2000-06
2000
Thomas Avallone, Shreveport, La., announces the launch of his new enterprise Maccentric, L.L.C. Thomas is an Apple authorized business agent, Apple certified help desk specialist and a member of the Apple Consultants Network. He is also a former Apple employee of two years out of Plano, Texas.
Catherine Cabaniss, Memphis, Tenn., is associate vice president of national planned giving for Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch. The ranch is a nurturing, structured environment for boys and girls from preschool through high school who live in group homes with house parents and enjoy a variety of academic, vocational, spiritual and extracurricular activities to help them become responsible and resilient young people.
Amy Leonards, El Cerrito, Calif., is a sixth grade teacher by day and performs in musicals and dance recitals by night.
Heather Alexander McIntyre, Lewisville, Texas, quit work to be a stay-at-home mom to daughter Katelyn Suzanne.
Kari Johnson Turner, Shreveport, La., accepted a position at First Baptist Church School as director of admissions and development. She handles all aspects of admissions, marketing, fundraising and alumni relations. She has a 3-year-old daughter, Peyton, and infant son, Will. She and husband Scott have been married five years.
2001
Evette Barnes, Manhattan, Kan., is a 2nd lieutenant Evacuation Platoon Leader C Co, 610 BSB 41BCT, 1ID Ft. Riley, Kan.
Lisa Carmack, Haughton, La., works in emergency preparedness as a plans and research officer for the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
Ashley Carter, Dallas, Texas, is employed in Dallas at Ernst & Young in expatriate services.
Ashley Dill, Denton, Texas, has taught third grade for two years in Aubrey ISD and fifth grade for the previous two years in Richardson ISD. She is moving back to Richardson as a campus reading specialist.
Elizabeth Prince Johnston, Baton Rouge, La., attends graduate school at the LSU School of Social Work and plans to graduate in 2007.
Ashley Knecht, Baton Rouge, La., competed in her first Half Ironman (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run) in Panama City Beach, Fla., placing 19th out of 45 in her age group with a time of 5:36.
Dewayne McKoy, Shreveport, La., is the senior consultant for ACS Healthcare Solutions.
Mary Meriam-Goggin, APO, AP, is a stay-at-home mom with daughter Alexis while she is stationed with her husband in Japan.
Valerie Curtis Moore, Houston, Texas, works with the Texas Heart Institute as a faculty member in nano medicine. In May 2005, she graduated from Rice University with a Ph.D. in chemistry.
Greg Peco, Houston, Texas, is a physician’s assistant working at a pediatric private practice in Houston.
Lee Powers, Enid, Okla., is working for the law firm of Jones, Otjen, Davis, Nixon & Juhl in Enid.
2002
Jazz Alibalic, Dallas, Texas, is a senior actuarial analyst for the Republic Group.
Stacey Klingler Chambers, Katy, Texas, is a fourth-grade teacher at Katy ISD.
Kris Franks, Saginaw, Texas, is a graduate student of the University of Texas at Arlington, working toward his master’s in education. Kris taught German, English and American studies in Germany from 2003 to 2005. He won a 2004–05 Fulbright Fellowship.
John Grand, Dallas, Texas, graduated from LSU Law School and works in Dallas as an associate attorney at Vinson & Elkins.
Matthew Hamilton, Westminster, Md., works for T. Rowe Price in 401K management and has also started a private catering business.
Keith Lawson, Aarhus, Denmark, is on the last leg of his master’s degree at Aarhus University, where he is studying European culture, history and politics. Only 125 pages to go on the thesis! He and wife Marianne (exchange student in 2002) have decided to reside in Aarhus, so if anyone is in the country, feel free to email
.
Katie White Parker, Denver, Colo., is at the University of Colorado Hospital in
the Sports Medicine Center as a CTA. Her daughter, Norah, turns 2 on Dec. 12.
Elizabeth Quillin, Shreveport, La., is finishing her third year of medical school at LSUHSC in Shreveport and is ready to begin her final year before graduation and residency. In other news, Elizabeth is engaged to be married to Aaron McLemore of New Roads, La., who is also a third-year medical student. He proposed while vacationing in the Bahamas. They plan to wed in Alexandria in October.
Rebecca Soskin, Shreveport, La., was accepted to Stanford University to complete her residency for a medical degree. She was featured in The (Shreveport) Times on Match Day at LSUHSC.
Claire Galloway, Fort Worth, Texas, attended graduate school at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock and worked as a graduate assistant in the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library Archives from August 2003 to May 2005. She graduated with a master of arts in public history in December 2005. In March she began work as an archivist in Special Collections at the Mary Couts Burnett Library at Texas Christian University.
Amanda Holloway, Tyler, Texas, is working at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas, as the dance team sponsor and the camp and outreach coordinator. She completed her first year of graduate school at UT-Tyler and is pursuing a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies (psychology, speech and journalism) and will graduate in Spring 2007. Her goal is to begin teaching fulltime at Lon Morris.
2003
Chip LeDuff, Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Christy Melton ’03 got engaged on May 27 at Christy’s home in Spartanburg, S.C.
Mark Lewis, Greensboro, N.C., is the head tennis professional at Sherwood Swim and Racquet Club in Greensboro.
Nathan McAbee, Monroe, La., is a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch. Nathan manages and creates wealth for his clients so “they can have more time to enjoy their lives.”
Josh McFarland, Tulsa, Okla., is the president and CEO of RedDog Construction. Josh plans to run for the Oklahoma State Senate as a republican in the next five to eight years.
Amanda Mustin, Baton Rouge, La., graduated from LSU Law School.
Valerie Olson Robideaux, Fairburn, Ga., is in seminary at Candler School of Theology and working parttime as the women’s discipleship associate at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta.
Jeron Rogers, Shreveport, La., was appointed the new director of engineering and planning in the Town of Chili in Rochester, N.Y.
Randi Smith, Gainesville, Fla., is in her first year of obtaining a doctorate in renaissance and reformation literature at the University of Florida. Randi also teaches first-year English composition classes and hopes to begin teaching literature courses in the fall semester.
2004
Sterling Allen, Austin, Texas, is the director of music ministries at Bethany United Methodist Church in Austin, where he is also working on his doctorate in music.
Kristin Ballard, Shreveport, La., works at Specialty Risk Associates, Inc., as executive assistant and assistant claims manager.
Vanessa Curtis, Houston, Texas, is assistant general manager of the downtown Birraporetti Restaurant.
Jennifer Hawkins, Texarkana, Ark., married Ray L. Laurent June 17. Following the wedding, Jennifer moved to Clovis, N.M.
DeAndre Johnson, Shreveport, La., began graduate studies at SMU-Perkins/ Meadows School of Music this fall. He and his wife of two-and-a-half years, Kelsey Bellamy Johnson ’05, will continue to reside in Shreveport while he commutes to Dallas to pursue his master’s of sacred music degree. DeAndre works as choir director at Noel Memorial United Methodist Church, and Kelsey works as communications specialist in Centenary’s Office of Public Relations.
Alex Lu, Baton Rouge, La., is attending graduate school at LSU, working towards a Ph.D. in sociology.
Jennifer Powell, Gilmer, Texas, is the children’s ministry director at First United Methodist Church in Gilmer.
Joseph Robideaux, Fairburn, Ga., attends Candler School of Theology and serves Campbellton United Methodist Church in Fairburn as a student pastor.
Robert Savage, Monroe, La., is working with the Peace Corps in Azerbaijan. Email him at .
Trent Siskron, Houston, Texas, is an independent contractor with NAI, an international real estate firm. Trent specializes in investment sales of office and industrial products for Houston and other major Texas markets.
Amy Sullivan, Clatskanie, Ore., was promoted to referral manager at Meadow Park, a skilled care nursing facility in St. Helens, Ore.
Kathryn Thompson, Solana Beach, Calif., has moved north to Solana Beach, where she rents a fabulous little cottage within walking distance of the beach and a great sushi restaurant. Kathryn is about to start her second year in the biophysics Ph.D. program at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. She has joined a computational biology lab, found a great church and managed to make a few friends among the scientists. Kathryn says, “Life is pretty nice.”
Brandon Wollerson, Austin, Texas, received a master’s in social work from the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work in May. He works as an admissions counselor/volunteer coordinator for the Freshman Admissions Center at UT.
Russell Young, Austin, Texas, is a graduate research assistant at the University of Texas at Austin Institute of Geophysics (UTIG), Jackson School of Geosciences. He will soon start work with ExxonMobil as a geophysical specialist.
2005
Jesse Allen, Pascagoula, Miss., is the vice president for Plains Capital Bank, handling mortgages, loans and branch operations.
Andrew Barkley, New Orleans, La., is an accountant with the non-profit organization ACORN.
Darren Gibbs, Fayetteville, Ark., will attend law school at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville this fall and expects to graduate in 2009.
Justin Haeuser, New Orleans, La., is working for Industrial Group, LLC along with Randall Walker ’76. Their focus is on commercial real estate primarily in the New Orleans area.
Zach Ingrim, Grand Saline, Texas, is running sound for Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington.
Natalie Schoppe, Houston, Texas, is a second-grade teacher.
Lauren Thrift, Little Rock, Ark., works for the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. She is an assistant in the enrollment management office and works with admissions, career planning and placement. She is on a committee to research, write a proposal for and develop an international student program. Lauren is also the university’s liaison for scholarship web sites and search engines. Lauren is seeking a graduate school with a great business department and a non-profit degree and also a school that has great sociology and music departments.
Kate Watts, Garland, Texas, is a loan officer for Benchmark Mortgage, a rapidly growing net branch firm with hundreds of locations across the U.S. She lives in Dallas with Chi Omega sister Rita Coolidge ’05 and plans to attend graduate school.
Saige Wilhite, Shreveport, La., works with Deep South Surplus Insurance Co. in the Claims Department.
Sammy Williams, Little Rock, Ark., is a qualified forensic toxicologist at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory. He tests biological samples for the presence of drugs.
2006
Elizabeth Allen, Bossier City, La., is attending medical school.
Mat Brooksher, New Orleans, La., works in guest relations at The Wyndham Bourbon Orleans Hotel in the French Quarter.
Patrick Cole, New Orleans, La., is attending Loyola Law School.
Ashlie Junot, New Orleans, La., is attending graduate school at Tulane School of Social Work this fall. Over the summer, she worked at First United Methodist Church in Slidell, La., helping with mission efforts.
Sara Hebert, Denver, Colo., began graduate work in the University of Denver’s digital media studies program this fall. Friends can reach her at .
Megan Vaughn Lerchie, Shreveport, La., began her graduate education in communication disorders this summer at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. After two years of study, she hopes to work as a speech-language pathologist in either a school system or a private setting.
Chris Lavan, Baton Rouge, La., is attending Louisiana State University this fall for his master’s in higher education. He received a graduate assistantship as the student coordinator/advisor for a new organization, Volunteer LSU. Email him at .
Sarah Smith, Shreveport, La., is attending Tulane Law School.
Kathryn Trahan, New Orleans, La., is working in the accounting department at the Orleans Parish sheriff’s office.
Kakie Walker, New Orleans, La., is a marketing representative for Winters Title Agency.