News from Midland School

Scott Richards '72 and his wife Sally are living in Kusadasi (in photo above), a small seaside town on the Aegean about 500 miles south of Istanbul along the Greek/Turkish coast. He's written and finished a 300 page book on the first, one year, around the world journey they made starting from L.A. to Tahiti, New Zealand, Fiji, The Kingdom of Tonga (where they are still hold living visas), to Bali, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos,Turkey, Holland and back to the States. After returning to the U.S. for two months to gather information on publishing and visiting family, they've returned to the 5,000 year old town to try it for a year. He says, "my experience at Midland gave me the desire and the skills to attempt anything and everything that I wish to set my mind to and feel that my walks on the Figueroa Mountain Road were the first steps in the real journey of life. Midland gave me the gift of teaching myself; of learning how to learn and to teach others by example the laudable goals and objectives of a life worth living." Scott invites any student to e-mail him with questions about travel and living abroad.
Silviano Valdez '09 is in the program Thinking Beyond Borders (TBB), and his article was published in TBB's newsletter. Read Silviano's article.
Natasha Wolpe '05 is waiting to get into nursing school where she plans to take the more advanced and condensed 2-year RN degree, and then specialize in ER or ICU. The last two semesters she had a 4.0, and her average is a 3.9; she also made the Dean's list.
Ethan Richard Leavy '04 is enrolled in a Master's of Science (MS) program at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA. He's currently studying clinical psychology, with an emphasis in gerontology, and marriage and family therapy (MFT). He's set to graduate Spring of 2012! He says, "Midland was an amazing stepping stone to UC Davis, and now NDNU. I credit (Midland) with much of my continued success, both professionally and academically."
Ming Holden '02 wrote a follow-up article about Midland's GEELA Award that became a "featured green post" on HuffingtonPost.com. Read Ming's article.
Charles (CW) Partridge '41 stopped by in early October for the first time since graduation. He did his 8th grade year at Midland, and loved it.
Michael Thomas '43 retired to Fayetteville in the Arkansas Ozarks. He's 85 this year, and going strong with the sturdy support of a pacemaker. Although Michael retired from NY in 1991 from his career in Public Relations/Marketing, he kept his hand in with a group of upscale art galleries in nearby Eureka Springs.
Isaac Smith '91 married Dr. Nobl Barazangi October 9, 2009, and honeymooned in Vietnam.
Rick DeGolia '68 joined a company, InVisM, which designs and produces award-winning interactive videos for the military and higher education. Just as with extremely significant developments in personalized medicine, the future of education will enable educators to personalize teaching to optimize learning and retention.
Willus Withrow '98 is currently serving as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He's awaiting aviation training to become an aviator. He spent seven years at UC Davis and majored in Engineering. He received his BS degrees in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering and Biological Systems Engineering. He immediately followed his undergraduate studies with graduate studies there, eventually earning his MS degrees in Mechanical and Aero Engineering and Biological Systems Engineering. While at Davis he played Lacrosse for four years, and served as Team Captain his senior year. That year (2002) he was also awarded the UC Davis Sports Club Athlete of the Year. During his graduate years he worked as a resident firefighter at the UC Davis Fire Dept, and eventually worked as a professional firefighter with Contra Costa County Fire for a year before heading off to Marine Officer Candidate school. He remains unmarried without children, and says, "I hope all is well back there in California, and at Midland."
Shawn Suzanne Sutherland '86 (one year before brother Seth and one year after sister Shannon), since Midland, has given birth to 5 children (now 19, 17, 14, 5 and 3 years old). She says, "and looking back...yeah those were good times (sigh) good times! There's nothing more humbling than parenthood." Shawn lives locally in Goleta.
Kim Dreyfuss Linse '82 reports that her daughter, Robin, 3 years old, just cut her hair "short, like Daddy!" Kim says, "She was found in her room, door closed, in bed, under covers, kiddie scissors in hand, proud grin. Her bangs on the left side all gone. Not sure whose smile was biggest."

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