The last 10 years. . .where to start? (Don't worry I will keep it short.)
I went to U of A on a gymnastics scholarship and competed for 4 years and have the scars to show for it. I graduated in 2004 with a BS in Human Sciences.
After completing my degree I moved back to Phoenix and worked as a social worker for about a year and a half and decided that it was not for me. I can't stand to see people hurting and not being able to do anything about it.
I then moved to Pretoria, South Africa. I am currently coaching the junior national team here. It was a crazy decision but I am extremely happy and enjoying my adventure. It is a beautiful country with a lot of social and political problems but I love it.
Oh and there is no husband or kids. No yet anyways.
Hopefully the next 10 years are as exciting as the last 10!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Update from Katie Pfeiffer-McConnell
Oh, I'm so excited for the reunion!
I am from the class of '99 and can hardly believe its been 10 years. Wow, well, I've been a couple places since then. After high school I went on to go to college at Glendale Community College, then Southwestern Bible College. I worked at the ASU West Child Development Preschool for four and a half years (with Megan Snyder-Spencer). I also got a great sister in law when Laura Herr married my brother Scott. Turns out she was good friends with my good friend Cara Freeland in highschool and I didn't even know it. Well now we are just like sisters so, awesome!
I never finished at Southwestern Bible College because I met then Lt. Dan (Forest Gump anyone?) McConnell and married him 18 months later. We moved on to Hampton, VA where I finished my degree in Human Services Counseling at Old Dominion University and went on to counsel pregnant teens and young women through The Care Net Resource Pregnancy Center. I also advocated for foster children in the Newport News Juvenile Court Systerm through CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates. What a blast and a blessing to work with so many amazing kids. Dan and I lead, for a time, our College and Career Group at our church. After Dan's second tour of duty and the loss of our baby boy, Adam through miscarriage, we decided to leave the military. We then moved on to Richmond, VA where I worked for a time as a hiring manager at an insurance company. After the loss of our baby girl, Charis, through miscarriage I went on to get pregnant again with Sarah Grace who is now three months old. We are also selling our house to move back to the Hampton/Newport News area since Dan got a job as a contractor at Langley AFB. I am very much enjoying being a stay at home mom. My career goal at this point is to be a children's book writer. I am also now in the process of starting a blog site dedicated to family issues. It should be opening sometime either in June or July offering up what I learn in my search for answers regarding marriage, children, maintaining friendships, taking care of self and whatever else pops up along the way (recipes, guest bloggers, giveaways, polls and Q&As). In the meantime check out the goings on in my neck of the woods at http://tulipgirl1979.blogspot.com/
Can't wait to see you all again! Wahoo!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Hi Everyone,
We have narrowed down a date for the reunion. Mark your calendars for October 17th, 2009. We are still working with a few places to see who can give us the best deal, so, stay tuned for the location. We are currently trying to get good hotel room rates for anyone who is coming in from out of town or who would be interested in staying there.
We are trying to keep the prices as low as possible. We know that these economic times are presenting many challenges.
Please email me with any questions!
Thanks~
Shannon
mountainridge99@yahoo.com
We have narrowed down a date for the reunion. Mark your calendars for October 17th, 2009. We are still working with a few places to see who can give us the best deal, so, stay tuned for the location. We are currently trying to get good hotel room rates for anyone who is coming in from out of town or who would be interested in staying there.
We are trying to keep the prices as low as possible. We know that these economic times are presenting many challenges.
Please email me with any questions!
Thanks~
Shannon
mountainridge99@yahoo.com
Monday, February 2, 2009
Ketchum Update
Well, my wife says I need to post my story so here goes. After graduating from Mountain Ridge in '99 I left Phoenix and headed to Flagstaff to attend NAU. I enrolled in the AFROTC detachment and began pursuing my degree in Computer Science relying upon academic scholarships to pay the bills. After a year at NAU I decided to take two years to serve as a missionary in Northeastern Brazil. While I was in Brazil my family moved to Eastern Iowa...so after two years speaking of Portuguese and living without many modern conveniences I returned to Iowa – which didn’t seem much more developed. I got a job as a night stocker at a Super-Target in the small town of Cedar Rapids and worked lots of overtime for a few months to save up for my return to Flagstaff and civilization.
I returned to NAU in the Spring of 2003 to continue my degree. As a Resident Assistant I was able to make ends meet and meet lots of new friends since most of my peers had moved on or graduated. During the summers of 2003 and 2004 I worked as an intern at Honeywell in Phoenix where I got to practice the principles I was learning from my studies. At the end of the summer of 2004 I went to South Dakota for AFROTC basic training. There I spent 29 grueling days being yelled at by large angry drill instructors. Overall it was a very rewarding experience (one I do not wish to repeat) and I was not deterred from joining the Armed Forces. In the Fall of 2004 after I returned from basic training I met my beautiful wife Leah, who had just decided to transfer to NAU. I had to move quickly to snatch her up before any of the other guys had a chance. After one or two dates we were inseparable and by January of 2005 I proposed to seal the deal. Although we initially planned to get married that May, the military had other plans for me.
For the summer of 2005 I was selected to attend a Cyber-Security Boot camp (aka Hacker-training) in Rome, NY. Unfortunately the classified nature of the training prohibited me from bringing my fiancé/wife along. So we rescheduled the wedding for August. After an intense summer of cyber-training and exercises I returned the day before the wedding with just enough time to attend the rehearsal dinner and then prepare to walk down the isle. Despite being absent for a majority of the wedding planning, my wife was kind enough not to leave me at the alter and we were married on a scorching mid-August ’05 day in Mesa. We fled to Hawaii for one week on our honeymoon and enjoyed a short taste of paradise.
We spent my senior year of college in the married-housing at NAU. Being married as college students turned out to be lots of fun, and we took a few classes together and helped each other with homework. Consequently we both had excellent grades. I was able to graduate in May 2006 summa cum laude with a B.S. in Computer Science and a minor in math with honors. The following day I was commissioned as an officer in the US Air Force. We packed up our things and reported to Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB) in Alabama for 6 weeks of introductory training. Then our first assignment was to report to Hickam AFB by August of 2006. Hickam AFB is in Hawaii adjacent to Pearl Harbor so we got to go on our honeymoon all over again.
As soon as we arrived on the island we bought two dogs: A pure-bred German-Shepherd and a Border-Collie. We spent our first year enjoying the island, hiking, scuba-diving, and surfing (Leah picked up surfing right away and got so good that I had to get her a board to stop paying for rentals). The dogs came with us everywhere and helped to prepared us for our first child. In the Fall of 2007 Leah found out that we were expecting a baby boy. Benjamin was born in July of 2008 after 48 grueling hours of labor. He's adorable and now all our free time revolves around him. We'll be in Hawaii for one more year before we get transferred and we're trying to decide where we want to go next. I was thinking about Germany, although Leah wanted to get closer to her parents (Arizona) so maybe we'll aim for the East coast as a compromise :)
If you're interested in checking out pictures of Ben, Leah, me, or the dogs check out our blog at http://jonandleahketchumfamily.blogspot.com/. Leah started it when Ben was born and she does a good job of updating it almost every week. You can find out more about Leah (who is far more interesting in my opinion) and see what we've been up to. Look forward to some new pictures in March as we hop over to the Big Island to see the volcano. It's one of the few islands we haven't been to yet. It's fun to read about what everyone is doing. I look forward seeing everyone at the reunion.
-Jon
I returned to NAU in the Spring of 2003 to continue my degree. As a Resident Assistant I was able to make ends meet and meet lots of new friends since most of my peers had moved on or graduated. During the summers of 2003 and 2004 I worked as an intern at Honeywell in Phoenix where I got to practice the principles I was learning from my studies. At the end of the summer of 2004 I went to South Dakota for AFROTC basic training. There I spent 29 grueling days being yelled at by large angry drill instructors. Overall it was a very rewarding experience (one I do not wish to repeat) and I was not deterred from joining the Armed Forces. In the Fall of 2004 after I returned from basic training I met my beautiful wife Leah, who had just decided to transfer to NAU. I had to move quickly to snatch her up before any of the other guys had a chance. After one or two dates we were inseparable and by January of 2005 I proposed to seal the deal. Although we initially planned to get married that May, the military had other plans for me.
For the summer of 2005 I was selected to attend a Cyber-Security Boot camp (aka Hacker-training) in Rome, NY. Unfortunately the classified nature of the training prohibited me from bringing my fiancé/wife along. So we rescheduled the wedding for August. After an intense summer of cyber-training and exercises I returned the day before the wedding with just enough time to attend the rehearsal dinner and then prepare to walk down the isle. Despite being absent for a majority of the wedding planning, my wife was kind enough not to leave me at the alter and we were married on a scorching mid-August ’05 day in Mesa. We fled to Hawaii for one week on our honeymoon and enjoyed a short taste of paradise.
We spent my senior year of college in the married-housing at NAU. Being married as college students turned out to be lots of fun, and we took a few classes together and helped each other with homework. Consequently we both had excellent grades. I was able to graduate in May 2006 summa cum laude with a B.S. in Computer Science and a minor in math with honors. The following day I was commissioned as an officer in the US Air Force. We packed up our things and reported to Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB) in Alabama for 6 weeks of introductory training. Then our first assignment was to report to Hickam AFB by August of 2006. Hickam AFB is in Hawaii adjacent to Pearl Harbor so we got to go on our honeymoon all over again.
As soon as we arrived on the island we bought two dogs: A pure-bred German-Shepherd and a Border-Collie. We spent our first year enjoying the island, hiking, scuba-diving, and surfing (Leah picked up surfing right away and got so good that I had to get her a board to stop paying for rentals). The dogs came with us everywhere and helped to prepared us for our first child. In the Fall of 2007 Leah found out that we were expecting a baby boy. Benjamin was born in July of 2008 after 48 grueling hours of labor. He's adorable and now all our free time revolves around him. We'll be in Hawaii for one more year before we get transferred and we're trying to decide where we want to go next. I was thinking about Germany, although Leah wanted to get closer to her parents (Arizona) so maybe we'll aim for the East coast as a compromise :)
If you're interested in checking out pictures of Ben, Leah, me, or the dogs check out our blog at http://jonandleahketchumfamily.blogspot.com/. Leah started it when Ben was born and she does a good job of updating it almost every week. You can find out more about Leah (who is far more interesting in my opinion) and see what we've been up to. Look forward to some new pictures in March as we hop over to the Big Island to see the volcano. It's one of the few islands we haven't been to yet. It's fun to read about what everyone is doing. I look forward seeing everyone at the reunion.
-Jon
Monday, January 19, 2009
Brock and Amber (Brisbin) Day
Visit our blog at www.brockamberandkidz.blogspot.com to see more on our lives. Can't wait to see all of you, it's been way too long!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Your input needed!
Hi Everyone!
I promise to update everyone on all of the details of the class reunion.
Right now- everyone should mark their calendars for OCTOBER.
In the meantime, I would like to hear from all of you who haven't yet had the chance give input on the theme of said Reunion!
Based on the few responses I have received, I have narrowed the scope a little.
The question is- What kind of event would you like the reunion to be?
a. formal/semi-formal- sit down dinner/dancing
b. informal- drinks/ games
c. Luau?
d. casino games?
e. any other ideas- all are welcome and appreciated!
I am going to start looking for venues with our dates in mind that are available.
Thanks in advance for your input and we will get it planned...
I would also like to hear from you all on this blog!
What have you been up to for the past ten years? Please feel free to post pictures, email addresses and reach out to say hi to your fellow alum!
(Here's the log-in at http://blogspot.com
email: mountainridge99@yahoo.com password: mrhs99alumni)
We want to hear how and what everyone is doing!I will be in touch again soon!
Best Regards,
Shannon Scaturro-Hage
email me @ mountainridge99@yahoo.com
I promise to update everyone on all of the details of the class reunion.
Right now- everyone should mark their calendars for OCTOBER.
In the meantime, I would like to hear from all of you who haven't yet had the chance give input on the theme of said Reunion!
Based on the few responses I have received, I have narrowed the scope a little.
The question is- What kind of event would you like the reunion to be?
a. formal/semi-formal- sit down dinner/dancing
b. informal- drinks/ games
c. Luau?
d. casino games?
e. any other ideas- all are welcome and appreciated!
I am going to start looking for venues with our dates in mind that are available.
Thanks in advance for your input and we will get it planned...
I would also like to hear from you all on this blog!
What have you been up to for the past ten years? Please feel free to post pictures, email addresses and reach out to say hi to your fellow alum!
(Here's the log-in at http://blogspot.com
email: mountainridge99@yahoo.com password: mrhs99alumni)
We want to hear how and what everyone is doing!I will be in touch again soon!
Best Regards,
Shannon Scaturro-Hage
email me @ mountainridge99@yahoo.com
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Gard's last 10 years
Well following graduation I went up to Flagstaff to attend NAU. I spent the first couple years majoring in electrical and computer science engineering. While going to school for engineering I began working summer internships at Honeywell. After spending my second summer at Honeywell I decided that I could not see myself doing this for the rest of my life and began looking into changing my major. I never thought I would be one of the statistics and change my major after 2 years but here I was doing just that.
Around that same I became a founding member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity at NAU. Being greek has provided me with so many experiences and opportunities through the years. After switching from engineering I began studying athletic training and biology education. A short time later I chose to only persue biology education and completed my Bacholars degree in Biology and secondary education in 2006. As part of my schooling I actually returned to Mountain Ridge in the srping of 2006 to complete my student teaching.
While in college I met my wife. As I was in a fraternity and she was in a sorority we got to know each other and have now been together for 6 years and married for 3 1/2 years. We dont have any children yet. Possibly in the next year or two, but we have 3 dogs that are our children for now.
For the last 2 1/2 years I have been a science teacher in the Phoenix Union High School District. I started at Alhambra High School in 2006 and spent two years there. Now I have moved schools to Betty Fairfax High School in Laveen. I am living in Laveen and couldnt pass up the opportunity to teach at a school only 1 mile from my house. Many people dont like to teach in the neighborhood they live in, but I actually enjoy working close to home. Teaching in these schools is completely different than Ridge. We have very little parental participation and have major issues with attendance.
During the last 2 years I have also been working on my Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and Supervision at ASU. Last week was graduation as I have completed my Master's. I have also passed my exam to become certified as a administrator. Hope to move into administration next year. I also plan on applying for a Doctoral Program and begining that next fall.
So it seems like I cant leave a classroom. I am either there as a student or as a teacher. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion from the class of '99 but also kind of glad to hear that '98 and '99 have been combined because it always felt like we were one class in high school and we were all friends with each other. Even though many of us still see each other, this will be a great time getting everyone in one place again.
Around that same I became a founding member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity at NAU. Being greek has provided me with so many experiences and opportunities through the years. After switching from engineering I began studying athletic training and biology education. A short time later I chose to only persue biology education and completed my Bacholars degree in Biology and secondary education in 2006. As part of my schooling I actually returned to Mountain Ridge in the srping of 2006 to complete my student teaching.
While in college I met my wife. As I was in a fraternity and she was in a sorority we got to know each other and have now been together for 6 years and married for 3 1/2 years. We dont have any children yet. Possibly in the next year or two, but we have 3 dogs that are our children for now.
For the last 2 1/2 years I have been a science teacher in the Phoenix Union High School District. I started at Alhambra High School in 2006 and spent two years there. Now I have moved schools to Betty Fairfax High School in Laveen. I am living in Laveen and couldnt pass up the opportunity to teach at a school only 1 mile from my house. Many people dont like to teach in the neighborhood they live in, but I actually enjoy working close to home. Teaching in these schools is completely different than Ridge. We have very little parental participation and have major issues with attendance.
During the last 2 years I have also been working on my Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and Supervision at ASU. Last week was graduation as I have completed my Master's. I have also passed my exam to become certified as a administrator. Hope to move into administration next year. I also plan on applying for a Doctoral Program and begining that next fall.
So it seems like I cant leave a classroom. I am either there as a student or as a teacher. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion from the class of '99 but also kind of glad to hear that '98 and '99 have been combined because it always felt like we were one class in high school and we were all friends with each other. Even though many of us still see each other, this will be a great time getting everyone in one place again.
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