ACE 2 is alive and well and growing (kid wise) it seems by the day.
ACE 2 wants to send our love, support, and prayers to everyone still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Many of us taught in the affected areas and our hearts go out to our students and their families, our colleagues and our friends.
This report begins with some serious questions posed by Matthew Elerding: Where on earth is Sean Wilson? Is he alive? Is he Osama’s side-kick? If someone knows of his location, please inform Matt and all of us as soon as possible.
Katie (Walter) Esser and husband Will are expecting their second child, due Dec. 19! Big sister Abby, 2, is looking forward to having a new brother or sister. Katie and Will are still living in Charlotte, and try to get together with other Charlotte ACErs Erin (Hayden) Steenwyk and husband Dirk, and Laura and Zack Budzichowski as regularly as they can. They all have daughters who are within about a year of each other, so playtime is a must.
Erin (Hayden) Steenwyk, as mentioned, is living in Charlotte, NC with her husband and their two children, Jackie (2) and Patrick (1). After spending three years in the public school system teaching the severely disadvantaged, she left teaching. She currently work as a sales rep for Jostens yearbooks, so she still get to be in the classroom on a daily basis. She just doesn’t have to do lesson plans.
Zack and Laura Budzichowski are also doing well. They had a second little girl last May. Kelly is six months old and Amy just turned three. Zack is still home full time and Laura is still with the same law firm she started with almost 5 years ago. They love Charlotte.
Aimée Terry Bergan and her husband, Joe Bergan, (ND '95) had their first child, a baby boy, on April 13, 2006. His name is Tripp (Donald Joseph Bergan III). Both are enjoying parenthood very much. Tripp made it back to ND for two football games this season and is looking forward to running around campus next year. Aimee is working for Edward Jones, a full-service brokerage firm, as a manager in the sales recruiting area. She also is very involved in activities in her parish, the Junior League of St. Louis, and two other non-profits that are near and dear to her heart, Lydia's House and Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition. They live in St. Louis, MO, but try to make it back to Aimee’s hometown (San Francisco) as much as possible.
The Bergan’s were at ND for the UCLA game and spent some time with Sarah Badger Cullinan and her family, Phil Autrey and Dan McGinty. They all were supposed to be joined by Mia Pasquinelli Couvillon, but she was busy taking care of her 3 month old Cole, and Michelle Nasser Weiss, but she had to prepare some international witnesses for an upcoming trial. No word yet if any of the international witnesses were Sean Wilson or not.
Tom Jacobs just returned from Mid-Service Training in Dominica thus completing his first year of service with the Peace Corps in Grenada. In Grenada, Tom has been functioning as the assistant to the chair of the Task Force on Special Education, a cabinet assigned entity tasked with developing Special Education programming throughout the country, predominantly at public mainstream schools. TJ has learned much about the challenges and advantages of developing educational programs in a small island society working from both the top (Ministerial) and grassroots (teachers and communities) levels. Tom’s favorite part about being in the Peace Corp is experiencing the life of a small tropical island (shocker!!!). It still doesn’t hold a candle to living in his classroom for weeks on end but it is a close second. On a recent vacation, Tom hiked through the Valley of Desolation to the Boiling Lake, scaled a rock cliff to visit an isolated waterfall on an Atlantic beach, knock a coconut out of a tree, and enjoy the fresh milk and meat. Check back later to see if Tom wins Survivor..
Lou Weber and wife, Tracy, live in South Bend with their two boys, TJ and Charlie. Lou attempts to get to all the Def Leppard, Journey, etc. concerts that hit the JACC every year.
Tom Perez is teaching high school in Dallas. Tom and his wife, Jenny, have two kids. Mia is 3 years old and Abby is 2 years old (yes, just 15 months apart). Tom still works with Patrick O’Sullivan. Andrew Alfer's brother (who does not have a name except Andrew’s brother) teaches in the room next to Tom. Freehold, New Jersey still misses you, Tom.
The always lovely, Mara (McConville) Bregenzer, is married and a stay-at-home mother of 2 (Daniel is 2; Joseph is 4 months).
After teaching elementary school for nine years, Vicki (Mullek) Maynard went back to nursing school and works as an RN at the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile. Vicki lost her husband very unexpectedly in January 2004 (heart attack). They were quite blessed even for a short time. Please keep Vicki and her whole family in your prayers.
Phil Autry insists nothing interesting is going on in his life; however, we all know he is secretly touring the country with his boy band and cranking out hits like the Metric Roll (or whatever that song’s name was). Seriously, Phil is living in Mechanicsburg, PA (just outside Harrisburg) and working for Houghton Mifflin. Phil basically manages a couple of federally funded projects on school improvement in public schools in various states. It means a lot of travel but has been great exposure. His ultimate goal is one day have the ability to fire Andrew Alfers (who does work for HMCO in San Francisco) and believes that day could come soon. By the way, the soon to be canned Alfers is married to the beautiful Andrea and they have two children, Aidan and Amalia.
The aforementioned Sarah Badger Cullinan is living in South Bend after a few stints back and forth to Philly with husband Shannon (who, by the way, interviewed her for ACE). Shannon and Sarah have three kids (Clare 4, Gavin almost 3 and Anna almost 1 - yes, that's three in 39 months so time to pony up for number three Perez!!), would love to see any and all who make it through this summer or next football season. Sarah insists her life must be the subject of an animated TV series or a hidden camera show for all the craziness in the Cullinan household! Regardless, she is loving life and couldn't be happier. Really!
Kate (Comer) Helm and Theo (ACE 3) are doing great. They are the proud parents of two boys, Thomas (2 ½) and Jack (7 months). With both working, life is a bit crazy most days. The Helm’s were recently back in South Bend-- visiting with Cookie, his wife and their new baby—and reminiscing about the 'old days' in Mobile.
John Caballero is still living in Columbia, SC. He and his wife, Jen, have a four year-old daughter, Molly. She is their joy and happiness. Cabs is working in a school doing a variety of things, though his primary responsibilities are technology and some other administrative things. He does not teach but one class and misses the classroom very much.
Shannon Dunn Rich and husband Casey have a beautiful daughter, Adeline Alice Margaret Rich. If you could not guess it, Shannon has not changed. She still has the innate ability to best describe any situation she encounters (her childbirth description is priceless). Shannon and Casey are living McMinnville, Oregon and are loving life.
Matt and Jessica Healey are living in Raleigh, North Carolina with their three children, Aidan, Kate, and Meghan. Recently, Matt had to trade in the “Bad Ride” (Saturn) for the more convenient minivan to fit the whole family. It was a great ten years, Matt. We hope the Biloxi mixes made it into the new ride (that is if Jessica’s Jacksonville mixes didn’t win out).
Scott Morgan has founded Education Pioneers, a nonprofit that is doing amazing things. His website speaks for itself. Check it out…. www.educationpioneers.org.
David Hungling is living in Atlanta with wife Julie and three daughters (Clare-6; Emma-3; Hannah 1.5). Dave is still a lawyer and has his own firm which is headquartered in a very upscale and impressive Class A building. In that office he has a first-class coffee maker that can deliver a steaming-hot, made-to-order cup of coffee 24/7. The views from his office are spectacular. His high-speed, high-volume copier/scanner/fax is to die for but he has staff to handle those functions for him, of course. He spends most of his day with his blue-chip earpiece on and typing emails on a small blackberry device. Dave drives his oldest daughter to Christ the King School everyday in a stunning European-styled sedan with leather interiors. Sir Elton John lives in the condo tower across from her school. But he has yet to perform in any school assemblies. Finally, Dave is fatter today than he has ever been in his life.
Jen (Radke) Kiedaisch and humorous husband, Joel Kiedaisch, were married in 2003 Joel turned Jen into a big Rolling Stones fan so much so in 2005 they had a baby boy, named Jackson (Jack) Jagger. Jack now runs around our Chicago home, singing and dancing like crazy. Perhaps it's a self-fulfilling prophecy based on his middle name. Joel and Jenn are expecting their second child in early May. Jen still teaches and has been teaching fourth grade at a public school in a suburb of Chicago for a few years now. Slowly but surely, she is working on her certification and Master's for educational leadership.
Other ACErs and their children known about but have not been mentioned yet are the following: Sarah Tschaen and Mary Bowers have a daughter, Jesslyn. Patrick and Molly O'Sullivan also have a daughter, Danielle. Dirk and Shelly Bedford have twins but I can't remember what their names are. Sorry, Dirk. Michelle (Nasser) and Andy Weiss have a son and daughter, Joey and Leah.
My wife, Bryanne, and I have had two daughters, Jennifer and Maryanne. Maryanne, unfortunately, was taken from us way too early but we were blessed to have the short amount of time together. We now have someone pulling for us in heaven and as everyone knows, I need all the help I can get. I am still fundraising and creating educational programs for the Edison Foundations. Like Hungling, I am also expanding the waistline but I am also sprinkling in a lot of gray hair which really makes me sexy.
In closing, I would have liked to end this update with a Utube clip of Dirk singing the Turkey Song to get us all in the holiday spirit but unfortunately I was unable to acquire the rights to use it. Regardless, ACE 2 hopes everyone has a blessed and enjoyable Holiday season.
Until next time….Stay Classy!
Cheers,
George Keegan