The Summit School Celebrates 30 Years, Honors Alumni and Receives Two Official Citations

Fri. 05/31/2019

“We are beyond pleased with this year’s single most important fundraising event …30th Anniversary Celebration, An Evening Built on Success,” said Dr. Joan Mele-McCarthy, Executive Director of The Summit School. “The support we receive is invaluable to our community. It financially supports The Summit School, its mission and programs, and ensures that we continue to deliver the best individualized educational experience possible for our students.”

This year’s annual event was a very special evening hosted by Honorary Chairs Dr. Jane Snider, Founder of The Summit School, Dr. Michael Castleberry, Former Director of Clinical Education and Dr. Joan Mele-McCarthy, Executive Director. With more than 250 people in attendance, The Summit School celebrated 30 years of success. What better way to celebrate than to honor Summit’s alumni VIP’s including alumni students, families, faculty, staff and board members.

Three alumni were recognized with the E. Allen Robinson Alumni Achievement Award. This award recognizes Summit graduates who, in adulthood, continue to demonstrate continued personal growth, integrity and contributions to the community. Those honored shared a bit of their summit journey.

• Alex Vogan – After graduating from Summit, Alex attended St. Mary’s High School and went on to graduate from Loyal University. Alex works in the film industry and has worked on dozens of movies and television series including: Captain America, Jason Bourne, This is Us, House of Cards, Wonder Woman, Spiderman and Vice. Alex recently celebrated his 6th year as a business owner saying he credits Summit for helping him gain self-confidence and understand who is as a leaner.
• Billy Vermillion – After graduating from Summit, Billy attended the Lab School of Washington and went on to earn an associate’s degree from Anne Arundel Community College in General Engineering and a bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Catholic University. When asked, Billy said these two fields combined his true interests – medicine and engineering (making things and helping people).
• Taylor Morris – After graduating from Summit, Taylor attended Archbishop Spalding, Taylor went on to The University of Lynchburg where she graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science in Teacher Education. Taylor will begin teaching at the Naval Academy Primary School in the fall. Taylor credits her teachers at Summit with inspiring her to pursue a career in teaching and for shaping her values and accomplishment to date.

Another very special part of the evening included Senator Sarah Elfreth, representing the 30^th District, and Delegate Seth Howard, representing District 30B, joining Dr. McCarthy at the podium. Each presented The Summit School with an Official Citation from The Maryland General Assembly recognizing 30 years of service and thanking Summit for its contributions to the community. Senator Elfreth shared that it’s not often that she finds herself in a room where everyone agrees on one thing. Yet, at Summit’s gala, in celebrating The Summit School’s 30 years of service to the community, everyone agreed: every child deserves the opportunity to succeed. Senator Elfreth thanked everyone who shared their stories with her and once again, committed to not rest until every child in our communities has the same opportunities.

A celebration like this cannot happen without the support of our sponsors. Summit thanks all of the sponsors that made the evening such a success including:

• Event Presenting Sponsor – The Halle Family
• Gold Sponsor – M&T Bank
• Bronze Sponsors – BCG/Gardiner & Gardiner, The Insurance Exchange, Mullen, Sondberg, Wimbush & Stone, NAI Michael and Purple Cherry Architects
• Alumni VIP Reception Presenting Sponsor, Aaron Schmerling, Prudential Financial Planning Services
• A big thank you also goes to Kathy and Claude Dickinson, Dickenson Jewelers and Summit alumni parents, for sponsoring the “Pearls of Wisdom Jewelry Raffle”.

Dr. McCarthy summed up the evening by saying “The event was a marvelous opportunity to fundraise for the school and importantly, it was the right moment to celebrate our past, salute our future and recognize our entire Summit community. It is our highly committed community including families, faculty, staff and board members who have made it possible for The Summit School to build on its success. Thank you.”