Alumni Return to West Sound Academy in January for College Talk and Gallery Show

POULSBO, Wash. - Jan. 11, 2014 - PRLog -- Several of West Sound Academy's alumni have come to visit their alma mater this January. Some alumni have stopped in on their holiday breaks from college just to say hello to favorite teachers and staff.  Faculty and administrators especially enjoy visiting with their former students and hearing about their current activities and future plans.

Alumni came to campus on January 8 for a college life question-and-answer lunch with West Sound Academy's current 11th and 12th graders.

Graduates from four different classes shared their experiences with WSA students who are now pondering choices for their post-high-school future:  Anne Boucher, Class of 2009; Lucas Verwolf, Class of 2011; Emma Christen, Class of 2012; and Mara Rolsky, Class of 2013.
Anne Boucher graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke College in 2013, receiving a BA in European Studies, with a concentration in art history and Italian and a minor in music.    Boucher is doing marketing and web sales work for a Bainbridge retail business, and is also working as a social media manager for a film company.

Lucas Verwolf is a junior at Willamette University, majoring in Politics and minoring in Women and Gender Studies.  Verwolf works at Oregon's state capital in Salem as a policy analyst for a representative.  His work involves reading proposals for laws and regulations and writing policy briefs that the official uses to help him decide how to vote.

Emma Christen is a sophomore at University of Puget Sound, majoring in Religion.  Christen has studied Chinese in college and traveled in China, hosted by Xiaofan Li, the international student hosted by Christen's family when she was a junior at WSA.  Social justice and multicultural issues are important to Christen, so she is involved with a lot of groups associated with the Student Diversity Center on campus,  several interfaith groups, the university's LGBTQA organization, and the Pierce County AIDS Foundation.

Mara Rolsky is a freshman at Lewis & Clark College, majoring in Bio-Chemistry and Molecular Biology.  Rolsky is enrolled in Lewis & Clarke's Pre-Medicine track of study, meaning that while she is fulfilling requirements for her major she will also be taking courses that will prepare her for medical school.
The alumni panel fielded questions on a lot of topics, covering everything from stress, to food, to social life.  Lisa Gsellman, West Sound Academy's Director of Admissions, sat in on the session.  Gsellman said, "We are so proud of our alums, and we really appreciate them dropping by and talking with our current students."

Also in January, three alumni have brought their work to Frodel Gallery for the school's first show of art by West Sound Academy graduates. The alumni show, titled 'Homecoming', is on exhibit the entire month of January.  The school hosted a gallery reception on January 10 to honor the artists:  two members of the Class of 2008:  Miriam Hershberg and Lisa Jackson, and M.R. Trower from the Class of 2009.

Miriam Hershberg graduated from Seattle University in 2012, Summa Cum Laude, with a BA in Visual Arts, and is currently a freelance artist, living in Seattle.  She creates logos for area businesses and album covers for local bands.  Hershberg has brought a selection of pen and ink illustrations and prints for this month's show.

Lisa Jackson studied at Western Washington University after leaving WSA, and graduated in 2012 with a degree in Communications and a double minor in Event Planning and American Indian Studies.  She is the Public Relations and Media Coordinator for the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort, volunteers as a girls' soccer coach, and visits middle and high schools to teach about Native American culture.   Included in the items from Jackson in the show are a cedar regalia and the Pendleton blanket for the 2009 Tribal Journey.

M. R. Trower graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2013 with honors, with a BFA in Illustration and a concentration in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences.  A comics artist and illustrator, Trower creates 'pictures in boxes' for the imprint Inkmaggot.  Trower lives in Durham, North Carolina, and works as a research associate and staff artist for Duke University's Center for Advanced Hindsight under Professor Dan Ariely.  Trower's contribution to the show is a selection of comics and digital illustrations.

The public is welcome to come by and see the show during school hours (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) through January 31.  The online show catalog can be seen at http://www.westsoundacademy.org/resources/image-galleries...