Alumni
Thank you for visiting the ACS Alumni online network!
We sincerely hope you visit the site often, and invite your classmates to do the same. Please contact our Associate Director of Alumni and Community Relations, Barbara Cosentino, with any questions, comments, or to arrange a visit back to campus!
UPCOMING EVENTS
PAST EVENTS
Join ACS teachers, students, and fellow alumni in helping prepare for the 2021 Thanksgiving Program! Donations of fruit and vegetables are welcome.
Where: The Avery Coonley School
When: Tuesday, November 23, 2021, 3:45 pm - 6:00 pm
- 3:45 pm - Work Party and Visit with Teachers
- 4:15 pm - Pizza Dinner
Please join us for the second episode of "Conversations with ACS Alumni." This series is an opportunity for alums to share their stories with fellow alumni, current ACS middle school students and the ACS community. We hope to bring you interesting conversations revolving around alumni backgrounds, careers, the experiences that shaped their choices and perspectives, and to learn what passions and interests drive them now.
We are excited to feature Carrie Openshaw '91, Programs Director at Secondhand Hounds, a foster-based animal rescue in Minnesota.
Date: Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Time: 7:30 pm
Place: Zoom platform
Carrie graduated from Avery Coonley in 1991 and still looks back on her tenure there as some of her favorite times. She continued her education at Wheaton Academy, before moving onto Northern Illinois University. After graduating from Northern Illinois University in 2000 with a degree in Fine Arts, Carrie vowed to be a studio artist who didn’t spend all of her time working at a desk. Eventually, the desire for financial stability outweighed the desire to resist a desk job and Carrie went on to launch a small design agency with her husband, John. Their work focuses primarily on designing marketing collateral, doing illustration and photo direction for educational publishers. While it is fun and interesting work, and they are grateful for having it, ultimately the results are not as impactful or world-changing as they had longed for.
In 2011, after volunteering at a local animal rescue, Carrie became aware there was a big need for more people working in animal welfare. She thrived and felt significantly more fulfilled working in this field. Since then, she has taken various staff positions with Secondhand Hounds. Her passion with animal welfare lies in two simple principles: 1) people and their pets should stay together whenever possible, and 2) helping people remove barriers to pet ownership (combined with continued efforts to fight overpopulation), will solve the issue of so many animals needing rescue in the first place.
If you are interested in learning more about Secondhand Hounds, please visit their website secondhandhounds.org. If you have any questions for Carrie, please contact her at carrie@secondhandhounds.org.
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