Rockbridge Academy is very proud of its alumni and their continued success following graduation.  Our alumni frequently return to the school, participate in classes, join us for lunch,  mentor our students, and invest themselves in our activities and performances.  This generational approach to education is part of what life-long learning is all about, and why we welcome back our alumni, pray for them, and send “care packages” to them at college to let them know they are still important to all of us.   While at college, our alumni are excelling in engineering, music, literature, and the liberal arts.  Most have earned significant scholarships and some have studied abroad.  God has richly blessed their lives, their families, and all of us here at Rockbridge through their efforts.

ALUMNI UPDATE

Emily Cusimano (Class of 2005) studied abroad in Costa Rica; Joe Bisciotti (Class of 2008) studied abroad at Oxford; Leslie Janikowsky (Class of 2007) and Stephen Horst (Class of 2009) studied abroad in Prague; Colleen McKenna (Class of 2008) studied abroad in Milan; and Emily Sproul (Class of 2008) studied abroad in Turkmenistan.

Our 2011 graduates earned an average of $12,670 in college aid/scholarships each for their first year of college!

Rockbridge Academy graduates Anna Hollidge (Class of 2009) and Anna Kitchin (Class of 2010) won the first two national ACCS speech competitions.

Hugh Mitchell (Class of 2008) earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy and will graduate this May 2012 and enter flight training.  John Brennan (Class of 2010) earned a full Air Force ROTC scholarship to the University of Maryland, and Jacob Cooley (Class of 2011) earned a full Navy ROTC scholarship to Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Alexander Cochran (Class of 2009) won the Grove City College Business Plan competition as a freshman, earning $3000.

Grace Ramsey (Class of 2009) went on a long-term mission to Sweden.  Elisabeth Duvall (Class of 2008) and Natalie Stephens (Class of 2010) went on long-term missions to Gambia and Kenya, respectively.

Alexander Dwyer (Class of 2008) is serving as a teacher in a classical and Christian school in Jakarta, Indonesia.  Palmer Horst (Class of 2006) spent a year as a teacher in a classical and Christian school in Montana.

Megan Conlon (Class of 2008) and Leslie Janikowsky (Class of 2007) earned internships at The Heritage Foundation.

Janet Schonthaler Blair (Class of 2005) completed her master's degree in Music Performance (oboe) at the University of Maryland and has been instrumental in organizing the Rockbridge Academy Benefit Concerts.

After their graduation, Liz Cawley (Class of 2010), Suzanne Duvall (Class of 2011), and Seamus McKenna (Class of 2010) have all served as teacher aides in Rockbridge Academy classrooms.  Alyssa Bouma (Class of 2011) and Emily Sproul (Class of 2008) are helping as assistant directors for this year's musical.

COLLEGE PARK SCHOLARS OUTSTANDING CITIZENSHIP AWARD

International Studies:  Emily Sproul

Emily Sproul grew up in Severn, Maryland, and graduated from Rockbridge Academy in 2008.  She is interested in becoming a translator, as she has been studying Persian and Rhetoric.  Emily is an alumna of the International Studies program and traveled with Scholars to visit the United Nations in New York City in the spring of 2009.  For her capstone project in International Studies, Emily researched how Iranians benefited from the globalization of technology and how technologies such as internet social networking sites and cell phones were utilized by Iranians to communicate with the rest of the world immediately following the controversial Presidential elections of 2009.  In the summer of 2010, she spent two months living in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, studying the Persian and Tajak languages and cultures.  Emily has been an active member of the Reformed University Fellowship, an on-campus Christian ministry and outreach to students.

"From the start, I was impressed with how the dean and staff of The Templeton Honors College are genuinely concerned with each student’s spiritual growth as well as his or her intellectual achievements. Honors colleges are designed to be intellectually challenging, but The Templeton Honors College is designed to shape and equip leaders with the knowledge and character to effectively serve the Kingdom of God."

--Emily Cusimano

Eastern University Templeton Honors Class of 2009

Civil Air Patrol Cadet Col. John Brennan (Class of 2010) of Maryland Wing’s Bowie Composite Squadron was awarded the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award at the organization’s annual conference in December 2010. The award is the highest achievement a cadet can earn in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) cadet program.  Brig. Gen. Richard Anderson, CAP, former national commander of Civil Air Patrol and current Virginia state legislator, presented Brennan the award during the conference awards luncheon.  John joined Civil Air Patrol in 2006 and rapidly progressed through the cadet program at the Bowie squadron. He is a member of the squadron’s ground team and is the former chair of the Maryland Wing Cadet Advisory Council along with serving as vice-chair of the Middle East Region Cadet Advisory Council, a cadet body that advises the commander on cadet program issues. He was named the 2008 Maryland Wing Cadet Jr. Officer of the Year along with numerous squadron and group awards and decorations.  In 2010, John won first place in the Maryland Wing Cadet Speak-Off, an annual speech competition, in both the advanced prepared and impromptu categories. John is currently attending the University of Maryland, College Park, where he received a full scholarship as part of U.S. Air Force ROTC Detachment 330.