News from AEHS Alumni #7

-November 2, 2011

Alex Boniewicz '70and Eddie Boniewicz '70 will be inducted into the AEHS Athletic Hall of Fame during ceremonies on November 4 and 5. Alex and Eddie were members of the AEHS varsity soccer team for three years. Eddie served as the team's captain in 1968-69 and 1969-70. After graduating from Einstein, both Alex and Eddie played soccer for the University of Virginia's soccer team that won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1970. Alex and his wife Pat live in Gainesville, Virginia. Eddie and his wife Beverly live in Clarks Hill, South Carolina.

            In addition to the Boniewicz brothers, other 2011 inductees into the Hall of Fame include Coach Margaret Hedges, Tom Cardy '67, Kelly Stup '83, Bridget Eckenrode '84, David Michael '86, Daniel Sheridan '86, Anthony White '86, Natasha Barnes-Adair '90, and Mary Sheridan Czlonka.   

            All of the inductees will be honored at the AEHS football game halftime on Friday evening, November 4. Following the game, a post-game party will be held at Savannah's Restaurant in Kensington. On Saturday, November 5, the 2011 Hall of Fame class will be inducted formally into the Hall of Fame. A reception, dinner, and the induction ceremony will be held at the Rosensteel Knights of Columbus Hall in Forest Glen. Details about these events and registration information are available on the Hall of Fame's website at  www.aehshof.com.

Alex Boniewiczand Eddie Boniewiczat the Masters' Golf Tournament, Augusta, Georgia

Alex Boniewiczand Eddie Boniewicz, 1970

Oklahoma! Bill Bates '70 has digitized the 16 songs from recordings made of the Einstein's production of the musical Oklahoma! in the spring of 1970. The recordings can be downloaded at  CLICK HERE

            Cast members included Cathy Cappiello '70, Arthur Gitajn '70, Eileen Quinn '70, Bill Bates '70, Tom Purdue '70, Steve Guy '71, Bill Giles '70, Shalmah Cogdell '70, Bob Killmer '71, Carol Parsons '71, Ivey Pittle '70, Barbara Strang '70, Jack Keller '70, Ken Crowley '71, Steve Goff '70, Bruce Wood '70, Bill Driscoll '70, Mauria Shulman '71, Will Hiltz '70, Harold Zarin '70, and Don Sengpiehl '70, Joel Snyder '70.   

            On behalf of the AEHS community, we thank Bill for his painstaking work in digitizing these recordings and making them available to everyone.

Samir Rafeedie '70 and Debbie Sauter will be married on November 19. Samir writes "I met Debbie when I took my mom back to Maryland in November 2009 for her 90th birthday party. Debbie was the event coordinator for the restaurant we had the party at. My mom's birthday was November 19th, so we're getting married on my mom's birthday. I figured being that she was the reason we met, it would be honoring her to get married on her birthday. When my mom passed away in February 2010, I took her body back to Maryland for burial services. That was when I saw Debbie again and started communicating with her. And the rest is history."

            Congratulations to Samir and Debbie!

Jim Ward '70 continued his hike along the Appalachian Trail for five days heading north, beginning on October 13. He writes, "I have now completed over half of this trail doing from 50 to 90 mile sections at a time. At this rate I should finish by the time I am 71 years young unless I step up the mileage after I retire. I hate the words "retire" or "retirement" because I always like to continue to explore and learn, so whether I am making money at something or just doing it for fun/exploration I will never retire from this type of living. I like to hear more about our classmates' PASSION for life and what makes them get up and GO!

            I am still volunteering by helping those that want to achieve sobriety and staying clean. Also my wife and I are thinking about doing a bed and breakfast because we like to hear about people in different areas and cooking for others. Perhaps we will call it bed, breakfast and beyond? It is only a thought we had, and then again we are also thinking about going back to the Grand Canyon for another backpacking trip. This will be the third time.

On another note I did a TV commercial for Casual Adventure, which is an Arlington, Virginia retailer for outdoor adventure and casual stuff. It airs on Comcast in the Northern Virginia area. They ask me back to do another one too. Just can't get enough?

            I am still the Chief Navigator and owner for AdPrint Solutions, LLC in Alexandria, Virginia. See ya on the trail of life!

Judith Bell '70 is President of Authentic Leadership Institute in Novato, California. The Authentic Leadership (AL) approach "is based on scientific precepts that teams and organizations thrive when individuals are self-aware, conscious, accountable, and courageous. Authentic Leadership accelerates an individual's ability to achieve their highest aspirations by helping them eliminate the obstacles that hold them back . . . Using the AL approach, we offer consulting, tailored training, executive and management coaching, meeting facilitation, assessment tools, team building, customer driven culture change, the ultimate 360, strategic planning, and more."

Janet Garber '70 won a silver medal in the half-mile swim and a bronze medal freestyle swimming competition at the recent Northern Virginia Senior Olympics competition, held September 17-18 in Arlington, Virginia.

Margo (Moss) Maier '71 and several other AEHS graduates are members of the Encore Singers. Margo writes "Many years ago, in 1985, some vocalists and grads of AEHS began getting together on a regular basis to sing. The group grew, morphed, and changed over the years. We are still together and perform around the area. The Einstein grads currently in the group are Bill Bates '70, Mary Ellen (Wood) Rechen '71, Jeb Rechen '71, Debbie (Castner) Ambrose '69, Ivey (Pittle) Wallace '70, and myself. Some of the venues where we have performed are The Washington National Cathedral, The National Gallery of Art, Glenview Mansion, The White House, The Mormon Temple, and many others. This year, we will perform a holiday program at The Willard Hotel on Saturday evening, December 3, and at Glenview Mansion on Sunday afternoon, December 4."

Maggi (Marianne Creed) LeClair '70 is a grant writer at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City Beach, Florida. She writes "Although the geography can be quite distracting, I have been pretty successful with securing grant funding for the colleges I have worked for--we'll see how things go for the next couple of years. I think I'll be working a lot harder for less money than in the past. My husband and I have lived in Florida since Christmas 1989 (it snowed down here that year ;-)). We have 4 grown children between us and 4 grandchildren. My husband is a retired Army helicopter pilot and networking guru at the Pentagon (over 20 years ago). We enjoy living near the Gulf of Mexico, traveling whenever we are able to, and visiting family. I normally get up to the DC area once or twice a year for conferences or training."

Mr. Joseph Monte, who has been a counselor at Einstein since the school opened in 1962, gave an address entitled "Honor the Worker" at Woodside Methodist Church in Silver Spring on Labor Day, September 4. The text of his address follows:

"Rev. Kirkland Reynolds, I hope this congregation appreciates a young man giving his life to serve it.

Mr. Daniel Cox, Secretary/Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees, you are doing much for the Labor Movement.

Montgomery County Council Member Marc Elrich, former counselee and social activist, I am proud of you.  

Members of the Woodside United Methodist Church, thank you for giving me this opportunity to address you.

I started my career as a 10th grade English teacher at Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C. On August 29 of this year, I entered my 54th year in education and my 51st year as a teacher/college counselor in Montgomery County Public Schools. From 1964, when I was a founder of the Montgomery County Federation of Teachers (MCFT), AFT, AFL-CIO, I have been fighting for teacher rights. MCFT has defended numerous teachers staying with them through to victory or defeat. One of the union's most successful ventures, the Thomas Edison High School of Technology, became a reality after a ten-year effort. Today Thomas Edison High School serves students in Montgomery County to prepare them to become electricians, bricklayers, plumbers, auto mechanics, technicians, air conditioners, construction workers, carpenters, food service workers, health sciences workers, beauticians, and manicurists.

In opposition to the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, protestors seized Grant Park. Meeting at the same time in the Hilton Hotel was the National Association of College Admission Counseling. Its Delegate Assembly passed eleven significant resolutions addressing accessibility of minorities to higher education. I enthusiastically voted for these resolutions.

During this meeting, I also submitted a resolution to move NACAC from Evanston, Illinois to Washington. An offer of a beer to a fellow delegate got the resolution on the floor for debate.

            Accessibility for the disenfranchised remains a continuing challenge. As past president of NACAC and a college counselor, every day on the job, I try to make accessibility to colleges a reality for minority students. Prayer and work, a phrase succinctly expressed by St. Benedict in the fifth century as "Ora et Labora," became a foundation of Western Civilization's values.

The concept of communal prayer and work unites the current cinemagraphic masterpiece "Of Gods and Men." This movie vividly portrays lives in the village of Tibhirine, Algeria, where Trappist monks once prayed and labored with their Muslim brothers and sisters forming a cohesive and peaceful community.

Reflecting this concept of work and brotherhood, in 13th century Florence craftsmen founded guilds composed of skilled workers adhering to quality standards. These guilds not only looked after widows and their children; but gave permanent gifts to the city, such as, the famous baptistery and its doors. To encourage the idle rich to work, all had to join a guild -- including

Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, who were placed in the Physician and Pharmacists Guild. These guilds became the prototype of modern trade unions.

In 19th century America, circuit riders, the spiritual sons of John Wesley, reached communities throughout the South addressing spiritual and temporal needs of the common man.     Elsewhere in America women and later men formed trade unions highlighting existing abuses. In time, the twelve-hour day became the eight-hour day. By championing public education workers' children gained necessary skills. From work safety issues, rules emerged; collective bargaining rights were drafted. Employees and labor became a force to be reckoned with. The current generation should appreciate these gains - the sacrifices of past generations.

     Through strikes, firings, martyrdoms, relentless effort and small victories, progress evolved. However, labor has been and remains under attack. Every day the economy rests on the backs of workers. Profit-hungry companies accommodate Wall Street's demands by constant downsizing, a situation that endangers the whole country's economy. Recently, the State of Wisconsin not only nullified gains by public employees over years of struggle, but gutted the treasured rights of collective bargaining resulting in an exodus of teachers from the profession.

     As a result of a teachers' strike here in Montgomery County in the sixties, wages improved and a Memorandum of Agreement was signed. At a later time I marched once again for teachers - this time in Newark, New Jersey. Tempers flared and teachers were vilified. In deference to my wife's concerns, I chose to march with the bartenders. It was a jubilant march with many friendly greetings from bystanders.

     Personally, I believe the essence of the labor movement can be epitomized in Christ's words "Love your neighbor as yourself." The central core of the labor movement is acting for the common good. Each member acts in the interests of all. Solidarity results, and union goals are achieved.

In this Woodside Methodist Church each of you has been willing to form a unified whole for the common good. Children, you play games and act as a team, just like the adults. In John Wesley's life acts of charity prevailed. One of the best examples occurred when following services in his London Church, the poor were welcomed as pews were pushed aside in order to offer shelter and fellowship to all. John Wesley loved the poor and died poor himself. In the biography, The Elusive Mr. Wesley by Richard P. Heitzentrater, the author states "When John Wesley was carried to his grave, he left behind him a collection of library books, a well-worn clergyman's gown and the Methodist movement. John Wesley's legacies include lifting his voice and pen with his friend William Wilberforce for the abolition of slavery, establishing a free medical clinic, composing immortal hymns sung today by all denominations and penning a body of rich religious writings. Here at Woodside United Methodist Church, let us renew our belief in the sacredness of labor, worker's rights, of equitable and fair wages, of rights of workers to organize, of accessibility to higher education and to live a quality lifestyle in a community.

In conclusion, on this Labor Day 2011, let us call to mind Dr. Martin Luther

King's words that honor the worker: "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets: even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did the job well."

Editors' Note: The opinions expressed in this address are Mr. Monte's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or of the AEHS community.

In Memoriam

We regret to announce the passing of Fernando Rivero and Carol Strang and on behalf of the AEHS community extend our condolences to their families and friends.

Fernando Rivero (Class of 1971)

September 17, 1951 - October 9, 2011

Fernando Rivero passed away on October 9 from cancer. Fernando was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States before high school. As an Einstein student, Fernando lived with his mother in the Adams-Morgan section of the District of Columbia and commuted to school each day in his '65 Mustang.  

Fernando was a nose guard on the 1971 Einstein football team and continued to play football at Montgomery College after graduating from Einstein. There he met his wife Christina, who was a cheerleader for Montgomery College. Fernando was a successful businessman who owned a cleaning service with several government contracts and employed many people. He resided in Dayton, Maryland.

            Counselor Joe Monte described Fernando as "a man with a big smile and a big heart who has left a long legacy of helping other people fulfill the American dream. At the funeral Mass, many of his employees showed their love and respect by their presence. The Einstein staff can be proud of the role they played in Fernando Rivero's formative years."

            Fernando is survived by his wife Christina, their daughter Angelina, and many friends.

Carol Strang (Class of 1972)

December 20, 1953 - October 21, 2011

            Carol Strang passed away on Friday, October 21 following complications after surgery.  

A celebration of Carol's life will be held on her birthday on December 20, 2011 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The celebration will be held at the Sligo-Dennis Avenue Park Activity Building, 10200 Sligo Creek Parkway, Silver Spring.  

            Carol is survived by her sisters Barbara '70 and Jackie, her mother, her niece Rebecca, and many friends.

Blake Murphy (Class of 1970)

April 15, 1952 - October 27, 2011

            Blake Murphy passed away on October 27, 2011. He was a graduate of Columbia University and worked for many years as a computer programmer for Arlington County.

Blake is survived by his long-time companion Stephanie Smilay, his parents John and Dorothy Murphy, his sister Kerry Ann Murphy, and many friends. A memorial event is being planned for the Martin Luther King weekend in January 2012.