Sheridan Strickland ’66 Shares Her Love of Kingswood through Generosity, Service, and Celebration

For Sheridan Strickland ‘66, Cranbrook Kingswood is a part of her family, and always close to her heart.

 

“Kingswood still, to this day, feels like a hiatus from the bustling world outside. It’s quiet, it’s beautiful – the dorms, the lounges, the sculptures,” she recalls, “and it was such a huge factor in my success.”

 

Enrolling in 7^th grade, she commuted to campus with her older brothers Kent ’59 and John ’64, and neighbors who lived near Vaughan School. Her cousins – Richard ’68, Tom ’70, and David ’73 – followed in their footsteps.

 

“At that age, back then, if I had gone to a public school, it was not cool to be a girl athlete. At Kingswood, sports was just something you did. I did hockey and lacrosse. It was a freedom to be you – if you were good at athletics, just do it. The character building from athletics – the ability to lose, to lose gracefully – that really instilled character.”

The lessons from athletics, combined with caring teachers and challenging coursework, prepared Sheridan to attend the University of Michigan, where she earned two degrees, including a master’s in social work with a focus on community organizing. “I could not have been better prepared academically,” she says. “Kingswood was harder, more demanding overall academically, than anything I faced later. But Kingswood supported us in a positive way, if we needed additional tutoring or support, it was there.”

 

After graduating from the University of Michigan and working as a paralegal in Philadelphia, she headed to the West Coast to continue working in law, eventually earning a law degree from the University of Oregon. She practiced law in Alaska and, after growing tired of the cold, moved to Washington, D.C., where she resides today.

 

In 2000, she joined the Cranbrook Schools Twenty-First Century Club (TFCC), the leadership giving society of The Cranbrook Schools Fund. She has been a TFCC member for 25 consecutive years.

 

“The whole idea of giving back, that started at Kingswood. The opportunities provided to me at Kingswood - to study in such a beautiful place, to make so many lifelong friends, to be challenged academically - I want that to be available for as many students as possible today,” she says. “Given that the Schools continue to do a fantastic job of educating young people, and the world is getting more complicated, I want to support it as much as I can,” she adds.

 

Today, Sheridan gives her time to multiple volunteer roles. She is a volunteer docent at the National Gallery of Art, giving tours to visitors from around the country and the world, and serves as a Class Agent for the Kingswood Class of 1966, allowing her to stay connected to Kingswood and her classmates.

 

“The friendships that you make at Kingswood will last forever. I’m constantly in touch with people, keeping up with their lives. Kingswood is such a giant part of my life, and for so many of us in the class,” she notes.

 

With her consistent outreach and encouragement as a Class Agent, the Kingswood Class of ‘66 regularly tops the list for participation in The Cranbrook Schools Fund. Last school year, 60% of the class participated in the Fund, ranking first among all Kingswood classes, and behind only the Cranbrook Class of 1955 overall.

 

This school year, the class will celebrate its 60^th Reunion.  “I hope that this year we can rally even higher for participation and get a bunch of people back for Reunion,” she says. “The fact that the Schools put so much effort into Reunion is so important, and it is so much fun to see the beautiful environment and recognize familiar faces.” She encourages younger alumni, especially, to make plans to attend Reunion with friends. “It becomes a really fun habit,” she says, “you come back and realize and appreciate the beauty of the physical space.”

 

While Sheridan is not in southeast Michigan to volunteer or attend events at the Schools, she stays connected through the regional alumni network. In 2024, she gave a tour at the National Gallery of Art in conjunction with the D.C. regional alumni gathering. At that event, she also had the opportunity to meet personally with the Director of Schools and hear about the day-to-day life of the Schools.