THE SHAKER SCHOOLS UPDATE A Night for the Red & White Tops $2 Million Mark They’re Off Members of the Class of 2012 have been accepted to a diverse array of col- leges and universities, including all the Ivy League schools, Ohio public insti- tutions, and private colleges. Here’s a sampling of the more than 130 schools that have accepted Shaker seniors: American University Art Institute of Chicago Bates College Berklee College of Music Brown University Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Institute of Music Columbia University Cornell University With this year’s proceeds, A Night for the Red & White has now raised more than $2 Dartmouth College million over its 20-year history for enrichment in the Shaker schools. About 750 guests Davidson College attended the fundraiser this year, enjoying dining, dancing, and a silent auction. The gala Duke University event attracted a record number of corporate sponsors, and yielded net proceeds exceed- Georgetown University ing $108,000. Shown from left are Red & White executive committee members Marisa Harvard University Matero-Maury, Robin Eisen, Kathy Connors, and Irene Meyerhoefer with Christine Auginas Haverford College (center), executive director of the Shaker Schools Foundation. Howard University The Juilliard School Dollars and Sense Kenyon College Miami University What does money mean to you? What ing Center and Money Museum, which University of Michigan would you save money for? Why were is adjacent to the Federal Reserve Bank cows first used as money? in downtown Cleveland. Students from New York University A group of Shaker Middle School stu- John Koppitch’s English class and Jenni- Northeast Ohio Medical University dents had a chance to expound on these fer Weisbarth’s math class participated in Northwestern University and more thought-provoking questions making the video. University of North Carolina about money when they were asked to “We have established an excellent re- University of Notre Dame appear in an educational video for the lationship with the Community Relations Oberlin College Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. The and Education department at the Federal Oberlin Conservatory of Music video, called “Money Visions,” explores Reserve Bank,” said Koppitch, whose The Ohio State University people’s various attitudes and perceptions classes have toured the Fed every year Ohio Wesleyan University about money. since 2007. The project is scheduled for Ohio University The film will be used as part of an completion later this summer. Watch for University of Pennsylvania interactive display at the Bank’s Learn- a link to the video at shaker.org. Pomona College Princeton University Smith College Spelman College For the latest news and info about the Shaker schools, visit shaker.org. University of Virginia To receive regular e-news updates, subscribe at shaker.org/news. Washington University in St. Louis College of William and Mary facebook.com/forshakerschools Yale University 12 WWW.SHAKERONLINE.COM jun.indd 12 5/2/2012 12:25:54 PM THE SHAKER SCHOOLS UPDATE On Labor Day Weekend, Shaker's Got That Swing! Come Back to Shaker! Calling all Shaker grads: the Shaker Schools Foundation invites you to “Come Back to Shaker” on Labor Day weekend for a special Regional Re- union, celebrating the Centennial of the Shaker Heights Schools and commu- nity. This special event also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Shaker Schools Foundation, one of the first of its kind in the nation. The Regional Reunion takes place on Saturday, September 1, from 12 to 2 pm at Shaker Heights High School, with a cookout on the front lawn, tours of the High School, and a football game at 2 pm. Lunch reservations are $10.50 for adults, and $6 for children up to age 12. For questions or to make reservations, Student musicians from Woodbury, the Middle School, and the High School delighted a packed house at the Centennial Evening of Jazz concert. For the fourth consecutive year, call 216-295-4329 or visit shaker.org/ Shaker has been named a “Best Community for Music Education” by the NAMM Founda- foundation. Graduates from all classes, tion. and their families, are welcome. The City of Shaker Heights is host- Alumni in the News ing a number of family-friendly events throughout the weekend, including a Jamie Babbit, ’89, a Los Angeles based Michael Cowett, ’09, who just com- Rockin’ Party at Thornton Park from 7 writer, director, and producer, recently pleted his junior year at Harvard, ran pm to midnight on Saturday; a Shaker directed an episode of the popular NBC successfully for Republican State Com- Homes Tour from 1 to 5 pm on Sunday, show “Smash,” about actresses who vie for mitteeman for the Middlesex and Suffolk the lead role of a hit Broadway musical. state senatorial district, serving sections September 2; and a Family Movie Night of Cambridge and Boston. In addition to at Chelton Park at 7:30 pm on Sunday. Hilary Beard, ’80, is co-author of Health Cowett’s new role as a political represen- Additional information on these events First!: The Black Woman’s Wellness Guide tative, he is editor-in-chief of the Harvard will be posted at shakeronline.com. (with Eleanor Hinton Hoytt). The book Salient, a journal of political thought. A addresses black women’s most press- classics major, he is a recipient of the ing health concerns from adolescence Bowdoin Prize, one of the highest com- through maturity. A Princeton gradu- mendations Harvard University bestows ate, Beard worked for 13 years in sales, on its students. marketing, and management with Procter and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, and Audrey Gyurgyik, ’07, a recent gradu- Pepsi, before leaving the corporate world ate of Davidson College, was awarded a to pursue a career as a writer. She is an $25,000 fellowship from the Thomas J. award-winning health journalist and the Watson Foundation to pursue a full year New York Times best-selling author of of independent, purposeful exploration Friends: A Love Story; 21 Pounds in 21 Days: and travel. Gyurgyik will explore a holistic The Martha’s Vineyard Diet/Detox; and Venus approach to actor training, a form that in- and Serena: Serving from the Hip. corporates the body, soul, and mind. She continued on next page SHAKER LIFE JUNE | JULY 2012 13 jun.indd 13 5/7/2012 1:44:45 PM THE SHAKER SCHOOLS UPDATE is one of 40 graduates selected from more graduating from the prestigious music than 700 applicants nationwide. Her trav- program at Rice University. els will take her first to Tibet, where she will study yoga with a Tibetan monk; then Geoffrey S. Mearns, ’77, has con- to Brazil to train with Zikzira, a physical tinued his fast ascent in higher educa- theater company; to Serbia with the Dah tion as the newly appointed president of “theater of breath”; and finally, to Italy to Northern Kentucky University, a rapidly work with renowned theatre practitioner growing public university just across the Jerzy Grotowski. Ohio River from Cincinnati. The former federal prosecutor served as provost and Sara Levine, ’88, is the author of the senior vice president for academic affairs novel Treasure Island!!! Hailed by the New at Cleveland State University beginning in York Times as “a rollicking tale, shame- February 2010. Prior to that, he was dean less, funny and intelligent,” the novel fea- and professor of law at Cleveland State’s tures an unnamed 25-year-old woman, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. working at a dreary job as a pet librarian (yes, you read that right), who finds sud- David Simmons-Duffin, ’02, was den inspiration in the Robert Louis Ste- named by Forbes Magazine as one of venson classic of the same name (minus the “30 Under 30” in the field of sci- the punctuation). Levine studied English ence. The list recognizes leaders in their at Northwestern University and earned field who “aren’t waiting to reinvent the a doctorate in English from Brown Uni- world.” Simmons-Duffin was recognized versity. She has taught nonfiction writing for his work creating mathematical mod- in the MFA program at the University of els of the similarity between quantum Iowa, and is the chair of the Writing Pro- particles known as “super-symmetry.” He gram at The School of the Art Institute of received his Ph.D. in theoretical phys- Chicago. ics from Harvard in May, and is moving into a new role as a postdoctoral member Ari Maron, ’96, a partner with MRN of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Limited in Cleveland, has attracted na- Princeton. tional attention for the transformative changes he has effected in the Cleveland Robyn Minter Smyers, ’87, was re- landscape. He is largely credited for re- cently named to the board of trustees creating East Fourth Street as a popular, of the George Gund Foundation. She is pedestrian-friendly destination for fine a partner at the law firm of Thompson dining and entertainment, as well as the Hine. Smyers received her undergraduate city’s new Uptown area, a booming retail degree from Harvard and her law degree and residential development near Uni- from Yale. She is also a board member at versity Circle. A serious violinist who ini- the City Club, the Museum of Contem- tially considered a career in music, Maron porary Art-Cleveland, and the Diversity MY VISION: joined the family-owned business upon Center of Northeast Ohio. Turn rush hour into happy hour. Tell us at: What’s Your Vision? work-live-shakerheights.com 14 WWW.SHAKERONLINE.COM jun.indd 14 5/4/2012 12:28:29 PM.