Reflections Magazine Issue #77 - Fall 2012 | Page 31

Alumni News—Class Notes
above and beyond the duties of teaching, who
enriches the lives of her students and who is dedicated to school and community. She has taught
for Hillsdale Community Schools since 2003 and
currently teaches third- and fourth-graders at
Bailey Elementary School.
Jon Schoonmaker ’08/MA opened Omega, a
counseling and youth empowerment practice, in
August in Adrian, Mich. He works with both youth
and adults in areas such as interventions for at-risk
adolescents, trauma intervention, grief and loss
counseling, pre-marital counseling and dealing
with abuse. He resides in Adrian.
Amy Wertenberger ’08, ’11/MA has recently
opened The Stable Way equine therapy practice
in Tecumseh, Mich. She is a licensed counselor
in the state of Michigan and works as a case manager and therapist with homeless veterans at Harbor
Light in Monroe, Mich.

Alumni Focus
The Adrian Schools Educational Foundation
named its outstanding teachers for 2012,
and they include Dawn Huggins, Cammy
DiPietro and Ryan Bills. All three are Siena
Heights graduates. They were recognized Oct.
4 at a reception.
Bills is currently an art
and technology teacher
at Adrian High School. He
is also the International
Baccalaureate Programme
art instructor. He teaches
the Stage Craft class at
AHS where students design and build scenery
for all the districts plays and musicals. He has
taught middle school and elementary school
art, coached middle school boys track and
high school cross country and served as the
technical director for high school musicals and
plays. Bills has both his bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in fine arts from Siena Heights.
DiPietro is a fifth- and
sixth-grade language
arts, reading and social
studies teacher at AMS
5-6, where she has been
for eight years. She taught
the same subjects at the
seventh- and eighth-grade level at APS, where
she also served for many years as student
council and peer mediators supervisor. She
is the school liaison for the “Reading is Cool”
program, and also has her bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from SHU.
Huggins is currently a
kindergarten teacher at
Lincoln Elementary School.
She has also taught first
and second grade. She
has two bachelor’s degrees
from Siena Heights
University. Huggins’ nominators recognized
her ability to understand each student’s
learning style and use the right combination
of emotional and academic support to challenge her students to learn.

Robert Wright ’09/MA was named the principal
at Onsted (Mich.) High School in June. He was
formerly the assistant principal and athletic director
at Sand Creek Community Schools. He resides in
Adrian, Mich.
Jennifer Belair ’10 had
some of her artwork recently
accepted for a billboard project
in the metro Detroit area. The
project’s aim was to bring
artwork into the everyday
community through digital
billboards. Belair is currently
studying for her Master of Fine Arts Degree at Wayne
State University. To view her contributions to the
project, visit www.flickr.com and search for
“Jennifer Belair Detroit Billboard”.

Tribute to late Siena
Heights faculty member
Dr. Martha Carroll
Editor’s Note: The following edited tribute to late M!T