epic summer of international travel as he chaperoned a cultural immersion trip with his students to Buenos Aires, Argentina (magical city), in June. Then was off to Spain with other high school educators where he walked the Camino Ignaciano—selected spots along the way from Bilbao to Barcelona.
Jullia Chowdhury–Quazi and her husband are finally done with the years of tireless educational advocacy. Their son, Kairan, graduated from Santa Clara University in June, at age 14, as the youngest grad in the institution’s history, joined SpaceX in July as the youngest software engineer on the planet, has been featured in thousands of media pieces across the globe, and will soon be inducted into Guinness. Jullia took a three-year break from a career in health-care M&A and looks forward to the next chapter as the family returns to some form of normalcy.
After nearly 25 years in network news as an award-winning reporter and TV and podcast producer, Stacey Samuel has branched out and started her own firm producing podcast series for streaming services, nonprofits with a mission, and global clients.
Christianne Rennke Phillips has taken her two decades as a holistic fitness instructor and nationally titled/winner competitor and certified chef and is now working on a book combining food and culture, drawing on her Chilean heritage and family.
Danny Atwood has taken to writing short stories with his writing group (books selling on Amazon), joined the furry community and attended conventions in character, even managed to learn digital art making. But best of all is the moonlighting gig taken on as the “Real Bearded Santa,” being hired out as a Santa Claus Christmas performer to spread joy and good cheer. “What started out as a lark, buying a Santa suit from Amazon and wearing it out into my neighborhood during the pandemic to bring a little magic to neighbors who desperately needed it, has turned into something much bigger. Getting old and fat isn’t so bad after all!”
In July 2023, Tracie Broom enjoyed a vacation reunion in Italy at the MacZoni Recanati Estate with a bunch of Wes grads. Jason Walchli, his wife, Pamela Bock, and their two kids, Eli and Casey, came from Portland, Oregon. Tony Schloss ’97 and Juno Shaye ’98 came from Brooklyn with their three kiddos, Cy, Uno, and Paloma. Diego Gutierrez ’97 and Kim Diaz ’97 came from LA with their two kids, Bruno and Dahlia. (The MacZoni estate is owned by their dear friends, Mariah Maclachlan and Peldi Guilizzoni, who are known well to many Wes friends around the country.) Back home in Columbia, South Carolina, Tracie and Debi Schadel, the co-owner of her marketing and communications firm, Flock and Rally, were both honored on the Free Times’ “Power List 2023: 30 People Shaping Arts, Culture and Food in Columbia” and they have been successfully delegating most agency operations to their CEO in the last year—a real milestone for entrepreneurs! Tracie and her partner, Scott Nuelken, spent the rest of the summer getting his daughter, June, ready for freshman year at Wofford College in South Carolina. Tracie is deep into gardening and loves to see nerdy gardening posts from fellow Wes folks on social media.