Lindenwood - Winter 2017 - Connecting to Alumni and Friends

’90s Donna Baringer (’96) was elected in November 2016 as a Democrat to the Missouri State House of Representatives, representing the 82nd District. Prior to this election, she served nearly 14 years on the St. Louis Board of Alderman in the 16th Ward. Baringer previously worked as a director for United 4 Children and as an executive director for Magdalen Community Improvement Corporation. Cherise Taylor (’98, ’12) has established Taylored 4U Enterprises, LLC, which provides career coaching, corporate training, motivational speaking for organizations and groups regionally and nationally. Taylor has served as a career coach for a variety of people ranging from college graduates to people coming out of retirement and looking to rewire and establish new careers. As a corporate trainer, Taylor has conducted workshops for the local USDA office, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Federally Employed Women’s Group, amongst others. Taylor received a B.A. in secondary education/ English in 1999 and an M.A. in professional counseling in 2012. ’00s Kim Lewis Quain (’03) was recently awarded the 2017 SEMO Counselor of the Year Award at the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala. A first-generation college student, Quain has dedicated her career to helping students achieve their personal and academic goals, much as she did. Beginning her 11th year as a college/career counselor at Hazelwood West High School, Quain has implemented several programs to bridge the gap between school and parents, resulting in a doubling of students receiving college scholarships. Quain received her School Counseling Certification from Lindenwood University. Mernie Hollander Maestas (’02, ’06) was recently named president of the Missouri Association of School Librarians (MASL) for the 2017-2018 term. Maestas has served as a school librarian for the past 12 years as well as the lead librarian for the Wentzville School District for the past 10 years. She has worked for the Wentzville School District for 22 years as a third-grade and fourth-grade classroom teacher as well as a full-time mentor. Maestas has a Master of Arts in Education and a Master of Arts in library media from Lindenwood and a Master of Educational Administration from Missouri Baptist University. She is currently working toward a Ph.D. at Emporia State University. Dr. Erin Klepper (’09, ’11, ’13, ’17) recently received her Ed.D. in andragogy/ educational leadership from Lindenwood. Klepper was a resident director from 2006 to 2009 in Niccolls Hall. She worked at St. Anthony’s Medical Center in media education for five years and is currently at SSM Health as a corporate educator. At Lindenwood, Klepper also received a B.A. in theatre and education, an M.A. in communications, and an M.A. in instructional technology. ’10s Heather Ohlms (’10) recently accepted a position in the Social Studies Department in the Upper School at Principia School, in St. Louis, Mo. Since graduating, she has taught in various school districts in the greater St. Louis area. She received a B.A. in education with a minor in history from Lindenwood. Constance Gully (’13) was promoted to president and CEO of Parents as Teachers National Center in February after serving as interim CEO since August 2016. Gully worked for the city of St. Louis in internal auditing before starting a 16-year career at Harris-Stowe University as controller, executive vice president, and interim president. Gully serves on the sub district for the Missouri History Museum and the board of LaSalle Middle Charter School and is the vice chair of the Bi-State Development Board of Commissioners and chair emeritus of the Dr. Martin Luther King State Celebration Commission for the state of Missouri. Gully received an MBA from Lindenwood. Bridget Lemieux Mouse (’13) and Patrick Mouse (’14) moved to Dublin, Ohio, where Patrick has worked in long-term care social work and is currently a behavioral health social worker for Quantum Health. Bridget is employed with Cardinal Health and is a member of the talent acquisitions team. They recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary and have been together for six years since meeting at Lindenwood. They and are expecting their first child this April. Patrick received a B.S. in social work from Lindenwood. Rodrigo Cagide (’14) has been working for different logistics/ transportation companies as a logistics coordinator and account manager. He is currently working at Mid America Logistics in Fenton, Mo., as an account manager in the operations team and also as a business development specialist. He recently earned an MBA in process and project management from Maryville University and has a B.A. in marketing from Lindenwood. Montel Moore (’14) was recently chosen to perform the National Anthem at a 2017 season St. Louis Blues hockey game. From 650 submitted performance videos, Moore was selected for a live audition and was one of nine to make the final cut. He is slated to perform the anthem at the Blues’ Feb. 11 game at the Scottrade Center. Moore is employed by Float STL, for which he composes music for relaxation, and has an M.A. in music-vocal with K-12 certification. Alumni News & Notes continues on next page... ALUMNI NEWS & NOTES WINTER 2017 Lindenwood University ALUMNI NEWS & NOTES Submit your alumni news and notes to alumni@lindenwood.edu 21 CAMPUS NEWS FACULTY SPOTLIGHT UPCOMING EVENTS LINDENWOOD SPORTS ALUMNI EVENTS AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS ALUMNI NEWS & NOTES LINDENWOOD Winter 2017