Three Questions With an Alum: Lyda Ness Garcia ’88
January 9th, 2025

Lyda Ness Garcia ’88 has been a judge of the Texas 383rd District Court in El Paso since 2021. We had an opportunity to speak with her recently about her childhood in Greece, her family’s menagerie of pets, and how law school wasn’t even on her radar in college.

Teagan Reese ’14: Life Abroad as a Foreign Service Officer
December 27th, 2024

It’s not easy starting a new school in the middle of your high school years. But when Teagan Reese ’14 first arrived at Greenhills at the beginning of her junior year, she felt immediately welcomed by faculty and classmates alike.

“The Greenhills community is really special and it’s the part that I remember the most from my time at the school. Everyone was so warm and helped me to fit in right away,” she recalls. “Most of the good friends I continue to connect with are from high school at Greenhills.”

In addition to Greenhills academics and activities, Reese kept busy with ballet class outside of school. After graduation she went on to study at Fordham University and George Washington University. But it was her Greenhills senior project that really set her future path. Perennially interested in international travel and experiences, Reese reached out to a Greenhills alum living in Jordan for her senior project and ended up visiting the country for 10 days while shadowing her at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and her husband, who was a Foreign Service Officer there. “I was instantly drawn to this lifestyle of public servants working and living abroad and it really sparked this idea and goal for myself, even though I knew it was a rigorous career to pursue,” said Reese. The intense U.S. Department of State Foreign Service application process includes a written portion followed by an oral examination, which if successful lands the applicant on a ranked list. In April of 2023 Reese was called off the register, and after several months of training in Washington D.C., she began her first tour as a Foreign Service Officer in Monterrey, Mexico, in February 2024. “I’ve been in Monterrey for about nine months, and like all newbie diplomats I work on the visa line at the consulate, which facilitates American citizen services and visas for travel to and from the United States,” shared Reese. “Monterrey is a really large, super modern and industrial city, with lots of young people, universities, nightlife, gyms, and great hiking.” The consulate owns most of the properties that staffers live in with their American co-workers, and Reese says she has to be mindful of getting out of the American bubble: “One thing I’m really enjoying is the opportunities we have to meet with students in Monterrey. It’s wonderful to see how alike high schoolers are around the world and it’s fun to hear about their lives while they practice their English.” She’s also able to continue to take ballet class regularly at a couple of studios nearby. After two years in Mexico, Reese will embark on her next tour—at the State Department in Washington, D.C. Regardless of where she is in the world, she looks forward to paying it forward as an alum and encourages Greenhills students or alums to connect with her if they are interested in learning more about the U.S. Foreign Service.

Leigh Greden ’91: Eastern Michigan University Chief of Staff
December 10th, 2024

Leigh Greden attended Greenhills from sixth grade through 12th grade and graudated in 1991. After earning his undergraduate degree and completing law school, he would go on to practice law, serve as an Ann Arbor City Councilmember, and work as Chief of Staff for Congressman John Dingell. He’s now Chief of Staff for Eastern Michigan University, working with the president’s office on everything from finance and fundraising to enrollment initiatives and student government.

Makayla Harris ’21: Balancing D1 Athletics, Academics, and a Curious Mind
September 17th, 2024

Young Alumni Achievers  As an incoming scholar and Division 1 athlete in track and field at Yale in the fall of 2021, Greenhills alum Makayla Harris thought her first year of college would be demanding. She knew the academics would be rigorous, and track and field commitments would take up around 13 hours of her week, so she decided against participating in any extracurricular activities her first year. But the successful student habits and study skills that Greenhills armed her with allowed her to more than rise to the challenge.

Alumni Profile: Peter Ross ’85
September 17th, 2024

Peter Ross ’85 is a Brooklyn-based commercial and creative photographer with a client portfolio that reads like a list of the most prominent businesses, designers, institutions, and magazines in the world. But the first publication he ever shot for was Forward, Greenhills School's yearbook. The Alumni Office recently caught up with Ross to learn more about his journey from an earnest student with a used camera to one of today's most sought-after portrait photographers, and how it feels to be celebrating his 40th reunion next summer.

TWO GRADUATES OF THE CLASS OF 2000 REFLECT ON THEIR TIME AT GREENHILLS
June 18th, 2024

Twenty-four years after graduating from Greenhills School, Naveen Kumar and Angela Smedley are still close friends. In this piece, the two talk about their formative experiences at Greenhills, which teachers made the greatest impact, and how they’ve stayed connected.