magazine

Class Notes
62
last spring and talked about her experience
as a math/science major at Wheelock and
some of the good things it led to: “My degree
allowed me to complete and graduate from
an accelerated EMT-Basic course. I have
enjoyed volunteering at the local hospital
here [Bozeman, MT] and have also been an
assistant teacher for the same EMT course
I graduated from. Being a top math and science
student at Wheelock College enabled
me to be accepted as an American Cancer Society
Alvan T. & Viola D. Fuller Junior Research
Fellow. This fellowship gave me the opportunity
of shadowing a thoracic oncologist at
Mass General. I spent the summer assisting
with research being done on thoracic cancers
(lung cancer, throat cancer, etc.). This fellowship
was the greatest learning experience
of my entire life.” Marci, who has recently
worked in guest services for Marriott, also
wrote, “Wheelock certainly not only educated
me, but has given me some of the best
memories of my life.”
Michaela Ross Rice ’11 and Eric Rice ’12 with
son Avery James (rockin’ the bowtie!)
Michaela Ross has been working at the
Joyce Middle School in Woburn, MA, as a special
education teacher since she graduated
from Wheelock. She married Eric Rice ’12, who
currently sells real estate, in April 2014, and
they had their first child, a son, Avery James,
last January.
Rachel Schumacher writes about getting
married last June 27: “We met during
my [2013] term of service with AmeriCorps
NCCC in the North Central region based out
of Iowa, where we served on the same team.
That was my second year of AmeriCorps –
my first was with the Community Health
Center in Middletown, CT, in 2011-2012. Since
completing my term with NCCC, we moved
back to my hometown of Norwich, CT, where
I am currently working as the lead teacher of
the toddler classroom at Mayflower Montessori
School. I stay in contact with my best
Wheelock girls from the 301 CCSR suite of
2011: Samantha Suarez, Catherine Piccininni
’13, and Natasha Al-Rafie ’12, all of whom
were the bridesmaids in my wedding.” Rachel
shared that last August Samantha was
headed to Colombia for a one- to two-year
adventure teaching English in schools there,
Catherine is completing her graduate degree
at Wheelock, and Natasha is also doing
graduate studies.
2012
Kayla Drescher, now living in Los Angeles,
is performing magic all over the country,
including a performance at Wheelock’s April
2015 Make-A-Wish talent show. Last summer,
she was a counselor and teacher at Tannen’s
Magic Camp in Bryn Mawr, PA, where over
150 young magicians gathered to learn the
ins and outs of performing magic. The rest
of Kayla’s summer was filled with traveling,
outdoor fun, and even performing as
an opening act for a show on the Las Vegas
strip! To find out more, visit www.magicinheels.com.
Last year, Ava Jennings ’12/’15MS
wrote: “This summer I’m a participant in the
Teacher Launch Project. The project is actually
part of a research study being conducted
by Harvard University. During the four-week
summer program we practice behavior management
skills, classroom culture practice,
and importance of routines and systems, and
we receive 20 weeks of mentoring during the
school year! The program has been amazing
thus far. I am glad I joined!”
2014
Last spring, Megan Mawe, a math/science
major when she was at Wheelock, wrote: “I
have continued to pursue math/science! I
am currently enrolled in an accelerated B.S.
and M.S. of Nursing at Regis College. I will be
receiving my nursing license next January
and will then continue on to complete my
master’s degree in nursing to ultimately be a
nurse practitioner in acute/surgical care. My
degree in math/science was a great starting
point for this, as the science prerequisites for
this program were very extensive, and a bachelor’s
degree was required for acceptance. I
also minored in education, which has proven
to be incredibly helpful for all the patient
teaching required in nursing. I also work as a
home health aide for a private-duty nursing
company, and this has been immensely helpful
for my nursing education!”
Master’s Degrees
Congratulations to Kim Paddison Dockery
’78MS (Ed.D., University of Virginia), who
retired last August after 20 years in the
Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools. She had
most recently served as chief academic officer,
overseeing the daily academic life of the
school system’s more than 185,000 students
and leading divisionwide instruction and
testing services. After joining the school
system in 1995 as a special education teacher
at Mantua Elementary, she served as an
assistant principal at Haycock Elementary, as
principal of Westlawn Elementary, and as the
assistant superintendent for special services,
leading special education, health services,
and intervention and prevention programs
for students. “She was an integral part of the
school system’s efforts to reform the district’s
disciplinary procedures, particularly for teens
in high schools,” according to a July 2015
Washington Post story. Kim herself writes
that she has also done a lot of work in early
childhood with Ellen Galinsky (president and
co-founder of Families and Work Institute) and
in the fall participated in the National Governors
Association roundtable on “social emotional
learning in early childhood (and the pre-
K-12 alignment required to support SEL).” She
adds, “Wheelock and Susan Kosoff [’65/’75MS]
were so foundational for my career!”
Dr. Laurel Waiksnoris Bongiorno ’85MS is
dean of the Division of Education and Human
Studies at Champlain College in Burlington,
VT. Susan Brown Bramble ’94MS was in
touch last spring, when she was excited to be
starting her new position as learning specialist
at Stone Ridge School in Bethesda, MD,
where she works primarily with students and
teachers in grades 5 and 6.
Last fall, Dr. Kimberly Wright Morgan
’05MSW wrote: “Recently, I completed a
doctorate in Pastoral Care and Counseling.
My husband and I are returning from our
summer trip to England, Wales, and Ireland,
visiting our family. I will begin my new appointment
with the Civil Air Patrol Chaplain
Corps, as a character development instructor.
Thank you, Wheelock Graduate School of Social
Work, for shaping who I am today.” Nyree
WINTER 2016