5 alumni of Sylvania schools honored

Hall of fame inductees share stories

Sylvania alumni, from left, David Fine, Julie Morrison, Dr. Brian Kaminski, Gayle Brazeau, and Mark Fine were inducted into the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame during Friday’s ceremony at Sylvania Country Club hosted by the Sylvania Academic Excellence Foundation and Sylvania Schools.

When Gale Brazeau, a 1975 Sylvania High School graduate, gave biology students at Northview High School advice about pursuing a successful life, “I told them to work hard, be passionate about your learning, and enjoy life with enthusiasm,” Mrs. Brazeau said.

As the dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of New England in Portland, Maine, Mrs. Brazeau is committed to using the latest research in genomics and applying it to personalized care.

Mrs. Brazeau and four others were honored at the 22nd annual Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame induction at Sylvania Country Club on Friday. They join 87 others in the hall of fame who exemplify the foundation’s values of academic achievement.

As part of the events, the five inductees spoke to Sylvania students about their life experiences.

For the first time, two brothers have been honored together: Mark Fine, also a 1975 Sylvania graduate, and his younger brother David, Class of 1983 at Northview.

The elder Mr. Fine, of Greensboro, N.C., is a professor of human development and family studies at the University of North Carolina who has written nine books and more than 120 scholarly articles.

He encouraged the Northview students to be open to different college majors and to view the world through different disciplines of study, such as economics, math, and psychology.

David Fine, a partner at the K&L Gates Law Firm in Camp Hill, Pa., said the Sylvania schools were integral in shaping his career and life pursuits. In his personal time he promotes disability rights and services for people with disabilities.

“I received a terrific education here. I had remarkable and nurturing teachers,” he said. “It’s nice to come back and see the quality has remained the same.”

Julie Ann Morrison, a psychologist with a private practice in Ellicott City, Md., said she was honored to be recognized. The 1983 Southview High School graduate stressed the importance of alumni fostering positive relationships with the tomorrow’s leaders.

“It’s good to give back and help students along the way,” she said. When she spoke to psychology students at Southview that morning, she shared how the psychology class she took there inspired her psychology career.

Among the five alumni honorees, Dr. Brian Kaminski is the only one to have stayed in the Sylvania area since graduating from Northview in 1988. Although he moved to Bowling Green a couple of years ago, he is the chief of staff at ProMedica’s Toledo Hospital and an attending physician in the emergency department at Flower Hospital on Harroun Road.

Twenty-five years later, Dr. Kaminski said he still remembers one teacher in particular who inspired him to pursue medicine.

“You come across some good teachers, some bad, and then there is that one exceptional teacher. Gary Kocher was that,” Dr. Kaminski said.