Stephanie McConachie grew up in two different cultural worlds. The first was a close-knit Ukrainian community in Minneapolis. Her other community was her public school. She sang in the church choir, performed in a Ukrainian dance group and mandolin orchestra, was into school governance, and acted in most of the high school plays. She met her husband Bruce McConachie at the University of Minnesota where both were active in theatre. Through their 50 plus years of marriage, they’ve lived in Boston, Madison, Williamsburg, and Pittsburgh through job-related moves. Their last move to Maryland was to be able to spend more time with their grandson.
There is a certain theme in the way that Stephanie solves problems. One of her jobs in Williamsburg, VA was as a principal at a middle school that had a mixture of very well off and very poor kids. There she worked with the computer teacher to run a computer lab to help young parents learn tech skills along with their children. Later at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Learning she worked with teachers, content-area coaches, and administrators in over 20 urban school districts to bring the latest cognitive and content learning research into classroom talk and curriculum. At Riderwood, she works on the Caring Connections committee, which helps residents to act and gain peace of mind on the various transitions experienced in the aging process. Seeing a problem and giving people the tools to help themselves is a hallmark of her work.
In her spare time Stephanie is involved in Readers’ Theater at Riderwood and will soon direct a play. She and Bruce make an annual pilgrimage to New York City to see plays and they also patronize the local DC theater scene. Then there’s a little yoga, non-competitive pickleball and attending their grandson Alex’s high school band performances to round things out.
Stephanie found Unitarian-Universalism through their younger son Andrew whose UU school friends enjoyed discussing ideas. That began the family UU journey of some 30 years. We have benefitted from Stephanie’s service on our board and in the newly established safety committee preparing us for the unthinkable. She also enjoys soulful discussions twice monthly with a wonderful group of UU women. When asked what she’d like to say to the congregation, it was simple. If we each find one way to volunteer, however small (or large) UUCSS will come even closer to living in community. For her being a UU means experiencing the privilege of joyful inclusiveness, a rare commodity in this world.