HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- A part of Huntsville history got new life Thursday night.

The City Council approved a plan to transfer ownership of the historic Councill High School to the school's alumni association via the Huntsville Housing Authority, rescuing a dilapidated building with a plan of restoration.

Councill High School, located on St. Clair Avenue downtown near the Medical District, was the only public high school for black students from 1927-1966.

The facility has fallen into disrepair, but longtime efforts to preserve the building now are in motion.

"It is certainly a delight for this partnership, the alumni, the city of Huntsville and the Housing Authority to come together and make this happen," City Councilman Richard Showers said. "The alumni is to be commended, this administration is to be commended and the Housing Authority is to be commended."

The Housing Authority would oversee restoration of the school - though some parts are too far gone and likely would be torn down. After 10 years, the Housing Authority would transfer ownership to the alumni group, according to a memorandum of understanding approved by the council.

The alumni group is charged with raising money to save their school - a price tag estimated to be about $9 million. The city has committed $350,000 to the project along with a promise to support fundraising efforts.

Showers said the project would benefit because of the economic development planned at the site of the former Councill Courts public housing community near Huntsville Hospital. A restored Councill High School would have "historical significance, an educational-based opportunity to keep history alive."

And better late than never, Showers said.

"I've been concerned that we've not done anything before now," he said. "This is a good time to be moving forward."

Link:
Huntsville city council OKs long-range plan to restore historic Councill High School

Scene ... The NFL Alumni Foundation held a cocktail reception at Morello Bistro on Greenwich Avenue on Wednesday night. Former NFL players were on hand to kick off the sixth annual NFL Alumni CT Chapter Golf Celebrity Golf Classic on June 18 at The Country Club of Darien. On hand at the party were former NFL greats and members of the alumni foundation: Steve Thurlow, New York Giants and chapter president; Bob Hyland, Giants; John Lium, Giants; Dick Swatland, Houston Oilers; Pete Gogolak, Giants; Dave Herman, New York Jets; Terry Hanratty, Pittsburgh Steelers; Skip Lane, Jets and Kansas City Chiefs; Jeffrey White, New England Patriots; and Bob Simms, Giants and Steelers. Celebrity coordinator Mark Yusko served as emcee along with Kelly McCoy, senior vice president of sales and marketing. Also present was Jimmy Brannigan, host and manager of Morello Bistro; event organizer Pari Hirsch; Greg LaMontagne of Sidney Frank Importing Co., donators of their vodka brand American Harvest; artist Eric Forstmann and Jane Eckert of Eckert Fine Art; and Gabrielle Balzano, who wowed the crowd with her version of the Star-Spangled Banner and Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Balzano holds a 9-handicap on New Canaan High School's girls golf team. The June 18 tournament will feature 18 holes of golf starting with celebrity introductions, a live and silent auction and a lobster bake. Since its inception in 2007, the chapter has raised more than $400,000 benefitting charities throughout Connecticut, Westchester County and New York City, including Connecticut Special Olympics, The First Tee of CT, The Umbrella Club, Circle of Care, Boys & Girls Clubs of Stamford and Greenwich, The Darien/Norwalk YWCA, ITP Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of CT, Kids in Crisis, Standing Tall and the Joe Namath Football Camp. For more information, contact Pari Hirsch at 203-219-7499 or parihirsch@aol.com.

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Scene ... Actor Ian Ziering, aka Steve Sanders on "Beverly Hills 90210," was seen on Tuesday at Fitness Edge in Riverside. Ziering was at the club to pitch his anti-aging products to the staff.

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Out there ... Green & Tonic, owned by Greenwich resident Jeffrey Pandolfino, formerly of Plum Pure Foods in Cos Cob, opened last week in Cos Cob. Opening day proved to be a huge success for the eatery on Strickland Road, which serves raw, vegan prepared foods, cold-pressed juices and functional smoothies.

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Scene ... Actress Sean Young seems to be frequenting Rye (N.Y.) Bar and Grill lately. Young is best known for her roles in "No Way Out with Kevin Costner, "Blade Runner" and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective."

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Out there ... Greenwich native Les Russo will debut and sign copies of his first novel "The Biggest Door" at Diane's Books of Greenwich on Grigg Street on June 16 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Russo, who resides in Chicago with his wife, Patricia and their five children, is a graduate of St. Mary High School and Manhattanville College. He is the son of Les and Sheila Russo, of Greenwich. For more information, call 203-869-1515.

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The Dish: NFL alumni get ready for big party

for Ukiah Daily Journal

Barra Winery was festooned in purple and gold last Friday as the Ukiah High School Alumni Association gathered to honor this year's distinguished graduates.

Each year, along with distributing scholarships, Alumni Association members select and recognize distinguished graduates, who then spoke at Ukiah High's commencement ceremony.

"Phil Gary, Charlie Myers and Francine Selim created the Ukiah High School Alumni Association around 1996," according to Bob Frassinello, chairman of the association's distinguished graduate committee. "Then the group decided we should do something to honor outstanding graduates." Admiral William Standley, Ukiah High class of 1890, was the program's first inductee. One to three individuals are recognized annually.

"We want our students to see what these folks have done, and that you could do these things too. It's also a way to record the history of Ukiah High," says Joan Moore Erickson, the association's vice-president and member of the distinguished graduate committee.

"Our committee takes suggestions from the community for distinguished graduates and brings our selection to the full board for a vote. Nominees have to be able to come to Ukiah and speak briefly at graduation, because we want our graduates to see them. Even though Ukiah is a small town, we have so many talented people," says Erickson.

Channing Cornell has served as the association's president for over a decade. "I moved back to Ukiah in

Plaques honoring all the distinguished graduates are displayed in the high school's new library. This year the Alumni Association raised $8,500 for scholarships through membership dues and donations.

"Businesses, community organizations and churches provided about $250,000 in scholarships to Ukiah High students, which we should be very proud of," says Cornell, noting that scholarships can provide only a small portion of the $32,000 necessary for students attending University of California campuses.

Former Ukiah High Principal Phil Gary noted that Ukiah High was founded in 1890. "But there were no stories," he explained, stating that distinguished graduates inspire today's students "to dream about your future based upon what other people from Ukiah have done."

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Rad grads: Ukiah High School Distinguished Graduates honored

6/13/20123:31 AM

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amcneil@observer-reporter.com

Burgettstown School Board won't move forward with a request from Cornerstone Care seeking to temporarily relocate its Smith Township medical offices to the high school nurse's suite for the summer.

Robert MtJoy, chief executive officer of Cornerstone Care, approached the board Monday during its nonvoting meeting and offered to cover all expenses involved with using the nursing suite while school is out of session, including utilities, legal fees, extra custodial work and the cost of building temporary partitions.

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MtJoy said the arrangement would have allowed the medical center to maintain its mission of increasing access to health care by continuing to serve the Bugettstown area while the odor problem was being addressed.

After a lengthy discussion, the board reached a consensus that the district was not equipped to handle a medical facility at this time, Superintendent Deborah Jackson said. The matter will not appear on the agenda for next week's regular meeting.

Board President Thomas Repole said the nurse's suite is not designed to take on the volume of medical treatment handled by Cornerstone Care.

He also said questions arose regarding a number of issues including legal fees, parking and custodial costs. Repole and Jackson both said the notion that the school shuts down completely in the summer is a misconception as student athletes continue to access the gymnasium and weight room, the band and football team hold camps and maintenance work takes place.

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Burgettstown denies request for school to house medical office

School rocks!

Three recent events made school the rule, thanks to the City Year Gala, Tulane University's alumni awards, and Lutheran High School's Gryphon Gala. Learning and largesse underscored levity.

On a recent Thursday at Rosy's Jazz Hall, City Year New Orleans (aka CYNO) presented "School House Rock." An education-focused, national nonprofit organization that partners with public schools to keep students in school and to help them graduate, City Year brings together teams of young AmeriCorps members, who commit to a year of full-time service in schools.

The inaugural gala was quintessentially New Orleans, starting with the venue and its atrium, music hall and gardenia-filled patio, and moving on to decor, menu and music. In keeping with the "School House Rock" theme, the rooms were filled with school text books, red apples and chalkboards on which guests wrote "love" notes to and about their favorite teachers and subjects, as well as words of inspiration. Gourmet cafeteria favorites had folks queued up for fish sticks, miniature corndogs, mac 'n' cheese, and caramel and chocolate apples. As for libations, host committee member Tommy Lewis had a hit with his creation of "High School Crush, " the signature cocktail. For the scintillating sounds, the Big Jazz Band from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) entertained throughout the evening.

Honorary chaircouple Mayor Mitch and Cheryl Landrieu kicked off the program by welcoming guests and sharing their personal involvement in bringing City Year to the Crescent City in 2006. To express gratitude, CYNO board Chairwoman Diana M. Lewis presented them with personalized City Year red jackets, a gift that also befell Patty Riddlebarger, the gala's School House Rock Star and the director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Entergy Corporation.

More within the City Year constellation were Executive Director Peggy Mendoza, Gary Solomon pere et fils, Jay Altman, Carol and Harold Asher, Robbie and Tricia Vitrano, Mark Romig, Ben and Barbara Johnson, Preston and Karen Favorite, Brad and Laura Goodson, Rod Miller, Vera Triplett, Ana and Dr. Juan Gershanik, Councilwoman Susan Guidry and husband Hervin, and CYNO board members Virginia Barkley with dad Buckner, Norma Jane Sabiston, and Tim Williamson with wife Jenny. About 190 others, too, who packed the premises to mark CYNO's debut.

Not far from Rosy's Jazz Hall is the Audubon Tea Room, which was the site on a recent Sunday for the 2012 Awards Celebration given by Tulane University and the Tulane Alumni Association. A reception commenced at 11 a.m., followed by the luncheon and program at noon. Spring varieties of white flowers provided by Walden Designs centered the tables, where guests sat to enjoy a lunch of pre-set salad, red fish with lemon-butter sauce, and, as the sweet, the Audubon chocolate tea cup.

Then came the university's deserts. Tapped for the Distinguished Alumna recognition was Dr. Regina A. Benjamin, U.S. surgeon general; Dr. Julius L. Levy and Helen L. Schneidau for the Volunteer awards; and Lisa M. Laws, Young Alumna Volunteer Award. From the Levy family came the honoree's wife, Donna, and their daughter, Laurie Ann Goldman, while Susan Laws accompanied her honored daughter.

Further notables were Tulane Alumni Association (TAA) Board of Directors President Michelle Rinehart, Tulane University board Chairman James M. "Jay" Lapeyre Jr. and Sally, university Senior Vice President and School of Medicine Dean Dr. Benjamin Sachs with Tina, Freeman School of Business Dean Ira Solomon, and, with Catherine, David F. Edwards, who chairs the medical school's board.

Also, Rabbi Yonah Schiller for the invocation, TAA President-elect Sharon Bourgeois and husband St. Paul, association executive Director Charlotte Travieso, and City of New Orleans Health Commissioner Dr. Karen DeSalvo.

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City Year New Orleans presents 'School House Rock'

It is the final chapter and long goodbye to St. Joseph's high school along State Road 933.

Sunday, alumni and their families toured the beloved school for the last time before the new facility opens this fall.

Sunday afternoon, the now former institution held a final open house for people to walk the halls one last time, take photos, and purchase memorabilia.

The school, which opened back in 1953, was the first consolidated catholic high school in the South Bend area.

The new location sits on the near northeast side at the site of the former St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.

Sunday marked a bittersweet moment for both faculty and students.

They're sad about this building closing because there are so many memories here, said Henry Chandler, a social studies teacher. But they certainly understand that we're going to take those memories and make some more and make some good ones at 453 Notre Dame Avenue as well.

The new school will now be called St. Joseph high school.

Excerpt from:
St. Joe High School holds last open house at old location

CARBONDALE - Family members and friends formed a line outside of Carbondale Area High School's auditorium Friday night, anxiously waiting to be ushered inside where 97 students would soon become alumni.

Meanwhile, the soon-to-be graduates prepared themselves for one of the biggest nights of their lives. As soon as gowns were on and caps were secure, students congregated in small circles to chat.

One circle included Gerald Bannon and Joseph Cassaro, both of whom plan to attend Penn State.

"I'll miss my close friends and the small-town feeling," said Joseph. Gerald, who will study biochemistry and molecular biology, looks forward to meeting new people and having new experiences at Penn State.

After the students took their seats on the auditorium stage, salutatorian Brittany Barney, who plans to attend Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, addressed her fellow classmates and the audience. She delivered a comical introduction, joking about her public speaking nerves and picturing the audience naked as a possible tactic. Then, she appealed to the small-town side of her peers.

"It does not matter how far you stray, as long as you know where your home is," she said.

Valedictorian Madison Caudullo, who plans to study English at Arcadia University, captured the audience with artistic imagery. She said that school supplies are like an artist's palate and that students are their very own works of art. "Aspire to inspire," she said.

Before the students received their diplomas, a scholarship was awarded to 12 students. The Ruth Giles Schroeder Scholarship was distributed in increments from $1,000 to $4,000. Principal Joseph W. Farrell proudly announced 85 percent of graduates will attend college or trade school, 8 percent will join the military and 7 percent will join the workforce.

Contact the writer: shazen@timesshamrock.com, @upvalleytt on Twitter

Graduates are:

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Carbondale grads look to the future

Dr. James E. K. Hildreth

BALTIMORE Internationally known AIDS researcher James E.K. Hildreth, M.D., Ph.D., will receive a 2012 Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Knowledge for the World Award,

an honor given to alumni who have brought credit to the university and their profession in the international arena through their professional achievements or humanitarian service.

Hildreth, a 1987 graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was recently named dean of the University of California, Davis, College of Biological Sciences. He was previously director of the Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research, a National Institutes of Health-funded center at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. Hildreth will receive his award, along with another distinguished recipient, Richard S. Bransford, M.D. (Class of '67), at the Johns Hopkins Medical & Surgical Association's next biennial meeting in June 2013.

"James Hildreth is truly making a difference in efforts to eliminate AIDS across the world," says Edward D. Miller, M.D., dean of the medical faculty at Johns Hopkins and chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine. "His headline-making discoveries and continuing research strongly influence HIV treatment and prevention. His mother once told her son: 'Your circumstance does not limit your possibilities.' James has lived by that motto to become one of the most influential HIV doctors in the world. He is a model alumnus."

Hildreth graduated magna cum laude in chemistry in 1979 from Harvard University and then went to Oxford University in England as a Rhodes scholar (the first African-American Rhodes Scholar from Arkansas). He graduated with a Ph.D. in immunology in 1982.

Hildreth returned to the United States to attend the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, obtaining his medical degree in 1987 and joining the faculty. In 2002, he became the first African-American in the 125 year of history of Johns Hopkins to earn full professorship with tenure in the basic sciences. Hildreth served as the first associate dean for graduate studies for several years, where he created a summer research program for underrepresented minorities and was active in recruiting undergraduate students for graduate programs. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, of the National Academy of Sciences.

At first, Hildreth wanted to become a transplant surgeon, but turned his attention to HIV after witnessing the disproportional impact of AIDS on "the poor, the disadvantaged and people of color." His research on HIV and AIDS, which he began in 1986, focuses on blocking HIV infection by learning how it gets into cells. He has published more than 80 scientific articles and hold seven patents based on his research. One protein discovered by Hildreth while at Oxford is the basis for an FDA-approved drug, Raptiva, used to treat psoriasis.

Hildreth is known internationally for his work on the role of lipids in HIV infection. In 2001, while serving as chief of the Division of Research for the NIH's National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Hildreth and his research team made an important discovery related to HIV, which causes AIDS. The team found that cholesterol is active in HIV's ability to penetrate cells and that removing the fatty material from a cell's membrane can block infection. Hildreth's team has used this discovery as the basis for developing an odorless, undetectable contraceptive cream that destroys the AIDS virus and holds promise for stopping the transmission of the disease. The vaginal cream, he says, was designed to support women, especially those in Africa who "have no way of protecting themselves from HIV transmission, as well as black women in the United States who are disproportionately affected by the disease."

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AIDS expert honored by Johns Hopkins Alumni Association