Winter/Spring 2015 Lancer Magazine

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Spring 2015

JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH IN DISCO INFERNO

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SCIENCE

TECHNOLOGY

ENGINEERING

ARTS

MATHEMATICS

Full STEAM Ahead!

On September 24, 2014 the Board of Regents approved a $400,000 initiative to introduce STEAM into the La Salle curriculum; integrating new and creative instruction in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.

The STEAM Initiative will help prepare La Salle students for the 21st Century by emphasizing critical thinking and problem solving skills. STEAM will become a new signature program that again sets Lasallian Education apart.

Your help in introducing new

New Technology • New Laboratories • New Skills is greatly appreciated.

Please support the STEAM Initiative with a gift online at

www.lasallehs.org/STEAM

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Lancer Magazine is published three times a year by the Office of Institutional Advancement at La Salle High School of Pasadena, Inc. for alumni, parents and friends.

Inquiries and/or correspondence should be directed to: John C. Blackstock ’67 Director of Communications La Salle High School 3880 East Sierra Madre Boulevard Pasadena, California 91107-1996 626.696.4316 jblackstock@lasallehs.org All pages are displayed on the La Salle website. www.lasallehs.org OFFICERS & ADMINISTRATIONS Board of Trustees: Ms. Tamara Flowers, Chair Sister Marilyn Bender, CSJ Mr. James Canny ’65 Mr. Tom Caulfield Mr. Peter Godfrey Mr. Michael Harper Mr. W. Robert Kohorst ’71

Board of Regents: Mr. Dennis A. Jebbia, Esq. (Chair) Mr. Doug Campbell Mrs. Colleen Deziel, P’17 Mr. Raymond Ealy, P’13 Peter Godfrey, Esq., P’07,’08 Mr. Peter S. Griffith, P’00,’03 Scott A. Hancock, Esq., P’11, ’11, ’11 Mr. Bret Hardy, P’16 Mr. David Lam, P’08,’09 Mr. Joseph Lumarda, P’14 Mr. Edward L. Malicdem ’88, P’16 Mr. Tom Radle, P’17

Mr. Brent Schoenbaum, P’16 Mr. David J. Skibinski, MBA Mr. Craig Sloane, P’09,’11 Mr. Michael W. Stoddard, P’07, ’10, ’12, ’15 Mrs. Lisa Urbina, P’09, ’10, ’16 Mrs. Chelisa Vagim, P’16 Ms. Yolanda Valadez, P’08 Mrs. Sheri Wedeen, P’17,’17 Ms. Serena Flowers Williams, P’04,’06 Mr. Bradford W. Wright ’73, P’07, ’12 Joseph M. Zanetta, J.D., P’12

Alumni Board: Mr. Jeff Weigand ’67, P’02, ’05, ’08, Chair Ms. Susan Ehring ’97 Mr. Tony Messineo ’80 Mr. Rafael Mirasol ’80, P’17, ’18 Ms. Meghan O’Donnell ’01

Mr. Steve Peterson ’85 Mr. Robin Quintanilla ’03 Mr. Mike Sullivan ’70, P’08, ’13 Mr. Jesse Toribio ’93, P’15 Mr. Phil Velasco ’07

Administration: Dr. Richard Gray, President Brother Christopher Brady, FSC, Principal Mr. Patrick Bonacci, AFSC, Vice President for Mission Mr. Brandon Birr ’03, Dean of Students Mr. Jon Keates, Director of Institutional Advancement Mr. Robert Packard, Chief Financial Officer Mr. Edgar Salmingo, Jr., Associate Principal for Academic Life Editor: Mr. John C. Blackstock ’67 Director of Communications

Ms. Jade Rogers ’01 Ms. Kristen Schultz ’98

Photo Credits: Cover: John Blackstock ’67 Pages 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15 middle, 16, 17, 18 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31 lower, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 47, 48 John Blackstock ’67. Pages 34, 35 Kristen Schultz ’98. Pages 10,11, Courtesy Alexi Zate’15. Page 15 top, Bryan Ossa ’03. Page 36 Courtesy Brian Miller ’79.

Page 37 Courtesy Monique Gougeon’03, Brandon Birr’03.

Page 39 Courtesy Harry Agajanian. Page 43 Tim Manning ’68.

On

FEATURES She Thought She Could ................................................................. 10 Senior Alexi Zate is Sierra Madre Rose Princess Catholic Schools Week .................................................................. 12 La Salle students spend time, talents and treasure with community National Letters of Intent .............................................................. 18 Four Lancers sign at annual assembly La Salle Hosts Speech and Debate Tournaments .............................. 20 Elementary and middle students enjoy fast-paced event Disco Inferno ............................................................................... 24 Spring Musical plays to SRO crowds Flip Class .................................................................................... 28 Mr. Brian Miller ’79 presents new classroom concepts

DEPARTMENTS

Publication and Production: KGB Studios, Los Angeles Editorial Contributors: Ms. Kristin Donahue P’13 Mr. Arthur Richards

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Mr. Robert Nuccio ’71 Mr. Ray Pearl, Jr. ’99 Mr. Ryan Resurreccion Mr. Barry Schweiger ’60 Br. Kevin Slate, FSC Dr. Vera Vignes

the Cover: Junior Emari McClellan stars as Jumpin’ Jack Flash during the spring musical “Disco Inferno.” Senior Nate Chandler also stared as Jack in the double cast production. See page 24.

La Salle Matters ............................................................................. 2 Principal Ideas ............................................................................... 4 Alumni Profile ................................................................................ 5

Dino Clarizio ’75 Amazing Lancers .......................................................................... 31 Faculty Update ............................................................................. 36 Staying Connected ........................................................................ 43 SPRING 2015

© 2015 La Salle High School of Pasadena, Inc.

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FROM THE PRESIDENT

matters

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hat makes Pope Francis different? It is not his refusal to wear ermine-lined red capes; nor his choice to ride in a Ford Focus rather than a bullet-proof limousine. His decision to live at the Vatican guest house (Santa Marta) rather than the Apostolic Palace is impressive, but not necessarily the defining measure against which his difference from previous Popes is to be understood. Nor should the laity be distracted by his preference for simplified liturgical ceremonies and a conscious choice to wash the feet of lay people (as opposed to priests) on Holy Thursday - oh, and by the way, we should include his decision to wear ordinary business shirts (as opposed to French cuffs and their requisite cuff links) under his white papal cassock. These are symbolic differences - clearly intended to broadcast a message to the faithful which downplays the Pope as supreme ruler of the Catholic Church and promotes an image of the Holy Father as a man of the people who stands with and beside them. One of my favorite symbolic images that reinforces this vision of his papacy occurred just about a year ago this month when, while presiding at a Lenten Vespers service in which the Pope and sixty other priests were about to enter confessionals to minister to the faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Basilica, he stepped out of the recessional line and knelt before a priest already in a confessional and made his own act of contrition. I cannot think of a more dramatic example of how Francis understands his papacy than at that particular moment in which he is photographed kneeling before a priest, making his confession.

Even as dramatic as that particular image was, it only reflects the symbolic differences which this Pope has sought to articulate with respect to how he wants his papacy to be understood.

So, what makes Pope Francis different? It is not the symbolic choices he has made in favor of simplicity and shared communion with the faithful - a direct result of his deliberate decision to adopt the name of Francis, the Apostle to the Poor. I believe it is his unrelenting focus on the Gospel imperative to minister to the needs of the poor and marginalized. And, the evidence in favor of this contention continues to pile up.

Even before his formal installation, Pope Francis made clear his preference for the poor and marginalized when, in a press gaggle with Italian journalists, he had this to say about his vision for global Catholics:

“How I would like a church that is poor and for the poor.”

As reported in the press, the remark seemed off-handed, idealistic and, frankly, naïve; and yet, two years later, the Holy Father’s words and actions have reinforced this notion that the Gospel message demands that the faithful and their clerical mentors must stay focused on the needs of the least among us. His first encyclical, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), mentioned “the poor” 91 times - only the words “love” (154) and “joy” (109) eclipsed his references to the least among us. That emphasis on the needs of the poor explains the significance of what I consider to be one of the most powerful assertions in the entire encyclical,

“An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.”

While Francis is not only the first Jesuit Pope, his assertion that, in ministering to the poor and marginalized, we should have a “deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.” would also qualify him as the first Lasallian Pope.

For over three hundred years, the disciples of Saint John Baptist de La Salle have been faithfully implementing Pope Francis’ imperative to “change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.” De La Salle’s vision for his Institute and for the Brothers and Lay Partners who would minister to the needs of the young especially the poor insisted that a secular and religious education should equip the children of poor and working class families to advance economically and spiritually so that they could take their place in society and ensure that the next generation would be able to take advantage of opportunities not available to their parents and grandparents. He described these children as “far from salvation;” meaning that, without a human and Christian education, they would not only be denied the opportunities readily 2

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available to children from more affluent families, but would also never have the opportunity to receive the “the truths of religion” (De La Salle’s ministry was launched in France - a thoroughly Catholic country at the time) which would enable them to participate in the salvific message of the Gospel.

It is this Jesuit and Lasallian vision of a world in which Church institutions enable the marginalized not only to sit next to the sons and daughters of affluent families (one of De La Salle’s earliest classroom innovations) but to also enter the world of commerce as equals, that nurtures Pope Francis’ desire for us to experience a “church that is poor and for the poor.” He, like Ignatius and De La Salle, recognized that a Church burdened by the trappings of power and prestige is inclined to be “tone-deaf” when it attempts to meet the needs of the poor and marginalized. More to the point, in 1694 - only 14 years after the founding of the Institute - De La Salle, when challenged by the early Brothers regarding his own wealth, deliberately (and shockingly) gave his patrimony to the starving poor in the midst of the Great Famine. He recognized that, in order to ensure that his young Institute would remain sensitive to the needs of the poor children they served, they had to be, in the words of Pope Francis, “a church that is poor and for the poor.”

The other Ignatian and Lasallian insight Pope Francis provides with respect to his unambiguous focus on the poor and marginalized will be recognized by any Lasallian Partner visiting our ministries in Tijuana or De La Salle Blackfeet Reservation or any of the Miguel or Cristo Rey Schools. They will nod affirmatively in response to this assertion in Evangelii Gaudium:

“I can say that the most beautiful and natural expressions of joy which I have seen in my life were in poor people who had little to hold on to.”

This paradox of the Gospel imperative (that the poor have something to teach us) is not only the fundamental irony inherent in what the poor give to those of us who do not share in their circumstances, but an existential paradigm governing what we must do to respond to Jesus’ call: “… whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”(Matthew 25: 40)

The “least of these brothers and sisters” haunted the Founder of the Christian Brothers. Saint John Baptist de La Salle clearly understood the “no-win” situation faced by poor children and their parents in 17th century France: they had no access to education and, faced with parents who constantly worked, (if they were employed) to make ends meet were often left to their own devices. By telling the Brothers:

“It can be said with real reason that a child who has acquired a habit of sin has more or less lost his freedom and has made himself miserable and captive.”

De la Salle recognized the transformative power of education in the lives of the least fortunate among us. As Pope Francis argues in Evangelii Gaudium:

“While it is quite true that the essential vocation and mission of the lay faithful is to strive that earthly realities and all human activity may be transformed by the Gospel, none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice…”

So, too, have Christian Brothers in over 80 countries been articulating this Gospel imperative to the students entrusted to their care - regardless of economic status - for over 300 hundred years. I would like to think that the then Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires - a priest of and for the people - who daily took the subway to work, would have passed by one of the of ten Lasallian ministries operating within the city limits of Buenos Aires; knowing that their service to poor and affluent children alike reinforced his vision of a “church that is poor and for the poor.”

And if that was the case, then it is also the case that he would later become the first Jesuit and Lasallian pope…which is what makes him different.

If you want to learn more about Pope Francis and the Lasallian influence on today’s young people, I encourage you to turn to the stories on the service opportunities our students embraced as a part of La Salle’s celebration of Catholic Schools Week or the profile on Dino Clarizio ’79, P’06.

I would like to think that Pope Francis would approve.

Dr. Richard Gray President

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In 1680 De La Salle wrote this Mission Statement governing the work of the Christian Brothers for the next three centuries: “The purpose of this Institute is to provide a Human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor.”

SPRING 2015

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FROM THE PRINCIPAL

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e are coming to that time when students and faculty alike feel like the school year is a downhill slide that goes faster and faster. Time seems to accelerate. We can think that it is just impossible to get everything done in time. This is when I think it is very important to remember that, while school is indeed life, it is not the totality of life. With so many things pressing to all get done at once, it is possible to lose sight of achieving the goal of mutual respect and support that leads to the growth of each person, as well as the growth of the community. So, it is heartening to know that La Salle teachers, students and alumni take what I call Lasallian generosity out into the larger world.

As you read this issue of Lancer Magazine, you will see stories recounting service given by Lancers throughout the wider community. From students spending time as tutors and food bank workers to teachers deeply involved in Adopt-A-Family to alums like Dino Clarizio ’75 who take the time to give of themselves even while pursuing a career and family life, Lancers make their presence felt throughout a community that reaches to the very corners of the world. In these efforts, and many more like them, the teaching “what you received as a gift, give as a gift” is manifest.

You will also read how La Salle has been nationally recognized for the diversity found in the School community. This diversity reveals yet another facet of Lasallian generosity: mutual respect binds a diverse community together. Lancers are encouraged to realize their own personal uniqueness and sacredness while at the same time acknowledging the uniqueness and sacredness of those around them.

In such a context of mutual respect and support, the second half of the Great Commandment – “love your neighbor as you love yourself” – comes to life.

As the end of the years approaches, we need to make sure that, in the midst of all the busy-ness, we continue to take the time to listen, speak, support and help one another. In line with the old proverb about charity, Lasallian generosity begins at home.

Brother Christopher Brady, FSC Principal

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cf. Matthew 10:8

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cf. Mark 12:31

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ALUMNI PROFILE

Seeing People in a Special Light

By Arthur Richards

SPRING 2015

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r. Dino Clarizio ’75 knew the career he wanted to follow from early in his youth. “I always wanted to practice medicine,” he said.

“My father was in construction and he built many homes and a number of rehabilitation and convalescent homes in Arcadia and surrounding areas. Visiting these sites and talking with my dad, really planted the seed in me for medicine.” Later, at La Salle, Clarizio volunteered at St. Luke’s Emergency Room and continued to volunteer there after high school.

Following graduation from La Salle, Clarizio attended the University of Southern California and majored in biology. He then attended medical school at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico. A well-respected university, its medical school website proclaims a humanitarian philosophy that would surprise many people: “If you desire to serve your fellow citizens by providing better health care, and if you are a serious student with a capacity for wisdom in dealing with your fellow man, we invite you to join

and then their daughter Jenna.

Meanwhile, Clarizio had been steadily working at his career.

In 1987, he opened a private practice in Temple City and later in Arcadia.

That same year, Clarizio began his relationship with Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia, where he has recently been named Chief of Staff. Asked what he does, he replied that he works with administration and staff to ensure that patients have an exemplary experience at Arcadia Methodist. It involves a lot of work in addition to caring for patients. “Meetings – lots of meetings,” he said with a chuckle.

Dino Clarizio circa 1975.

Clarizio says that La Salle ably prepared him with the core education to study medicine: English, math and science.

“But more, I learned about people and life.” He speaks of Father Dan McSweeney, the soccer coach, encouraging him to “stay on course” and Mr. Don Blair, track coach, “pushing me to do more than I thought we could.” Lessons he learned very well. “La Salle also taught me to see people in a special light.”

La Salle President Dr. Richard Gray and then Principal Patrick Bonacci, AFSC, presented the 2010 Lasallian Volunteer of the Year Award to Hope and Dino Clarizio ‘75, P’06 with emcee Nancy O’Dell P’14,’18 and Karen McAlister P’08,’11,’14, Crystal Ball Chair.

us.” As you read on, you will see the school had an apt pupil for this service-minded philosophy.

After medical school, Clarizio did his 5th Pathway at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Residency in internal medicine followed at King Drew Medical Center in Southern California. It was while in New York that he met Hope, his wife. Married in New York, they made their home in Southern California. Four years later, their son Chris was born 6

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Seeing people in a special light has been something of a hallmark – at La Salle, in sports, in medicine and beyond. He said that the coursework in high school, university and medical school had to be done and done well, but he never forgot seeing people in that special light. “This view of life also became very important in medicine: we deal in people problems, not just illnesses.”

Not surprisingly, then, Clarizio’s favorite memories of La Salle are about people. He speaks of the soccer and track

Dr. Clarizio with the Angio Catheter machine in Arcadia Methodist Hospital’s new Cardio Catheterization Laboratory.

Tony Exposito ’74 with Dino during a Gifts from the Heart event.

LA SALLE teams as “good times with friends.” He also recalls two DR. DINO CLARIZIO, MD ’75 P’06 faculty members, English Varsity Soccer, Track Varsity Club teacher Martin Hogue and National Honor Society senior project moderator Rocket Club Larry Bolton, with whom he made movies, one of PERSONAL which was named “The Godson,” a take-off from Resides in Arcadia with his “The Godfather.“ He said wife, Hope. these films are still shown at Children: Daughter, Jenna get-togethers and reunions. graduate of Southern “We wanted to stretch the New Hampshire University 2015 and son, Christopher ’06 boundaries.” graduate of Azusa Pacific

The part about soccer University 2013 would also not surprise anyone who knows him.

UNIVERSITY Clarizio has long been involved the sport, playing University of Southern at La Salle (where he was California – Bachelor of Science, named to the Hall of Fame Biology Universidad Autónoma de twice), coaching AYSO Guadalajara – Doctor of Medicine and then coaching club (MD) – 1982 soccer. He said club soccer allowed for recruiting CAREER players from a wide area, including disadvantaged Mount Sinai School of Medicine neighborhoods. “I was in New York 1983 able to take the team to King Drew Medical Center 1984 compete in tournaments in Private Practice, Internal Medicine, Dallas, Florida, New York, Arcadia Methodist Hospital 1987 Italy, Spain and eventually Chief of Staff 2014* Pasadena Magazine, Top Doctor to the Gothia World Youth 2009 - 2014 Cup in Sweden. The team was nationally ranked for a number of years. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for some of the players to see many parts of the US and then to see parts of Europe as well. Interacting with players from other states and nations gave the players a chance to have an international view of things.”

Clarizio, however, did not stop with the sport. Taking a personal interest in his athletes, he soon was assisting them with schoolwork, even to the point of bringing some of them into his home when they needed more help.

The demands of a busy medical practice and some 80 soccer games a year have not kept Dino and Hope Clarizio from actively supporting La Salle, especially via the San Miguel Scholarship. ”Hope and I saw the need for financial support to less fortunate families when our son was at La Salle. We sought to make a bigger event with a wider scope of donors.” For the last eight years, the Clarizio family has hosted the annual Gifts from the Heart evening event, raising a substantial amount for the Scholarship. They were honored by the School as the Lasallian Volunteers for 2010.

Clarizio’s advice to current Lancer students: “If you do well, you owe humanity to give back. Opportunity and success should always be paid forward into the community.” And Dino always shares his favorite quote from Winston Churchill. “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” And, of course, we learn to see people in a special light. * Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia is ranked #18 in the US among 368 major hospitals for patient safety, quality and efficiency for 2014-2015.

SPRING 2015

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n this climate of economic uncertainty, America is once again turning to innovation as the way to ensure a prosperous future. Yet innovation remains tightly coupled with Science,Technology, Engineering and Math – the STEM subjects. Art + Design are poised to transform our economy in the 21st century just as science and technology did in the last century. Add Art + Design to the equation — to transform STEM into STEAM.

The change was championed by RISD, USC, Stanford School of Design, MIT, the National Science Foundation and Brown University.

The objectives of the STEAM movement are to: transform research policy to place Art + Design at the center of STEM and encourage integration of Art + Design in K–20 education.

The magic that comes from mixing art and science is the driving force behind STEAM. A growing number of people are in-

WHAT IS STEAM AT LA SALLE? STEM + ART = STEAM

Co-chaired by Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL), the bipartisan caucus is dedicated to furthering the incorporation of art and design into STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). At the start of the 2013 Congressional session, House Resolution 51 was introduced which posits that “adding art and design” to STEM fields “encourages innovation and economic growth in the US.” 8

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spired by that idea, which is actually a return to the way Leonardo da Vinci approached these disciplines during the Renaissance.

Leonardo da Vinci was an artist, engineer, scientist, architect, musician and a humanitarian, among many other things. One of his most important skills was learning how to, learn. Leonardo’s famous curiosity was a more important tool than his paintbrush.

By experimenting, questioning, and exploring the world around him, he asked questions, Though many see art and science as somewhat at odds, the fact is that they have long existed and

developed collaboratively. This synergy was embodied in great thinkers like the legendary Leonardo Da Vinci and the renowned Chinese polymath Su Song. One of Carl Jung’s mythological archetypes was the artist-scientist, which represents builders, inventors, and dreamers. Nobel laureates in the sciences are seventeen times likelier than the average scientist to be a painter, twelve times as likely to be a poet, and four times as likely to be a musician.

Camouflage for soldiers in the United States armed forces was invented by American painter Abbot Thayer. Earl Bakken based his pacemaker on a musical metronome. Japanese origami inspired medical stents and improvements to vehicle airbag technology. Steve Jobs described himself and his colleagues at Apple as artists. At TED 2002, Mae Jemison, a doctor, dancer, and the first African American woman in space, said, “The difference between science and the arts is not that they are different sides of the same coin… or even different parts of the same continuum, but rather, they are manifestations of the same thing.

The arts and sciences are avatars of human creativity.”

STEAM POWERS

• Design Challenges to address Authentic Problems and creating solutions

• Development of 21st century skills through project based learning

• Integration of content through core subjects as well as English, Social Studies, etc.

MATH

Most visual artists intuitively understand that many subject areas, including science and math, are inextricably linked to the fundamentals of design, but try telling that to your typical science or math teacher.

SCIENCE

Artists and designers can have a huge impact by participating in how we communicate science because they have the skills to reach out to people in other ways – to make science fun, debatable, interesting and emotional.

What is coming? Innovation in action… Fall 2015.

STEAM INNOVATION

This class mixes Art and Science and introduces students to problem solving. It is a systematic problem-solving strategy, with criteria and constraints, used to develop many possible solutions to solve a problem or satisfy human needs and wants and to narrow down the possible solutions to one final choice. It begins with student identification of a problem through a series of exploratory and data-gathering stages to the creation of a solution.

Creative Mornings _ pop-up workshops linking La Salle STEAM students with global professionals in STEAM fields held twice a month.

Possible Goals for the STEAM Lab: Finding sustainable solutions to problems.

Designing homes for the future: Design a net-zero solar-powered house from scratch; ensure that the design is buildable, affordable, innovative and aesthetically pleasing; build a prototype.

SPRING 2015

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She Thought She Could, So She Did

By Jade Rogers ’01

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he 2015 Tournament of Roses theme was “Inspiring Stories.”

Once again, the City of Sierra Madre participated in the Rose Parade with their “inspiring” float “I Think I Can” based on the illustrated children’s book The Little Engine that Could. The “I Think I Can” float was the smallest float in the parade from the smallest participating city in the parade, winning the big Mayor’s Trophy award. Riding on the float with her own “I Think I Can” story was La Salle senior and Sierra Madre princess Alexi Zate.

As a little girl, Alexi never dreamed of becoming a princess for Sierra Madre. “I had extreme anxieties when I was younger and my fears would overwhelm me. I would become anxious around large

crowds, in large rooms and when I would have to talk to a group of people. I was even fearful to ask a waiter for a napkin,” says Alexi. Just like the “Little Engine” Alexi had to conquer her fears.

“I wanted to overcome my anxieties and fears, so I set a personal goal for myself. I pushed myself to become more involved in school and go beyond my comfort zone. As time went on, I became more comfortable with my voice and more confident in myself. I can now deliver a speech with no problems and I actually enjoy doing it,” says Alexi.

With her determination to succeed, Alexi overcame her anxieties. Her newfound confidence gave her the courage to go after things she wanted, including trying out for the Sierra Madre Royal Court. As a longtime resident of Sierra Madre, “I saw the Rose Float Association ad in the beginning of October. I sent in my resume and a one page explanation as to why I wanted to be a Sierra Madre princess,” says Alexi. She would soon be called in for an interview with a dozen other applicants and a week later she was selected as one of the four princesses to represent the City of Sierra Madre.

“I was thrilled when my name was called at the coronation ceremony. My experiences as a Sierra Madre princess were amazing.

I love my city and it was an honor to represent Sierra Madre,” says Alexi. As a Sierra Madre princess, Alexi’s duties started in December and will last throughout the entire year. “Before New Year’s, we attended various meetings at the Rotary Club, Women’s Club, Kiwanis Club, British Home and many more, giving speeches about ourselves and the “I Think I Can” Rose float. In addition to our speaking events, we worked for hours and hours on the Sierra Madre float itself. But that was actually fun. After New Year’s Day, we attend

the Citizen of the Year Dinner, Sierra Madre’s Legendary Bingo Fundraiser, the 4th of July Parade down Sierra Madre Boulevard and lastly, the coronation of the 2016 Sierra Madre princesses. But even after my duties of being a princess are over, I will continue to support the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association and volunteer to help decorate future floats,” says Alexi.

Along with achieving the title of Sierra Madre princess, Alexi was also awarded the Sierra Madre Youth Service Award and the Girl Scout Gold Award for her work at the Sierra Madre Senior Center.

“Earning the Gold Award is the highest honor in Girl Scouts. It was also another one of my I think I can moments. I started planning my project to earn the Gold Award back in 2012 and I decided to work with the Sierra Madre Senior Center at the Hart Park House. I created lesson plans and taught cell phone, iPad, and computer classes for seniors that would last through the summer of 2013.”

Aside from volunteering at the Sierra Madre Senior Center, Alexi has also volunteered at the Sierra Madre Playhouse, Sierra Madre Little League, Project Angel Food, LA Food Bank, and Ability First. “I have learned to set goals for myself and work hard to reach them. I feel that I can engage more people in service projects. I have a passion for helping others and know that I can push myself to reach my goals. Being a student at La Salle, I have learned how a community can work together to greatly impact those they are helping. La Salle has shown me that hands-on service with a passion for what I am doing is the most meaningful,” says Alexi.

At La Salle, Alexi is an active member in the National Honors Society, the California Scholarship Federation, Habitat for Humanity, and the Support Our Troops. She won the Best Defensive Player award for the La Salle softball team. Alexi says that she wants to major in communications or psychology in college.

“I have received merit scholarships to the University of Redlands, UC Riverside, Cal Lutheran University, Point Loma Nazarene University, Azusa Pacific and Saint Mary’s College, and I have decided to attend University of Redlands. I have an interest in film, screenwriting, and behavioral and developmental psychology. If I pursue psychology, then my plan will Alexi with the Support Our be to go to graduate Troops club members. school right after,” says Alexi.

Just like The Little Engine that Could Alexi continues to say to herself, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”

She made it to the top of the hill and continues to keep reaching for higher goals.

SPRING 2015

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Volunteers at Project Angel Food

Lasallians

By John Blackstock ’67

Reflect During Catholic Schools Week

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Dodger Day at Project Angel Food 12

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ational Catholic Schools Week (January 25 – 31, 2015) is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States dating back to 1974. This year’s theme was “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.” During Catholic Schools Week, educators, staff and students in Lasallian schools paused to reflect on how being a part of a Lasallian Catholic experience has impacted them. Saint John Baptist de La Salle, founder of the Lasallian mission, is the patron saint of teachers.

La Salle sent students, faculty and staff to nine locations that have a sole purpose to serve our community, especially the poor.

These organizations cannot fulfill their service

Hope Gardens

ALUMNI LOVE SANTA

By Kristen Schultz ’98

Alumni and friends gather for a picture with Santa Claus.

T obligations without volunteer assistance. During Catholic Schools week, thousands of hours of service were performed by our Lasallian community. Ms. Michelle Grima, Service Coordinator, organized this worthwhile and rewarding week.

he La Salle Alumni Anjali Agrawal ’03 Association raised nearly $3,000 during the Alumni Adopt-A-Family Christmas Gift Drive in December and was able to fulfill 136+ Christmas Wishes for the seven foster children from Hillsides and two needy families from Eliot Middle School that they adopted for Christmas. In addition, alumni donations were used to help buy Christmas gifts for military families stationed at Ft. Irwin in Barstow.

The Alumni Association hosted their annual Adopt -A-Family Wrapping Party and Photos with Santa on December 6th in the Grinstead Theatre where all of the gifts were wrapped. Santa was on hand for photos with alumni and their children. A wonderful alumni holiday tradition!

Matt Housman ’09

Ability First

Tony Messineo ’80 SPRING 2015

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Our Lasallian Twinning Program School

By Ed O’Connor, Director of Student Life

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ach year during the season of Lent, La Salle High School along with all the other Christian Brothers Schools in the United States and Canada, raise money for our brother and sister schools in Africa through what is called the Twinning Program. La Salle High School along with four other high schools throughout the country are paired with Mount La Salle College in Naka, Nigeria. Though its name is Mount La Salle College, it is really a junior high and high school serving both boys and girls. Some of the realities of the students at Mount La Salle are described by their Principal Brother Wole Olabango, FSC,“Mount La Salle’s school fees equal about 20-50% of the tuition charged in some Catholic schools of equal status. Even so, most parents are unable to pay the fees. At least six in ten students are children of peasant farmers, two in ten are from petty trading families, and two in ten are children of civil servants or other wage earners.

About 65% of the students are from families living on

Part of our donation will go toward the renovation of the School Auditorium.

less than one dollar per day per individual. About 33% live on two dollars or less, while 2% are from families in more comfortable financial situations.”

Our students were asked to contribute to the Twinning Program through their mentor period in a contest called Mentor Mania. Our hope was that each person at La Salle (students, faculty and staff) would be able to donate $1 or $2 a week. On February 19, La Salle had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Abel Gutierrez of Cathedral High School share his experience of going to visit some of our schools in Africa. He told of the great work taking place as well as the incredible need for help. I believe our students heard his message loud and clear and will respond to the best of their ability.

Brother Wole went on to say that, “Mount La Salle has used twinning donations to renovate infrastructures, buildings and provide scholarships for students who cannot afford the school fees. Its most urgent need is to build a chapel. Currently, weekly Mass and daily devotion are held in a multipurpose room.”

Our generous community raised $10,500 for our “Twin” Lasallian school in Nigeria. To find out more, or contribute to this great cause, please contact Ed O’Connor at La Salle High School, 626.3696.4329 or simply use the attached donation envelope and designate “Twinning.”

La Salle Ranks 5th Nationally for Diversity

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recent listing published on December 5, 2014 by Niche Rankings identified the “Most Diverse Private High Schools in America.” The top five ranked schools are Lasallian:

1. St. Joseph High School, Westchester, Illinois

2. Saint Mary’s College High School, Berkeley, California

3. De La Salle Institute – Institute Campus, Chicago, Illinois

4. De La Salle North Catholic High School, Portland, Oregon

5. La Salle High School, Pasadena, California

According to Niche, the list ranks 532 high schools based on diversity statistics and more than 54,000 opinions from 13,000 students and parents. Niche describes a high ranking as an indication “that the school is extremely diverse and fosters a community that accepts and promotes a diversity of viewpoints, backgrounds, religious beliefs, and sexual orientations. La Salle’s Principal, Brother Christopher Brady, FSC commented that “our diversity certainly adds to the richness of our students and our educational community as well.”

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Four other Lasallian schools were also in the top 100: De La Salle Institute – Lourdes Hall Campus, Chicago, Illinois (38); De La Salle High School, New Orleans, Louisiana (39); Christian Brothers High School, Sacramento, California (43); and St. John’s College High School, Washington, DC (66).

Niche was an expansion of the College Search Service that Carnegie Mellon University students founded in 2002. It provides reviews and insights on K-12 schools, colleges and neighborhoods.

LANCERS ATHLETICS

Lancers Host South Korean Team T

he La Salle Lancer Baseball team hosted South Korea’s Duk Soo High School in a winter league baseball game on January 27 at La Salle’s home field at Arcadia County Park. This was the second year playing this friendship game.

After a big six-run first inning, the Lancers held off a Duk Soo comeback to win 7-6. Duk Soo High School produces some very good athletes who go on to play major league baseball in South Korea.

Both teams were excited to have the experience of trans-Pacific baseball as well as the cultural introductions. The teams are pleased with their new-found friendship and hope to make this game an annual event.

ALUMNI BASEBALL GAME The 2015 Alumni Baseball Game took place on January 10th at the new home of Lancer Baseball at Arcadia County Park. Alumni in attendance included left to right: Bubba Derby ’12, Luke Sciaraffa ’08, Chris Knowles ’04, Travis Ingrao ’96, Nate Bouton ’13, Henry Smither ’11, Austin Wallis ’13, Johnny Auer ’11, Steven Petrovich ’11, Aaron Nauls ’10.

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LANCERS ATHLETICS

Boys Soccer, led by coach Edgar Manvelyan, played with great strength and determination throughout the entire season. The Lancers played their last home game against the undefeated St. Genevieve with a score of 3-0. The win against St. Genevieve was a memorable moment for seniors Matt McDonald, Austin Farajdo-Mathes, Brandon Sandoval, Nicolas Buzzerio, and Frank Delgatto who played their last regular season home game. Their win against St. Genevieve solidified a spot in the CIF playoffs, but they lost in the first round to Garden Grove High School.

Sean Kelly

BOYS SOCCER GIRLS BASKETBALL

Rebecca Castillo

Julia Macabuhay

Girls Basketball, under the leadership of returning coach Nelson Wong, saw a season of team growth. This seasonthe Lancers were led by senior Dionna Williams and freshman Julia Macabuhay. Their hard work, leadership skills and role model abilities helped push the team to compete as they fought tooth and nails in every game and never gave up. Though the team experienced some growing pains during the season, they shot their way to the first round of CIF Playoffs, where they continued to play tough and compete against the most dominant team in their division, Fairmont Prep before being stopped by them at the end of their season.

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BOYS BASKETBALL

Isaiah Spencer-Lopez

Boys Basketball team, led by seniors Justin Jitpatima and Isaiah Spencer-Lopez and sophomores Johnny Know and Jaice Gardner, peaked at the most opportune time of the season during the Camino Real League where they secured a third place spot in the league, giving the team an automatic bid into the CIF Division 4A playoffs. An aggressive amount

of energy and strength helped the Lancers through the first round of CIF playoffs against Duarte High School with a more than 20 point lead; moving the Lancers into the second round of playoffs against St. Genevieve where they held the lead for the first three quarters before being dominated by St. Genevieve in the fourth.

LANCER EQUESTRIAN TEAM Emily Wright ’16, (right), competes for La Salle in the Interscholastic Equestrian League of Los Angeles at the Novice level. She won two ribbons out of the four classes that she participated in during the show on February 7, 2015.

She is one of two girls this year competing for La Salle at IEL. Raquel Ruiz ’17, (below), has a new horse and expects to compete in the next show. She rode at the JV level last year.

Raquel Ruiz ’17

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LANCERS ATHLETICS

Lancers SIGN NATIONAL

By John Blackstock ’67

LETTERS OF INTENT

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hen Anthony Harris, arrived as the new Athletic Director at La Salle in 2011, he set a goal to create a college prep athletic environment that mimics the School’s college prep academic program. “This goal is now confirmed,” he stated at the spring signing ceremony.

“With four to six more Lancers poised to accept athletic scholarships from major colleges this semester, it will be a banner year for La Salle, he continued.” In the last four years, La Salle has signed 26 student-athletes to participate in college sports.

EVAN RAMBO, a 6’4” senior, signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of California, Berkeley, on an athletic scholarship. In addition to Cal, Evan, a defensive back and wide receiver for the Lancers, was also recruited by UCLA, San Diego State and Washington State. Evan plans on majoring in Bioengineering.

ISIAH SPENCER-LOPEZ, a Lancer wide receiver signed a National Letter of Intent and earned an athletic scholarship from Sacramento State. The 6’6” 200 pounder was also recruited by Arizona State, Louisville, Washington and Washington State. At Sacramento State, Isiah plans to major in Computer Science.

Evan Rambo

MARCUS TAPPEN, a 2013 La Salle graduate, did not sign with a university after graduation, but he did red-shirt at the University of Cincinnati last season. He returned to California where he signed a letter of Intent to play at Montana State University this fall.

Evan Rambo, Athletic Director, Anthony Harris, Nate Chandler and Isiah Spencer-Lopez 18

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NLI signees during signing ceremony including Marcus Tappen (far right).

Of particular note, senior NATE CHANDLER committed to play football for the University of Chicago, a Division III School. The 6’, 210 pound linebacker and team captain, takes his 4.6 GPA to Illinois this fall. Nate not only earned second team All League honors

Isiah Spencer-Lopez

in the rigorous Angelus League, but also received the prestigious National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete Award. As a recipient of this award, his name will be inscribed on the wall at the College Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio.

Nate Chandler

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La Salle Hosts Speech & Debate Tournaments

Some of the middle school winners.

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n December 3, La Salle hosted its second Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament for seventh and eighth grade students. More than 80 middle school students from local schools participated. Then again, on April 23 La Salle hosted our Elementary School Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament for over 110 elementary school students from numerous schools, some as far away as Irvine.

The tournament events included Expository Speech, Dramatic Interpretation, Storytelling, Duo Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking and Public Forum Debate.

Doug Campbell, Tournament Chair, Tamara Flowers Chair of the La Salle Board of Trustees, Dennis Jebbia, Chair of the Board of Regents, Ralph Seymour, actor, drama teacher and speech and debate coach at St. Rita School, La Salle Institutional Advancement assistants, Tara Milton P’16,’18 and Kristin Donahue P’13, La Salle Speech & Debate moderator, Elizabeth Meerson, Director of Facilities, Randy Katz, and Regents Ray Eley ’13, Sheri Wedeen P’17, ’17 and Colleen Deziel P’17, among other volunteers worked in unison to make these tournaments come together.

The tournament utilized most of the campus and was deemed a great success. La Salle students volunteered to judge the events and received high praise from the tournaments’ officials. “Our student judges did a great job and represented our school wonderfully. It was a crazy, but fun day,” said Doug Campbell, the tournament chair.

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Some of the tournament organizers, Ray Ealy, Sheri Weeden, Tamara Flowers, Rick Brandlin, Elizabeth Meerson, and Doug Campbell.

Ralph Seymour

Speech & Debate Tournament Chair, Doug Campbell with Committee member and Regent, Colleen Deziel P’17 and Regent, Ray Ealy P’13.

Elementary school participants with category trophies.

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Spring Academic Awards, Scholarships and Honor Society Inductions

Brother Christopher, Principal with Grant Way ’16 and Dr. Richard Gray, President

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Samantha Hardy ’16 with Principal Brother Christopher.

uring the Spring Academic Awards the 2015 Bob Alcorn and Bob Thomas Scholars were named. In addition, the members of the National Honor Society, (NHS), the Science National Honor Society (SNHS) and the Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica (SHH), were introduced and inducted.

The Bob Alcorn Memorial Scholarship for Excellence in Humanities was established by the Class of 1962 in honor of teacher and mentor, Bob Alcorn. The School’s Administration elected to honor a current student in the junior class who excelled in the three subject areas that Mr. Alcorn Student Life President, Riley Worley ’15, left, with Tyler Artist ’15 and Aoife Megaw ’15, right, light the National Honor Society (NHS) candles representing the attributes of the Society.

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Mark R. Krouse ’70 Receives Brother Mel Anderson Alumni Award

Seniors Victor Saavedra, Yoltic Sandoval and Kimberly Mejia presented the award of appreciation to Brother De Sales.

taught: English, Modern Language, and Social Studies. The faculties of the English, Social Studies, and Language Arts Departments nominate students from each of their disciplines to be considered for this award. The Bob Alcorn Memorial Scholarship is a $1,000 scholarship to be applied to the student’s senior year tuition. This year’s recipient, Samantha Hardy ’16, has a long list of accomplishments that are not just limited to the fields of English, Social Studies, and Language Arts. She has earned an “A” in all her classes over the last five semesters with a GPA of 4.10 or better. She is also the Assistant Commissioner of Service, a Student Ambassador and a member of CSF and NHS.

To honor the contributions of her late husband Bob Thomas, former La Salle teacher, Jayne Thomas established a Math and Science scholarship.The student, who is chosen by the Math and Science Departments, receives a $1,000 scholarship that is applied to their senior year tuition at La Salle. This year’s recipient of the Bob Thomas Award for Academic Excellence is Grant Way ’16. Grant earns straight A’s in AP Calculus and AP Physics and has never earned a GPA lower than 4.10. He earned a perfect score in Math on the EXPLORE standardized test, a perfect score in Science on the PLAN battery tests, and his selection index on the PSAT was well above the California threshold, which is the second highest in the Nation.

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he 2015 recipient of the Brother T. Mel Anderson, FSC Alumni Award for Excellence in Academics was given to Mark R. Krouse ’70 who has more than 35 years experience in human resource management. For 30 years, Mr. Krouse worked in Human Resource Management with the Fluor Corporation, a Fortune 500 company and a global engineering and construction management firm. It was there that Mr. Krouse was responsible for directing and managing the development and implementation of strategic Human Resource solutions on a global basis impacting a worldwide workforce of more than 50,000 people. He has also worked as the Vice President of Human Resources for Samsung C&T Engineering and Construction, Americas and most recently in 2013 Mr. Krouse joined Kaiser Aluminum Corporation as the Vice President of Human Resources.

While a student at La Salle, Mr. Krouse was a member of the Basketball and Baseball teams, Pep Squad, Varsity Club, and Honor Society. Upon graduation from La Salle, Mr. Krouse attended the University of Southern California where he earned his Bachelors of International Relations degree. He would then return to USC to earn his Masters of Science degree in International Administration. Since graduating from USC, Mr. Krouse has frequently returned to his alma mater as a guest lecturer, and for the last three years, he has served as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at California State University, Fullerton where he teaches “The Fundamentals of HR Management.”

SPRING 2015

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Emari McClellan as Jack

The classic tale of the soul-selling Faust is set to the greatest disco hits of the 1970s.

LIGHTS UP THE STAGE TO SRO CROWDS 24

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f you love the 1970s, then you would have loved this riotous trip back to the decade that brought us flared trousers, platform shoes and glitter. In Disco Inferno the classic German legend of Faust is brought to life in an explosion of hit songs, high energy dance routines and glitter-ball spinning action. Disco Inferno is inspired by the classic German legend of Faust. In the legend, Faust sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. In Disco Inferno, Jack Green sells his soul in exchange for becoming a famous singer. The music draws from the canon of disco music, popular in the 1970s.

Three words to describe this stylized musical would be “Faust with Flare.” Grabbing that jive old story and injecting it with groove, Disco Inferno is chock-full of the songs that defined a generation. Disco Inferno features a number of hit songs, such as: “Celebration,”“All Out of Love,”“Crocodile Rock,”“Hot Stuff,” “Instant Replay,”“Ballroom Blitz,”“I Love The Nightlife,”“Spirit in the Sky,” and “Play That Funky Music, White Boy.”

With its retro setting, Disco Inferno oozes nostalgia and inspires smiles to hustle its way onto audience members’ faces.

This sublime, more-than-just-a-jukebox musical boasts over 40 La Salle students in the cast and crew.

Standing Room Only audiences packed the Porticos Art Space, in Pasadena, La Salle’s theatre home away from home.

Seniors in the production during its mid March, three weekend performace included Nate Chandler, Sinclair Daniel, Max Behrens, Tommy Moreno, Adrian Sanchez, Kennedy Gordon, Kayla Rix. Katie Sparks, Natalie Sirois, Melody Munson, Alyssa Villavicenzio, Lani Nugent, Jack Freiberger and Tom Usle.

Disco Inferno was first performed in 1999 by Stage One Theatre Company in England and has been performed by hundreds of theatre companies and schools in the United States. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, China, Norway, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Lani Nugent and Sabastian Beltran-Moeller SPRING 2015

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Alyu Hartman and Nate Chandler as Jack with ensemble

Reilly Milton and Spencer Raines

Lani Nugent and Nate Chandler

Tom Usle and Sinclair Daniel

Tom Usle and Sinclair Daniel

Tommy Moreno

Jack sold his soul to the devil.

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Mihi Stanek, Lexi Dyer and Aly Hartman Jack Freiberger as Heathcliff

Lani Nugent and Emari McClellan

Emily Coolidge

Mary Harmon and Dylan Stover

ABBA: Ellis Holland, Kayla Rix, Aly Hartman and Spencer Raines SPRING 2015

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MILLER FLIPS THE CLASSROOM 28

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“Education is not just about teaching kids facts, knowledge and content: it is about the relationships.”

Jon Bergman – Flipped Guru FROM ANATOMY VIDEOS TO NATIONAL PRESENTER

response and the value of time gained by having students learn the information online rather in class gave rise to additional videos for Biology and Chemistry. Soon the You Tube library began to grow.

This was “Flipping’ before “Flipping” was cool.

The journey continued with Mr. Miller using Moodle and the TED-Ed Platform to build hybrid science courses in Biology and Chemistry for summer remediation. Students completed video content and assessment online and would come in once a week to complete labs and exams.

In the Fall 2013, Brian presented a workshop at the California Science Teachers Association conference in Palm Springs explaining how to create “Flipped” lessons for science utilizing the TED-Ed portal. From this workshop, Mr. Miller was invited to audition for BER to present “FLIP” YOUR SCIENCE INSTRUCTION: Practical Strategies and the Best New Tools. The audition process included

time and the increasing amount of time students were missing due to absences, school business, and early dismissals for sports and activities, Bergmann and Sams felt they were losing their students and their focus on learning.

There is no standard application of the “Flipped” model and classrooms vary as much as the teachers who use the model, however the basic premise is the same: Send the content aspect of the course home and create a more student focused learning environment in the classroom.

writing a handbook for workshop participants to take home and developing a full day workshop for the “Flipped” Science pedagogy.

In April and May, Brian presented in Minneapolis, MN, Chicago, IL, Cherry Hill, NJ and Manchester, NH as part of the audition process.

Workshop participants evaluate BER presenters on a 7 point scale.

Presenters must receive average scores of 6.4 or higher in two categories, Content of the Seminar and Contribution of the Presenter, in order to be accepted as a BER presenter.

This spring, Mr. Miller shared his expertise on the “Flipped” pedagogy in nine workshops across the United States. In February Brian travelled to Omaha, NE, Saint Louis, MO, Arcadia and Anaheim, CA. In March he continued his presentations in Long Island, NY, Cleveland, OH, Arlington and Richmond, VA and Atlanta, GA.

La Salle High School Science Educator Brian Miller ’79, P’03 has expanded his educational reach across the United States as a national presenter with the Bureau of Education and Research.

Brian shares his experiences and insights of the “Flipped Classroom Model” with educators across the country in his BER workshop, “FLIP” YOUR SCIENCE INSTRUCTION: Practical Strategies and the Best New Tools.

The main concept behind the “Flipped Classroom” pedagogy has been credited to two science teachers, Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams from Woodland Park High School in Colorado.

Bergmann and Sams became increasingly frustrated with the amount of time they were able to spend focusing on the actual needs of the students in their classroom. Between the amount of content they were trying to present in their classroom, the lab

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

- Confucius There are four essential elements of the “Flipped” Classroom Model.

• Student Centered Environment

• Teacher as Learning Facilitator

• Content Deliver Resources

• Higher Order Questions Six years ago Brian began to put videos of the bones and skeletal structures on You Tube for students to use as a study aid for the bone practical exams in his Anatomy class. Positive student

MR. MILLER REFLECTS ON PRESENTING WITH BER

“Presenting around the country provides a great opportunity to exchange ideas on education with a wide variety of educators with varied experiences and perspectives on learning.”

“The ’“Flipped”’ pedagogy, although new, is picking up momentum. These workshops put me at the cutting edge as far as my own development, but also in gaining insights from the people who are excited about the opportunities for advantage to both educators and students.”

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STUDENT VOICE ON THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM

“I really liked the flipped classroom. I went home and learned it, and took the short quizzes to see if I understood everything, and in class, we didn’t have to waste time learning anything, we could just go straight into the labs, and make more of our class time.”

“The video lectures were extremely helpful because they were concise and to the point in a way that the textbook is not. The activities we did in class really helped reinforce what we learned in the lectures because we had to apply the concepts in class.”

“It was a thrill to be able to provide a workshop for a group of people in Arcadia who I have connections to in a variety of ways. Felipe Galvez who I have worked with before in technology professional development in his role as a Science educator at Saint Elizabeth’s School in Altadena. There were four science teachers from Bishop Amat who were directed to the workshop by former Lasallian Educator Mike DiFiori. Former La Salle parent Pam Gripp an educator at Saint Philips School, whose children Erin, Brendan and Hayley all passed through my classroom here at La Salle. And Megan France

“The ’“Flipped”’ model has really forced me to look at my classroom and what it looks like for the learner, the student. I have had to really evaluate the balance between content and learning for this generation of digital natives.”

“Last year I flipped about two-thirds of my Honors Chemistry class and found that the time gained for increasing the inquirybased student-centered processes for the students was invaluable for their taking ownership of their learning. This year I have flipped more than 80% of the class and further increased the hands-on

who is an outstanding science educator at Saint Philips and who I was fortunate enough to have taught during her time as a student at La Salle.”

“I have had the opportunity to attend several BER professional development workshops throughout my time as an educator at La Salle. I have always been impressed by the expertise and professionalism of the educators who have presented these workshops. To be included as a national presenter with one of the leading education professional development providers in North America is both an honor and a privilege.”

aspects of the course.”

“The focus of the ’“Flipped”’ classroom is not the videos. The key is in building relationships. There are three relationships that are forged through the time gained through flipping. The student’s relationship to the subject is increased through an active student centered learning environment, where students are engaged in the subject. Peer to peer relationships are forged through the expectation of each student being responsible for their own learning but the learning process of those who share the classroom. The student’s relationship to the teacher is changed as the educator takes on the role of facilitator of learning rather than owner of the knowledge.”

“My favorite quotes from students summarize the goal of the flipped model.”

MR MILLER REFLECTS ON ASPECTS OF THE “FLIPPED” CLASSROOM:

“It helped so much because I could learn on my own time and use the class time to my advantage. Also if I don’t understand something I could always go back and re-learn. I wish all the teachers could have a curriculum similar to Mr. Miller’s. ” 30

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“It’s probably one of the greatest learning tools that is so easy to make, yet no other teacher seems to utilize it, but apart from that being able to learn in the comfort of your own home and at your own pace certainly helped in my learning process.”

AMAZING LANCERS

LANCERS WIN 15 MEDALS IN ACADEMIC DECATHLON I

t is with great pride and enthusiasm that we announce the results of the 2015 Southern California Private Schools Academic Decathlon. Under the guidance of Associate Principal, Mr. Edgar Salmingo, La Salle entered three academic teams and our first team ranked 15th out of 40 teams against very steep competition!

This is an amazing feat considering this was the team’s first year. “We are definitely very excited to participate again next year,” said Salmingo.

At the end of the ceremony, our La Salle decathletes came home with 15 medals around their necks. These students could not have achieved this without the support of their parents and our faculty, who developed these students academically. Let us all celebrate and congratulate our students!

MEDAL WINNERS: Dana Esparza: Bronze in Music Jodie Kaya: Bronze in Essay Steven Luyapan: Silver in Essay Madeleine Malicdem: Silver in Interview Ursula Marshall: Bronze in Music

Reilly Milton: Silver in Speech Brandon Nguyen: Silver in Language/ Literature Minsha Ouyou: Bronze in Speech Bhav Patel: Bronze in Interview Japhet Quitzon: Gold in Speech, Silver in

Language/Literature, Bronze in Art Jordan Regalado: Gold in Speech, Silver in

Interview, Bronze in Math

We recognize all of the participants for their hard work and dedication: Garien Agapito, Lance Alviso, Christian Billings, Michelle Cervantes, Cristina De la Cruz, Max Dier, Kriztina Espinosa, Bettina Lee, Miho Ouyou, Brandon Perez, Tyler Rix, Noel Rozario, Sebastian Schiff, Kevin Tian, Danny Valdez and Emily Wasson.

Portraits of Courage HONORS MILITARY

Taylor Brennan ’15, founder of the Portraits of Courage Club, stands with his completed 18x24 pencil drawing of a U.S. Navy Airman. Taylor and his group of 12 student artists have dedicated their talent to create portraits of U.S. service members, as a way to recognize their sacrifice. The Portraits of Courage Club has completed more than 25 portraits since 2012.

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AMAZING LANCERS

SIX ARTISTS HONORED

AT ROBERT GRAHAM MEMORIAL EXHIBIT

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ix La Salle High School Students, Abigail Marich ’16, Alexandra Porges ’15, Mariel Lo Guercio ’15, Jodie Kaya ’15, Jane Zanteson ’16 and Alicia Wilson ’15, were chosen to participate in the annual Robert Graham Memorial Student Art Exhibit at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

After a beautiful mid-morning mass, student contributions were acknowledged and celebrated. Each student and visual arts teacher, Mrs. Ellen Slatkin, also wrote heartfelt statements to accompany their stunning work.

The exhibit features the work of art by students from 15 different Catholic high schools and is named in honor of the noted sculptor Robert Graham, who designed the Cathedral’s Great Bronze Doors.

Graham said the exhibit provides an opportunity to students seeking to pursue a career in fine arts, to show they have participated in an exhibit.

For more information about the Robert Graham Student Art Exhibit, visit olacathedral.org or email ggr@sbcglobal.net.

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AMAZING LANCERS

Art for the Courts

By Ms. Jane Osick, Team Moderator

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a Salle’s Mock Trial team participated in the Los Angeles County competition last fall, earning honorable mentions for witnesses Austen Hustler ’15, Lauren Chacon ’16, Japhet Quitzon ’16, and Noah Sisson ’16, as well as for lawyer Sarah Reynolds ’15.

Lauren and Japhet were also given the “Most Valuable Participant” award by their opposition in recognition for their outstanding contribution to the trial.

In the Courtroom Artist competition, Mariel Lo Guercio ’15 took first prize with her drawing of La Salle’s attorneys. This is an exceptionally difficult competition, requiring the artist to create a complete sketch of a trial moment and submit it for judging at the end of the proceedings. The illustration above depicts “attorneys,” from left, Sarah Reynolds ’15, Riley Worley ’15 and Max DoVale ’17. This is the second year in a row that Mariel has won the top award.

Ms. Jane Osick, English Department, is the team moderator.

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a Salle Cheer wins first in their division at the Sharp International Competition at Arcadia High School on March 7, 2015. The girls were very excited when they were announced the division winners and hope that this success will help them gain the confidence they need at USA nationals where they will compete against 22 other high schools. We are very excited and hopeful for this new group as the majority of the team consists of freshman and sophomores.

Top, Sarah Riegsecker, Stella Pontrelli, Isabella Mandigo, Alex Mandigo, Jocelyn Flores, Annabel Genton, Dani Magluyan, bottom, Sivan Diaz, Haley Tenario, not pictured, Hallie Milton, Michelle Broussard, Ashley Conlon.

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CLASS OF 2009

Reunion

A. Victoria Vargas ’09, Maddie Herlache ’09,

Tyler Varing ’09, Austin Williams ’09, Megan Seidner ’09, Mary Snodgrass ’09, Danielle Petro ’09

B. Asha Blades ’09, Maryann Cafagna ’09,

Laura Trujillo ’09, Allen Mitchell ’09, Michelle Cafagna ’09, Melissa Cafagna ’09

C. Joshua DeBetts ’09, Paloma Garcia ’09,

Dayne Privett ’09

D. Ashley Siewert ’09, Maria Gardner ’09,

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Jade Burr ’09, Jefferson Strouse ’09

E. Cameron Alsbrook ’09, Jake Bigley ’09,

Preston Grochmal ’09, Neil Wogensen ’09, Max McClellan ’09

F. Robert Ortega ’09, Tyler Frausto ’09,

Justin Ton ’09, Michael Petrovich ’09

G. Kyle Marrs ’09, Glen Willis ’09,

Jade Burr ’09, Victoria Vargas ’09

H. Ashley Windsor ’09, Isamar Montano ’09,

Austin Williams ’09, Elyse Chui ’09

I. Nick Volckmann ’09, Matt Housman ’09 J. Blair Siegal ’09. Nikolai Briones ’09,

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Ashley Windsor ’09, Vanessa Cruz ’09

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he Class of 2009 celebrated their 5 Year Reunion on Thanksgiving Eve at Cafe Santorini’s Rococo Room in Old Town Pasadena. Half the class was in attendance along with favorite faculty members Mr. Tom O’Connor, Mr. Ed O’Connor, Mr. John Blackstock ’67, Mrs. Paula Moore, Ms. Jennifer Veling, Mrs. Jenne Hakanen, Ms. Lisa Schulman, Mr. Doug Rynerson and

F Ms. Jude Lucas. The Class has raised $710 for financial aid at La Salle in memory of their classmate Arion Tavakoli ’09.

To make your Reunion Class Gift Donation visit:

www.lancernetwork.com/09Gift

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FACULTY UPDATE

NSTA Presenters

By John Blackstock ’67

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a Salle Science faculty, Chija Bauer, Anthony Fernandes, Kjersti (Housman) Holyfield ’04, Elizabeth Mullen and Brian Miller ’79, P’03 travelled to Long Beach to join over 2600 science educators at the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) Regional Conference in conjunction with the California Science Teachers Association (CSTA) California Science Conference, December 4th through the 6th.

The focus of the conference centered upon the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards and the general shift from content-driven curriculum to a process based, outcome based science curriculum.

The conference included opportunities to attend 25 field courses, 53 short courses and over 300 workshops. Workshops focused on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Science 36

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Technology Engineering and Math (STEM), Technology, Student Assessment, Science Literacy and Classroom Pedagogy.

Anthony Fernandes, Kjersti Holyfield and Brian Miller combined their collective knowledge and experience to present three workshops over the three day conference. At the first session Thursday morning, Anthony and Brian presented an encore performance of their very successful workshop from the last two CSTA conferences, “Roadmap to Stoichimetry.” This workshop focused on using manipulative and formula models to guide students through the process of stoichiometric conversions for chemistry. More than 75 teachers attended this workshop.

On Friday, Kjersti and Brian presented a morning presentation to over 70 science educators on the value of creating a “Wellness Thread in High School Anatomy.” Holyfield and Miller

shared their curriculum encouraging students to focus on wellness vs. health care and to be proactive in their approach to health.

Saturday morning the three colleagues presented “TEDitorial: Increasing Literacy in Science.” More than 80 teachers were in attendance for this final presentation of the conference. All three teachers have incorporated the videos from TED (Technology Education and Design, www.ted.com ) as a means of creating TEDitorial assignments to improve student literacy and writing in science.

More than 220 science educators attended the three workshops presented by the three La Salle educators. Many of the educators chose to follow Fernandes and Miller throughout the conference attending all three workshops. One chemistry teacher arrived 30 minutes early for the “Stoichiometry” workshop claiming she was unable to see the presentation in Palm Springs the year before as the room was overcrowded.

Chija, Brian and Anthony have been actively involved in a learning portal online called Socratic.Org where students and teachers can pose questions and post answers to create an online learning community. Socratic hosted a booth in the conference center and Brian and Anthony spent time both Thursday and Friday assisting the team from Socratic in spreading the word about this relatively new educational opportunity.

“The energy I get from sharing this type of knowledge and experience with fellow educators is invaluable. I learn just as much from those who attend the workshops as these educators get from me,” Miller states in regards to why he enjoys these opportunities to participate in the NSTA/ CSTA conference as a presenter.

Fernandes added, “The experience of presenting to fellow colleagues from other schools is invigorating and affirming. We are able to impact students well beyond our own classroom.”

“As a relatively new teacher, CSTA creates an inspiring and empowering experience that motivates me to alter my pedagogy to improve student learning in my classroom, “ Holyfield concluded as she attended her third CSTA conference.

is Lasallian Educator of the Year

Mr. Ed O’Connor received the Distinguished Lasallian Educator Award from Mr. Charlie Legendre, Director of Office of Education. Also pictured, Mr. Gery Short, Director Office of Education DLSI and Ms. Maggie McCary, Executive Director.

E

d O’Connor P’16,’17, Director of Student Life, was selected as Distinguished Lasallian Educator of the Year by the Christian Brothers District of San Francisco/New Orleans. Ed, in his 20th year at La Salle, received the award at the Huether Conference in Chicago in December.

Ed earned a master’s degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University, Chicago and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of San Francisco.

Along with his work at La Salle, Ed has helped guide the development of the District’s annual summer Lasallian Student Leadership program since its inception in 2004. He also serves as a support and mentor to those involved in campus ministry, student life, and student leadership programs in schools across the District.

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FACULTY UPDATE

Wedding Daze L

a Salle’s Dean of Students, Brandon Birr ’03 and Zuleika Gallo tied the knot on June 28, 2014 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Chino, CA. Bishop Alexander Salazar, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, married the happy couple. Deacon Steve Marsh P’11,’15 assisted the Bishop. Lancer alums: Christina Miller ’03, Brian Miller ’79, Tina Bonacci ’94 and faculty members, Pat Bonacci, Richard Gray, Michelle Grima, Jenne’ Hakanen, Paula Moore, Ed O’Connor, Jennifer Veling, and Harold Pleitez were in attendance. Trustee, Ryan Resurreccion, former faculty member and classmate at St. Mary’s College, was Brandon’s Best Man.

O

n July 26, 2014, Monique Gougeon ’03, one of La Salle’s consummate religion teachers and coordinator of liturgies and prayer services, married Merritt Kirchoffer at Saint Philip the Apostle Parish in Pasadena. Merritt, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, graduated from Vanderbilt University and works in the insurance field. Monique is a 2007 graduate of Saint Mary’s College of California. The couple celebrated with family and friends at a reception at La Salle High School. Kristen Schultz-Wray ’98 ensured the day was perfect as their wedding planner. Faculty member, Billy Williams, was the master of ceremonies. Brother James Joost, FSC served as a lector, and Board of Trustee member, Ryan Resurreccion, served as an acolyte in the wedding Mass. Tina Bonacci ’94, Cliff Wang ’03, Natalie Calderon ’03, Francesca Labordo ’03, Erin Wiley ’03, Rebecca (Risinger) Musgrove ’03, Jonathan Musgrove ’03, Chris Ring ’01, Teresa Ring ’03, Melissa Landa ’05, and Monique’s sister, Noelle Gougeon-Gonzales ’05 were some of the alumni in attendance. Monique and Merritt currently reside in Pasadena.

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Lancer Baseball Tourney Benefits CHLA D

uring this past President’s weekend in February, La Salle High School hosted its first “ALL IN” baseball tournament to help benefit Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. 24 high school teams participated during the 3 day weekend using Monrovia, Pasadena, Bosco Tech, and La Salle’s home fields as sites for the games.

On Monday March 16, student representatives from some of the participating high schools drove to CHLA to deliver over $9,000 to the hospital and take a short tour of the facilities. La Salle’s coach Harry Agajanian says he feels confident that adding to this year’s schools and sponsors, next year’s fundraising can gain momentum with more community knowledge and participation.

Attendees represented: Brett Harper, Cameron Henderson, Ruben Martinez, Alex Stamos, Daniel Saldivar (La Salle HS), Frankie Garriola, Nio Lopez, Sumner Smith (Pasadena HS), Brent Hirokawa (Bosco Tech), Daniel Alvarez, Alex Gonzalez (California HS), Spenser Rouse, Matt McGeach, Nick Monares, Austin Salvador

(Loyola HS), Michael Luna (Arcadia HS), Jonathan Ramos (Hoover HS), Chandler Robbins (Burbank HS), Chris Clarke (Newbury Park HS), David Barta (Village Christian HS), Josh Speakes (Temple City HS). Attending Coaches: Harry Agajanian, Ernesto Martin, John Valerio (La Salle HS), Mike Parisi, Chris Rucker (Pasadena HS), Mike Cordero (Loyola HS).

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LANCERS RETURN TO T

he Alumni Office and College Counseling Office partnered to bring Career Day back to the School for the sophomore class. Eighteen alums were back on campus in March sharing their career paths and insights with the “wise fools” during Mentor class. Tim Rasmussen, La Salle’s Athletic Trainer, also made a career presentation. If you are interested in participating in a future Career Day contact the Alumni Office at alumni@lasallehs.org or 626.696.4362.

By Kristin Donahue P’14

JENNIFER (BALLANTYNE) FREEMAN ’00 is the Director of Customer Care & Nutritional Science and a Registered Veterinarian Technologist for Natural Balance Pet Foods. Jennifer attended Cal Poly Pomona where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Animal Science and Nutrition.

MICHAEL MCNAMARA ’96

is the Owner of ShootingLA. ShootingLA is a full service real estate marketing company offering photography, video tours, floor plans, graphic design and more.

LAUREN ORTEGA JOHNSTON ’99 is a Registered Nurse and has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Lauren attended Cal State LA and is a Neonatal ICU Nurse at Queen of the Valley Hospital.

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JEFF ALLEN ’84 is the Chief Financial Officer at the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Jeff works with volunteer leaders to ensure that the Rose Parade, Rose Bowl Game and other events throughout the year come off without a hitch. Jeff is a graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara with a Bachelor’s degree in economics. He started his accounting career 24 years ago with Coopers and Lybrand and has worked in both the public and private sectors.

TOM BADZEY ’90 is a Clinical Psychologist and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. A former English and World Religions teacher at La Salle from 1994 to 1998, Tom had a successful career as a marketing writer for several health and beauty companies before returning to school. He has a private therapy practice in Pasadena.

ENLIGHTEN THE SOPHOMORES

DAVID RODRIGUEZ ’89 is the Vice HENRY E. ORREN ’98 is the Associate AIMEE CLARK LAMBERT, ESQUIRE ’00 is a Medical Malpractice and Products Liability Defense Attorney. Aimee attended Arizona State University and received her law degree from California Western School of Law.

General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) at The Yucaipa Companies, an LA-based private equity and investment firm. Before joining Yucaipa in 2012, Henry practiced law with Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, finance, and securities matters. Henry’s undergraduate and law degrees are from UC Berkeley.

President of Worldwide Distribution at Paramount Pictures. David has 15 years in the entertainment industry, focused on feature post production and domestic distribution.

MOSEY (NUCCIO) DUNN ’02 is a Physician who attended Notre Dame University for her undergraduate degree and Keck School of Medicine at USC for medical school. She is an ER physician at Huntington Memorial Hospital.

JOHNATHAN REID ’95 is the CEO/Founder of Seventh Tribe Productions. “J.R” is a Director and Cinematographer based in the Los Angeles area. He has been specializing in live events and digital productions for over 10 years. He currently works with such networks as NBC, Fox, Paramount, MTV, TV Guide Channel, Telemundo and Axs TV. He currently consults as Director of Production at Admark Group, a strategic advertising and marketing firm.

JUAN OSSA ’82, P’10,’12 has spent his entire career in information technology/software development; he currently works for Shamrock Supply and resides in Claremont.

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EMILY CHENG ’03 is a designer at Gensler

RAFAEL MIRASOL ’80, P’17,’18 LIEUTENANT LEROY CISNEROS ’89 is a Police Officer and Detective. He graduated from Cal State LA in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and joined the Culver City Police Department in 1997. Leroy was ordered to Emergency Federal Active Duty on September 11, 2001, following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC. He served three deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan and is a Major in the US Army Reserve. Leroy was honored with the Brother Celestine Distinguished Alumni Award for his outstanding service to our country.

is a Sales Representative for Purdue Pharma LP, a privately held pharmaceutical company founded by physicians more than 60 years ago.

Architects. Gensler is widely recognized as the world’s leading collaborative design firm specializing in architecture, brand design, consulting, interior design, planning and urban design, product design and sustainability.

DAVID SMITH ’86 is a Physical Therapist working at Rehabilitation Alliance. He is a graduate of Loma Linda University and lives in Rancho Cucamonga.

TIM VALDIVIA ’02 is an Assistant Electrical Engineer for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a consortium of 26 cities and water districts that provides drinking water to nearly 19 million people in parts of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

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PETE BADZEY ’84 holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering with a Physics Minor from Cal Poly Pomona and a Master’s degree in System Engineering from USC. He currently works for the Northrop Grumman Corporation on the James Webb Space Telescope satellite program. His past projects include the C17 airlifter, the International Space Station and the Delta IV rocket.

LINDSAY VAN LEEUWEN GORDON ’04 is a Senior Account Executive at Nordstrom.

Lindsay attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising.

Alumni News, Weddings & Births

Staying

Connected

1965

Larry Callaghan is a retired litigation attorney and resides in Oakland with his wife Sheila. They have two grown daughters and enjoy spending their time with their grandson Brayden and preparing for their younger daughter’s wedding.

Wayne Avjian ’77 and Scott Rettig ’74 enjoyed

1977

Mark Rettig, Mike Marlatt ’75,

Michelle (Inman) Bottoni graduated from Grand Canyon University on October 25, 2014 with a Master of Arts in Teaching with an emphasis in Professional Learning Communities. Michelle is currently teaching science and social studies, coaches the cross country team, and is the department chairperson of the special education department at Oceanview Junior High School in Oxnard.

Chris Miller is a commercial sales rep for Chicago Title, a commercial real estate and title insurance company based in Newport Beach.

Richard Tres retired in June 2014 after 34 years of teaching at Justin-Siena High School in Napa.

David Beringer has started his own solely-owned CPA firm, The Beringer Group, in Pasadena. David has three children, Daniel ’11, Solina ’14 and Travis ’18.

1997

1999

1970 1975

since graduating from college. Kevin has been married for 13 years to his wife Renata. The have three children; Dylan (12), Max (7) and Molly (1). They live in Monrovia.

the Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day in Pasadena.

1980

On December 6, 2014 the Class of 1980 had a holiday party at Paul Daza’s California home. The party lasted late into the evening. Those in attendance included: Rafael Mirasol, Richard Ayala, Dave Ebert, Kris Mohandie, Mike Lofy, Tony Messineo, Eric Nobriga, Jim LeVeque, Mark Ruelas, Larry Albinski, Tom Roach, and Paul Daza.

1996

Kevin Towner ’96 was recently promoted to Senior Brewmaster at AnheuserBusch in Los Angeles, maker of Budweiser. He has worked for Anheuser-Busch for 14 years

2003

Laraine Hsu is a realtor with McGuire Real Estate’s flagship Marina office in San Francisco.

2005

Monet Hurst-Mendoza has been selected as one of 15 female theatre artists to participate in a two-year residency for women playwrights, directors and producers at the renowned Women’s Project Theater. The Lab is selected through a highly competitive process, and provides its members with a vital professional network, entrepreneurial and leadership training, rehearsal space, and most significantly, tangible opportunities for the development and production of bold new work for the stage. The Lab has two main goals: to cultivate the work of women theater artists and to give them the tools they need to succeed in the business.

SPRING SHOWCASE ALUMS ESTABLISH NORTH-SOUTH ARTS SCHOLARSHIP

Tim Manning ’68, John Blackstock ’67, Jack Belcher ’67, Mike Hartfield ’67, Dennis Haupt ’69, Greg Ladesich ’68, Duffy Dignam ’68 and Bill Martin ’68.

Not pictured, Randy Piquette ’68.

During a spring meeting at Bill Martin’s ‘68 family ranch and Duffy Dignam’s ‘68 neighboring ranch in Porterville, CA. a group of Alumni, met to help plan the Decade of the 60s Reunion at La Salle. During their serious, yet hilarious confab they established a scholarship fund for a talented student in the 4-year arts program. Since it was a meeting of Spring Showcase alums from La Salle, Alverno High School and former St. Andrews High School from various states on the west coast they christened the scholarship the NorthSouth Arts Scholarship. More meetings at the ranch are planned for the future. Obviously they are hoping for Alums to contribute to this fund, specially Spring Showcase Alums. If Interested, please contact Alumni Director Kristen Schultz at kschutklz@lasallehs.org.

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Emily (Cairns) Roffe-Silvester, her husband

Engagements

Weddings

Michael Ickes ’06 and Katelin Murray are pleased to announce their engagement which took place on October 18, 2014. Katelin is currently attending The Prestigious Gemological Institute of America and Michael is currently the chief financial officer of a private equity firm in Westlake Village.

Jennifer Horn ’00 married Robin Raffard on August 30, 2014 at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, California.

Jenn and Robin live in Belmont, California and both work in Silicon Valley. Robin is from Fontainebleau, France and he is very patiently helping Jenn learn French.

Megan McClellan ’06 and Jacob Swan became Henry and their two dogs have relocated from England to Ballarat, Australia (near Melbourne).

They have both taken jobs at Clarendon College and are enjoying a slightly sunnier life from the cold and rainy UK. She invites any alumni living or visiting down under to get in touch!

2009

Angela Arunarsirakul is a VIA service fellow (formerly known as Volunteers in Asia) at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia where she teaches 3rd semester students at the vocational school. VIA offers posts throughout several countries in Asia for college graduates to commit a year of service. Approximately 30 fellows are placed each year in teaching or NGO positions.

engaged on December 27, 2014 in Dana Point.

Samantha Whitehead ’11 and Christopher Collar were engaged on December 27, 2014 at the Wisconsin All Academies Military Ball.

Births & Adoptions Steven Talbot ’95 and Kathleen (Polenzani) Tal-

2014

Caroline Knop was named to the Big Ten All Freshmen Team as a member of the University of Michigan women’s volleyball team.

Their wedding date is set for June 13, 2015 in Pasadena after her graduation from St. John’s University and his from West Point U.S. Military Academy, both in New York.

bot ’97 were overjoyed to have Jackson Homer Talbot join their family on October 10, 2014 at 2:26am. Jackson weighed 4lbs., 6oz. and was 17 in. long. He is a little guy but is healthy and strong.

MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2000

Members of the Class of 2000 had a minireunion over the holidays. Those in attendance included: Scott Tomkins, Sam Lamb, Joe Reid, Charlie Hoherd, Matt Alden, Jeff Rodriguez, Ashley (Godwin) Muro, Ken Watson, Kelly (O’Connor) Watson, Mario Foresta, Dakar Staggs, Erin (Fullinwider) Alex, and Courtney (Medeiros) Randick.

The gathering included spouses and kids - 14 so far with more on the way!

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Kristen (Schultz) Wray ’98 and her husband Andy welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Allie Kensington Wray, on January 23, 2015 at 2:57am. Allie weighed 6lbs., 9oz. and was 20in. long. Kristen is in her 12th year as the Director of Alumni Relations at La Salle and Andy is the owner of ACE Commercial Laundry Equipment in Westminster.

Rick Reed ’00 and Jessica (Berry) Reed ’00 welcomed their second son, Parker Thomas Reed, on November 5, 2014 weighing 8lbs., 5oz. and 19in. long. Jessica is the executive assistant to the Chief Medical Officer at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena and Rick is an on-premise specialist for Young’s Market Company based in Los Angeles. They recently purchased a new home in La Verne. Parker’s big brother Mason is now 2 years old.

Carl Weideman ’00 and Lindsay (Bistany) Weideman ’04 welcomed their son, Finn Wake Weideman, into the world at Arcadia Methodist Hospital on November 18 at 4am, weighing 9 lbs., 11 oz. The proud parents are absolutely smitten with the newest member of their family.

Kristy (Gigliobianco) Chico ’03 and her husband Greg announce the birth of their daughter Emma Rose Chico, on October 16, 2014, weighing 6 lbs., 10 oz. and 17 in. long. Kristy and Greg have been married five years and feel very blessed. Kristy is a Labor & Delivery Nurse at Methodist Hospital. Their daughter Sophia Bella is now three years old and loves being Emma’s big sister.

Nick Forillo ’03 and Danielle (Gallagher) Forillo ’03 are proud to announce the birth of their son Andrew Joseph who was born on January 29, 2014. He weighed 7 lbs., 14 oz. and was 20½ in. long. Andrew just celebrated his first birthday with family and friends.

Monique Silva-Jimenez ’03 and her husband, Anthony, welcomed their son, Xavier Anthony, on September 5, 2013, in Pasadena.

The family gathered together to celebrate his second birthday last fall.

ton Hospital on November 25, 2014 weighing 8lbs., 6.4 oz. and 21 in. long.

Ashley Aloi Poulos ’04

and her husband Paul are happy to share the news of the birth of their son, Landon John Poulos. Landon was born on December 23rd, weighing 8 lbs. and 19.25 in. long.

Troy Whitehead ’07 and his wife Shannon, welcomed their daughter, Molly Jayne, on February 9, 2014 in Arizona. The family gathered together to celebrate her first birthday earlier this year.

Kaitlyn (Tripoli) Clark ’09

and her husband Robert are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Peyton Mae Clark, who was born on October 24, 2014 at the Naval Medical Center San Diego weighing 8 lbs., 1 oz. and 20.5 in long.

Thomas Mendez ’04 and his wife Wendy welcomed their son, Maximus Oakley Mendez, at Hunting-

CLASS OF 2014 CELEBRATES “SLAPSGIVING”

The members of the Class of 2014 met over winter break to celebrate the 2nd Annual “Slapsgiving,” a potluck Thanksgiving dinner that they “slap” together since not everyone goes home for Thanksgiving. They hope to keep the tradition for many years to come and are thankful to have found each other in the Lasallian Community! Those in attendance included: Matthew Rolan, Calvin Lee, George Situ, Carina Henry, Abigail Pearman, Yurika Watanabe, Aly Zhang, and Andrew Ting.

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SIBLINGS HAVE A GOOD GRIPP ON THE FUTURE ERIN GRIPP ’06 received her Masters in Engineering from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. For the past four years, she has been a consultant with Deloitte Consulting. While at Deloitte she took 25 consultants to Panama in April 2013 to provide long-term growth strategies to local Panamanian enterprises. Her next consulting job will take her to Manila. Before beginning consulting work, Erin volunteered in Ecuador at the Jesuit run “Working Boys Center,” to help eliminate poverty among working boys and their families. For pleasure and work, Erin has toured Europe, and travelled to Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

BRENDAN GRIPP ’08 has gained much experience working for

four new start-up companies in the past two years, with the most recent being “I Love to Review. Com.” His job consists of working with domestic and international vendors to increase their sales on Amazon. In his free time, Brendan loves deep sea fishing, golfing, and hiking. He continues his love of baseball through umpiring and mentoring little league players, and plays in most of the La Salle Alumni games.

HAYLEY GRIPP ’11 has pursued her dream of acting, modeling and making a difference in other people’s lives since graduation.

She has modeled in national print ads for “Verizon Wireless”, “As Seen On TV” and walked the runway for both LAFW and NYFW. As an actress, Hayley has shot multiple commercials, been a celebrity taste tester on “Cupcake Wars,” and landed prominent roles on “CSI: Las Vegas”, “Hollywood Hillbillies”, and the Lifetime Original Series “Killer Kids.” When not on set, Hayley empowers students across the country through her anti-bullying campaign “Being Nice Is Cool” and her Tourette’s Syndrome Ambassador work.

She has spoken to over 40,000 students, played a prominent role in getting the “I.D. E. A. Act” passed in Washington DC and was appointed a young adult board member for the Tourette Syndrome Association.

ALUMS WET & WILD

Ellie Hoffman ’12 and Marisol Dakan ’14 clashed in a Division 1 water polo game played at Harvard this winter. Ellie plays for Marist University and Marisol plays for Brown University. The Red Foxes of Marist were victorious, but the women were happy to see each other. Ellie was red-shirted last season due to a hip injury, but appeared in 36 of Marist’s 37 games as a freshman and for all of the Red Foxes’ games this season. At La Salle she was named All-League, All-CIF and an All-American. Marist is ranked nationally in the top 20 in the NCAA.

Marisol, with at least five games still to play at press time, the Brown Bear’s freshman goalie has set Brown’s single-season saves record with 346 saves thus far in 2015.

She eclipsed the previous record of 296 saves set in 2012. Last year Marisol won a gold medal and earned Tournament MVP honors with Rose Bowl water polo club team at the 2014 Junior Olympics. She was a three-time First Team All-League selection at La Salle. Brown is ranked 4th in the Collegiate Water Polo Association.

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BROTHER TIMOTHY’S LIMITED 2010 CABERNET SAUVIGNON AVAILABLE NOW A

very limited supply of Brother Timothy Mont La Salle Vineyard 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon is available exclusively for the La Salle community. Only 10 barrels of Brother Timothy’s wine are produced each year and sold to benefit the education of students in Lasallian schools who are living below the poverty line. This wine was created under the highest quality standards and is available exclusively for this sole purpose. Ten cases of this specially vinted and rare wine have been made available to the La Salle community to fund the San Miguel scholarships. This Cabernet Sauvignon is available at a price of $75 a bottle or $800 a case.

Brother Timothy Mont La Salle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a complex and harmonious blend of reservequality wine in a unique special edition collector’s bottle. This highly desired wine is crafted

by The Hess Collection Winery from a tiny, single vineyard on the Mont La Salle Vineyard estate. The grapes are grown at the site of the original Christian Brothers winery where the late Brother Timothy worked as cellar master for more than 50 years.

This Cabernet Sauvignon, created in honor of Brother Timothy, is truly “a message in a bottle” - a message of hope for Lasallian disadvantaged youth. Such efforts are part of the Christian Brothers’ 300 year tradition of offering education that is both loving and practical.

Please keep in mind that the wine has been donated by the vineyard, so 100% of the proceeds go directly into the La Salle High School San Miguel Student Scholarship Fund. Contact Tara Milton in the Institutional Advancement Office at 626.696.4381 or tmilton@lasallehs.org to make your much appreciated and important purchase.

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THE LAST WORD

POWERFUL POET’S WORDS

By John Blackstock ’67

T

he Blakeslee Library, under the direction of Librarian, Delia Swanner, has sponsored monthly “Café Bibliotech” afternoons for years. During one such event this spring, writer and poet Jacqueline Suskind returned to write poetry on demand for our students.

In the fall of 2013, Ms. Jane Osick’s English classes, were treated to a visit from Jacqueline Suskin, who had created a new twist on an ancient art: poetry as performance art. As she does in public spaces, such as farmers’ markets and shopping malls, Jacqueline brings poetry into the modern day. In that session she very cleverly, if perhaps, unintentionally, tied-in the Space Shuttle Discovery to her poem about the Challenger disaster (…this universe will be recalled to add weight to discovery). In this session, she magically tied-in the word precious for junior Precious Lacy. (…our one precious gift that builds upon itself…). How did she know?

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After banging away on her “antique” manual typewriter and using index-card-sized slips of recycled paper to produce her poems, she again impressed the students with the speed of her compositions: under two minutes. Jacqueline would then read her poem aloud, a practice she believe is key to the full appreciation of her work. Each reading was met by genuine applause and astonishment that something so moving could be created in so short a time.

Note: Jacqueline Suskin operates The Poem Store (yoursubjectyourprice.com) and is the author of The Collected (2010), a series of poems written in honor of found photographs and Go Ahead & Like It, (2015) a book of poems, illustrations, photographs, lists and observations.

The Pleasure of Giving in Saint La Salle’s Name

G

eorgette and Don Mareina have been associated with La Salle since 1997. A Lancer Classic Golf Tournament “fixture,” Don can almost always be seen on the links at the tournament. “It’s such a great day, I love being here with my son-in-law and all the great La Salle parents and alums,” he says. So, it is no surprise that Don and Georgette named La Salle as a benefactor in their will. Georgette and Don believe that it is an easy way to leave a legacy to the School by including La Salle in their estate plans. “La Salle was so great to our granddaughter, Amanda, who graduated in 2002. We have truly loved our relationship with the School and we feel confident about their stewardship of our donations.” The Mareina Dance Studio was a naming gift and the art studios and La Salle’s Chapel of the Martyrs of Turon have received generous gifts from Don and Georgette. “It’s a pleasure to give in the name of Saint La Salle,” they said.

“I have been going to Mass since I was five years old, when I could first walk to church,” Don recalls. “My wife

became Catholic in her teens. We’re strong in our faith, but we know we can’t do everything, so it’s important for us that our gifts be effectively used.” Care for others is a Mareina family tradition.

They truly are examples of a great Lasallian family.

A legacy gift can be created from your estate through a gift of cash, stocks and securities, an annuity, a trust, or a life insurance policy. It is important to remember that such vehicles for giving, as well as the associated tax benefits, can change from time to time. Thus, we encourage you consult your legal and financial advisors to garner their professional advice about what would be best suited to the needs of you and your loved ones before deciding upon your means of giving.

La Salle High School

3880 East Sierra Madre Boulevard Pasadena, CA 91107-1996 www.lasallehs.org Address Service Requested

Transforming Lives Since 1680

23 Annual rd

Lancer Golf Classic & Banquet MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2015 GLENDORA COUNTRY CLUB 310 South Amelia Ave. Glendora, CA 91741 Four-Person Scramble

|

11:00am Shotgun Start

ALL PLAY PACKAGE INCLUDES:

Green fee and cart, practice range balls, bag tag, lunch on the course, foursome picture, buffet dinner, complimentary beverages and special La Salle gift.

CONTESTS ~ CONTESTS ~ CONTESTS Callaway Scoring System All Levels Welcome All proceeds benefit La Salle High School’s academic, arts, athletic and financial aid programs.

ONLINE REGISTRATION WILL BEGIN MID AUGUST

For information, please contact: Tara Milton at 626.696.4381 or email at tmilton@lasallehs.org