Tradition of Excellence

Kim Chao
Addison Trail High School
Class of 1972

Kim Chao is one of several District 88 alumni who returned to their alma mater to teach. Highly respected as a Special Education teacher, Kim began her career in two small towns in rural Illinois, Flora and Little York/Kirkwood, where she started the special education program at the high school level. Kim joined the faculty at ATHS in 1978 where she developed the life skills curriculum of the Social and Occupational Development Program, which includes functional academics and assistance with job placement and transition to the “real” world.

With her encouragement and direction Kim’s students in SOD I are highly connected to the community by participating as mentors to Stone Elementary School, by holding recycling drives and by publishing a newsletter, “Cool Teens”. The Addison Trail Best Buddies Chapter was started in 1978 with Kim receiving the AT Best Buddies Chapter of the Year Award in 2004. Kim was named Advisor of the Year by Best Buddies in 2005. Kim is also responsible for starting the AT Special Olympics basketball team.

Kim was honored with the 2001 Addison Trail Outstanding Achievement Award and is always the first to say that she has been appreciative of the nurturing and excellent education she received at ATHS. Giving back is her greatest pleasure.

gary

Gary Ofenloch
Addison Trail High School
Class of 1969
Gary Ofenloch is the Principal tuba player of both the Utah Symphony and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. In 1985 Gary was chosen as soloist for the Boston Pops 100th Anniversary Tour with conductor John Williams. While on leave of absence from the Utah Symphony in 1989 he was appointed acting Principal tubist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the invitation of maestro Seiji Ozawa.
Gary earned both his bachelors and masters degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music. While attending the conservatory he was a founding member of the Grammy Award winning New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble and performed at the White House under then-president Gerald Ford. Gary can be heard on many Utah Symphony, Boston Symphony and Boston Pops recordings, including the soundtrack to the movie "Saving Private Ryan". Additionally, he has toured and performed with several chamber ensembles, including the internationally acclaimed Empire Brass Quintet recording of "Gabriel: Music for Brass".
Gary lives in Salt Lake City and is a faculty member of the University of Utah.

Laurie Wagner Buyer
Addison Trail High School
Class of 1972
When she is not hiking in the high country or on the road presenting workshops, poet and novelist Laurie Wagner Buyer lives in Woodland Park, Colorado. The recipient of a Colorado Council on the Arts Literature Artist Fellowship, Laurie has worked with CCA as an artist in residence, with the Young Audiences Program, the Aesthetic Education Institute of Colorado, the Online Poetry Project and Writers on the Net. Laurie has an MFA in Writing from Goddard College and is the award-winning author of three collections of poetry: Glass-eyed Paint in the Rain, Red Colt Canyon and the newly released Across the High Divide. Laurie won the Beryl Markham Prize for Creative Non-fiction from Story Line Press for her memoir Spring’s Edge and her first novel, Side Canyons, is now out in soft cover from Five Star Publishing.

	Deborah L. Grubbe Addison Trail High School Class of 1973 Deborah Grubbe is the operations and engineering director for DuPont Nonwovens where she is accountable for manufacturing, engineering, safety, environmental, and information systems in a growth business with $1 billion in revenue, $100 million of annual capital expenditures and eight manufacturing facilities worldwide. She has 21 years of experience in five of DuPont's 16 Strategic Business Units. Deborah was also the director of DuPont Engineering's 600-person engineering technology organization. Her 14 different assignments range from capital project implementation through manufacturing management and human resources. She currently co-chairs the DuPont corporate Operations Network People Team, a body that manages operations, personnel deployment and development for global DuPont.

	Lynn Coyle Addison Trail High School Class of 1982 Lynn Coyle currently works for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Right in Texas. The Lawyers Committee is a statewide nonprofit legal office dedicated to defending the rights of immigrants. At the Lawyers Committee, Lynn litigates civil rights cases involving unlawful detentions and arrests, physical abuse and the denial of other civil and statutory rights of immigrants. She has lectured widely on immigration law topics and the national conventions of the American Immigration Lawyers Association the National Association of Counsel for Children and the Hispanic Bar Association. She has written several articles for immigration and criminal defense attorneys and has participated in numerous statewide trainings. She is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

	Conrad Chao Addison Trail High School Class of 1974 Conrad Chao is conducting biomedical research on the fetal brain where he is searching for causes of such congenital brain disorders as cerebral palsy. He has received grants from the National Institute of Health and the American Heart Association. He is currently using his expertise as a perinatologist networking with neurological researchers to further advances in this field. Conrad has been featured in Who's Who is Science and Engineering and recently was asked to review grants for the National Institute of Health. In his position as director of the Maternal Fetal Medicine Subspecialty Training Program at UCLA he also teaches and supervised medical residents and fellows (post-doctoral specialists). He has written numerous articles in clinical and scientific journals.

	Richard Nichols Addison Trail High School Class of 1981 Richard Nichols is a nationally recognized artist with a strong background in traditional impressionism. His works have been published in The American Artist Magazine and are displayed in numerous prestigious galleries throughout the Untied States.

	Sheila (Heirty) Romano Addison Trail High School Class of 1981 Sheila Romano is the Executive Director of the Illinois Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities. As director she oversees all activities that support the Council's purpose of ensuring that all people with developmental disabilities have the assistance and opportunities to promote independence and productivity in society.

	Peggy D. O’Neill Addison Trail High School Class of 1972 Peggy O’Neill currently works for the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland. She conducts basic science research, new instrument technology and future space mission definition and planning. She has over 20 years of experience in the design and implementation of microwave soil moisture field experiments using ground-based and aircraft sensors, and has been instrumental in the acquisition and analysis of experimental data necessary for the development of an accurate soil moisture retrieval algorithm from microwave measurements. Peggy has been the recipient of 17 NASA/GSFC Outstanding Performance and Special Act / Achievement Awards to date. She has authored or co-authored over 120 publications. In her spare time she crews for a local Maryland hot air balloon pilot.

	Timothy D. Kanold Addison Trail High School Class of 1969 Tim Kanold is the Superintendent of Schools for District 125. A dedicated mathematics educator for the past 29 years, Tim has co-authored more than fourteen math textbooks for grades 6-12. He has also published numerous articles on effective teaching practices and has given over 600 presentations at the local and national levels on education reform. Tim is the 1986 recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching and the 1991 Outstanding Young Alumni from Illinois State University. As a member of the National Council for Teachers on Mathematics, he participated in the organization’s Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics Commission and served as a speaker for New Dimensions in Leadership.

	D. Jean Ortega-Piron Addison Trail High School Class of 1974 Ms. Jean Ortega-Piron began her career in human services in 1980 as a law clerk for the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. From 1980 to 1987 she served in a variety of attorney positions for that agency, including General Counsel. She was appointed guardian of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) on September 3, 1996. She spearheaded a reform for the office of DCFS that created the office of the guardian that would advocate for the wards of the state at the executive level. In this position she is the court appointed legal guardian of all abused and neglected children committed to DCFS. She currently serves as the legal guardian for over 24,000 children and serves as a policy formulating executive manager.

	Richard Marianos Addison Trail High School Class of 1983 Richard Marianos was appointed as a special agent with the United States Treasury Department in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. At 21 he was the youngest special agent ever hired with the Bureau. He was first assigned to the Chicago Field Division where he was responsible for the criminal enforcement of firearms and Federal related offenses in the Chicago land Area. In 1995 he received the Chicago Police Departments Detective Star for his dedicated service to the Chicago Police Department. In 2000 Richard received the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Distinguished Service Medal and was named the Bureau's Outstanding Supervisory Employee in the United States.

	Michael S. Lindberg Addison Trail High School Class of 1977 Michael Lindberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Planning at Elmhurst College, where he has been teaching since 1995. His interests in geography encompass political and economic concerns, and he has authored and co-authored books and articles on many topics including coastal defense, naval warfare, and the shipbuilding industry. He has been published in several journals, primarily, Navy International. Dr. Lindberg is a lecturer and presenter at workshops and conferences throughout the Midwest and east coast. His earlier experiences include working as a ranger in Yellowstone National Park, law enforcement, and traveling throughout the western United States and Canada. He has lived and studied in Winnipeg and New Foundland.

	James Millns Addison Trail High School Class of 1967 Jim Millns received the bronze medal in the 1976 Olympics in the ice-dancing event.He has gone on to compete in other world skating competitions winning three US National Dance Championships.He is a member of the Figure Skating Hall of Fame, a judge of international competitions and he serves on the US Figure Skating Association and the US Olympic Committee. A member of Addison Trail’s first graduating class, he has earned a Bachelors degree from U of I (Urbana) and an MS in Computer Science. He lives in the Tampa, Florida area with his family. He is retired from Verizon and coaches skaters, works with the National Speakers Association and is a member of the Olympic speaking program- Champions in Life.
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