News at St. Catherine's
Career Day 2018
Seventeen alumnae returned to campus to kick off Reunion Weekend with Career Day for the Upper School girls.
Sabra Ayres never intended to become a journalist. In fact, she was somewhat set against it given her parents met as journalists in the newsroom at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
But as fate would have it, Ayres found herself, notebook in hand, interviewing militiamen in war-torn Ukraine — as a journalist.
“Sometimes your career just comes up to us in weird ways,” Ayres said.
“Sometimes your career just comes up to us in weird ways,” Ayres said.
Ayres, who graduated from St. Catherine’s in 1988, is now the Moscow correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. She kicked off Career Day 2018 by addressing all of the Upper School students Friday afternoon in the chapel. Students then broke into sessions to listen to individual speakers. Each year during Reunion Weekend alumnae return to campus to inspire Upper School students on Career Day.
A boarding student during her four years at St. Catherine’s, Ayres describes herself as inherently curious and even nosey. That curiosity landed her on the slopes of Vermont as a ski bum after college and then led to a stint in the Peace Corps in Ukraine.
“The idea of being curious is something I would like to inspire in all of you,” she said. “If you’re curious about something, go for it.”
Ayres also left the students with some advice:
- Travel and go to the places not everyone is interested in traveling to because travel is everything.
- Wear SPF every day on your face.
- Stay in touch with friends and not just through social media.
- Don’t be afraid to have your heart broken — in love, career and life.
- Find someone from a different culture and learn from them.
- Question everything.
2018 Career Day Speakers
- Sabra Ayres ’88, Moscow correspondent, L.A. Times, Moscow, Russia
- Nora Brookfield ’83, Co-Founder, Owner, Design, Mi Ossa, Charlottesville
- Franny Blanchard ’13, Marketing Communications, Hearst, NYC
- Meg Roach Booth ’98, Associate Director in the Office of Global Programs and Fellowships at Columbia University, NYC
- Scottie Caldwell ’03, Actor, represented by Big Mouth Talent, and paralegal at Howard & Howard Attorneys, Chicago
- Kate Davenport ’98, Co-CEO of Eureka Recycling, Minneapolis
- Janie Fitzgerald ’08, Physical Therapist, Center for Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, Richmond
- Dina Farley Foster ’83, Attorney, Pennington Law Firm, Tallahassee, Fla.
- Elizabeth Nelsen ’13, Assistant Buyer, aerie Bottoms, Pittsburgh
- Mimi Krauss ’03, Director of Enterprise Strategy & Execution for American Express, NYC
- Alex McEachin ’13, RTW Development & Production Coordinator, Proenza Schouler, NYC
- Joey Rick ’88, Chief Culture Officer, PartnerMD, Richmond
- Kim D. Saunders ’78, Founder, President & CEO Eads Group, Inc. Durham, N.C.
- Helene Sims '03, Manager, Events & Community Relations, Project Open Hand, San Francisco
- Beth Silverman Sprenkle ’93, Project Developer & Associate Environmental Scientist, Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc., Richmond
- Amanda Stark- Rankins ’03, Advertising Account Executive, POOLHOUSE, Richmond
- Shannon Wiley Winakur, MD, ’88, Cardiologist, St. Joseph Cardiovascular Associates, Baltimore
Located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia, St. Catherine’s School is a private, all-girls pre-K, kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school. We provide a well-rounded educational experience for girls from communities across Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico and all of central Virginia. St.Catherine’s all-girls educational experience is rooted in more than a century of history and tradition. From our revolutionary past to our dynamic present, St. Catherine’s has always focused on preparing students for a boundless future.
