Susan Sarnoff Bram

(M.A. '87)

Former teacher; member of TC's Campaign and Partnership Schools committees; supporter of TC's REACH (Raising Educational Achievement Coalition of Harlem) partnership.

Favorite TC Professor

Margaret Jo Shepherd, a very high-expectations teacher. After TC, I hesitated to tell her I taught at a prestigious girls' school, not in special ed. She said, "you take your teaching skills with you and every student benefits." She was right. I helped the girls most who were really struggling.

Key TC Experience

The weekly educational testing and evaluation clinic provided great supervision from top professionals in the field. Our professors viewed children with sensitivity, understanding and respect. That's helped me with my own kids, who are dyslexic.

Why I Support TC

As a parent, I view TC as a lifeline. Everything it does makes our kids' lives better.

Atsuko Kikuchi

(M.A. '09)

TESOL graduate from TC's former Japan campus; former English teacher in Japan for children and adults; member of Museum Volunteers of the Philippines, through which she has organized workshops on origami and ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arrangement) and presented on Japanese culture; TC Fund supporter as John Dewey Circle member.

Favorite TC Professor

ZhaoHong Han stimulated my desire to learn. Terry Royce, Director of TC, Japan, always took care of us.

Key TC Experience

A paper I wrote, "An Innovative Approach to Developing Learner Potential and Autonomy: Moving from Narrow to Broad Perspectives" (published in Accents Asia in 2008), still helps me work with learners in the Philippines.

Why I Support TC

I'm grateful to TC's faculty and staff and want to provide others with wonderful opportunities to learn and make this world better.

Krishna A. Walker

(M.A. '98)

Associate with Bryan Cave LLP in St. Louis, focusing on business financing; four-year TC Fund donor; TC Alumni Council member.

Favorite TC Professor

Raechele Pope, who was passionate about diversity in higher education. Her enthusiasm and emphasis on collaboration among students helped make my TC experience a positive one.

Key TC Experience

The friendships I made at TC were invaluable in helping me transition to living and working in New York City.

Why I Support TC

TC alumnus John Worthen, retired president of my undergraduate alma mater, instilled in me the importance of giving back with time and treasure. I know it doesn't work this way, but I like to think that his donations funded the grant assistance that I received from TC. I donate so that another student can be afforded the same opportunities.

Erin Leider-Pariser

(M.A. '88)

Owner/founder of STAT (Sports Travel Adventure Therapy), leading women to UNESCO World Heritage sites and other remote locations for immersion in indigenous culture (and often philanthropic donation); TC President's Advisory Council member; established Erin Leider-Pariser Scholarship Fund for TC psychology students.

Favorite TC Professor

Bernard ("Bob") Gutin supported my study on how continuing pre-pregnancy exercise positively affects labor and delivery. Times were different. Today women work out through the ninth month, even running marathons.

Key TC Experience

Writing my thesis while I was pregnant, with access to great faculty members and TC's expertise in applied physiology testing.

Why I Support TC

Professor Lisa Miller is bringing the mind, body and spirit together with her work in the field and supporting it with scientific evidence. People who believe in something beyond themselves are happier and healthier

Donor Profile

Barbara Jean Lewis

(M.A. '56)

Among the late Barbara Jean ("B.J.") Lewis's most treasured possessions was a sermon by early 20th century minister Joseph Fort Newton, in which Auguste Rodin, explaining his sculpture "The Hand of God" to George Bernard Shaw, says, "Human hands are tools God uses to do His work." Lewis applied the same philosophy as a kindergarten teacher in the Jefferson Elementary School District in Daly City, California; to her many close personal relationships; and to her avid support of animal rights.

"She tended friendships better than anyone I have ever known, so she continues to be a teacher to many who knew her," says Cheryl Anderson, the daughter of one of Lewis' closest friends. Thanks to a generous bequest to TC's Early Childhood Education program and the Rita Gold Center received upon Lewis's death in 2012, generations of teachers and students will also benefit from her wisdom.

Beverly Elmyra Johnson

(M.A. '86)

Former elementary and middle school guidance counselor, kindergarten teacher and education professor; TC Alumni Council, Campaign Committee and John Dewey Circle member.

Favorite TC Professors

Joseph Grannis, Ray McDermott, Herv Varenne; George Bereday, for legitimizing me as a writer on education; Hope Leichter and Douglas Sloan, for encouraging me to learn in different areas.

Key TC Experience

The interdisciplinary freedom of my department, Family & Community Education. As a guidance counselor I was creative in drawing on it all, incorporating literacy theory and decorating my office with mobiles and puppets so kids felt comfortable.

Why I Support TC

TC opened up a whole world for me and gave me confidence. No one took me by the hand. I was allowed to do my work. I learned to embrace new challenges, and I developed my leadership skills.

Kevin Jennings

(M.A. '94)

Executive Director of the Arcus Foundation, which promotes social justice for LGBTQ people as well as conservation of the great apes; former Obama administration Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe & Drug-'Free Schools; TC Distinguished Alumni Award recipient; established Jennings-Davis Scholarship Fund supporting TC students committed to research and practice surrounding LGBTQ issues.

Favorite TC Professor

Linda Darling Hammond, who taught me that school change is a process, not an event.

Key TC Experience

At the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership, we learned from each other as well as from our professors. I made friendships that continue today.

Why I Support TC

I attended TC through the generosity of Klingenstein Center donors. You pay that forward so others get the same opportunity. I'm also excited by TC's commitment to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Published Wednesday, Mar. 11, 2015