Two Friends.
One high school class.
Thirty five years later.

We had a chance to sit down with our classmate Veree Hawkins shortly before the reunion. We all remember her as a graceful dancer and kind friend. Still graceful and kind, Veree shares her story as a business professional, mother, wife and daughter. She tells us how she met her husband Bert in her first weeks of college, professes her love for Grant Hill, and shares her many hobbies she has pursued. As always, you will love hearing from Veree!

What a phenomenal interview with our classmate, Jennifer Gillette. We learned so much about her life today and back in our high school days. Did you know that Jennifer has always been a naturalist? She has also been a LOTR mega fan. Check out the photo above where she is posing outside of a Hobbit House. She even met her husband though their mutual love of the series. Now living in New Zealand as a college professor and gecko researcher, she is a mother of three and an avid game player. And yes, she is still rocking out to the heavy metal classics. Check out this episode with Jennifer. You are going to love it!

You can tell from his photo that Clifton “Kurt” Kaiser has been playing some ice hockey. Yes, it’s true. If you need a goalie for your team, Kurt is your man. And yes, we can still call him Kurt. This episode was so much fun. Finally, after commenting so prolifically on all the other episodes, Kurt got his own. You’ll love hearing about his many “double lives” and how he has become the Steve Allen of Franklin Roads Academy. We hope you all shower the Fecebook Feed with comments on his episode. Listen and enjoy!

Amanda Elliston left the Academy and went on to Smith College where she developed a passion for political activism. Always an activist at heart, she ended up pursuing a career in education, working first in an innovative public school in Brooklyn and eventually making her way back to teaching at the Academy and then in San Francisco. We loved this conversation with Amanda from her current home in Portland, Oregon as she looks back on the many surprises in her life, including her marriage to John Gray, who makes a cameo appearance in this episode. You won’t want to miss this conversation with Amanda!

This week we talked with our hilarious classmate, Aaron Brumer. Yes, we discuss his cryptic yearbook page, but that was only the beginning of what shaped up to be a episode with many surprises. We heard all about his road to becoming an architect, business owner, husband, father, and poker player. We learned about how his incredible growth mindset has gotten him through the challenges of parenting - and the challenges of his own parents. We laughed a lot about the cringe of past fashion decisions and how one summer after junior year set him on the “path of destruction.” This episode is FIRE!

This week we had the pleasure of talking to Dana Brown who is living her best life - really! This is a fabulous story of how Dana listened to her instincts and pursued passions in order to find the perfect career and personal fulfillment through motherhood and a whole host of friend groups. We were inspired by this conversation with Dana who has a huge heart and goes after what she wants in life. Listen and enjoy!

This week we spoke with Heather Kennedy, We loved hearing about her many jobs - from a manager at Lord and Taylor to a corporate career at Kraft and Whole Foods to her current dream job as a professor at CU Boulder. Heather is a world traveler and adventurer. And for someone who claims to have few memories of high school, her tales of briefly owning a YUGO were highly entertaining. You’ll also love hearing Heather and Jessica share stories of the world of online dating! Listen and enjoy.

For our first episode of 2024 we spoke with Staci Hurff Hurley. Many of us remember Staci for her dominance on the tennis court (and her amazing tan lines), but we loved catching up with her and hearing about her journey from UNM to Alaska to Washington State to upstate NY, to her current home in San Diego. She is always up for a new adventure in a new part of the world. Of course, we also learned about her deep commitment to animals and, in particular, shelter dogs. It was no surprise that Staci still has a heart of gold and is a warm and wonderful human. Please enjoy this conversation with Staci. We certainly did!

We loved this conversation with our classmate, Alex Ritchie. We learned so much about Alex, from his early years at Georgetown as a acapella pioneer, to his work in corporate law, to his current role as the Executive Director of a nonprofit that focuses on Environmental Law. Alex has some magical stories, including how he met his wife on an airplane and what it was like to move from a small town in southern Illinois to Albuquerque to join us all at the Academy. You will love this episode as much as we did!

This week we spoke with Kyle Lee. We had not seen him since our graduation so there was a lot to catch up on. We learned about his entrepreneurial endeavors that have aptly led him to become the Executive Director of CNM’s Ingenuity Inc, transforming workforce training in the state of NM. Kyle caught us up on his family life and what it has been like to be the parent of Academy students. He also shared many life lessons. It was so fun to reconnect with Kyle. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.