magazine

Class Notes
58
Amy Gilzinger Fulton was in touch last
summer, when she was finishing her second
year at the Winston Prouty Center for Child
Development in Brattleboro, VT, and her second
year of retirement from public school
teaching. She had been working full time
with preschoolers but this year is working in
the young toddler class. “I am enjoying my
return to preschool immensely and having
fun fence painting, splashing in water, and
going for nature walks!” she writes. Amy’s
daughters are all grown and out of college;
her older daughter will be getting married
this fall, and the younger one has a bachelor’s
from Emerson and has been looking
into law schools.
Cindy Hawkins Turner and Wendy Wunsch
Borosavage ’81 recently met up with Kate
Grady Hazen at the Flying Bridge Restaurant
in Falmouth, MA, during Kate’s summer visit
to Cape Cod! Cindy used to teach kindergarten
and second grade, then was a stay-athome
mom, and now is helping her dad in her
family business (grocery store), but she hopes
to get back into teaching ... and, therefore,
was planning to substitute last fall. Wendy is
director of admission/enrollment at The
Chestnut Hill School. Kate continues teaching
second grade at Alice Byrne School in
Yuma, AZ; serves as team captain of a Relay
For Life team, walking and raising money
for the American Cancer Society; and loves
the desert Southwest! They would love to
plan a mini-reunion this summer with other
close Wheelock friends and hope to hear from
(L-R) Kate Grady Hazen ’82, Cindy Hawkins
Turner ’82, and Wendy Wunsch Borosavage ’81
met up at the Flying Bridge Restaurant
in Falmouth, MA, during Kate’s summer ’15 visit
to Cape Cod.
Kathie Mello Friedrichsen, Beth Bacon Cebula,
Catherine Ley Lawler, Kathy Thomas, Liz
Stein Stehm, Tracy Goodman Fanelli, Vicki
Hessert Graboski, Ellen Levy Greenberg, Sarah
Walstad, and Dawn Cassella DiNoto! Contact
Kate at khazen@yuma.org.
(L-R) 1985 classmates JoAnn Chambers Meehan,
Stephanie Poly Zapatka, and Michele Yefsky
Charm enjoy an afternoon of laughing and
catching up.
“Since I am not ready to retire and love
teaching, a couple more years are ‘in the
cards,’” wrote Barbara Madison Ripps last
summer, after completing her 31st year of
teaching in the South Colonie School District
in New York, where she has been teaching
third grade in recent years. She and her husband
continue to enjoy family time whenever
possible, though it’s hard now with their
children living in other states. Son Zach, who
married a fellow Bentley University graduate
last August, works for Heinz in Pittsburgh.
Daughter Karina (also Bentley) works in the
marketing department at Curata, a content
marketing company in Boston – and loves living
in Boston just as much as Barbara did! In
addition to recent trips to Florida, Las Vegas,
and Aruba, Barbara and her husband went
to Europe to celebrate their 30th wedding
anniversary. She adds: “After more than 11
years, I continue to enjoy helping people in
my Arbonne business (http://barbararipps.
arbonne.com) showing them what ‘healthy’
looks like and feels like. When you give someone
their life back, it’s very gratifying. I’d love
to help you!”
1986
REUNION 2016
JUNE 3-5, 2016
Last summer, Eleni Geroulanou wrote: “I was
so devastated to hear about Mary Iatridis’
death. May she rest in peace. We will always
remember Mary for her energy, humor, and
kindness. She was quite an amazing teacher
and friend!”
Jeri Hammond ’86/’92MS is in her first
year as principal of the Walton School in the
Wakefield, MA, Public Schools. In introducing
her to the Walton community last spring,
the town’s superintendent of schools talked
about her “deep-seated passion for teaching
and learning” and called her “a fierce
advocate for enriching and challenging
learning experiences for all learners.” During
the summer, Jeri told a reporter from Wicked
Local Stoneham about the great feeling she
had about Walton “from the moment [she]
walked in the door” and later wrote to the
Alumni Relations Office about the incredibly
exciting time she was having learning
the ropes there. Jeri was previously a grade
2 lead teacher at Driscoll Elementary School
in Brookline, MA, where she helped develop
educational curricula and an innovative
mentoring program for new teachers,
coached many teachers, and facilitated
professional learning experiences. In addition
to her Wheelock degrees, Jeri has an M.A. in
Educational Leadership through the EDCO
Leadership Institute.
NancyDee Tenney MacFarland ’86 got nostalgic
as she sat in her “old ‘backyard’” (Winsor
School field) and cheered on son Jameson
(goalie) during his Eastern Nazarene College
soccer game against Wheelock last September.
Back in September, NancyDee Tenney
MacFarland wrote: “Tuesday night, Sept. 8,
was a perfect summer night, warm but with
low humidity and a light breeze. I returned to
Wheelock for the first time in many years to
see my son play in goal for his college soccer
team (Eastern Nazarene College) on the Winsor
field [against Wheelock]. I never imagined
when I was attending Wheelock in the ’80s
that one day my son would be playing in my
old ‘backyard.’ My husband and I remembered
fondly watching the Wheelock women play
a few games on the old field. The new facilities
are beautiful! The lush grass and trees
surrounding the field and the small rabbit
my daughter found were testaments to
the careful environmental planning behind
the state-of-the-art buildings now in place.
Many students came to cheer on the men’s
soccer team. It was fun to chat with them
WINTER 2016