2010 Crew
Ben Falik, Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer. Ben graduated from Andover High School in 2000 and Columbia University in 2004. At Columbia, he was an Urban Studies major, the Food Editor of the Daily Spectator and Hooker for the Men’s Rugby Team. In 2009, Ben completed graduate degrees in Law and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He is an associate at Honigman Miller. Ben and his wife AJ have a Newfoundland and a well-documented son.
Barbara Moore, Chief Operating Officer. A new addition to the SITC Crew, Barbara is a graduate of Southfield Lathrup HS (Go Chargers!) and Eastern Michigan University. She began her teaching career in Detroit and taught in New Orleans before returning to Michigan. She is currently pursuing her Masters degree in curriculum and instruction, urban and diversity education at EMU.
Bob Spence (Painting Director) has plans to paint the town red in his 2nd summer as SITC’s mural specialist this year. He has an irrational fear of pink shorts. He once received a guinea pig as a mock award at a soccer banquet and is pretty sure he’s the only one that still knows where his award is. Bob hopes to one day be able to say he’s the smartest person in an otherwise empty room. He also idolizes John Mohyi.
Sam Nawrocki is very excited to be back again for another year of youth enrichment craziness! She is going to be a super senior at the University of Michigan. She is majoring in Elementary Education thus is really excited to be working with the Youth Enrichment sites. In her spare time she enjoys reading, walking around, biking around, and driving around. Her favorite mealtime is breakfast.
Henry Schneider is entering his third year with Summer in the City. When not painting SITC murals, planting Detroit gardens and planning arts and crafts events for kids, Henry plays on the baseball team at Wayne State University where he is majoring in urban studies. He knows everything about animals and enjoys lifting things. Cool. Collected. German.
Henry’s 2009 Summer in the City awards include:
Kate Rabette graduated from Clarkston High School, and is finishing her degree in Studio Art at Oakland University. She has a passion for photography, painting, music, laughing, and good conversation. Kate loves to try new things and often appears in random places. She believes you never get too old to go outside and play. A little know fact about Kate is that she is a phenomenal cook.
Page Saari is a senior at the University of Michigan double majoring in English and History. She also graduated from Farmington High School in 2007. She is pumped for the another amazing summer in Detroit! She’s a proud Michigander, loves Detroit and bleeds maize and blue!
Will McDowell has been hogging sledgehammers and eating granola bars with SITC for 5 glorious years. Since graduating from the Roeper School in ‘07, he has been studying business and film at the University of Michigan, where organizations such as Phi Chi Theta, Maize Rage, and Dance Marathon consume his life. He will maintain his role as SuperFan, which means he will be repping the maize and blue with a cape and cowbell intact at all the sporting events. Will “will” not be around as much this summer unfortunately, but plans on venting twice as much energy when he gets a chance to get his hands dirty.
Emi Ruff-Wilkinson is pumped to be back with Summer in the City for her fifth season and second on the Crew. She’s spent the last year in Washington DC studying Sociology and Political Science at American University. When not painting or driving around for SITC, you can find Emi listening to bad rap music, watching hyped-up true-crime shows or drinking ice coffee in the sun.
Mike Dunn, Communications Associate. After graduating from Clarenceville High School in Livonia, Mike attended Michigan State University where he studied History, Political Science and Religious Studies. He then moved to Detroit where he met up with Ben Falik and Michael Goldberg thus beginning his Summer in the City career. Working for Summer in the City from afar, Mike resides in Philadelphia where he teaches at a progressive urban high school for at-risk youth.
Michael ‘Clutch’ Baum, Chief Financial Officer, is excited to be back helping out with Summer in the City for its 9th season! Michael graduated from Frankel Jewish Academy in 2008 and in the fall will be a junior at Brandeis University where he is majoring in economics and minoring in business. In his spare time Michael enjoys hanging out with friends, working out, biking, watching his favorite TV shows and keeping up with Detroit sports.
Alex Moceri graduated from Groves High School, woohoo class of 2010! In the fall she will be heading off to Xavier University in Cincinnati (go musketeers!) and is majoring in biology. She loves painting murals more than anything, but the occasional gardening and watching kids always puts a smile on her face. She loves food and will never ever turn down a piece chocolate. Hanging out with friends and meeting new people is like a hobby in and of itself. She’s super pumped for the summer to start!
Augusta Morrison is currently at Michigan State University double majoring in Arts and Humanities and Art Education. During the summer she enjoys long walks on the beach, yoga, biking, and petting cats. In her spare time she records music, dances, loves to go on spontaneous camping trips, garden, chill (most importantly) and prepare delicious organic food (second most important). Namaste.
Mollie Yarsike recently graduated from Groves High School, and will continue to learn at Michigan State University in the fall. In her free time she likes to do yoga, babysit, shop, read Perez Hilton’s blog, and eat sushi with frozen yogurt for dessert. She is stoked for her fourth summer with Summer in the City this year, and is even more excited for the youth enrichment programs.
Ryan Mangahas graduated from Michigan State University in 2004 and later Wayne State University in 2007. This will be his first summer with Summer in the City and is looking forward to the activities and programs. Ryan is a huge fan of the outdoors and loves to go camping, white water rafting, skydiving, snowboarding, and to travel! He will definitely be jumping at the chance at any SITC outdoor activities and looking forward to the growth, learning opportunities and FUN!
