Alumni - Where Are Our Shabazz Graduates?

Tawania A.

Tawania lives in Madison and is working in health care. She just welcomed her precious baby girl in June 2019!

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"To never give up, because there is someone somewhere rooting for me."

Julia E.

Julia lives in Minneapolis and is both in school and working. She attends University of Minnesota, studying history and works at a cafe/donut shop. 

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"I always try to keep an open mind to everyone around me and be as compassionate as I can, two important things Shabazz helped foster.

Jessica J.

Jessica is currently working at Madison Area Technical College. She has two daughters, one amazing husband, and three college degrees! Jessica runs into her former classmates all of the time at her current position. She sees many old classmates returning to school and she assists them with the process. 

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"Shabazz formed me into the person I am today. Every single teacher had an impact on my future and the success that has come after high school graduation. Shabazz was the only reason I completed high school and for that I am forever grateful. The experience of growing as a person, finding myself, and focusing on my future was all because of Shabazz!"

Tina J.

Tina currently lives in Madison and is both in school and working. Tina graduated with her Associates Degree with honors in 2017 and transferred to UW-Whitewater in the spring of 2018, working towards a degree in Special Education.  She is working at Central Wisconsin Center in Madison. 

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"Spring Break in Pine Ridge."

Nathan S.

Nathan lives in Mount Horeb and is currently working at Epic. He has three children and a beautiful wife. He has been cooking professionally since 2003.

Josh S.

Josh is still in Madison and is working at Group Health Cooperative. He has two daughters, 5 and 10 years old (as of 2018)

Miranda H.

Miranda is currently working at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in San Francisco. Miranda received a BA in International Studies and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Rwanda). She's kept in touch with quite a few of her classmates and says that the strangest thing may be that now her friends have kids going to Shabazz!

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"The main thing maybe is knowing that you get out what you put in. There is no right way to do things, but authenticity matters and genuine experiences will happen when you are honest about your intent and effort."

Chris W.

Chris works at Epic here in Madison. Chris received an animation degree, was hired to do 3D simulation for an aerospace company, and now does specialized IT (Citrix, AV setups) at Epic.

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"I always enjoyed eating the bits that were stuck in Gil's pans during Turkey Day."

Adam B.

Adam lives in Madison and has completed three degrees. In addition to this, he ran for Dane County Board of Supervisors in 2016, and for Democratic National Committee representative in 2017. Though he lost both races, he exhibited plenty of initiative in making the effort to run. With help from others, Adam was able to  create the first Disability Caucus through the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in 2019.

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"I have been inspired to do advocacy work since graduating from Shabazz in 1995, largely because of the great education I received there."

Liliana G.

Liliana is working at UW Madison in the Culinary school and getting her BA in Vancouver, BC Canada.

When asked if she's ever had a "small world" Shabazz encounter, here is the response:

"Does discovering my high school crush is my soulmate 20+ years after graduation count?"

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"Shabazz saved my scholastic career! All of the wonderful teachers, students, and staff made for an amazing experience."

Lisa V.

Lisa works at DeForest Area Middle School. For the past 20+ years she has been in the education field as a teacher and school counselor. Lisa received her bachelors degree from Edgewood College in Social Studies/Secondary Ed (thank you Micheal Brockmeyer for the inspiration!) and then return to UW-Madison for a masters degree in Counseling Psychology. She is also a yoga and mindfulness teacher. She is married to her husband Brian and has a step-son, Nathan. She loves to travel, read, relax w/her dog, be with friends/family and practice yoga. This past summer Lisa went to Bali, Indonesia for a yoga retreat!

Have you ever had a "small world" Shabazz encounter?

"I am still connected with many of my Shabazz friends through Facebook and love hearing what they are up to. Also, every time I go camping, I remember the trip we took for the Civil War Experience class because there was a horrible thunderstorm and throughout the entire thing Micheal sang opera at the top of his lungs in his tent!"

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"If it were not for Shabazz, I would not be who I am today. Shabazz inspired me to use my passion for social justice and education to create a high school alternative program and advocate for students who need flexible environments to learn. I would have never had the courage and confidence without the support of the Shabazz community."

Lara K.

Lara is living in Los Angeles, California and is a self-employed education consultant. Lara received a BA in Education from UW-Madison, a Masters in Public Administration from Evergreen State College. She is a national consultant for schools specializing in trauma-informed schools, school community partnership holistic reform models. Laura designed resilient schools pilot for Kaiser Permanente, which has been implemented in 20 schools across the country. "All this passion and knowledge stems from my experience at Shabazz and now schools are eating it up. About time!"

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"All the work I do with schools, all the best practices, the vision for what schools should be for ALL kids comes from my time at Shabazz. Way ahead of the curve, now schools are trying to replicate."

Anne B.

Anne is working as a freelancer in Toronto, Canada. She got her undergrad from UW Madison and Master's from State University of NY. She taught university for a while, then moved to Canada and work freelance doing web content and speechwriting/ghostwriting for several children's rights organizations. Anne became Canadian; she and her husband and son are dual citizens. They are a homeschool family.

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"Critical thinking skills: from every class and teacher! Social justice: I've been doing activism and volunteering in food banks since I graduated. The Shabazz teachers had faith and trust in us kids. I take that same spirit into every interaction I have with young people."

Stacy R.

Stacy currently lives in Fond du Lac and is working  at Lightsmith Shop Art Glass. She has been a stained glass artist working at several studios from Madison to Texas and Fond du Lac. She's been doing stained glass for 32 years. She has repaired Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright panels to creating transom, sidelights, and nature scenes. She learned this because a state funded work program person cam to Shabazz, helping students find job training in areas they enjoy or have interest. I have been blessed with doing something I love my whole life, thanks to Shabazz. 

Stacy recently met with her English teacher Brenda. They hadn't seen each other for 30 years. "Kindred Spirits! What a joyous visit."

What is something about your Shabazz experience that you carry with you?

"I always felt different and when I came to Shabazz, the people there students and teachers loved and accepted me for who I was. I sprouted like a flower going to Shabazz. I was interested in learning again and teachers there made it exciting and adventuresome. My total and complete experience with Shabazz was Joy. Thank you to all the teachers and great friends that I still have today."

Kristin D.

Kristin lives in Boulder, Colorado and is a General Counsel for a technology company. She says she gets back to Madison several times a year for business. Plus her daughter is a student at UW!