By now, I'm sure you have read the story, or at least heard about the article from a friend... TJ is the cover story of the Washingtonian Magazine's October issue. And like most of the mainstream press that TJ receives, this article highlights our school's significant achievements, and includes commentary on the success of our alumni. So where's the controversy? It's in the cover's headline, "Why you should hate this school". And, as soon as the magazine hit the newsstands, so did the debate over this seemingly ridiculous, if not sensationalist headline, on the article's message board. Of course the article was not all positive, rehashing many of the issues that have already been well played out... While the debate raged on, there was typical rhetoric from those who have never understood the value of TJ, and the defensive comments attempting to debunk the so-called "haters" (most likely from our students, alumni and parents). What do you think? Share your comments with fellow alumni on our Facebook site after reading the article.

So, where do we go from here? (I was bound to make a plea for involvement eventually.) Quite simple - make an impact on your community. By giving back, you represent TJ positively in the community. Civility, charity, leadership... all qualities endowed by our namesake, Mr. Jefferson. Additionally, supporting our school has never been easier. With larger reunions, organized giving campaigns (through the Partnership Fund), volunteering for mentorship and advising, opportunities to give back to TJ abound. Our first full graduating class, 1989, set a great example by raising nearly $5000 during a recent summer reunion. What mark will you leave on TJ?

Features

Principal Glazer on the October 2009 Issue of Washingtonian Magazine

Dear TJ community,

The October 2009 issue of the Washingtonian magazine features our school and its students. Unfortunately, the cover has a tasteless, inappropriate message reading, “Why You Should Hate This School.” We know there are many reasons to love school, get the parents and community involved, and teach our students a passion and commitment for learning.

Since April, TJ cooperated with the author who insists he did not recommend this title. Contrary to the title, the article highlights the successes of many of our students and issues we face at the school.

The Washingtonian typically has positive articles that celebrate the lifestyle of our region, so you can imagine we were caught by surprise. The FCPS Department of Communications and Community Outreach has contacted Garrett Graff, the recently appointed executive editor of the Washingtonian, to express our disappointment in this sensationalistic approach to the intended reading audience.

Sincerely,

Evan Glazer
Principal, TJHSST

TJHSST Partnership Fund's Inaugural Alumni Outreach Campaign Sets Goal of $250,000

This fall, the TJ Partnership Fund will kick off the first outreach campaign to alumni of all classes with a goal of raising $250,000 from our grads.

WHY. Every public school could use additional funding. But your alma mater’s need for private funding to supplement the public school system’s contributions was understood from the day TJ opened! Private efforts to bridge the financial gap between what it costs to keep TJ’s educational programs strong and what the school system provides have helped, but more support is needed. For instance, the research labs are deteriorating and there is a great need for up-to-date technology throughout the school. This year alone, the financial gap is a staggering $725,000.

WHAT. A three-pronged coordinated campaign involving all the school’s constituencies: alumni, corporations and parents. Donors to TJ through this unprecedented Partnership Fund initiative may choose to contribute to the school’s priority needs (as defined by teachers and the Administration); donate supplemental funds to TJ’s publicly-funded renovations (not all TJ equipment, hardware and software will be included in the renovation process); and/or support TJ’s long-term educational endowment.

HOW. Please contribute to TJ through the nonprofit, parent- and alumni-driven Partnership Fund, via check, credit card (at www.tjpartnershipfund.org), through United Way and/or your employer’s matching grant program.

Around the world, TJ is considered the model of excellence in education in the 21st Century. Please join fellow alums, parents, alumni parents and corporations in preserving this remarkable reputation and in ensuring the long-term sustainability of TJ’s mission of educational excellence!

For more information, please contact:
Gary Bottorff, Partnership Fund Director of Corporate and Community Relations
gary.bottorff@fcps.edu
703-750-8317
TJPF 6560 Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA 22312

Get Involved

Reunions Chairs & Committees forming this Fall

We are currently seeking members of the following classes to head or support their reunion committees for 2010 reunions: 2005 (5-year reunion), 2000 (10-year reunion), 1995 (15 year reunion), 1990 (20 year reunion).

If you’d like to help us make next year's reunions the best they’ve ever been, please email reunions@tjhsstalumni.org to let us know!

News Briefs

TJHSST Homecoming Football Game - Friday, October 2

Alumni are encouraged to visit the school after classes. Please obtain a visitor's pass for security reasons. At 7:30 p.m., watch the Jefferson Colonials take on the Washington-Lee Generals!

Reunion Updates (Classes of 1999 and 2004)

1999: 10-Year Reunion

Plans for the TJ Class of '99 10 Year Reunion are close to finalized! The weekend (Thanksgiving '09) will include a Friday bar night on 11/27, a class picnic at TJ on 11/28, and a formal event that evening! **Special announcement that we've booked the band ReRee (including class members Conor Lastowka, Matt Hoffman, Andy Demartino, and Andrew Kilpatrick) for the Friday bar night!** More details to come in the next few weeks!

Thanks to all the members of the Reunion Committee: Natalie Shonka, Ben Grosz, Christine Lee, Billy Meyers, Matt Osborne, Chris Ouk, Lindsay Ross, Kristi Sims, Cecilia Marshall, Micah Boster, Tim Dumm, Leslie Braitsch, Ginny Yang, David Wadden (webmaster), Maggie Sullivan, Sam Davies, Sam Fraser, Leah Luck, Juliana Beauvais, Sarah Bowman, Ben Shuman, Danielle Gebhard

Get excited and make your travel plans now! For more information, please contact reunion chair, Bryan Oh: bryan.oh@gmail.com.

2004: 5-Year Reunion

The Class of 2004 will be holding their 5 Year Reunion on Friday, November 27, 2009. Time and location TBA. Catch up with friends, remember great times, and create new memories. We'll see you there! If you would like to help with planning the reunion please contact Hannah Peterson: hannahjpeterson@gmail.com.

Recap: Class of 1989 Reunion

The TJHSST First Class of 1989 celebrated its 20th reunion on July 31st and August 1st. To kick off the festivities, Class of '89 alumni and families attended a Happy Hour at the Rhodeside Grill in Arlington Friday night. At the All Year BBQ at TJ on Saturday, the Class of '89 and families started with a retrospective celebration, including videos from the TJ TV studio archives and photographic slide shows reminding us all how young we were and our...interesting...fashion sense those first four years from 1985 to 1989. Several of the reunion committee members and leaders from the Class of '89 spoke of those years and the retrospectives juxtaposing science and technology, athletics, and the arts and activities. The highlight was the performance by '89 alum and singer/songwriter Brian McGinty of "Wasn't That You", a song he wrote specifically for the event. We also recognized 15 of the "First Class" of TJHSST teachers and concluded with the donation of $4,300 to the Jefferson Partnership Fund before joining the other alumni for lunch and tours of the school building.

The reunion concluded with a dinner and dancing at the Key Bridge Marriott. Over a third of the graduating class attended and were graced with a keynote speech by the first Director of Student Activities Dale Rumberger, liberally laced with his trademark good humor, deadly impressions, stinging insight, witty banter and graceful ego-bruising that guided the Class of '89 through the experience of blazing the way for 20 years of academic excellence. Welcome back to TJ, Dale (you have our sympathies, Class of 2009)!

The Class of '89 emerges from this event with a desire to re-engage with our alma mater. We look forward to sharing our experiences in education and work with the faculty, staff, and current and future students of TJ and working with the Alumni Association and Jefferson Partnership Fund as advocates for the future of "TJ High School, best school in the land!"

Recap: Class of 1994 Reunion

Alumni from the Class of 1994 happily celebrated 15 years since leaving the hallowed halls of TJHSST on Saturday, August 1. During the day, they joined other TJHSST alums at the Alumni Day event held at the school. They toured the halls, indulged in good BBQ, snapped a class photo, and reminisced while watching an old class video. That evening over 75 alums and significant others gathered at Sette Bello Restaurant in Arlington for more revelry and catching up. The event helped to raise funds for the TJHSST Alumni Association and a class gift. A very good time was had by all, but many classmates were missed. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the 20 year reunion in 2014!

Recap: All-Class Reunion & Alumni Day

The TJHSST All-Class Reunion & Alumni Day was a great success, raising over $5,000 for the Partnership Fund. Approximately 600 people attended this family-friendly event at TJ and enjoyed the all-you-can-eat buffet (shoutout for the cotton candy!), keynote speech from Principal Glazer, school tours from current students, music, and children's activities camp. Additional highlights included class photos (available soon), video presentations by the classes of 89 and 94, and lots of 'do you remember when..."

Check Out the tjToday Student Newspaper Online

Remember tjToday? Well, now you can stay up-to-date with all the happenings at TJ from the perspective of students by viewing the online edition of tjToday.

Connections

Alumni Spotlight: David Thompson '98

dave.thompson@reputationdefender.com
www.reputationdefender.com

Undergraduate education: Yale ‘02

Graduate education: Stanford Law ‘07

Current job: General Counsel at ReputationDefender.com. I deferred BigLaw after clerking and instead went straight to work as general counsel at an amazing startup. The company helps clients ranging from students to rockstars in managing their online image and privacy. It is a ton of fun to be part of a startup that has grown so fast: I’m filling the traditional role of a general counsel, but I also get to play “utility infielder” and do everything from marketing to strategy to finance. I show up to work in jeans and I never know what I’m going to get to do each day. It feels very good to help real everyday people improve their lives; we help families keep their personal information out of corporate databases and also clean up the Google results of people who have been unfairly attacked or slandered online. In this digital age, it is impossible to avoid the Internet, so I love having the opportunity to empower individuals to take control of their online presence.

When you were in high school, you envisioned your 2009 job to be: Astronaut? I don’t remember exactly what I thought at the time, but I was not considering law. I love my current career, so I’m glad that I changed my plans.

High school hobbies/activities: Cross-country, crew, tjToday, Model United Nations

Professional experiences: Clerking for Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit (2007) and clerking for Justice Scalia of the Supreme Court (OT’08). Both experiences were as amazing as they were different. I am incredibly lucky to have had the chance to learn from two amazing jurists.

Recent personal experiences: I just got engaged to a prosecutor. If you ever want to hear a lot of lawyer jokes, try marrying one.

TJ experience that had the most positive influence on you: TJ is filled with great people, but Garfield Lindo’s government class stands out because he broke the high school tradition of colorful textbooks and instructor-driven lectures. Instead, he assigned grainy copies of the original sources of western political philosophy (classics like Locke, Hobbes, Mill, and Rousseau), and then led the class in long debates about the basis of legitimate government. By immersing his students in effectively a college-level seminar, Mr. Lindo taught snot-nosed high school kids how to think like lawyers, how to read critically, and how to argue a point. The process of adapting to his near-Socratic method was rough at times—I’m sure that more than once Mr. Lindo went home and agonized about the future of the republic after suffering through our early attempts at political debate—but it also ignited a spark in me that eventually led me to law school. This teaching method took a huge investment of labor on Mr. Lindo’s part that went well beyond the normal difficulty of teaching high school. His dedication shaped my career path and I am incredibly grateful for it.

Current short-term goals: Get in shape for a spring race, finish home improvement projects, start to plan a wedding.

Current long-term goals: Contribute to the discussion of online privacy, online safety, and online reputation, especially around the application of pre-1998 laws to a Web2.0+ world.

Should we spotlight you or someone you know? Please email mjones@tjhsstalumni.org to let us know!

Alumni Updates

Class of 1990

Robert Blanchard '90 and Jennifer (Ware) Blanchard '92 welcomed daughter Lily Margaret in December 2008. Son Evan Joseph was born in July 2006.

Carrie (Lundgren) Bailey '90 completed her Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the College of William & Mary in May 2009 is getting settled in to her new position at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga.

Thad Barkdull '90 is currently deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Lewis, Washington, as a battalion surgeon. He's currently based out of Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, as their director of sports medicine.

Jeremy Lehrer '90 just changed jobs and now works for Matthews Asia Funds, helping registered investment advisors around the country better understand how to include Asia in client portfolios. He's also getting married in a castle in Italy next year, with details at www.jeremylovesallura.com.

Class of 1991

Matt Blum '91 and his wife, Jen, celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in August. They have two kids, an eight-year-old boy and a nearly seven-year-old girl, and live in Reston, Va. Matt is (among other things) one of the bloggers on the Wired.com GeekDad blog, as is Jenny (Garrison) Williams '91.

Kristine Daniels '91 is back in Melbourne, Australia, after spending 16 months in Vietnam launching ANZ Bank's Wealth Business. She has settled permanently in Melbourne with her husband, Brian, and labradoodle.

Class of 1992

Robert Blanchard '90 and Jennifer (Ware) Blanchard '92 welcomed daughter Lily Margaret in December 2008. Son Evan Joseph was born in July 2006.

Michelle Willingham '92 is celebrating the release of her latest book TAMING HER IRISH WARRIOR which will be available in stores October 1st. Visit her website at www.michellewillingham.com for more details.

Jennifer Bourdier (born Dale) '92 is married with 5 boys, the last born in April. They are quitting the corporate world this fall to branch out on their own. They divide their time between their mini-farm-in-progress in the Luberon valley and their work in Paris. If she can be of help to anyone stopping through, please let her know!

Tina (Tenenhaus) Dann '92 is happy to be living in Bloomington, IN with her husband, Charles Dann, and 3 year old daughter, Claire. Tina has an assistant scientist (research) position at IU and works on mouse spermatogonial stem cells. Charles has an assistant professor position at IU and runs a lab studying a variety of biological questions using crystallography and biochemistry. They have been in Indiana for one year now.

Class of 1993

Mika (Sam) Smith '93 is a Production Manager at Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., an independent education and special needs publishing company based in Baltimore, and volunteers with a nonprofit organization, ISP Baltimore, which works to assist refugees from Iraq in continuing their college education in America so that they may return to their country and help rebuild it. Mika also does music promotion for bands in the Baltimore area, like Big In Japan and The Water.

Gil Cheung '93 married Judy Liu, one of his med school classmates, in 2006. They are both radiologists, living and working in Los Angeles. Their 15 month old daughter, Sabrina, is a handful but a ton of fun.

Ray Dagastine '93 and Ellen Dagastine became parents of Zachary Ian on May 28th, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia.

Class of 1994

Katherine (Comer) Donaldson's '94 second daughter, Penelope Jane Donaldson, was born August 14, 2009.

Jenny Cameron '94 is getting married December 12, 2009 to Paulo Loureiro. She still works for Coca-Cola. Paulo is a Project Manager for Wyeth Biotech and graduated from UMass Amherst in 1997. They live in the Boston area.

Class of 1995

Jay Rapoport '95 married Rachel King over Labor Day Weekend in Cherry Hill, NJ. In attendance to wish Jay well were Patricia Chou '95, Emily Hudak '95, Angela Wehr '95, Jeremie Delvoie '95, Elizabeth Rowe '95, and Patrick Nelson '95. Jay & Rachel live in Manhattan.

In April, Stacey Rose Harris '95 married Daniel Harris, originally from Philadelphia. In attendance were fellow alumni Dan Soschin '95 and Vanessa Rodriguez '95. Daniel recently completed his residency in family medicine at Georgetown and now practices in Fairfax County. Stacey is a litigation and trial lawyer for the Alexandria, VA firm of DiMuro Ginsberg, PC. In June, she was named a "Rising Star" by the Virginia SuperLawyers magazine.

Dan Soschin '95 spent two weeks in Chile, where he had a family 'reunion' with members traveling to Patagonia from around the world (over 40), many meeting for the first time. After coming back to the states, Dan took a new position with American Public University System, as their Interactive Marketing Director.

Class of 1996

Keeley Schell '96 married Max Ekstrom in Alexandria, New Hampshire in July 2008, and resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She graduated from Brown with a Ph.D. in Classics in May 2009.

Chris Mattingly '96 lives in Southern California, where he and his wife celebrated their first child, a boy, last November. He works as a Sales & Marketing Executive for a service company with a national presence.

Kathryn Whigham '96 returned from Iraq early this summer where she served as a medical officer for the 115th Combat Support Hospital Task Force MED.

Stephanie West ’96 married Konisitutone Puloka on June 6, 2009. She was joined by friends Kathryn Whigham ’96 and Michelle Way ’96.

Class of 1997

Matthew Mueller '97 married Katherine Shaver, on August 29th in Washington DC. The happy couple has just returned from an around-the-world honeymoon to their home in Dubai, where Matt is Vice President for a healthcare software firm.

Bryan Guido Hassin '97 joined his third startup, Poken, after completing his MBA at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. Though the Swiss startup experience went very well, he just returned to the US to start enistic, a green technology company. He's glad to be back and excited by enistic's early successes in marrying economic value with reduced energy consumption. They are headquartered in Houston, where there are many other TJ alumni; feel free to drop him a line if you're in town!

Patty Carcamo '97 moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina after marrying Sergio Muro on July 24th.

Jessica Wyman '97 and Matthew Cohen are getting married on October 25th. They currently live in Brooklyn.

Scott Zabielski '97 is producing and directing the television show "Tosh.0" on Comedy Central, which airs Thursday nights at 10 pm.

Mazen M. Basrawi ‘97 moved back to Northern Virginia last fall to work on the Obama Presidential Campaign. Following the election of President Obama, he served as the Disability, Arab-American and Muslim Outreach Liaison for the 56th Presidential inaugural Committee. In July, Attorney General Holder appointed him as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice with approval of the Whitehouse. He works on Disability, religious and national origin discrimination.

Class of 1998

P. Arnzellique Smith '98 married Shawn Westley on April 11, 2009. Arnzellique is a Public Health Analyst at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and Shawn is a group coordinator at Family Crisis Center. They live in Elkridge, MD.

Ashkan Ghaffari '98 opened his orthodontic practice in Vienna.

Howard Lerman '98 and Brent Metz '98 revealed their 3 year old startup, Yext, at TechCrunch50, a startup competition. They won a $25,000 people's choice award. In addition to the aforementioned founders, Yext employs 5 other TJ grads, for a total of 7/75 people: Alok Bhushan '98, Sean MacIsaac '98, Ilia Mirkin '01, Kevin Caffrey '02, and Bobby Narang '04. Yext is profitable and hiring! Check out Yext's TechCrunch50 presentation; both people on stage are TJ alumni.

James Tysse '98 and Kathleen (Coyle) Tysse '98 would like to announce the birth of their second son, Simon James, on August 15. His brother, John Philip, will turn two in January.

Michael Freedman-Schnapp '98 helped run the successful City Council election campaign for Brad Lander, citywide affordable housing advocate, in Brooklyn, New York.

Class of 1999

Daniel Kamerling '99 has begun studies for his MBA/MEM at the Kellogg School of Management.

Susannah Rosenblatt '99 recently moved with her husband to Hsinchu, Taiwan, where she is working as a writing coach at an English language newspaper, tutoring businesspeople in English and learning Mandarin.

Jay De Lanoy '99 got his BSs from GMU in August 2009, one in Earth Science (Geology concentration) and the other in Math. He's now working on his doctorate in Earth & Environmental Sciences at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, after doing an REU there in Summer 2008.

Aashoo Tandon '99 is a second year pediatric resident at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, trying to figure out what he wants to do when he grows up.

Ben Grosz '99 is getting married in October. Last year he founded his own financial planning business and started law school at the University of Virginia.

James Connell '99 is engaged to be married to Sarah Connelly of Dublin, Ireland. The wedding will be held in January 2010 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Diya Gullapalli '99 married Sridhar Iyer on August 8th at the Reston Hyatt. She lives in Manhattan and recently started her MBA at Columbia University after several years as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Class of 2000

Megan Brett Gaudet '00 and her husband, Matthew Gaudet, welcomed their first child Gabrielle Blair Gaudet on June 29, 2009.

This summer, Nadjia Yousif '00 finished at INSEAD, an MBA program in France and Singapore, and is now working in London.

David Chu '00 married Wynn Nyane on August 9, 2009. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a Ph.D. in Computer Science in May and is now a Researcher at Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing.

Tammy Bjelland '00 got married last year and is currently sailing around the world on Semester at Sea's Fall 2009 voyage with her husband.

Lauren (Powell) Pilcher '00 married W. Anthony Pilcher on May 23, 2009.

Matt Maring '00 just moved to San Francisco to be the men's buyer for Levi's Retail stores.

Class of 2001

Marcie (Weadon-Moreno) Foster '01 married Stephen Foster in August 2009. The wedding was in Georgetown at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

Sander Daniels '01 and Bianca Santos '01 were married in 2006. They even started a Facebook group called "I Married Another TJ Person!" and encourage other people in intra-TJ marriages to join!

Christine (Allard) Russell '01 is working on her husband's campaign for US Congress in Texas District 8. His name is Tyler Russell, and he's running in the Republican Primary next March. Check out his website, his facebook page, and some local press coverage.

Emily Vogelsong '01 just started working for Kujali International, a U.S non-profit seeking to help local orphanages move from a sustenance model to an educational and empowerment model. She'll be in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the next year facilitating a teacher education program, acting as an administrative coach to the headmaster, and teaching English at a HOCET Secondary School, a boarding school for oprhaned and vulnerable children. More information can be found at www.kujali.org!

Jamie (Howe) Wolf '01 and her husband Scott just moved to Denver, CO. Jamie is working as music teacher and developing as a singer/songwriter. Check her out on facebook and contact her if you'll be in the area - it would be great to reconnect!

Ethan Ransom '01 recently graduated from The American Film Institute in Hollywood, CA with a Masters of Fine Arts in Screenwriting. He owes big thanks to his senior English teacher at TJ, Marion MacLean, for reminding him how much he loved to write. Thanks to her, he's one step closer to the big time.

Jennifer Akst '01 earned a masters from Indiana University in April and moved to Philadelphia for a summer internship with The Scientist magazine. She now works for The Scientist full time, writing science stories for the website as well as the monthly print magazine.

Adam Stockton '01 and Julianna Connelly '01 are getting married! Adam proposed after Julie got home to New York following a summer research trip to Budapest. The wedding is planned for October 2010.

Marc Strauss '01 recently spent 10 days on a Kawasaki business trip in Shanghai at a solar panel factory. He hopes to contribute increasingly to the design of automated manufacturing systems that will enable clean energy for future generations of Colonials.

Class of 2002

Joe Munchak '02 and Leigh Patterson (Oakton '03) got married on August 8, 2009 in Fort Collins, CO, where they currently reside. Leigh is a Research Associate and Joe is finishing his PhD in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University.

Aubrielle (Smith) Walrond '02 moved to Philadelphia in May and recently began her juris doctorate at Drexel School of Law.

Erica Westcott '02 recently began working at the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall as the Coordinator of Middle and Secondary School Programs.

Anna Oppenheimer '02 married John Jesus on September 12, 2009. A number of TJ alums were part of or present for the festivities. John and Anna live in Boston, where he serves as a resident ED physician and she works in radiation oncology research while applying for medical school.

Kunal Gullapalli '02 recently moved from San Francisco to New York and continues to work at Morgan Stanley in M&A. He will be moving to Washington, D.C. next year to start in private equity at the Carlyle Group.

Greg N. Price '02 is still in Cambridge, MA after seven years and just left grad school to join a software startup, Ksplice. They're making reboots obsolete!

Stephanie Sud '02 just began a fellowship at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, where she plans to earn an MBA. She hopes to use these skills to work on reforms in the public sector.

Jennifer Beutler '02 is getting married to Esteban Garces on January 2, 2010.

Class of 2003

Thara (Gorur) Russell '03 started law school this year at George Washington U and lives in Oakton with her husband, Chris Russell '03. Chris got his Masters in Music Theory at UW-Madison last year.

Steven Jacobson '03 graduated from University of Maryland Baltimore County Graduate School with a Masters of Science in Emergency Health Services. He is continuing with his education by pursuing Nursing School.

Katie Firich '03 will be attending a month long Living Yoga Training program at Yogaville - Satchidananda Ashram, located near Charlottesville, this fall. After her time at Yogaville, she plans to study Ayurveda in Berkeley, CA.

Ellen Connell '03 joined the Obama Administration in July 2009. She is a Press Assistant for the Department of State in its Bureau of Public Affairs.

Caitlin Cashin '03 is currently at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland working toward an MA in Music and Cultural History.

Class of 2004

Josie (Smith) Guerry ’04 married Scott Guerry on June 6, 2009 in Starkville, MS near Mississippi State University. Josie and Scott currently both work for Eaton Aerospace in Jackson, MS.

Joyce Meng '04 started Givology, an Internet online giving marketplace, in September 2008. To date, they have registered 520+ donors, raised over $23,000 for grassroots education projects and student scholarships, partnered with 19 grassroots organizations in 10 countries, started 11 chapters worldwide, and have 2,000+ people involved in their online social networks. Givology was chosen as one of the top 100 student-run enterprises in the US, and it was featured in Knowledge@Wharton, Philly Inquirer, Seattle Times, Nicholas Kristof’s blog in the NYT (and most recently in his book Half the Sky!), among other media and print sources.

Suzanne (Westbrook) van Landingham '04 married Michael E. van Landingham of Charleston, SC on June 27, 2009. The wedding took place in Great Falls, VA.

Megan Mattingly '04 is getting married on October 4, 2009 in Philadelphia. She met her fiance, Matthew Fedorchak, on a cruise. Megan currently works as a pastry chef & chocolatier for Newtown Chocolates in Bucks County, PA.

Matt Hanson '04 has been the Operations Research Analyst for 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the North Carolina Army National Guard in Baghdad, Iraq since May. He is a civilian providing statistical analysis and mathematical optimization support for the brigade commander and staff. Matt's been in Iraq since August 2008. His previous assignments were with 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division and Task Force Troy, the explosive ordnance disposal headquarters.

Anna Reinert '04 began her first semester of medical school this fall at Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. She recently returned from a gap year in Paris, where she was studying French holistic medical culture as a Henry Russell Shaw Fellow of Harvard College.

Class of 2005

Amy Koenig '05 graduated from Yale this past May with a B.A. in Classics. She's now heading to Oxford University for a Master's in Greek and Latin literature, hoping to specialize in papyrology.

Jennifer (Nelson) Goodnight '05 and Austin Goodnight '05 were married in July.

Class of 2007

Benjamin Lash '07 recently became President of Yale's Freestyle Dueling Association. Members simultaneously indulge their inner six year old and their competitive side by playing with foam swords (and halberds, bows, spears, etc.) - at the collegiate level!

Joel Shor '07 was Princeton's Osawa Fellow to Japan over the summer, where he did a homestay and taught English in Tokyo for 6 weeks, was a camp counselor for a K-12 camp, and then traveled for two weeks.

Nora Evans '07 received her VA real estate license this summer.

Class of 2008

Tessa Zeng '08 recommends The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss: "It's a relatively recent fantasy breakthrough by an upcoming author, and is phenomenal in its storytelling. Way better than Harry Potter (though it's not really comparative in many ways) and should appeal to the academics in us TJ-grads :)"

Aniko Toth '08 just earned her scuba diving certification.

Class of 2009

Brett Anders '09 is spending the first several months of his gap year biking across the country, from San Diego to St. Augustine!

Your classmates want to know what you're up to! Please e-mail mjones@tjhsstalumni.org with updates for the Web site and upcoming newsletter.

Message from the President