Alumni Spotlight Archive

 

November, 2014 -  Bono named ACC Player of the Year.  Alex Bono (Class of 2012), goalkeeper for the Syracuse University men’s soccer team, has been named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. September, 2014 -  Baldwinsville Alumni Lacrosse Players Make the 2014 IWLCA Academic Honor RollEight Baldwinsville alumni girls lacrosse players have been named to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Academic Honor Roll. They have achieved at least a 3.5 GPA or higher.   Named to the Division 1 Honor Roll are Meghan Cuddy, Canisius College, and Lauren Roberts, Robert Morris University.   The following alumni have been named to the Division II Honor Roll: Claire Monnat; Le Moyne College; Maggie Monnat, Le Moyne College; and Taylor Ventre, Mercyhurst University.   From Division III, the following alumni have been honored: Erin Ward, St. John Fisher; Amanda Ingersoll, Stevens Institute of Technology; and Mackenzie Kjerstad, SUNY Oswego. June 2014 - Daniel Schlegel will graduate from the University of Buffalo this August with his PH.D. in computer Science and Engineering. He is a 2004 graduate of Baker High School. Dan earned his bachelor degree at the State University of New York at Oswego, graduating Magna Cum Laude in the college Honors program with a degree in Computer Science with minors in Mathematics and Physics. He went on to get his Masters degree in Human Computer interaction. He is a member of American Association for Arti cial Intelligence, 2012-present Cognitive Science Society, 2014-present Member, Association for Computing Machinery, 2007-present Dan has received a post Doctorate position in Buffalo, New York

June 2014 - Peter Cuppernull, a 2010 graduate of Baker High School and a 2014 graduate of George Mason University, has been selected for the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program to study Arabic in Oman during the summer of 2014. Cuppernull is among the approximately 550 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students selected for the U.S. Department of States CLS Program in 2014 to study Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, or Urdu languages. U.S. students will spend seven to ten weeks in intensive language institutes this summer in 13 countries where these languages are spoken. Cuppernull has held internships with the European Union in Belgium (Summer 2012) and at two cultural/historical museums in Nicaragua (Summer 2013). He also was a Rhodes Scholar nominee at George Mason University, was a four year scholar athlete (volleyball), graduated Magna Cum Laude May 2014, and delivered the commencement speech for the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

April 2014 - Baker graduate Marika Kopp, a junior at the University of Massachusetts, has received the Thomas B. and Loraine K. LeNoir Scholarship from the schools Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning and the Department for Environmental Design Baker Grad to Play for Silver Knights The Silver Knights, Syracuse's indoor professional soccer team, recently signed Nathan Bourdeau, a member of Baker High School's Class of 2008, to play with the team.

Dale Cazier, Baker High School Class of 1970, was recently interviewed by Gadling.com about his work in the Diplomatic Courier Service. To read the interview, visit http://www.gadling.com/2012/03/22/a-traveler-in-the-foreign-service-getting-paid-to-travel-livin/ .

Jeffrey Girard Retires from U.S. Army Congratulations to Col. Jeffrey Girard, a 1981 graduate of Baker High School. He recently retired from the U.S. Army after 25 years of active duty. He received his graduate degree from Duke University in 1996 in artificial intelligence. He was deployed to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum after 9/11. He later served as chief technology officer at Carlisle Barracks, PA, from 2002-2005, before his position as assistant professor teaching electrical engineering/computer science at West Point Military Academy, of which he is a graduate. Jeffrey is the recipient of the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit.

Matthew Dengler was a member of the Baker High School Class of 2006. He is a senior in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where he's working toward his BFA in drama. He is currently on a leave of absence from his senior year as he pursues his dream job - a part in a Broadway musical. Dengler is an understudy with the show "A Little Night Music," which he describes as a dark comedy of errors. As a member of the cast he gets to rub elbows with some big names, including Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, and he still can't believe it. "It all happened really fast. It was kind of overwhelming but it's what I've been working for so it was all very exciting," he said.      Dengler has been preparing for Broadway for most of his life. He started playing the piano in second grade. When he was a student at Elden Elementary School, music teacher Barb Schmid encouraged him to try out for the Syracuse Children's Chorus. "I owe a lot to her," he said. He noted that she gave him the confidence to tryout and helped him to prepare for his audition. He said that when he made the chorus, there was no turning back. That same year he auditioned for Baker High School's production of "Into the Woods" and earned a part. He has a long resume of musical productions he was involved in here in Central New York, including playing the title role in Syracuse Stage's production of "Oliver" when he was in eighth grade.       Dengler said two other teachers, Carol Jacobe and Colin Keating, also influenced him to pursue the theater. He remembers Jacobe cornering him in the hall one day after reading his answers to a questionnaire regarding college plans. "An architect? Matt, we need to talk," she told him. After assuring him he had what it takes to make it in the theater, Jacobe and Keating aided Dengler in preparing for his college auditions. "I really owe so much to the amazing musical training I received in B'ville," Dengler said. "B'ville truly has a top notch music department." Dengler plans to return to his studies this summer to finish his degree. For now, he said he is enjoying every minute of his Broadway experience. "To make a living doing what I love to do is more than I could have ever asked for," he said.        Dr. Jason Slaunwhite was a member of Baker High School's Class of 2000. After graduating from Union College in 2004, he earned his Ph.D. in high-energy experimental particle physics from Ohio State University in 2009. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher with the University of Notre Dame.          His degree has taken him across the globe. As a member of Notre Dame's high-energy experimental particle physics research group, Jason is currently living in France and working on the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Jason explained that the Collider is the world's biggest particle accelerator. It smashes atoms together to recreate the conditions that existed during the Big Bang. Jason is collaborating with scientists from 38 countries, recording and analyzing the collisions to learn about the universe in its earliest stages.         Jason said the Baldwinsville Central School District prepared him for his future with opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. His classes in Baldwinsville helped him build a foundation of math, physics, and computer science that prepared him for college and beyond. He especially enjoyed his physics classes, and he discovered a love of running and skiing through extracurricular activities.   In the picture below, Jason is joined by his parents, Mike and Mae Slaunwhite, on Mount Blanc.         Jason encourages anyone interested in physics to contact him at jason.slaunwhite@gmail.com.

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