CLASS CONNECTIONS

Running

PARTNERS John Zilly and Scott Tucker ran on the track and cross-country teams at Lakeside, went on to run in college, and are now running their own company. In 2017, Scott approached his former classmate with an idea. “I bet you could make a shoe that is better for the runner,” he said, “if you tuned it to the pace of the runner.” Scott had pioneered shoe designs at Montrail, had an MBA and a master’s in physics. He imagined shoes designed around the dynamic properties of cushioning and efficiency — and he needed someone who could tell the story. John had written recreational guidebooks and had a career in advertising. Their start-up, Vimazi (from Greek roots meaning “pace zone”), shipped its first shoes this past March.

1960

In a chance meeting of classmates, Richard Hurst and Michael Petherick connected on a small ship north of the Arctic Circle, off Norway. Richard tells us, “Michael now lives in California, I live in Olympia. It was one of those, I’m from Seattle. Oh, I went to school in Seattle. Which school? Lakeside. Me, too. What year? 1960. What's your name?”

1961

Rick Morry reminds us the Class of ’61 celebrated its 60th anniversary at the Seattle Tennis Club on Dec. 3, 2021. Since the gathering, a beloved class member, Jim Allison, has passed away.

1968

Mick Deal shares, “I coached Lakeside div- ing for three years. In 1972, Jim Peters ’72 became the Lakeside diving record holder for 10 dives. His score was 354.90. In 1968, I beat the record with a score of 299.65. We both competed in the state meet. I used to sneak the three Lakeside divers into the UW pool to use the great diving boards there. All three made the state finals!”

1969

Matt Griffin of Pine Street Group was named Puget Sound Business Journal’s Executive of the Year. Matt is one of several Lakeside alums who have been honored over the years in PSBJ’s annual list.

1970

Kurt Armbruster and members of the class of 1971 attended a tribute luncheon at Lakeside to announce the establishment of the Peter Seibert Endowment for Music Education.

1971

See the 1970 note about Dan Asia, Terry Smith, Scott McIntyre, and Stuart Rolfe

1972

See the 1968 note about Jim Peters.

1979

After getting his first teaching job at Lakeside in 1980, Craig Jacobrown continues to become more and more devoted to teaching 42 years later. He just finished conducting several Council of All Beings communal rituals in Kitsap County. He shares, “My students make tagboard masks and learn to speak for the animals, plants, and beings of the Pacific Northwest region in a council that addresses the human in the room.... Ecology.”

1980

On Thursday, April 20, Jens Molbak, Paul Johnson ’84, Andrea Rodgers ’94 Harris, and Dylan Byers ’04 visited campus to speak to Seattle-area alums about how they were challenging norms and serving as change-makers in their respective industries. The TED@Lakeside event was put on by Ric Merrifield ’84 and the Lakeside Alumni Board.

Eleanor Moseley Pollnow is still working in theater and film when the opportunity presents, and hitting 60 inspired her to produce a rap video: “Maintain (Don’t Bemoan It).” She adds in her note, “lyrics and diagnoses are all hers.”

The artist

Torin Bashore ’22 is completing his freshman year at Rhode Island School of Design, where he is studying illustration. A multitalented artist, Bashore began writing his “Campfire Thoughts” series during a comic creation class last winter — and immediately found a new focus for his art. “I would like to enter comics or storyboarding as a career,” he says. “My goal is to someday publish a story that inspires people like the books I read as a little kid.” For now, he’s continuing to add to his “Campfire Thoughts” strip, along with drawing commissions. You can see more of his art — and the ongoing series — on Instagram @artofkong. “Or,” he adds, “if you just want to chat….”

PLEASE SHARE YOUR NEWS! We’d love to hear about your life events significant and small, personal or professional, chance meetings, fun adventures, kudos to classmates, cool collaborations... Share your baby announcement and photo, and we’ll outfit your little lion with a Lakeside bib. Photo guidelines: High resolution, ideally 1 MB or larger. If sending from a smartphone, select “original size.” You can email notes and photos to alumni@lakesideschool.org by Oct. 6, 2023, for the Fall/Winter issue.

1982

Many remember Barry Erickson as the original “Captain Husky,” a superfan wearing a mask and purple cape who, for 25 years up until the remodeling of Husky Stadium in 2011, roamed the stands and led cheers at University of Washington football games. The tradition was picked up and carried on in Barry’s family by his son Kelton. In 2018, following the seven-year hiatus, Kelton took on the role of “Captain Husky 2.0” and became a fixture at Husky football games until he graduated from UW in 2022. Now the mantle falls to Barry’s second son, Bo, currently a freshman at the UW, to become “Captain Husky 3.0,” and so the Erickson family tradition continues. Barry himself is a professor at the university, teaching marketing and international business, and is the executive director of the professional sales program. Go Dawgs!

1984

See the 1980 note about Paul Johnson and Ric Merrifield.

1987

Alli Noland reported a Lakeside sighting and mini-multiclass reunion at a Kraken game at Climate Pledge Arena!

1991

Maureen Haggard is serving in a new role as deputy national security advisor to President Joe Biden.

1994

See the 1980 "TED@Lakeside" note about Andrea Rogers Harris.

Karl Uri shares, “I have been named the executive director of the Sun Valley Culinary Institute (SVCI). SVCI is a one-year U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship Program designed for students to enter the food ser- vice industry competently and confidently with little or no debt. This all happens in the beautiful resort towns of Ketchum and Sun Valley, Idaho.”

The original "Captain Husky," Barry Erickson ’82, left, has passed on the tradition to his sons, Kelton, (shown below in 2019) and Bo, currently a student at UW.

1996

Aaron Levine has been promoted to professor at Georgia Tech in the School of Public Policy.

Brianna Reynaud Jensen and Søren Skak Jensen welcomed their son, Lucas, on Dec. 1, 2022.

1997

Junemee Kim passed along a photo of a class of 1997 minireunion last summer.

1998

Joel Stonington and Dalia Mortada were married in Plymouth, Mass., on Sept. 10, 2022. A number of Lakesiders attended the wedding.

2001

Liza Buzytsky recently received a Fulbright grant to travel to Java for one year beginning in May 2023. Liza conceived the project “Third Space Textiles” as an investigation of cultural identity through the lens of material culture. Follow Liza’s journey in Indonesia online at thirdspacetextiles.com.

Rory Belanich

2004

Carsten Belanich shares, “Our second son, Rory Packard Belanich, was born on 2/2/23. Everyone's healthy and happy. His older brother, Luka, is taking things in stride.” See the 1980 note about Dylan Byers.

From

Elizabeth Repass ’98 de Velasco, Joel Stonington ’98, Dalia Mortada, Will Roush ’98, Dan Stonington ’96 and Laura Davis ’00 at Joel and Dalia's wedding.

2006

Brandon Vaughan married Aileen Aquino in a wedding ceremony at Balesin Island in the Philippines on Feb 12, 2023. The event was attended by several members of the Class of 2006, all of whom have been friends since meeting at Lakeside Middle School.

2009

Laura Coffin Carlson and her husband welcomed their daughter, Rhia Elsbeth Carlson, on April 5, 2023. All three (shown below) are doing great and enjoying settling into their new San Francisco lives together!

2010

The spring equinox marked one year since Nick Canino founded his nonprofit Rhythm Seed Farm in Portland. The mission of the organization is to grow and share vegetable, herb, and rare plant seeds adapted to the Pacific Northwest. Half of the seeds grown at the farm are given freely to Portland area residents who are low-income or from communities of color. In 2022, the organization donated more than 3,000 seed packets. This year, Canino hopes to double that number. Rhythm Seed Farm seeds are sold in local nurseries and online (currently 140 varieties are available). Funding for the nonprofit is gathered together from grants, garden design consulting, seed sales, and business partnerships. Canino envisions a future where Northwest residents grow their own food and save their own seed to increase resilience of our local food system. He says his mission will be complete when he puts himself out of business because everyone saves their own seeds and no longer needs to buy them. In future years, Canino hopes to create educational content to share online for planting, harvesting, and seed saving and storage of all his crops, including the unusual varieties he cultivates that are more commonly grown in other parts of the world.

2011

In his role as communications manager at HealthierHere, a King County-based nonprofit, filmmaker Graeme Aegerter recently produced the organization’s first documentary, which explores how local Native-led organizations are fostering thriving communities through traditional Indigenous medicines. In his freelance work, Graeme is producing and raising post-production and distribution funding for his second feature-length documentary, “Mary’s Way,” which follows the journey of a Kenyan Maasai girl over the course of seven years as she fights against enormous odds to pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor. You can support this project and see more of Graeme’s work at graemeaegerter.com.

2012

Alex Wade shares the news of landing his first lead acting role: in an indie film called “The Doorman.” In April, the 10-minute short won an award for best comedy actor at the Poor Life Choice Film Fest and was also screened at the Sun Valley Film Festival. In a radio interview on Troy Public Radio in Alabama, Alex talked about falling in love with acting while performing in the school musical his freshman year at Lakeside; his past six years in New York pursuing acting as a full-time career; and his recent forays into stand-up comedy.

2013

Following roles in “The Politician” and “The Sky Is Everywhere,” Julia Schlaepfer has been wowing critics in her portrayal of Alexandra in “1923,” a Paramount+ television series that provides a prequel to the popular series “Yellowstone.” Performing alongside Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, Julia was called a “scene-stealer” in a “break-out role” by Country Living magazine.

2015

Seattle-area researcher, content creator, and writer Elda Mengisto updates us on a current project she’s working on: a novel called “College Bound (and in Trouble).” “It’s about the senior year of Elizabeth,” Elda says, “a girl who simply wants to do something for Lakeside in her final year there. She ends up in the path of Andrei Petrescu, the president of Student Government, who wants to make it more than what it has been before. But when her attempts lead to a highly controversial decision, how will the other students react, and how will these two major characters learn about themselves and what it means to do the right thing?"