Alumni

Katie Houston, Class of 2005

I’m Katie Houston and my family moved to Ramsey in 1994. After graduating from college, I worked in New York City then decided to move to the San Francisco Bay area three years ago for a change of pace. Currently, I enjoy playing volleyball, exploring new hiking trails and watching football; especially, rooting for the New York Giants! I work as the Legal Assistant Coordinator for Desmarais LLP, a patent litigation law firm representing tech and pharmaceutical clients. In this role, my main responsibilities include opening the San Francisco branch, managing the paralegals and leading trial teams in different Courts around the country including California, Texas, and the International Trade Commission in Washington, DC representing companies such as Motorola, Cisco, Nokia and Apple.

There are so many terrific memories from my time at Ramsey High School. As a member of the Big Blue marching band, we created a meticulous marching show and performed in many competitions throughout Connecticut and New Jersey. Mr. B’s electric speeches right before taking the field were legendary for hyping everyone up, and there was always a thrill playing the final note then seeing a whole section of Ramsey families decked in blue and gold cheering for everyone. Some of the top highlights were making it to the finals of the BOAs, the year we beat Port Chester in the Championship, creating our own Slip-n-Slide on the front lawn during Band Camp, and playing in the Mellophone section with close friends Zack and Ally. In the spring, we traveled to perform and afterwards enjoyed riding roller coasters at Busch Gardens in Virginia, getting drenched in the jet boats in Montreal, and watching the amazing fireworks show at Disney World.

Another favorite experience while in school was Senior year volleyball with Coaches Novak and Liptak, who brought creative new methods and ideas to the team. Not only did we succeed in winning the most games of our group’s time there, we also had so much fun bonding over car washes to raise money for the team and charity, dancing at the end of practice and singing karaoke at pasta dinners. I still play volleyball today and no team comes close to matching the fun and passion we had for the sport. There were also memorable projects and classes by the teachers at RHS my friends and I reminisce about such as the Great Gatsby Speakeasy video project in English class, watching Le Petit Prince and La Boum while learning French with Madame Karpinska, and taking a deep analytical dive with Mrs. Sousa while dissecting Shakespeare or Catch-22.

Ramsey High School prepared driven, hardworking and compassionate leaders for the future. In my work, creating exhibit lists for trial, I still utilize the Microsoft software skills taught in Mrs. Herrada’s Basic Computer Applications course, create outlines while reviewing court rules based on Mrs. Novak’s AP US History class and analyze texts on a deeper level like Mrs. Sousa always instructed. And through training Junior paralegals and leading trial meetings, I continue to apply the leadership, communication and teamwork skills gained from Leadership Camp and as Captain of the volleyball and bowling teams, Editor-in-Chief of the Ram, Section Leader of the marching band and working in Student Government. Most importantly to me were the friendships and connections we made in the school hallways that still remain strong 15 years later. Whether it’s celebrating each other’s graduations and weddings or traveling together on annual trips to create new memories, we are always bonded through the long conversations on the band bus, on the court or track and in the classroom. I am always grateful to my parents for moving to Ramsey and for the teachers, faculty and staff that made Ramsey High School such an extraordinary place to learn and thrive.

Pictured with Katie are Allison Fegan, Amanda Pollak and Jordan Schetgen all class of '05.