Our Team

Executive Committee

Michael Durchslag

Michael Durchslag, Chair

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Bea Blackmon

Bea Blackmon, Vice Chair

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Julie McElrath

Julie McElrath, Treasurer

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Sharon Dursi-Martin

Sharon Dursi-Martin, Secretary

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Roger Oser

Roger Oser, Immediate Past Chair

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Andrew Finch

Andrew Finch, Senior Advisor, Co-Founder

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Board of Directors

Rachelle Gardner

Rachelle Gardner

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Ahmed Hosni

Ahmed Hosni

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Jeanine Jackson

Jeanine Jackson

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Dan Renaud

Dan Renaud

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Morgan Thompson-Smeraglia

Morgan Thompson-Smeraglia

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Seth Welch

Seth Welch

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Tribute to former board member Stephen Issa
1956 – 2021

Stephen Issa

Stephen IssaIt gives me great pleasure to present an over view of Stephen’s involvement with Serenity High and ARS.

Stephen began his journey with Serenity High in 2005 as a substitute teacher for a day, which quickly turned into an eager request from me to be a long-term substitute teacher. I added staff as the need arose so when our numbers increased I was fortunate to have Stephen join Serenity staff as a full-time elective teacher. From that role I asked Stephen to become our Recovery Coordinator, thus instituting an ongoing link to ARS as I included Stephen in all of the conferences, Augsburg, Nashville, Lubbock, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Boston. To say the ARS was the highlight of conferences would be an understatement! Stephen loved attending the conferences, meeting recovery personnel from other schools, and absorbing anything he could to enhance Serenity.

The next steps occurred when Stephen became an integral member of the ARS Executive Board. He was honored and humbled to serve in any capacity that the board needed. I often heard him talk about the important work the Board was doing, conference calls, site visits, and conference planning.

Reflecting on the past two years, Stephen maintained his involvement with ARS for an extended period of time while facing many medical challenges. I know he was heartbroken to resign from the ARS Board. With a grateful heart thank you on Stephen’s behalf for such a wonderful tribute to my colleague and friend, Stephen J. Issa.

– Juli Ferraro