Pinewood Preparatory School Alumni

✨ Pinewood Alumnus Spotlight: Joseph Siegel ‘15

Joseph Siegel graduated from Pinewood Prep in 2015. He attended Clemson, C of C, and the University of South Carolina School of Law. Joseph spent the last two years as an associate at two firms, and he is proud to announce the opening of Siegel Law Firm in Walterboro and Beaufort. Joseph is a trial lawyer who serves clients across South Carolina.

It’s summer time which means…Pinewood’s Annual Alumni Reunion! We loved getting to see everyone last summer and catching up! This year’s event is July 30 from 6-9 p.m. We’ll have beer, wine and appetizers to celebrate the occasion! Tickets are on sale now! If it’s been over 6 months since you’ve been here, you’re going to want to see what’s new!

https://www.pinewoodprep.com/alumni/all-class-summer-reunion.cfm

✨Pinewood Alumnus Spotlight: Matt Moore ‘06, 14-year scholar

Matt Moore attended Pinewood Preparatory School for all fourteen years and graduated with the Class of 2006. He grew up in Charleston, almost always near or on the water. During his Pinewood years, he raced sailboats in Charleston Harbor, made offshore passages with his father to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Havana, and taught sailing at the Carolina Yacht Club for $7 an hour and a paid lunch. A few of the friendships from his youth include his future Volare co-founder, Dustin Tupper.

After Pinewood, he studied Physics at The University of the South (Sewanee), then Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University, where he met his wife Brittany and overlapped a year with Dustin in the engineering program.

Out of Clemson, he joined Scout Boats. He spent roughly a decade there and ultimately served as Production Manager for the Scout Yacht Division, where he helped launch the division and bring it to scale. The work taught him boatbuilding at every level. Over time he became convinced that day-boaters should not have to choose between clean, quiet electric propulsion and the performance, craftsmanship, and aesthetics expected from a high-end boat.

In March 2022, he left Scout and co-founded .boats with Dustin and a small group of partners.

Today, Volare is shipping its flagship Artemis 23 from their Charleston headquarters and competing directly with the established names in production boatbuilding.

Brittany and Matt have been married for nearly ten years and live in Mount Pleasant with their two daughters, Margot (3) and Rory (5 months). Brittany is originally from Dallas and teaches
chemistry and biology at Trident Technical College. Outside the office, he is most often on the water with his family or on a golf course, though work occupies most of his time.

His motivation comes down to three things: his family, his team, and the chance to build
something the industry has not seen before. Margot, his oldest, keeps the rest in perspective.

✨ Pinewood Alumna Spotlight: Amy Williams ‘03, Thirteen Year Scholar

Today’s alumna spotlight is out of this world! 🪐

Dr. Amy Williams is an astrobiologist and associate professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Florida. She attended Pinewood Prep from the age of 5 through her senior year. She completed her B.Sc. in Earth and Environmental Science at Furman University, M.Sc. in Earth and Planetary Science at the University of New Mexico, and PhD. in Geology at the University of California, Davis. She completed a postdoctoral research position at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center before joining the faculty of Towson University in 2015. In 2018 she moved to her current position at the University of Florida.

Her research focuses on the interaction between microbial life, the geochemical environment, and the rock record on Earth, and how to recognize habitable environments and potentially preserved microbial life on Mars. She has been a member of the NASA Mars Curiosity rover mission since 2009. She currently works with the SAM instrument as a lead for SAM’s TMAH wet chemistry experiment, designed to detect specific recalcitrant organic molecules in Mars’ sediments. She is also a scientist with the NASA Mars Perseverance rover science team, where she is a Long-Term Planner for the mission.

Amy has previously been a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow, a NASA postdoctoral research associate, and a member of the 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey. She currently serves on the National Academy of Science Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science. She received the 2022/2023 UF Excellence Award for Assistant Professors and is a 2023 Scialog: Signatures of Life in the Universe Fellow.

✨Pinewood Alumna Spotlight: Alex Ginsburg ‘08

After graduating from Pinewood in 2008, Alex continued playing basketball and softball at a collegiate level at Sewanee: The University of the South. She was inducted into Pinewood’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014 for her achievements as a Pinewood Panther. She graduated in 2012 from Sewanee magna cm laude with a degree in Psychology and attended law school at the University of Tennessee College of Law.

At UTK, Alex interned and served as a Student District Attorney in Knoxville in the Child Abuse Unit. Upon receiving her Juris Doctorate, Alex began her legal career as a criminal prosecutor at the Ninth Circuit Solicitors Office in Charleston, where she tried numerous jury cases to verdict involving violent crimes.

Following her time at the Solicitors Office, Alex gained defense experience with litigating professional liability and workers’ compensation matters. Drawn to helping people in their time of need, Alex switched gears and joined Miller, Dawson, Sigal and Ward, LLC (The Thumbs Up Guys) to assist the community in personal injury and workers’ compensation matters. Since her time at the Thumbs Up Guys, Alex was nominated as a 2024 and 2025 Super Lawyers: Rising Star and a Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Attorney in South Carolina by the National Trial Lawyers.

Alex is grateful for the opportunity to be the voice of for our community members who have been involved in life-changing accidents.

✨Pinewood Alumnus Spotlight: Lucas Clark (‘10)

After graduating from The Citadel, Lucas moved to Charlotte and began a career in construction sales. While it brought him lifelong friendships, he soon felt called to serve, and in 2018 he commissioned as a U.S. Marine Corps Officer in honor of his late younger brother, Marcus.

His Marine Corps career took him all over the world – including deployments to the Middle East and Scandinavia. During his deployment to the Middle East, Lucas supported the Afghanistan withdrawal, Operation Allies Refuge. He completed tours at Camp Pendleton, CA and Camp Lejeune, NC both embracing the West Coast lifestyle and enjoying his return to the Carolinas.

In 2025, he stepped into a new form of protection. Now serving as a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of State, he protects the Secretary of State, U.S. Diplomats, and visiting Foreign Dignitaries. He is loving this new career and is honored to continue his public service.

Currently based out of New York, Lucas lives in Hoboken with his lovely girlfriend, Iliana, and their two dogs, Gus and Charlie. They travel often (for work and for fun), explore the city, and are always looking ahead to what’s next! Thank you for your service, Lucas! 🇺🇸

✨Pinewood Alumna Spotlight: Pennie Folden (‘97)

Pennie graduated from Pinewood Preparatory School in 1997 and married her high school sweetheart, Dennis Folden. They have two sons, Wesley and Walker and a beautiful granddaughter.

Pennie began her career in the legal field in November of 1998 at the First Circuit Solicitor’s Office where she worked as a victim’s advocate.

Since February of 2005, Pennie has been facilitating the day-to-day operations for a law firm. Starting with Quattlebaum & Murphy, Murphy Law Firm, Murphy Crantford Meehan and now Crantford Meehan for the last 2 years. Her day includes supervising support staff, developing and implementing office initiatives and assuring that the office runs smoothly and everyone is happy!

Pennie and Dennis also run Summerville’s newest event rental company, Low Tide Event Rental. Pennie brings decades of experience in planning weddings, fundraisers, banquets, birthday parties and more. She specializes in bringing the vision of our clients to life and makes every event memorable! Pennie also helped Pinewood plan the 90’s reunion last summer! 💙

Familiar faces from far away—one of our favorite surprises! 🌍💙

We were so excited to welcome Clara Kraemer back to Pinewood! Clara came to us from Germany for the 2024–25 school year, and this time she returned with her family to visit campus and spend meaningful time with her wonderful host family, the Reagins.

Moments like these remind us that the Pinewood experience reaches far beyond the classroom—it creates lifelong connections across the world. ✈️✨

Welcome back, Clara! You’ll always have a home here. 💙