Congratulations to the 2017 Alumni Award Recipients

The Alumni Achievement Awards, one dedicated to a distinguished alum and one for a young alum, were established by Wilson School’s Alumni Leadership Committee to recognize and honor the accomplishments of Wilson alumni who continue to bring pride and inspiration to the Wilson community.

Congratulations to this year's recipients, Amber Draper, who received the Young Alumni Award and Katie Vagnino, who received the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Amber Draper graduated from The Wilson School in 2007 and from Westminster Christian Academy in 2013. Says Amber, "I still keep in contact with many Wilson teachers. They helped me so much and I was happy to see them at the auction to thank them in person for all that they've done for me." 

Amber is currently a senior at Truman State University, studying broadcast journalism. Since starting at Truman, Amber worked for the campus new station, working her way up to holding positions as a reporter, anchor, videographer and producer. During her junior year, she launcher her own talk show entitled "Rising from our Roots," which she wrote, hosted and produced. She currently serves as executive producer. 

Amber participated in the Alpha Phi Alpha Black and Gold pageant, in which she was crowned the queen. She spent a semester abroad in San Jose, Costa Rica at Universidad Veritas and created a documentary about her experience. She has volunteered for Convoy of Hope and the St. Louis Area Food Bank.

Following her college graduation, Amber plans to pursue a master's degree in public relations.

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Katie Vagnino graduated from The Wilson School in 1993, then graduated from MICDS in 1999. 

In 2003, she graduated with a degree in English from Yale University. In 2008, Katie moved to Boston to get her M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Emerson College. Her thesis, a poetry manuscript titled "The Speed of Skin," was a nominee fro the Dean's Prize and earned a commendation from the Academy of American Poets.

Since 2010, Katie has taught creative writing, composition, research writing, and rhetoric at various secondary and higher education institutions including Emerson College, Roosevelt University and St. Paul's School. She has also led poetry workshops at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and the Newberry Library. Currently, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire.

As a freelancer, Katie has contributed to the "Minneapolis Star Tribune," "Time Out New York," "Time Out Boston," "Time Out Chicago," "Role Reboot," and Smithsonian's "The Torch". Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in a number of journals including Poetry Quarterly. She hopes to publish her first book of poems in the near future.

"I am a better human being because of the empathy Wilson cultivated in me, and I move through the world grateful for the nine years I spent at 400 De Mun Ave.," says Katie. "Wilson taught me to be curious, to be creative, and to be kind."

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