What a treat I have for you today! Another one of my former students—Margaret Ochs Gordon—has written her own article. Thanks for making my job so easy this week, Margaret! Let’s “listen” as she tells her story….
I was in the class of 1993. Since I was leaving on a foreign exchange adventure to France during my senior year, MHS let me walk with the graduating class of 1992. I really appreciated this since I wanted that feeling of graduating and celebrating!
The high school memories that stay with me are times hanging out with Shelly (Wolbert) Kiefer, Maria (Meinen) Stress, and Adrienne Rivard – pretending to be cool while singing along with Simon and Garfunkel in my parents’ basement or on the bus headed to track meets harmonizing to “More than Words” with Valerie Colvin.
I think the distance coach, Mr. Peterson, would be pretty shocked at some of the races I like to do now because I never, never wanted to run the 2-mile race in track back then – too long.
I had Mr. Soha for chemistry. He had a great sense of humor. I remember him teaching us about pH strips. He had one of us spit on a strip to test its acidity. But since our class was right after lunch, the spit registered as pretty neutral – which Mr. Soha declared meant that it was as “pure as the driven snow!”
So where did I end up after high school? Well, I actually became a chemist. I earned my PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Northwestern University and have worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ever since. I researched functional materials – things that shrink when they are heated, things that preferentially absorb gases or other chemicals, or provide a barrier for oxygen or water. I have two patents (which is pretty neat) and have published papers and presented my research at conferences.
In 2020, I started managing a group of researchers at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia. (Check it out at https://energy.sandia.gov/programs/renewable-energy/concentrating-solar-thermal-technologies/ ) This group researches concentrating solar thermal energy, which can be used to generate electricity or to provide heat to industrial processes like steel or cement manufacturing. The technology uses mirrors to focus light on a central target, then capture and store that heat. When either power or heat is needed, the heat is extracted through a heat exchanger and used to spin a turbine – just like a natural gas or coal power plant. There are utility- scale plants like this – several in Spain, and China, and two in the US (Ivanpah and Crescent Dunes). I love my job and the ingenious people I get to work with.
I’m also married with two stepsons, Josh and Alex, ages 30 and 32. I met my husband Ken while running. We enjoy traveling to places for running events. He tricked me into running my first ultramarathon race (a race longer than the standard 26.2-mile event) and my first 100-mile race. It actually turned out to be fun; in fact, so much fun that I’ve since run more than 13 other 100-mile or longer races on foot. (I really like the mountain races that get into the wilderness. There are lots of beautiful, wild places out there to see)!
I try to get back to Menomonie 2-3 times a year to visit my parents Ellen and Fred. It would be great to connect with former classmates while I’m there, but I just haven’t done that yet!
Looking back, I realize how grateful I am to have grown up when and where I did. No smart phones or internet—not even a color TV until I was in junior high! I biked to summer swim lessons and had a lot of freedom to explore. I knew all my friends’ phone numbers by heart. MHS was just the right size; we all knew each other in the class of ’93. But the school was large enough that we could find friends with similar interests.
It was a wonderful place to grow up!
We agree, Margaret. Menomonie—a wonderful place to grow up.
Judy Foust is a retired longtime 7th Grade Reading Specialist at Menomonie Middle School. To submit info to her or to request an interview she may be contacted at [email protected]
