Quaker Success: Redefining What It Means to Succeed

We continue our "Quakers Teaching Quakers" theme as we speak with Matt Mowery from the Class of 2003 in our sixth episode of the season. Matt currently serves as a mathematics teacher at Salem High School and is also the head girls basketball coach. Matt and his wife Brooke, who teaches second grade at Buckeye Elementary, are raising their two children here in Salem. Please note that t his convers...

Our latest episode features Shelley Miller Wilson from the Class of 1997, whose personal and professional journey reflects a deep commitment to education, community, and service. Shelley currently serves as a K–12 Literacy Specialist at Salem City Schools, after beginning her career as a kindergarten teacher and spending many years in the classroom. Outside of work, Shelley is a proud mom of three...

We continue our "Quakers Teaching Quakers" theme as we speak with Sean Kirkland from the Class of 1986 in our fourth episode of the season. Sean serves as Superintendent in the Salem City School District. In our conversation, we learned about Sean's experience growing up on the west side of Salem, attending Prospect School, and experiencing the City of Salem back in the 1970s and '80s (playing out...

Our third episode of the season continues our "Quakers Teaching Quakers" theme, as we speak with Teresa Huzyak Sisson from the Class of 2002. Teresa is currently a third grade teacher at St. Paul School in Salem. In her free time, Teresa loves hanging out with her two sweet kids, reading too many books at once, and watching documentaries. In our conversation, Teresa recounts her experience growing...

In the second episode of our second season titled "Quakers Teaching Quakers," we speak with a father and son duo: Dennis Niederhiser '71 and Jarrod Niederhiser '04. We spent time getting to know the stories of each Niederhiser. We talked with Denny about growing up in Salem in the 1950s and 1960s, his educational journey, and the importance of doing whatever it took to make sure students learned w...

In the first episode of our new season titled "Quakers Teaching Quakers," we speak with George Spack '69--a proud Salem High School alum whose career and life journey have been marked by a passion for teaching, supporting students as they strengthen their character and discipline, and fostering community spirit. We spoke with George about what it was like growing up in Salem in the 1950s and '60s,...

Quaker Success Shorts: Stories Among Friends is a bonus series under the Quaker Success umbrella, offering brief, scripted episodes that shine a light on the lives of Salem High School alumni and are told entirely by your hosts, Craig, Aaron, and Ed. In these narrative-driven stories, we bring alumni journeys to life in our own words, weaving together the details they've shared into a short-form e...

Andrew Beck '25 just graduated from Salem High School and was one of two members of his class voted "Most Likely to Succeed." We spoke with Andrew about the experience of attending St. Paul School from kindergarten through sixth grade and how he navigated the transition to Salem City Schools. Through our conversation we learned that Andrew is always looking to stay busy, which led him to play thre...

Sally Kendall Wajahn '76 holds the position of Director, Member Engagement with the National Association of Cancer Center Development Offices (NACCDO) and lives with her husband in Aurora, Ohio. We spoke with Sally about the experience of growing up in Salem as the third of four kids with well-known parents who were deeply involved in the community. Sally shared her most influential high school ex...

Bo Rottenborn '99 is Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships for CBS Sports, and he lives in San Diego, California with his wife in a neighborhood that he describes as feeling very much like Salem. Our conversation with Bo explores his experience growing up in Salem in the 1980s and 1990s, and we highlight the significant (and we do mean significant) number of involvements Bo had while in high sc...

Dr. Peter Apicella '82 is the Chief Radiologist at Salem Regional Medical Center, continuing the long family legacy established in Salem by his father, Dr. Frank Apicella and his uncle, Dr. Salvatore Apicella--also both radiologists. Our conversation touches on Pete's experiences growing up in Salem, his time at Salem High School, where he not only was thinking about the intersection of medicine a...

Mariah Knepper Roj '03 is the founder and proprietor of S'il Vous Play, a children's toy shop located in Cleveland Heights. Mariah's a mom to three kids--"the greatest teachers in her life" as she describes them--and has earned multiple college degrees, including one in organizational communication and another in nursing; though she does not work in nursing, she does hold an active registered nurs...

Dr. Michael Bigham '93 is the chief quality officer and pediatric intensive care physician with Akron Children's Hospital. As with all of our guests in this first season, Mike's classmates voted him most likely to succeed his senior year. We spend some time reflecting with Mike on his favorite SHS classes and teachers, how the community of Salem prepared him for his career, his personal and profes...

Join Craig, Aaron, and Ed for the first episode of Quaker Success in which the hosts introduce themselves, describe their journeys since graduating from SHS, share the idea behind the podcast, and preview upcoming episodes.  

Introducing "Quaker Success," a new podcast hosted by Salem High School (Ohio) alumni Craig Berger '02, Aaron Berger '05, and Ed Butch '02 in partnership with the Salem High School Alumni Association, which celebrates and shares the journeys of Salem High School alumni. In each episode, we will catch up with Quaker alumni and discuss their SHS experience, life after graduating from Salem, challeng...