ORANGE HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI NEWSLETTER VOLUME 30 ISSUE 2 Meet the 2017 Orange Alumni, Faculty and Athletic Hall of Fame inductees at the induction luncheon!!! The luncheon is September 16 th 11am in the High School commons. Please print and fill out the form found at the bottom when you buy your tickets for the luncheon. Alumni Hall of Fame Neal Hamilton 75 Jim Lefkowitz 77 Adam Miller 04 Faculty Hall of Fame Deborah Delisle Stephen Hegner Dale Kelley Athletic Hall of Fame Dale Kramer Devin Booker 00 Brynn FitzGerald 12 Hafeez Hussein 00 Curtis Thompson 01
Neal Hamilton 75 is an accomplished and awarded illustrator, graphic designer, photographer and painter. He formed graphic design firm Livewire Studios in the 90s and a decade later moved on to become the official photographer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. After losing everything in a 05 house fire, Neal immersed himself in painting and found a home for his creative passions in his acclaimed paintings of music icons. He is also the artist for Music News Nashville s ongoing project of creating hand painted custom guitars to raise money for charity. You can see his work at www.nealhamilton.com Alumni Hall of Fame Jim Lefkowitz 77 is the Executive Producer of the Emmy Awardwinning documentary When The Garden Was Eden and the Golden Globenominated film Love And Mercy staring John Cusack and Paul Giamatti. The film documents the struggles faced by Beach Boys lead singer Brian Wilson during the 1960 s. Lefkowitz was previously Senior Vice President at The Walt Disney Studios, a talent and literary agent at Creative Artists Agency, head of film finance at the investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, and President of Mandalay Media. Adam Miller 04 is the Supervising Producer for the third hour of NBC s TODAY Show. He is responsible for programming, launching & developing multiple series and segments. While at TODAY, Adam guided the show to winning three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Morning Program. Adam has covered everything from the 2008 Summer Olympics and the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, to the miracle at the Chilean mine, and the devastation of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Hurricane Sandy and the Boston Marathon bombings. Adam spearheaded the launch of the Orange Room - bridging the gap between broadcast and digital audiences. A graduate of Northwestern University s Medill School of Journalism, Adam lives in NYC with his wife Mandy and two daughters, Ellie and Harper. Faculty Hall of Fame Stephen Hegner During his senior year at Allegheny College, Stephen was interviewed for a job at Pepper Pike Elementary School, and much to his surprise, was hired! Thus in 1973, his 35-year career at Orange began. Over the years, he taught fifth and sixth grade at Pepper Pike and Brady and was Assistant Principal and Principal at Brady. Stephen says that being principal at Brady was the best job in the world, and it was during that time that he worked collaboratively with other faculty to see the school named a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2002. Since retiring, he has traveled extensively and volunteered at The Cleveland Museum of Art as a school tour docent. Says Stephen, Orange was and always will be extraordinarily special to me. Faculty Hall of Fame Deborah Delisle taught 6th grade at Brady Middle School from 1988-1996. She is the Executive Director and CEO of ASCD, an international non-profit organization with 120,000 members across 138 countries. Previously, she was nominated as Assistant Secretary of Education by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2012, and served in that position until 2015. She held roles as a senior fellow at the International Center for Leadership in Education, as Ohio s 35th State Superintendent, and as the Superintendent of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District. In 2011, The Deborah S. Delisle Educational Options Center school was named after her in honor of her lifetime of service to students. In 2014, she was identified by the National Journal as one of five women in America who influence and shape national education policy. As a sixth grade teacher at Brady Middle School, Delisle and Stephen Hegner developed Project Kid to Kid, a studentfacilitated project that utilized social justice and empathy at its core. Dale Kelley After graduating from Grove City College, Kelley was hired to be a high school English teacher at Orange in 1973. He stayed with the school for the next 36 years. Along the way, Kelley coached varsity football and track, and served as Assistant Principal, Senior Project Coordinator, and Education Career Club Advisor. Says Kelley, My greatest pleasure and accomplishment in all those roles was to instill in our students a life-long love of learning. They were very happy years for me. 2
Dale Kramer Dale became as- Athletic Hall of Fame Brynn FitzGerald sistant track coach shortly after being hired to teach science at Orange in 1960. He became the head coach in 1970 and held that position until he retired from teaching in 1991. He returned to Orange to coach the girls track and field squad from 1992-1993 and then went back to be head coach of the boys team where he continues to coach today. His teams won seven league titles and one district title, and he was named district coach of the year. His boys track teams boast three state champions and nine gold medalists. From 1963-1980 he was head coach of the cross country team too, winning several league titles and a 7th place finish in states. Dale coached JV volleyball for 20 years, 8th grade basketball for 15 years and JV golf for 16 years. On top of all this, Dale was athletic director for four years and the faculty manager for 50 years. Devin Booker 00 Devin was a twosport athlete for the Lions football and track teams. On the track, Devin was a 5-time state qualifier, placing 5th in the 300 intermediate hurdles as a junior and then winning the event to become state champion as a senior in 2000. Devin also held the Chagrin Valley Conference record for a number of years. Devin continued his education and athletic careers at the University of Akron on scholarship. He was a 3-time captain of the Zips track team, holding the school record in the 110 high hurdles from 2005-2010. He was 2nd team All-MAC in 2002, 3rd team All-MAC, and qualified for the NCAA Midwest regional championships in 2005. Devin earned his BA in Mechanical Engineering in 2005 and is currently a manufacturing engineer. Hafeez Hussein 00 Holding all his opponents scoreless, Hafeez won the state wrestling title at 135 lbs. his senior year. He was the first state wresting champion from Orange in 25 years, and held a career record of 42-2. After enlisting in the Marine Corp in 2003, Hafeez was one out of hundreds of other communications students selected for the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company where he earned the status of Reconnaissance Marine (MOS 0321). Hafeez was deployed overseas three times - once to Kuwait and twice to Helmand Province in Afghanistan. In 2006 he checked into the Marine Corps only Special Forces Unit, 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion. Upon his return to the U.S., Hafeez was selected for a language course and learned fluent Indonesian. Because of his actions in combat, Hafeez received the Bronze Star Medal - the third highest medal a Marine can earn. Hafeez has a son named Aleq. 12 Brynn was a threetime high school state qualifier in women s golf, finishing tied for third place her junior year and tied for second place her senior year. She went on to play golf at Denison University where she was named a Women s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar. Brynn earned spots on the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Capital One Academic All-District At-Large team and the WGCA Great Lakes All-Region team. She holds university records for lowest 36-hole score and lowest career scoring average. Brynn graduated summa cum laude from Denison and recently finished her first year of medical school at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Curtis Thompson 01 Curtis won the state championship in track and field in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes his senior year at Orange. He still holds the school record in both events. He went on to college at Alabama State University where he won three conference championships. Curtis was ranked second in the nation in the 200-meter dash in 2004 before an injury ended his running career. Today, Curtis is a Senior Manager at American Express, and lives in Phoenix, Arizona. 3
.---------------------------------------- Yes! I d like to attend the 2017 Orange Alumni Hall of Fame Luncheon and Inductions Saturday, September 16 at 11am at Orange High School I would like tickets at $25 each Name Contact # Names of those attending Clip this form and mail it with your check made out to the Orange Alumni Association to: Orange Alumni Assn., 32000 Chagrin Blvd, Pepper Pike, Ohio 44124 4
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