Santa Clara Magazine

Ryan Fletcher M.A. '07 was named principal of Piedmont Middle School by the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education. The appointment is effective July 1.

Fletcher holds a multiple subject teaching credential and a professional administrative services credential. He is a graduate of the University of Vermont, with a B.S. in elementary education, and he holds an M.A. in education, from Santa Clara University.

Fletcher’s professional background includes four years as an assistant principal at J.L. Stanford Middle School in Palo Alto and two years as the summer school principal at both Palo Alto High and Henry M. Gunn High School in the Palo Alto Unified School District. He also served as a classroom teacher for seven years, teaching math and science at the middle school level and grades 3, 4, and 5 at the elementary level.

Nicholas Farguson ’07 married Rebecca Heath ’09 on August 25, 2012, at the Mission Church.

Hannah DuVon '07 developed The Wellness Care Box, a special gift for a loved one or friend who is diagnosed with cancer. Friends and family often feel helpless not knowing what to do to help. DuVon developed the box with the help of Stanford Hospital oncology nurses after her mother was diagnosed with cancer. The Wellness Care Box is packed with natural and chemical-free products that help bring comfort from the common side effects of medical treatment. View link below. http://cancer.stanford.edu/features/patient_care_news/WellnessCareBox.html To order a Wellness Care Box www.Stanford.WellnessCareBox.com

Ross Dakin '07 is honored to help guide the School of Engineering as the newest appointee of its Industry Advisory Board. Ross is currently a staff engineer at Upstart.com

Cannon Christian ’07 writes that he founded a booming business in San Diego called Renovation Realty, a one-stop-shop approach to real estate and renovation that adds value to clients’ homes with zero out-of-pocket costs to the homeowners. As both a full-service residential renovation contractor and real estate brokerage, the company adds monetary value to customer homes by using its own capital to renovate the property before placing it on the market for sale as the listing brokerage.  Renovation Realty is reimbursed for its services when it is paid after the sale of the property through escrow. The homeowner never incurs any out of pocket costs in the renovation and sale of the property.

Fabian P. Castaneda '07, M.A. '12 and wife Rachelle welcomed their second child, Frieda, on July 16, 2011. She joins big brother, Fabian Jr., 2.

Emiko Burchill J.D. ’07 was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown ’59 as special assistant for policy at the California Natural Resources Agency. Burchill was a contract attorney at Olson Hagel and Fishburn LLP in 2012. She was an executive fellow at the California Fair Political Practices Commission from 2011 to 2012 and was an intern at the office of Assemblymember Toni Atkins in 2011. Burchill was a volunteer attorney at My Sister's House from 2010 to 2011 and an attorney at the law offices of McDowall Cotter from 2007 to 2009.

Melissa Brown '07 has joined School Legal Services in Bakersfield, Calif. as a member of the service's Labor and Employment Practices Group.

Brittany Bramell ’07 is communication director for the Congressional Office of House Speaker John Boehner. Bramell previously served as spokesperson for Republican Chris Christie's 2009 gubernatorial campaign in New Jersey.
 

Julie Gabelein '07 and John Bianchi J.D. '07 were wed on July 24, 2010 in ceremony overlooking Puget Sound on Whidbey Island, WA, presided by Chris Boscia J.D. '08. The bridal party included Jesse Baldwin-Philippi '07, Shannon Bell '07, Kellie Dunn '07, and Sarah Scott '07. Other Broncos in attendance: Robin Bedillion '05, Taylor Bedillion '05, Carrie Clark '07, Sara Forrester '07, Danielle Granieri '07, Seena Kallingal '07, Kristin Love Boscia '03, JD '08, Blossom Marimpetri '08, Kevin Metti JD '07, Asheesh Mohindru JD '07, Kristen Morse '07, Sara Overmier '07, Tara Rooney '05, Kiley Strong '05, and Diannah Vaughn '07. The couple resides in Seattle.

Shubhasheesh Anand MBA ’07 recently joined InsightsOne (http://InsightsOne.com), leading the solutions team. InsightsOne is a well-funded B2C predictive analytics startup in the big-data space. The company is actively hiring data scientists and engineers.

William Amerman MBA '08 has published a new book, Aries at Dawn. The link is: http://www.amazon.com/Aries-at-Dawn-ebook/dp/B004WT7KJE

Stephanie Paulus '08 and Joshua Yee '06, '09 were married on June 26, 2010 at the Mission Santa Clara by Paul Taylor, Young Adult/College Pastor at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto. The bridal party inlcuded Best Man Jonathan Lewis '08; Groomsmen Dane Yoshimura, Chris Salzmann '06, '10, and James Reavis '08; Maid of Honor Kaitlin Paulus; Bridesmaids Suzy Evans, Katie Clarke, and Shayna Yee; Ring Bearers Alex Paulus and Jacob Dally; and Flower Girl Maia Kawaguchi. Ceremony scripture was read by Kevin Hazard '06, Molly Shatzel '10, Andrew Caldwell, and Cameron Nitta. Music was played by Jake Dodson. The couple honeymooned in Hawaii and then celebrated a second reception in Josh's hometown of Honolulu. They currently live in San Jose where Josh works as an electrical engineer at Linear Technology and Stephanie is looking for a position as a registered nurse after recieving her Bachelor's degree in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May.

Olvin Veigas, S.J., STL ’08 is now director of the St. Thomas Institute of Philosophy, Theology and History in Moscow, Russia. He started the school year with 60 new students.

EB (Elizabeth) Stanislawski ’08 and Colin Triplett ’08 were married June 23, 2012 at Clos La Chance Winery in San Martin, California. EB currently works for The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco and is presently pursuing her Masters at Santa Clara. Colin started, operated and expanded Mint Condition Fitness in Los Gatos, a boutique holistic fitness club. EB and Colin now reside in their lovely home in Santa Clara.

Mike Sweitzer-Beckman M.Div. ’08 writes: “Back in 2002, I began collecting letters from people who were serving prison sentences for committing acts of civil disobedience at the School of the Americas (now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). I wrote to prisoners and asked them to share their stories of what it was like to be in prison, and why they took actions that put them in federal prison. My goal was to show the commitment by these peace activists toward a nonviolent alternative. I also received some letters from people who had committed acts of civil disobedience at other anti-nuclear demonstrations, including nuclear test sites. I am donating these letters to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.”

Melissa (Lomeli) Sesma ’08 is the new bilingual services program manager at the Monterey County Elections Department. Semsa, a Salinas native, will focus on voter education and will be a resource for the bilingual community and voters at large. She will help register voters, especially in underserved communities, and will assist with the recruitment of bilingual poll workers.

Semsa is an Alisal High School graduate and an alumna of Santa Clara University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and French.

Her goal is “to improve access to the ballot and election information in an effort to make Monterey County a region where people can be educated about the voting process and how they can participate,” according to an Elections Department newsletter.

To contact Sesma about what the Elections Department can do in your neighborhood or for a request of an educational presentation at your organization’s event call her at (831) 796-1478.

J.T. Service J.D. '08, founder of Soul Focus Sports, organized the San Jose 408K Race to the Row, an 8K run on March 11, 2012.

Service got the idea for the race after his company was hired to produce the Giant Race for the San Francisco Giants, which offers half-marathon, 10K and 5K courses, all ending on the Giants home field in AT&T Park. 

"There was something about their connection with the people who felt it was their team and their city," Service said in an article published by the San Jose Mercury News. "About 85 percent of the people running were from San Francisco, and everyone would wear their Giants gear. I felt there needed to be something for San Jose replicating that feel."

The HP Pavilion was chosen for the start and Santana Row for the finish, he said, because they are two of the most prominent landmarks in San Jose.

The Pat Tillman Foundation is the charity partner; Service ran in the San Jose version of Pat's Run before it was discontinued locally and relocated to Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, where it is now held each April. 

The funds raised by The San Jose 408K will be used by the Pat Tillman Foundation for its programs, including the Tillman Military Scholars program, which provides financial support for active and veteran service members and their spouses to complete degree programs.

Amber Valdivia '08 and Sean Seggie were married on May 15, 2010 on the Big Island of Hawaii.