September 2017 Connections

16 alumni and 2 CCSF staff members gathered in Atlanta to prepare to coach 59 Scholars from our most recent class with the help of our friends from the Center for Creative Leadership. Together with coaches from last year, they will help new Scholars navigate the transition to college. The new coaches are Carrie Regan (1989), Rosanna Catalano Flury (1990), Christie Thompson (1990), Jason Shanker (1991), Kari Philbeck (1994), Will Schultz (1994), Frank Shultz (1999), Cesar Aviles (2000), Jesse Bernal (2000), Heidi Koester Oliveira (2001), Charlie Odom (2002), Erin Muffoletto (2003), Darien Dabney (2005), Luis Sotelo (2007), Dickey Comeaux (2008), and Krystal Kappeler (2009).

After training, they explored Atlanta. Some of the coaches went to a Braves game on Saturday night…

…and some went to the Atlanta Lantern Parade!

CCSF hosted a reception for Scholars and alumni in Indianapolis.

The next day, CCSF hosted a reception in Cincinnati.

Ishan Johnson (2001) and Jamal Edwards (1994) met up at the Chicago History Museum’s Men’s Fashion Awards in Chicago.

Carolyn Norton, Jane Hopkins, and Lauren O’Brien from CCSF went to Boston for a conference and connected with Jack McKinstry (2000)…

…and Leia Schwartz (2014) and Justin Pearson (2013). Leia had evacuated from Florida and headed to Boston to escape Hurricane Irma, where she found a safe haven with some other Scholars!

Carmen Duran (2017) ran into Andrew Barnhill (2006) at a train station in Philadelphia! They met in April during Carmen’s Scholars Weekend when Andrew was an alumni facilitator for her Leadership Development Institute group.

Brent Comstock (2013) came by the CCSF office for a visit.

Seven 2017 Coca-Cola Scholars met up in Los Angeles to reconnect and share successes since they were last together for Scholars Weekend in April. Pictured (left to right) Justin Kawaguchi, Ahmed Mohamed, Dillon Hunter, Mallika Jain, Nihar Sheth, and Sam Gorman.

Joshua McNair (2002) came by to say hello – he is running for Fulton County Commissioner District 4 in Atlanta.

Ellen Kendall (2015) and Cindy Rajkumar (2015) completed a 10-week prestigious summer research program together at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. Ellen researched “Mechanistic Insights into Liposarcoma Progression” and Cindy researched how “GDNF Improves Cutaneous Wound Healing Though Hair Bulge Stem Cells in Mice.” Outside of lab they took weekend hikes and kayaked and embraced the Acadia National Park while living in a local mansion: Highseas.

Ryan LaMonica (1997) stopped by the CCSF office to give Mark Davis tickets to the Notre Dame/UGA football game!

David Sanchez (2010) married his high school sweetheart Elynn in Wisconsin this summer. Four other Coke Scholars attended – David’s friend Mariel Mendez (2010), siblings Tyler Sanchez (2006) and Natalia Sanchez Menjivar (2004), and Natalia’s husband Walter Menjivar (2005), with their daughter, Sophia (future Coca-Cola Scholar 2035).