All Ways, A Saxon

2001 Graduate, John Olinger is no stranger to success or grief. After playing collegiate and professional basketball, John spent a decade leading teams at Nike in their Brand and Digital Marketing departments, including for the Jordan Brand and for Kobe Bryant. He now works as a strategic consultant, executive coach, keynote speaker, and is the CEO and CMO of a faith-forward footwear and apparel b...

2008 Graduate, Vinnie Rolfness is in the spotlight this week. We celebrate Vinnie for his time as a Saxon student and now as a teacher, DECA advisor, small business owner and all-around awesome human. Vinnie shares about losing incredible mentors in his life, his journey into ASL, and into owning a small business with his wife, Jessy.

2008 Saxon graduate, Danielle Ammon, is in the spotlight this week. A two-sport D1 athlete, talented musician, triathlete, teacher, mom, and wife, Danielle's story is rich with growth, Faith, courage, and joy.

2002 Saxon graduate, Shoki Tanabe is in the spotlight this week. Shoki currently teaches Art classes at South Salem High School, is a professional artist, and has a wonderful partner and daughter. Shoki shares about his life in multiple bands, living abroad in Japan, his journey into teaching, and why art absolutely matters on a deep level.

1983 graudate, AnneMarie Caldarazzo DuFault is in the spotlight this week. She's the COO of Anthem Strategists, an industry leader for the collegiate NIL movement, a champion for local non-profits, and a service-driven, compassionate, all-around human.

2020 Saxon graduate, Luciana Linares, is in the spotlight this week. She shares about her journey in building confidence, leadership, and being open to all the opportunities she's found through life beyond our South walls. Luciana is currently in the middle of a year with AmeriCorps and is headed to graduate school next fall to study Speech Language Pathology.

2005 Graduate, Joey August shares all about life as a Saxon, playing professional baseball, and raising kids with his high school sweetheart. Joey leads with compassion, service, and willingness to prove how vulnerability produces superpowers.

2012 Graduate, Coach Whitney Pitalo, is in the spotlight this week. Whitney was just named the head soccer coach at Cal-State Bakersfield. After a storied soccer career herself at South High and USC, Whitney's worked her way up the coaching ranks and certainly earned her spot as head coach. Hear Whitney's journey, advice to her younger self, and why hard work and discipline make the effort...

2009 Graduate, Dr. Corey Bickler shares his perspective on responding to adversity with an open mind and heart. His four years as a Saxon were filled with sports, leadership, and discovering the SSHS culture of inclusion. He's a collegiate athlete, father of two littles, and a husband who now owns and operates a dental practice in South Salem.

2000 Graduate, Adam Heder is in the spotlight this week. He shares about his love for his Saxon years, life growing up in a family of 8 and now raising 5 of his own children. Adam's a trial attorney in Portland and has worked in Silicon Valley, Clerked for an Appellate Judge, and even served as a missionary in Korea for two years.

Kudzai Kapurura, 2019 Graduate, jumped back on the podcast to share an update since graduating from Boston College. Kudzai is working for a non-profit organization, Self-Enhancement INC. in Portland. At the end of the podcast, we include the original conversation from the very beginning of our Alumni Spotlight Series between Kudzai, her twin sister Kundai, and 2022 graduate, Dara Elkanah.

2021 grad, Emilie Chau, is in the spotlight as she shares about her Saxon years and life at Princeton University ever since. As a Saxon, Emilie was involved in cross-country and track teams, our speech and debate teams, orchestra, and DECA. At Princeton, Emilie has served in leadership positions, spoke at the United Nations, and is about to graduate with a degree in Public and International Affair...

Actor, Producer, Director and 2023 Saxon graduate, Terrence Green is in the alumni spotlight this week. He goes deep on what made his Saxon years so exceptional and what life at Howard University has been like these last two years - especially navigating the shifting ideology in DC and across the United States.

2004 Graduate and State Champion hooper, Marvin Mason joined the show to be in the spotlight this week. Marvin is a dad of two and currently serves as a Community Resource Specialist for the Salem-Keizer Public School's Office of Student Equity & Advancement. Marvin shares about growing up in Salem, life in Arizona, working at Nike, and now coaching and serving in the Salem-Keizer communit...

2016 Graduate, Jasmine Scott, joined the show to share her story as a Saxon involved in choir, cheer and dance. Since graduation, Jasmine's lived in multiple states, learned a lot about herself and settled into her role here at South as an Instructional Support specialist. She's headed toward a future as a Special Education teacher and speaks on the journey to get there. She also goes deep...

The original episode that launched our alumni spotlight series back in 2021. This episode was hosted by 2022 graduate, Oluwadara Elkanah interviews Kudzai Kapurura '19 and Kundai Kapurura '19 as they share experiences as women of color, life as Saxons, and what it was like to grow up in the Pacific Northwest.

2022 graduate, Oluwadara Elkanah is in the spotlight this week. She shares about her many, many accomplishments and passions as a Saxon as well as her trip to Nigeria, serving as the President of the African Student Association at Oregon State University, and owning her own business.

2001 Graduate, Aaron Howard, joined the show to share about life as a student athletic trainer turned full-time athletic trainer to Olympic Athletes. Aaron then transitioned into the life of a teacher and now has served South High for the last 9 years teaching Sports Medicine and Health as well as coaching multiple sports. He just was named our next Activities Director and shares about serving thr...

2007 Saxon grad, Collin Box, jumped in the spotlight and shared life as a Saxon and beyond our walls. Collin's invested deeply into our Salem-Keizer community - both professionally and personally, and talks about the importance of taking life one little step at a time.

2018 Saxon graduate, Leonardo Andersson joined the show to talk about traveling to 24 countries, living in 4 different continents, working for the US State Department while working at the 2020 EXPO in Dubai. Leonardo speaks 7 languages, is finishing his masters in global development from the University of Copenhagen, and was a student who was involved in just about everything while at South. He sp...

2009 graduate, Zach Dufault joined the show to share about his new gig in our Saxon Calm Room, his 8 years in LA chasing the acting dream, starring in shows and movies, and even the joy and peace he's found in the last year. Zach's a Saxon through and through and we went deep into what it means to embrace the difficulties while fully embracing all that makes you who you are.

1986 Graduate, Lara Tiffin , was live and back home to sit in the spotlight this week. Lara's a Saxon grad, teacher, athletic director, principal, and now the president of the Saxon Success Fund. Her impact on South High and our Salem-Keizer community is second to none. She shares about reaching your potential, service above all else, inclusion, and even squirms in the hot seat as we share about h...

2013 Saxon graduate, Abigail Heringer Erb joined the show to share about her journey toward authenticity, life as a Bachelor contestant, embracing the reality of total hearing loss, and writing a book about it all. Abigail just published her first book, The Deaf Girl , a memoir of hearing loss, hope, and fighting against the odds and she was so generous with her time and insight.

2004 graduate, Dr. Andra Chastain, joins us to share about life as a college professor, runner, world traveler, researcher, and now published author. We talk Chilean life, dictators and coups, study habits, running trails, and the finest of local dining establishments. Dr. Chastain is multiple-times-over awarded expert in Latin American and World History studies. What a joy it was to have her shar...

2008 South Salem High graduate, Matthew Cox, returns to the show to give an update on life, his booming business, making mistakes, and narrowing who he listens to in life. He also shares about growing up as a Jewish kid in Salem, Oregon, and how he's used his blog to elevate perspectives and voices in all different areas of life.