Class Notes Archive - Coastal Carolina University
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Class Notes 2020

June 2020

1990
Smith Brooks is a shareholder with Kenneth Cobb and Company PC, a CPA firm in Mullins, S.C.

Dr. Blake Kline, owner of Atlantic Coast Pain Specialists, is constructing a new 5,000-square-foot office building in Conway. 

2004
Dr. Greg Orsimarsi operates Charles Town Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Charleston, S.C. He is a graduate of MUSC’s James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine. He and his wife, Frances (Sloan) ’04, have two daughters, Sloan and Riley. 

2007 
Paul Carney has been named the senior director at Cushman & Wakefield’s office in Tyson’s Corner, Va., where he will represent office tenants in negotiating lease deals.

2010
Stacy Cecil is an environmental consultant with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

2012
Michael Midgette has been named an instructor and content contributor at Golficity. He lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

2013
Jerran Devlin teaches physical education at West Florence High School, where he has been named the school’s assistant coach of the year. He serves as the football team’s defensive coordinator and is also the coach of the junior varsity boys’ tennis team. He earned a master’s degree in athletic administration from Coker University in 2016.

2014
Alex Coles is the namesake of The Alex House Project, which was founded in 2013 by his mother. AHP is peer-led social service and leadership development organization that supports pregnant and parenting young mothers who live in economically depress neighborhoods in New York City.

2016
Rachel Ferrara lives in Charlotte, N.C., where she is the head of business development at TargetCare, a corporate health and wellness company.

2018
Malene Krolboll Hansen is a professional golfer on the Symetra Tour. 

Kayla Sliger is a fifth-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Little River, S.C.

May 2020

1974
J. Wayne George has been named to the Marion County Healthcare Foundation board of directors. He owns the George Agency in Mullins, S.C. His background includes serving as a CCU trustee, two terms on the S.C. House of Representatives and as the mayor of Mullins.

2003
Caitlin (Lamb) White
has received a 2020 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award. She is the student leadership and orientation specialist at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Md., where she has worked since 2016. Her responsibilities include creating leadership education programming, designing the orientation curriculum for new students, and heading the office’s Alternative Breaks program. In addition, she has served as a strategy co-chair for the college’s strategic plan committee. She previously worked as a community director in residence life at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and as assistant director for student services in the Gemstone Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. Caitlin earned a master’s degree in college student personnel administration from the University of Central Missouri.

2006
Brandon Sessions has been named chief revenue officer at PC Matic Federal. Sessions, who previously served as vice president of operations for PC Matic, will lead the revenue generation process for the company’s federal services division and will be responsible for ensuring efficient alignment and integration between PC Matic Federal and its partners.

2007 
Krystin (Mementowski) Dean has been named the communications specialist at Georgia Family Connection Partnership (GaFCP), an Atlanta-based nonprofit that brings together more than 3,000 partners in all of Georgia’s 159 counties working toward better outcomes for children, families, and communities. She previously served for four years as communications consultant for GaFCP.

2010
Kristin Flock
is an art teacher at Myrtle Beach Middle School.

2011
Sara Niles
lives in Chicago, where she works as an emergency room physician assistant at AMITA Health Mercy Medical Center.

2013
Jazmin Daigle is an enterprise development representative at classy.org, which creates online fundraising tools for nonprofits. The former Chanticleer softball standout previously worked for three years with the San Diego Padres.

2014
Devin Taylor is a senior renewals executive at Blackbaud, which connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence. The former Chanticleer offensive lineman also officiates high school football. He and his wife, Sara, live in Charleston, S.C.

2017
Elizabeth Jackson has been named the new principal of Timrod Elementary School in Florence, S.C. She has spent nearly her entire career in education at Timrod Elementary. She started in 1991 as a student teacher and then became a child development teacher. In addition to child development, Jackson has taught kindergarten, second and third grade at Timrod. She has also served as assistant principal and worked as an instructional coach and a curriculum coordinator. 

Caroline Rogers is a fourth-grade teacher at Ocean Drive Elementary School in North Myrtle Beach.

2018
Andi McDanel has joined the sales support team at the David M. Gilston Insurance Agency in Charleston, S.C. She works directly with agents and brokers who are exploring group medical and ancillary lines of coverage. 

2019
Mallory Boyle is a front desk agent with DoubleTree Resort by Hilton in Myrtle Beach.

April 2020

1984
Pat Lightle
is in his eighth year as the head baseball coach at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. His many years of coaching success includes serving as the top assistant baseball coach at Tennessee’s now-defunct Bristol University, which won the 1994 National Small College World Series. He also served as CCU’s associate head coach for four years.

2007
Adam Roberts is transitioning from singing on a national Broadway tour of Miss Saigon to writing and recording his own music. His background includes performing in Broadway Backwards and becoming the associate director and choreographer of the events for the past several years. 

2014
Paul Holmes has been promoted to assistant defensive backs coach at Wofford College. He previously served as a quality control coach. Holmes joined the Wofford staff last season after two seasons at Independence Community College in Kansas, where he coached wide receivers and defensive backs. 

Joshua Long has been named the head coach of the newly established women’s soccer program at USC Sumter. He previously served as the head coach for the boys' varsity soccer team at Sumter High School. His background also includes serving as the varsity and junior varsity coach for the girls' soccer teams at Sumter High School, and the coach for the girls' junior varsity soccer team at Carolina Forest High School. Long also was a STEM teacher at Sumter’s Alice Drive Middle School for three years.

Michael McClure has been named the head football coach at Southern Lee High School in Sanford, N.C. He previously served as the defensive coordinator and co-special teams coordinator at Lower Richland High School in South Carolina.

March 2020 

1975
Ruthie Vaught Warren will be inducted into the Conway High School Hall of Fame on April 30, and will receive an Outstanding Educator Award. Her teaching career includes positions at Green Sea Floyds High School, Conway High School, and Carolina Forest High School, where she is now an instructional coach.

2000
Janet Graham was honored at Conway High School’s 28th annual Ethnic Buffet on Feb. 28. She is the area manager for the Myrtle Beach Area Small Business Development Center located at CCU. She also serves on CCU’s Each 1 Teach 1 Entrepreneurship Institute board and the Horry County School Board.

2009
Kyle Russell, who served on CCU’s men’s soccer coaching staff since 2010, has been named the head men’s soccer coach at Florida International University. Since 2015, he was the Chanticleers’ associate head coach. A star player for CCU from 2005-08, he was a three-time All-Big South Conference performer. Russell also earned his MBA from CCU in 2014.

2010
Tyler Anthony and his wife, Kimberlee Ward ’13, welcomed their second daughter, Ainsley Grace, on Dec. 3, 2019. She joins sister, Adlee Mae.

2013
Alexander Campbell has been named vice president of transformation and program management for the Bank of New York Mellon in Pittsburgh, Pa.

2014
Mike Russ Jr. was the keynote speaker at the 30th Steak and Burger Dinner, which is a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club of Washington County, Md. He is an associate attorney in the global law firm Clyde and Co. in Atlanta, Ga., where he specializes in commercial litigation. He also is the chief legal counsel for Ponix, an agricultural technology company that is focused on reclassifying food as a utility. Russ was selected this year by The National Black Lawyers as one of its “Top 40 Under 40” in Georgia. He earned a Doctor of Law degree from Emory University School of Law.

2016
James Wilson began singing in the Soldiers’ Chorus on Feb. 3. After singing opera in Germany for a year, he auditioned and won the job with the chorus, which is the vocal complement of the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, D.C.

2017
Michaela Broyles is a marketing and communications associate at the Jewish Social Service Agency, a nonprofit based in the Washington, D.C., metro area. She previously worked in communications at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and as a reporter for The Sun News in Myrtle Beach.

Anterica Thomas has been named the wellness director at Wildewood Downs, a Columbia, S.C., retirement community owned and operated by Senior Living Communities. As a student, she interned at Brightwater in Myrtle Beach; and then worked as a wellness associate at Wellmore of Daniel Island in Charleston, S.C.

2019
Stacy Sibbach has been named the human resources director at The Stratford, a Carmel, Ind., continuing care retirement community owned and operated by Senior Living Communities. As a student, she interned with the human resources director at The Lakes at Litchfield, where she later was named the business manager.

February 2020 

1998
Greg Forbes is a PGA Golf Professional at Black Mountain Golf Club in Kelowna, B.C., Canada. He also is in the Carpenter Foundation program at Okanagan College. The program introduces students to all aspects of the construction trades.

April King has been named teacher of the year at Kingston Elementary School in Conway, S.C., where she has worked the last 15 years. Her family includes husband, Greg, and two children, Noah and Kylee.

1999
Benjamin D. Hill was promoted to full professor at the University of South Alabama. He serves on the board of directors of the National Academy of Neuropsychology and on the executive committee of the Alabama Psychological Association. He is the editor of the Journal of Sport Behavior, consulting editor for The Clinical Neuropsychologist, and serves on the editorial boards of Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, and Journal of Attention Disorders.

2002
Melissa Face has written a new book, “I Love You More Than Coffee: Essays on Parenthood.” She teaches world literature at the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology in Petersburg, Va.

2004
Nish Verma is a travel advisor with Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, based in Berkeley Heights, N.J. He previously worked in finance and technology for more than 15 years before becoming an owner/operator with Cruise Planners.

2006
Carrie (Godwin) Barnwell has been named the marketing director at Palmetto Infusion. She previously was the director of marketing at The Lachicotte Co.

2007
Ben Hampton has been named the head football coach at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach. He previously served as athletic director, football coach, and a physical education teacher at North Rowan High School in North Carolina. He was a member of CCU’s first-ever football recruiting class.

T.J. Sullivan, GOLFTEC Oak Brook director of instruction in Oak Brook, Ill., has earned PGA Master Professional status, the highest educational designation that can be obtained by a PGA member. He received his designation in teaching and coaching. A PGA Professional for 12 years, Sullivan has been the recipient of GOLFTEC’s Outstanding Achievement in Instruction award on six occasions, most recently in 2019. 

2010
Krysten Rimes and Tyler Gleaton were married June 8, 2019, in Aiken, S.C. She is a first-grade teacher at Barnwell Primary School, and is the assistant competition cheer team coach at Barnwell High School.

2011
Alicia Kelley is a licensed acupuncturist at The Krasovec Clinic in Edwards, Colo., where she uses acupuncture, herbal medicine, and movement therapy to treat her patients.

Heather (Peck) and Adam Tyner announced the birth of their first child, Owen James Tyner, on Nov. 3, 2019, in Louisville, Colo.

2012
Kali Dore has been named to the New Hampshire Union Leader’s 40 Under Forty list for 2020. She is the student assistance program coordinator at Newfound Regional High School in Bristol, N.H. She earned a master’s degree from Plymouth State University in 2016 and a certificate in addiction treatment in 2017.

2016
Ashley Arakas earned top honors in the 2020 Pee Dee Regional Art Competition for her watercolor painting, Bore. She also was recently awarded Best in Show at the 42nd annual National Exhibition of the South Carolina Watermedia Society.

Jason Gullett has been named the operations coordinator at ERG Payroll & HR in Columbia, S.C. He recently returned to South Carolina from Colorado, where he worked as a consultant for life science companies ranging from startups to international multi-million-dollar companies.

2018
Thomas Hart and Kayla Hage are planning to get married on April 17, 2020, at South Carolina’s Pelican Watch Pavilion at Folly Beach County Park. He works at Charles River Laboratories in Charleston.

Alicia Valesey has been promoted to communications and marketing coordinator at Garden City Realty in Garden City, S.C. She assists with the development and implementation of the company's brand strategy, which includes working with the company's real estate agents on their individual marketing needs. She began working at GCR in November 2018.

January 2020

1978
Tim Hardee has been named one of the 50 Most Influential People in Columbia, S.C., by Columbia Business Monthly. He has served as president of the South Carolina Technical College System for three years. 

1984
Dale Zeglin has joined South State Bank as Grand Strand region president. He has worked in the banking industry since 1984, most recently as business banking manager for Wells Fargo.

1985
Glenn Hardee and Mike Suggs are the owners of Loris Broadcasting Inc. They have been broadcasting Loris High School football games on the radio since 1986.

1997
Carlton Lewis Jr. was recently appointed to the Carolina Trust Federal Credit Union board of directors. Since 1998, he has worked at HTC, where he currently serves as CFO. A Certified Financial Manager and Certified Management Accountant, Lewis earned an MBA from Winthrop University. He lives in Aynor, S.C., with his wife and two children.

2000
Bobby Fish has been named promoted to vice president of sales and marketing at Riverside RV, a travel trailer manufacturer based in LaGrange, Ind. He previously served as the company’s regional sales manager.

2002
Monica Brisbon was recently named YEScarolina’s 2019 South Carolina Entrepreneurship Teacher of the Year. She has been teaching career and technical education at Carolina Forest High School in Myrtle Beach for the last 13 years. She was a 2017 National Fellow for the Association of Career and Technical Education. Brisbon earned an MBA from Webster University and an Ed.S. in educational leadership from Arkansas State University.

2010
Amanda Elliott has accepted a position in the visitor services division at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

2011
Cam Freeman has been named vice president, commercial relationship manager at WealthSouth’s office in Lexington, Ky. He has nearly 10 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Amy Haggard was recently accepted into the higher education Ph.D. program at Florida State University.

Amanda Loach was recently appointed as a learning specialist in the Office of Athletic Academic Affairs at the University of Virginia. She previously worked as a student-athlete mentor in the department. Prior employment includes teaching social studies in the Aiken County (S.C.) Public School District and working as a student-athlete tutor and mentor while completing her MAT (2013) at CCU.

2013
Heather Edwards is an accounting specialist with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. She is pursuing an MBA at CCU.

Gabrielle Mayo been named the teacher of the year at Ocean Bay Elementary School in Myrtle Beach, where she has been teaching first grade for the last six years. She earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from CCU in 2019.

2014
Shanay Clark has been named the teacher of the year at Conway High School, where she teaches English I Honors and English II College Prep. She earned a master’s degree in education from CCU in 2015.

2016
Saige Aikens and Kevin McCord have announced their engagement. They live in Boston, and plan to get married in Maine in May 2021. She works at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

2017
Staff Sgt. Shakeyna Smith is an aviation resource management technician with the 701st Airlift Squadron at Joint Base Charleston, S.C.

Linsey Strunga teaches children with moderate to severe disabilities at Black Water Middle School in Conway.

2019
Lauren Dabner plays for the Canterbury United Pride, which competes in the National Women’s Football League in New Zealand.

Robert “Griffen” Wilson has been named an assistant vice president at Employco USA, Inc. His primary focus will be overseeing Employco’s national brokers program and connecting the firm’s broker partners with its sales and operations teams. He will also support the company’s tradeshow union relations across the country. Wilson has been part of the Employco team for several years as a summer intern, working with all of the firm’s sales and operational teams.