Valley To Honor Distinguished Alumni
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
By honoring distinguished alumni, Valley hopes to get that word out and draw in more students.
On Sept. 17, the first class of the Tippecanoe Valley High School Distinguished Alumni will be honored. Events scheduled for that day include interviews, meeting with students, a community dinner and an introduction of inductees at halftime of the home football game.
The Distinguished Alumni Selection Committee received 16 nominations for the first class, with 10 being chosen, according to Superintendent Brett Boggs. The selected graduates were chosen for leading "successful lives while making substantial contributions to their chosen field of work or have provided outstanding service to their community, state or country."
Boggs said for the first group, they also wanted to choose alumni from the 1970s, '80s, '90s and 2000's. They wanted to have women and men, and alumni who remained in Indiana as well as moved to other parts of the country.
As for Induction Day, Boggs said, "We want it to be a special day for these folks, the community, the school corporation and students."
The Distinguished Alumni Class of 2010 includes Amanda Alexander, 1996; Dion Anglin, 1989; Britton Burkhart, 2004; Joseph Cook, 2006; Jerrod Feldman, 1989; Sara Kerkhoff Rundell, 1999; Kirk Robinson, 1977; Eric Rodenberg, 1996; Matt Shilling, 2000; and Paula Shireman, 1982.
Alexander joined the Peace Corps in 2002 and was sent to Peru. Now an assistant professor at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, she teaches art education, cultural policy and arts administration. She continues to advocate for international social justice and education.
Anglin joined the U.S. Marine Corps. After two years as an enlisted man, he entered officer candidate school where he received a Military Occupational Specialty in ground intelligence that made him eligible for top secret security clearance. He interrupted active duty to earn a master's degree at Notre Dame, but returned to the front in 2004 and led his platoon into combat in Iraq.
Anglin is now a regional manager for Oshkosh Defense in Asia, Australia, India, Turkey and Israel.
As a high school senior, Burkhart earned his private pilot's license. He holds commercial single and multi-engine land certification, commercial single engine sea certification and is a certified flight instructor for instrument ratings and multi-engine planes.
Cook began his career in the Marines immediately after graduating from Valley in 2006. Now a corporal, he has served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. While in Iraq, he led 300 combat patrols, served as a mentor to Iraqi police in the field and was in charge of armory, logistics and supplies. In Afghanistan, he helped establish a police station from scratch.
Feldman is a pediatrician at Woodlawn Hospital in Rochester. A board certified Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, he is former chief of staff at Woodlawn.[[In-content Ad]]Currently a research scientist at Cook Biotech Inc., West Lafayette, Rodenberg was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College. He has published two original manuscripts and is the co-holder of two patents.
Rundell went to Morocco to study women's literature when she was a Fulbright Scholar. She became Manchester College's first graduate to attend Harvard Law School, earning her degree while serving as supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review. She now lives in Denver, Colo., where she just finished clerking for Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid.
During the 2004 presidential election, Shilling was responsible for the re-election campaign of Vice President Dick Cheney in the western half of the nation. He is president of Ocearch, an ocean research organization dedicated to the protection and management of the world's marine resources.
A vascular surgeon at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Shireman is a tenured professor. She has earned recognition for her research in blood vessel formation, skeletal muscle regeneration and tissue engineering.
For the induction day Sept. 17, inductees are scheduled to arrive at Tippecanoe Valley High School at 9 a.m. From 9 to 9:45 a.m. there is a welcome, introductions and photographs.
Inductees will speak to groups of students from 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. Lunch is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and students may speak with inductees individually during that time.
Rochester Telephone Co. will conduct interviews with the inductees from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Boggs said the company has a cable channel which will record and show the interviews at different times. They also will be streamed online.
Inductees will have personal time from 3 to 5 p.m.
A community dinner in the TVHS commons is scheduled for 5 to 6:30 p.m. During that time, Rita Price will interview each inductee.
Boggs said the dinner also will serve as a fundraiser for the annual Distinguished Alumni event. The menu will include chicken parmesan, dinner roll, salad, dessert and drink. Cost is $5 per person, but additional donations accepted.
"This is something we plan to do every year," said Boggs.
There's a home Valley football game that night. Inductees will meet and greet with the public before the game, and then be introduced at half time of the game. At that time, Boggs said each inductee will receive a nice plaque recognizing them.
The people selected this year will be on the selection committee for next year's round of distinguished alumni.
"We're looking forward to it," Boggs said of the first annual event Sept. 17. "I think this could be a big day for the school corporation and our students."
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By honoring distinguished alumni, Valley hopes to get that word out and draw in more students.
On Sept. 17, the first class of the Tippecanoe Valley High School Distinguished Alumni will be honored. Events scheduled for that day include interviews, meeting with students, a community dinner and an introduction of inductees at halftime of the home football game.
The Distinguished Alumni Selection Committee received 16 nominations for the first class, with 10 being chosen, according to Superintendent Brett Boggs. The selected graduates were chosen for leading "successful lives while making substantial contributions to their chosen field of work or have provided outstanding service to their community, state or country."
Boggs said for the first group, they also wanted to choose alumni from the 1970s, '80s, '90s and 2000's. They wanted to have women and men, and alumni who remained in Indiana as well as moved to other parts of the country.
As for Induction Day, Boggs said, "We want it to be a special day for these folks, the community, the school corporation and students."
The Distinguished Alumni Class of 2010 includes Amanda Alexander, 1996; Dion Anglin, 1989; Britton Burkhart, 2004; Joseph Cook, 2006; Jerrod Feldman, 1989; Sara Kerkhoff Rundell, 1999; Kirk Robinson, 1977; Eric Rodenberg, 1996; Matt Shilling, 2000; and Paula Shireman, 1982.
Alexander joined the Peace Corps in 2002 and was sent to Peru. Now an assistant professor at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, she teaches art education, cultural policy and arts administration. She continues to advocate for international social justice and education.
Anglin joined the U.S. Marine Corps. After two years as an enlisted man, he entered officer candidate school where he received a Military Occupational Specialty in ground intelligence that made him eligible for top secret security clearance. He interrupted active duty to earn a master's degree at Notre Dame, but returned to the front in 2004 and led his platoon into combat in Iraq.
Anglin is now a regional manager for Oshkosh Defense in Asia, Australia, India, Turkey and Israel.
As a high school senior, Burkhart earned his private pilot's license. He holds commercial single and multi-engine land certification, commercial single engine sea certification and is a certified flight instructor for instrument ratings and multi-engine planes.
Cook began his career in the Marines immediately after graduating from Valley in 2006. Now a corporal, he has served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. While in Iraq, he led 300 combat patrols, served as a mentor to Iraqi police in the field and was in charge of armory, logistics and supplies. In Afghanistan, he helped establish a police station from scratch.
Feldman is a pediatrician at Woodlawn Hospital in Rochester. A board certified Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, he is former chief of staff at Woodlawn.[[In-content Ad]]Currently a research scientist at Cook Biotech Inc., West Lafayette, Rodenberg was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College. He has published two original manuscripts and is the co-holder of two patents.
Rundell went to Morocco to study women's literature when she was a Fulbright Scholar. She became Manchester College's first graduate to attend Harvard Law School, earning her degree while serving as supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review. She now lives in Denver, Colo., where she just finished clerking for Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid.
During the 2004 presidential election, Shilling was responsible for the re-election campaign of Vice President Dick Cheney in the western half of the nation. He is president of Ocearch, an ocean research organization dedicated to the protection and management of the world's marine resources.
A vascular surgeon at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Shireman is a tenured professor. She has earned recognition for her research in blood vessel formation, skeletal muscle regeneration and tissue engineering.
For the induction day Sept. 17, inductees are scheduled to arrive at Tippecanoe Valley High School at 9 a.m. From 9 to 9:45 a.m. there is a welcome, introductions and photographs.
Inductees will speak to groups of students from 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. Lunch is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and students may speak with inductees individually during that time.
Rochester Telephone Co. will conduct interviews with the inductees from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Boggs said the company has a cable channel which will record and show the interviews at different times. They also will be streamed online.
Inductees will have personal time from 3 to 5 p.m.
A community dinner in the TVHS commons is scheduled for 5 to 6:30 p.m. During that time, Rita Price will interview each inductee.
Boggs said the dinner also will serve as a fundraiser for the annual Distinguished Alumni event. The menu will include chicken parmesan, dinner roll, salad, dessert and drink. Cost is $5 per person, but additional donations accepted.
"This is something we plan to do every year," said Boggs.
There's a home Valley football game that night. Inductees will meet and greet with the public before the game, and then be introduced at half time of the game. At that time, Boggs said each inductee will receive a nice plaque recognizing them.
The people selected this year will be on the selection committee for next year's round of distinguished alumni.
"We're looking forward to it," Boggs said of the first annual event Sept. 17. "I think this could be a big day for the school corporation and our students."
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