Priorities #32: Winter 2005

PRI RITIES A Magazine of Woodside Priory School

November 2005

Experience the

ENERGY! Athletics, school accreditation and B-E-NET are taking off.

Celebrating 48 Years of Benedictine Education

Woodside Priory School Celebrating 47 Years of Benedictine Education In This Issue WPS continues to produce top scholars who attend the most competitive colleges and universities. Equally important, students at the lower end of the class are well prepared and accepted at very good colleges, too. This and other news in Headmaster’s Letter, page 3.

Fall at a Glance, Page 4-5

WPS accreditation, Page 6-7

A bountiful community garden, a Panonhalma visit, Katrina fundraiser, and Special Olympics day are among the happenings covered in Fall At A Glance, pages 4-5.

School accreditation lets the world know whether a campus’s claims are substantiated in fact. At the same time, it provides a continuous planning process focused on needs that each school defines for itself. Brother Edward Englund leads the Priory community through the preparation of its upcoming accreditation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, pages 6-7.

Bill Roberts’s skills in global real estate management are key to his work as a member of the WPS Board of Trustees. He is a crucial member of the Performing Arts Center design team. As a parent with a son who is active in performing arts, he has both a business and a user’s view of the project.

See Trustee Profile, page 8.

Alumni News, Pages 13-16

The Trinity Project, Pages 17-18

Benedictine educators from around the world gathered recently at Delbarton School and St. Mary’s Abbey for their third international conference. Interestingly, WPS’s founding monk, Father Egon, found his first home in the United States at this same place! WPS sent several representatives to this important conference, which is reported on pages 14-15.

Athletes from every decade are included in the first-ever Sports Hall of Fame this fall. The stories of their high school years, and the years that follow, were shared at a Nov. 11 ceremony. See if you recognize them from their high school photos! Story on page 16.

Pat is still playing soccer, the Class of ’85 has four new babies, Geoff and Brooke are making music news, Laura is a chef at a tres upscale eatery, Susie is in Hungary, and lots of people are headed back to graduate school. That and more in Alumni News and Notes, pages 13-17 Devin Coats, Class of 2001 and Molly Dellheim, Class of 2008, give their views of the Trinity Project. The Priory hopes to conclude fundraising and build a new performing arts auditorium and classrooms, an expanded library/media center and a new student center by the school’s Golden Jubilee anniversary in 2007.

On the cover: Athletics are a big part of Priory life and always have been. We celebrate four

decades of great athletes with our first Sports Hall of Fame. The youngest, Cassie Perret (2002) is earning national recognition on the Santa Clara University Broncos womens volleyball team.

Board of Directors Abbott Matthew Leavy, OSB Father Mark Cooper, OSB Brother Edward Englund, OSB Father Martin Mager, OSB Father William Sullivan, OSB Board of Trustees Mr. Dave Arnold Dr. Kristin Brew Mr. Tim Cain Mr. Peter Campagna Mr. Wayne Davison Ms. Betsy Haehl Mrs. Susan Hafleigh Mrs. Dotty Hayes Father Eric Hollas, OSB Mr. Craig Johnson Mrs. Ginny Kavanaugh Mrs. Steven Krausz Father Maurus Nemeth, OSB Ms. Janiece Bacon Oblak Mr. Dale Pfau* Mr. Hank Plain Mrs. Patti Plummer Mr. Bill Roberts Ms. Alicia Rodriguez Mr. Ray Rothrock Mrs. Kari Rust Mr. Bob Simon Mr. Mark Wilson Ms. Andrea Zulberti * Special Representative

Priorities magazine is published in November, April and July by Woodside Priory School for its alumnim, parents, students, neighbors and friends. An Annual Report is published separately in January. Contact the Communications Office at 650-851-6193 or the school at 650-851-8221.

Editor: Carolyn Dobervich Contributing Editor: Devin Coats Design/Production: Jim Kirkland, Copperline Multimedia Photos: Carolyn Dobervich, Jennifer Hammer, Father Martin Mager, Jim Kirkland, Kelly Sargent Chapel Services Masses at 7:15 a.m. Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m. Sunday 11:00 a.m. Sunday Hungarian service 8 p.m. third Friday (Taize) ecumenical service All are welcome.

From the Headmaster

T

he student body theme for the year is “All Things Just Keep Getting’ Better” and that optimistic assessment seems to be true so far. Our campus is a busy place: • We have reached a juncture in the Golden Jubilee Campaign and we need to make things happen NOW! The “Now” refers to moving forward with the Trinity Project—the capital phase of the Campaign. This three-part project begins with a new all-school auditorium (the“Performing Arts Center”) and new classrooms. Once this leg is underway, it will open up space for a renovated and integrated Library and Technology /Media Center and new Student Center in the upper campus. We have some critical decisions to make this month concerning the funding and timing of this project, and everyone in our community will be receiving further information soon in the mail. I hope that once groundbreaking occurs, everyone will join in supporting this milestone in the Priory’s history. If you are interested in more information now, please call me at 650-851-8221.

• Our accreditation self-study shows a school that has come a long ways in the past six years and is in sound condition in all important respects. Obviously, we can’t stand still. One point of these studies is to focus on areas that need attention, and we will do that. (See the article, page 6).

• Students’ volunteerism is now rooted in their course work. Students volunteer in work that is directly related to the theology or social studies class they are taking. This “service learning” approach gives teachers a better chance to prepare students and debrief after. The graduation requirement for an additional 10 hours per year of independent volunteer service, plus participation in a class project, is just the beginning for many students.

• A new Academic Resource Center fills an important niche. All students can turn to the center for help in bolstering academic performance. Mrs. Sandy Martignetti, who heads the center, also takes the lead in coordinating support for students with learning differences, which is her area of expertise.

• Summer Grants again made it possible for teachers independently to pursue training that makes a difference in their classrooms.

About half of our teachers took advantage of this offer. One offshoot is growing use of “digital whiteboards” that make it possible for students to view a lecture and notes online after class—a terrific resource in learning complex subjects such as advanced math.

The WPS annual report will be published as a separate document and mailed in January.

It is important in a highly academic school to keep in perspective our outcomes not just for top scholars but for students in the academic middle and bottom of the class. We believe strongly in preparing students for their individual futures as determined by who they are and who they want to become. It was reassuring to me in reviewing the data in our school accreditation report to see that students at the academic low end of our last three graduating classes in fact had GPAs in the “solid C or better” range, and they matriculated to very good colleges. Universities of Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii, San Francisco, Willamette, and St. Mary’s are examples. Their high school experiences hopefully also gave them the personal strengths and self-awareness that will carry them to successful and satisfying adult lives. That’s our goal for every student we graduate, and we evaluate our program to that standard.

I wish you time to enjoy the remaining weeks of autumn and a happy holiday season ahead.

The school’s Annual Report, which in the past has been included in this fall issue of Priorities, will be published as a separate document in January, and you will receive your next Priorities Magazine in the spring.

Sincerely

Tim Molak, Headmaster

3

Fall at a Glance

Community Garden Is Growing Teacher Shahar Link and young resident Henry Wise don’t usually work alone—a bumper crop of on-campus residents have been sharing the job of preparing the community garden beds for winter planting. Some 94 people live on the campus—faculty and staff, their families, resident students, and monks. When employees live on campus, they agree to make an extra effort to build the school community and promote Benedictine values. Having a campus that is also “home” makes a big difference in the quality of school life.

4

Father Maurus Blesses the Pets Some 30 four-footed, scaled or furry creatures gathered on the Priory’s front lawn early on the morning of Oct. 4 for a blessing by Father Maurus, an annual event to celebrate St. Francis of Assisi’s Feast Day. Horses, chickens, snakes, and various tiny creatures hiding in sweatshirt pockets have been among the guests in past years; this year the most unusual pet was probably the little Golden Dragon lizard in a small plastic cage.

First Roots, Then Wings A delegation from WPS visited Panonhalma Abbey in Hungary before traveling to the second International Benedictine Youth Congress in Germany (pictured above). The Priory representatives presented a framed letter of thanks, recognizing the Abbey’s importance as the home community of WPS’s founding monks.

Athletics Wins!

With two strong coaches, the Priory girls tennis team is making great strides, with both the team and the individual players improving their games in the past two years.

Athletics is still the most popular co-curricular activity at the Priory, with some 77 percent of high school students and 95 percent middle school students playing at least one competitive team sport.

WPS’s Third Year With Special Olympics Priory Middle School students were the hosts to some 200 children with special needs at a September 30 Special Olympics event held on the front playing field. WPS students planned the event, set up soccer training stations, and coached the young participants through the events, often celebrating successes with a cheer or a high-five.

Doughnuts Are Forever Students celebrated a very successful Hurricane Katrina fundraiser in traditional Priory fashion with doughnuts on Red Square. In this case, it was a doughnut-eating contest among the classes.

‘Local’ Resident Students—A GrowingTrend Anselm House is now home to resident girls and Benedict House to boys. New students Hope Marquardt and Kim Szabo, shown studying in Hope’s dorm room, are examples of a growing trend—students from Bay Area communities who choose to board for the educational benefits and often go home for the weekend.

5

Academics Who Are We? WPS Tells It All —In Thirteen Chapters The school accreditation process verifies that schools ‘are who they say they are’ and that they have a workable plan for the next few years.

F

or Brother Edward Englund, standing in front of about 30 volunteer parents, students, trustees and administrators on a Saturday morning in early October, this final meeting in the school accreditation process is far from new. He has been handling the demanding self-investigation for nearly a decade—and it is a never-ending process even when the accreditation is of the highest order.

To the volunteers, this is an exciting opportunity to delve into the nuts and bolts of the school they love. They are here to critique the Priory’s self-study, a 200-page, 12-chapter accreditation report and to propose direction for the 13th chapter—Action Plan for the Future.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC, pronounced wahsk) is probably the most highly regarded source of accreditation among private schools in the Western US. Their protocols—the set of questions that schools must answer—push schools to think about themselves in light of research on what makes a school strong institutionally and educationally.

In the next week, students will be dismissed at noon on Friday so that the entire faculty can repeat this process. Brother Edward and his team will collect all of the information, write the final chapter, and on Dec.1 will drop the finished product in the mail. In March, a five-member team of educators from other schools will spend a week on the campus, visiting every classroom, talking to lots of people, and issuing a set of “commendations and recommendations” with their recommendation for accreditation.

The highest possible is for six years, the rank WPS earned in 1999-2000.

Continuous Process “A good school is always changing, and this process allows us to do it in a systematic way towards goals we define for ourselves,” Brother Edward explains. Every Brother Edward Englund heads WPS’s accreditation self-study team—a job he knows well.

accreditation self-study starts where the last one left off, with an update of the last Chapter 13 action plan.

“WASC’s role is like the auditors’ in a corporation, or the professional association board’s in health care. They ask us to focus on three big questions: Who are you and what do you provide?

Where are you going? How do you plan to get there? They verify that we are who we say we are.

And they say whether we appear to have a plan that will work,” he said.

For a volunteer working through the accreditation process for the first time, the protocols can give one the sense of a perfectionist older relative going over a small child’s room with white glove, looking for dirt.

“How is technology acquired and replaced?”

“Analyze and describe the integration of religious truths across the curriculum.”

“Describe the ways in which the library’s collection and visual displays adequately reflect various ideological, cultural and racial experiences of men and women. What strengths and weaknesses are apparent?”

“For each department, evaluate its effectiveness in meeting its stated expectations for student learning.”

The protocols ask about conservation, emergency preparedness, health programs specially designed for student residents’ needs, the selection process for the Board of Trustees—everything. To go back to the small-child analogy, if there are Twinkies under the bed, the child who put them there had better point them out and be prepared to explain.

Strengths and Challenges The Priory’s Saturday morning volunteers broke into small groups to review specific features of the report, then came together for a summing-up.

Among the strengths various individuals cited:

• Consistent long-range planning begins at the board level and reaches through to faculty.

• Course offerings offer an appropriate range and depth, and they are clearly defined • The school is in a strong financial position.

• Diversity is valued and promoted in the student body and faculty.

• Teachers are academically excellent. They become good role models for their students as a result of relationships that form in frequent encounters in and out of class.

• Students have a variety of venues for getting involved outside of class and can initiate new courses and activities.

Citing something as a strength does not preclude making it a priority for further work. It is perfectly reasonable to set a goal, achieve it, and in the next accreditation study, to extend that goal further, Brother Edward explained.

In their discussions, the volunteers shared their individual experiences, and these become one source of information for the action plan, The students’ comments about freshman life are an example. Natasha, a junior, “loves the Priory now but I wanted to leave during freshman year because freshmen get absolutely no choices. It’s too hard to go a whole year without a class in something you love!” Chris, a freshman, said, “It’s really hard to feel a part of the high school because we take all of our classes (with other freshmen), and we eat with the Middle School.”

This group of students focused on a number of small changes in the freshman class that might be adding up to a different experience than school officials realized. Brother Edward’s committee will take information such as this and compare it with other input when they write the final draft. A self-study would not be likely to prescribe specific solutions, but might highlight such issues as the freshman experience.

Several Data Points Other data points that might generate action items include faculty knowledge of changes in their fields, information from colleges and universities

regarding admissions, reports on the status of facilities, and statistical reports on everything from student test scores to demographics. The Priory takes a pro-active stance to planning and favors well-documented reports.

At the second review session, the all-faculty meeting, Brother Edward emphasized that “This is the time to get everything out. If you see something in the report that concerns you, or DON’T see something you think we should be considering, let’s get it out there.”

It was late on a Friday afternoon, but teachers and administrators had no difficulty in coming up with issues large and small. This is a small sampling.

The protocols can give one the sense of a perfectionist older relative going over a small child’s room with a white glove.

• Communicate better the role of the Board of Trustees.

• Integrate the various calendars and activities more effectively.

• Increase racial and socio-economic diversity.

• Increase knowledge of technical tools and integrate it into the curriculum.

• Investigate homework loads with a goal of creating a reasonable load for all students.

The strengths they cited often recalled action items in the last Action Plan that have been successfully addressed. Here are a few: • Librarians can respond quickly to requests for materials.

• Visual and performing arts departments have grown immensely.

• Faculty is available to students individually.

• There are channels for student input to the school community.

• The school has a long-range plan addressing program and facilities needs.

The last comment of the day summed up the positive and focused approach of both the volunteer Saturday and the all-faculty meeting.“ We have a strong sense of who we are as a school, and that sense is clearly expressed.” someone stated. That sense of purpose leaves plenty of room for change under a familiar umbrella.

7

Trustee Profile Bill Roberts Brings Global Expertise To Priory Construction Projects

Schools: BS, Structural Engineering, Purdue University MBA, Northwestern University Lives in Burlingame, CA Profession: Global real estate manager at Hewlett-Packard Family: Gail (wife)—Cole (13) and Sarah (9) Trustee committee assignments: Executive, Real Estate (chair) and Committee on Trustees (composed of the chairs of all eight committees) Activities: cycling in Switzerland and the Bay area, hiking, backpacking, golf, woodworking

Meet new trustees Kari Rust, Mark Wilson, Patti Plummer, Henry (Hank) Plain, Jr. and Susan Hafleigh at www.woodsidepriory.com.

Click on ‘What’s New?” 8

Trustee Bill Roberts grew up with the smell of sawdust. His father was a talented woodworker, a skill he taught his son from a young age. Mr. Roberts—who is global real estate manager for Hewlett-Packard—to this day makes furniture, jewelry boxes, and other items, both small and large, whenever he has the chance. He says he values the opportunity to form an idea, design it, and turn the piece into a practical reality.

Everyone in his family joins in on the creative process. His son, Cole, who is an eighth-grader at the Priory, designs and builds all kinds of mechanical devices and vehicles with his father. Bill’s nine-year-old daughter, Sarah, loves art and drawing. His wife, Gail, also enjoys the building process, designing and overseeing both their kitchen and landscaping remodel projects.

Mr. Roberts’ woodworking interests are reflected on a larger scale in his professional life.

After studying structural engineering at Purdue, Bill pursued an MBA at Northwestern University.

His professional career blends the two, combining building design and implementation within a business environment. A particular challenge of working at Hewlett-Packard is “matching the right real estate strategy with different and changing business needs.”

At the Priory, Mr. Roberts faces a similar challenge with the Performing Arts Center—taking on a significant construction project within a school environment. Part of the attraction of the project, Bill says, is “the opportunity to work with highly qualified and creative people whose backgrounds and perspectives are very different” from those he normally encounters on a project. He brings a critical component to the Priory group—his expertise in managing a project of the magnitude of the Performing Arts Center.

Mr. Roberts’ understanding of how large projects get put together—acquiring the appropriate architects and builder, coming to a consensus within the neighborhood community, and seeing all done in the most cost-effective way possible—is turning an important educational goal into a reality.

The new Performing Arts Center auditorium and classrooms will make the Priory a more effective place for teaching and learning, Bill believes, offering a facility with professional amenities for a full range of study and performance. “The performing arts program at the Priory deserves a much better facility” than currently exist in the Assembly Hall, he says. He has observed first-hand; son Cole has taken parts in drama productions throughout Middle School.

Being a Priory trustee is a great opportunity to get involved, says Mr. Roberts. His work for the school is “very stimulating,” and he finds the mission and dedication of the Priory community appealing. Mr. Roberts says he was attracted to the Priory because it emphasizes a balance of rigorous academics, strong moral guidance, and social integration. He enjoys the commitment of the monks, faculty, and administration to a standard of excellence in all parts of a student’s life, he says. Students are truly grounded in a supportive community, an aspect of Priory life that Bill finds particularly important.

Besides woodworking, real estate management, and being a Trustee at the Priory, Mr. Roberts also enjoys cycling, hiking, backpacking, and an occasional round of golf.

—D. Coats

Alumni News & Notes Pat Dougherty, class of 1966– is going to Budapest with his San Diego Soccer Club to play in their second World Fun Cup. They played in New Zealand four years ago and came away with the Cup. This year, competitors will be coming from all of Europe. Pat expects this trip to call to mind his first visit in 1965 to Hungary and Pannonhalma Abbey, not too far from Budapest. (Panonhalma is the home Abbey of the monks that founded the Priory.) He says that when he steps on to the field in Budapest this summer, he will be thinking of the Benedictine Community that taught him the game of soccer, and in particular Fathers Christopher and Egon and the sport that made them approachable.

‘The game of soccer made Fathers Christopher and Egon approchable.”

Pat Dougherty

Kevin O’Grady and Vincent Siciliano, class of 1968– have remained good friends since their Priory days. Kevin lives in Newport Beach, CA, and Vincent near San Diego. Kevin’s daughter Lauren and Vincent’s son Michael have just graduated in the same class from the University of Southern California—both Phi Beta Kappa!

Classmates may remember that Kevin was class valedictorian and the first Priory student to win a National Merit scholarship, and Vincent was student body president.

Michael Spafford, class of 1974 – is Senior Geologist with the Chevron Corporation in San Ramon, CA. His daughter, Kaila, is on the varsity cheerleading squad at San Ramon Valley High School and his son, Miles, is JV soccer goalie at the same school.

Christopher Sharpe, class of 1985 – and his wife, Janine, announce the birth of a baby girl, Julia Evelyn Sharpe, born on July 31, 2005. Classmates Bryan Mason, Victor Zele, and Chris Blocker also welcomed new babies in July through September, Christopher said.

Brooke Appleblom: the only female DJ at KNGY Energy 92.7, recently debuted on-air with her own show.

Scott Stache, class of 1985– took advantage of a trip to Thailand to put together a mini-reunion with Tak Vieravan, class of 1984, Jose Pathmanand, class of 1986, and Poom Ostanada, class of 1985. Tak and Scott were roommates at the Priory and hadn’t met again for 21 years. Poom was at his class’s reunion last year and Joe hopes to be at the Class of 1986’s reunion next year.

Guy Cross, class of 1988– reports that after 10 great years with Oracle, he has recently accepted a position with Salesforce.com as Director of Alliances for Asia Pacific, based out of Singapore. He reports that he is still playing soccer in the equatorial heat and teaching the locals the finer points of Hungarian goal scoring. Guy’s wife, Erika Nelson, recently joined the tech world, too, with Red Hat Asia Pacific. Both recently got SCUBA certified and have been enjoying diving in nearby Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Tim Morgan, class of 1988– reports happily that he and his wife are the proud parents of triplets, born on the Fourth of July. Check out the family website at www.babyhomepages.net/morgan7/index.php.

Brian Martin, class of 1989– was married over the weekend of October 22, 2005 in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. Salvador Garcia-Atance, class of 1991– and his wife have a daughter, Olivia, born in June, 2004 and are expecting a second child, a boy. Salvador has a child care business with two sites in Madrid.

Thomas Hu, class of 1992– is living in Hong Kong and working as a stockbroker.

Saxon Amdahl, class of 1994– is working in the computer industry and resides in Los Gatos, CA. He travels often to Scotland on business.

9

A 20-year baby boom in the Class of 1985— the Chris Sharpe, Brian Mason, Victor Zele and Chris Blocker families all welcomed new babies born between July and Sept. 2005.

D. C. McEachern, class of 1994– is living in Denver, Colorado. He completed an MBA and a Masters in Real Estate and Construction Management from the University of Denver. He builds custom homes for private clients in the front range area (the area between Denver and the Rocky Mountains). He and fiance Catherine Williams have set the date for May, 2006. She is a cheerleader for the Denver Broncos and an electrical engineer; they met in class at graduate school, D.C. says.

Sean Butler, class of 1995 –married Sara Bleiweiss on August 6, 2005 in Leavenworth, Washington. The ceremony was performed at The Pond at Mountain Springs Lodge with a reception at the lodge.

Harry Chang, class of 1995 – attended DeAnza College and Devry University in the SF Bay Area, then relocated to China. He returned to Taiwan for two years for his compulsory military service. Upon his return to mainland China he taught arithmetic and English in ChaoQun Kindergarten. He is now in Guangzhou and considering further education Diana (Klob) Kincaid, class of 1995– and her husband, Chris are pleased to announce that Diana is expecting twins.

Brooke Appelblom, class of 1997– in addition to her day job as Customer Service Manager at a custom plastic injection molding company in Union City, she has a thriving avocation in the music world.. She has been a DJ (mixer) for the past 5 years, performing in clubs and radio stations all around San Francisco and in Florida, Mexico and Barcelona, Spain. For the past year she has been working for KNGY Energy 92.7, the Bay area’s only dance radio station, doing promotions and mixing. She says she is the only female DJ (mixer) at the radio station and recently had her first on-air debut as a radio personality hosting her own show.

Francis Byun and her fiance are among the many, many “Samsung couples” in Seoul.

Young Bae Lee, class of 1997– writes that he completed his military service in July 2004. He then moved to the Hundai Corporation to be in the Energy business, specifically Liquified Natural Gas. He just accepted a position with Shell Pacific Enterprises, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell and will be overseeing the Asia Pacific market. He was married on June 10 to Jie Hyeong, a third year law student at Tulane Law school in New Orleans. She returned to the US to finish her degree this fall, and she is currently at University of Texas, Austin (Tulane was closed because of Hurricane Katrina and has not yet reopened).

Max Lui, class of 1997– is working for Cathay Pacific Airways as part of their core management group. He currently is in Bahrain, working with business in Middle East, India and Africa. His job has him traveling often throughout the Middle East now, and he expects to be posted to a different part of the world next August, he said.

Geoff Welliver, class of 1997– is working for Heffernan Insurance Brokers and is also professionally involved in music for corporate clients. He reports that he produced the music for the Chabot Space and Science Center’s “Origins of the Universe Theater” which has been seen by over 50,000 people and is still showing.

He also recently completed an original composition for Macromedia Flash, and he produces Web sites.

10

Paul Appelblom, class of 1998– graduated from the University of Arizona in 2002 and moved to San Diego in 2000, where he started his first marketing company, Southern California Marketing.com. The company “does it all, from graphic design to full service photography,” he said. He also owns a concession company in Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. His third business venture is a full service Real Estate Virtual Tour company called 360Tourwal, which provides full service Virtual Tours and multi-media packages for Residential and Commercial Real Estate.

Bernadette Austin, class of 1998– After two years as the development manager for a non-profit organization, New Connections in Concord, CA, Bernadette received a Fellowship Grant at UC Davis to complete a Master’s degree in Community Health Development. She is joining her fiance, Michale Bower, class of 1998, who is currently in his sophomore year for a doctorate in Environmental Science & Ecology.

Francis Byun, class of 1998– has a new job with Samsung Securities as an equity research analyst. Her fiance, Charly (sic.) works for Samsung Global Strategy group, and they will be one of the many, many, “Samsung couples” in Korea, she said.

Peter Trudelle ran his fastest time ever in his leg of a relay at the NAIA Track and Field National Championships.

Doug Kirkland, Class of 1998– has been promoted the rank of Captain in the United States Air Force. Doug is currently serving in Space Command with the 490th Missile Squadron at Malmstrom AFB in Montana.

Suzi Kovacs, class of 1998– has been working in San Francisco for Healey Motor Sports for the past six years. She is now in Budapest, Hungary, attending the Balint Institute for a one-year program in Hungarian language, history, culture and current events. Once the program ends, she will take the nationwide Hungarian language exam. She hopes to find a job in Budapest and also be involved with tutoring English and Spanish while interning at a multinational corporation or a government agency. She loves Budapest and Europe and speaks fluent Hungarian, so this is a natural career choice for her, she said.

Laura Timpe, class of 1998– just completed a nine-month culinary arts program and five month externship in the Napa Valley of California. She is now a pastry chef at Bouchon Bakery, owned by Thomas Keller (of French Laundry fame) in Yountville, CA. Lauren Hannigan, class of 1999– completed her credential and is now teaching third grade at Lincoln School in Cupertino, CA. James Cirino, class of 2000– is working as a Research Assistant for the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University College of Business. He also is completing an internship with the Daytona Beach International Airport, learning airport operations and administration. He will be graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a BS in Aviation Business Administration on December 16, 2005.

Alexandra DeMartini, class of 2000 – graduated from Santa Clara University in June 2005 with a degree in Art History. She is working for Heritage Bank of Commerce as a New Accounts Representative.

Maria Ferencova, class of 2000– completed her undergraduate degree in International Trade at the University of Economics, Prague. She is continuing on for a Master’s at the same school. She has a little sister who is almost 5 years old, born after Maria returned from her senior year at the Priory. Maria says she enjoys teaching her a little English.

Mike Hon, class of 2000– reports that he followed a dream of two or three years and hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail from the border of Mexico to British Columbia, finishing up this past summer.

Soong Kim, class of 2000– is finishing his studies in engineering at UC Berkeley.

Zolton Kovacs, class of 2000– was pleased to have his family visit him at Fort Bragg, NC during the Mother’s Day weekend last spring. He has now been deployed and is serving his first rotation in the Operation Iraqi Freedom. He belongs to the 65th Military Police Company (Airborne); 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne) out of Fort Bragg, NC and is located at FOB Camp Kalsu about 30 miles south of Baghdad.

11

Robert Christian, class of 2001 – is studying for a Master’s in International Security at the University of Leicester, UK. John Martin, class of 2001 – writes that he was reminded of the peaceful and idyllic setting of the Priory as he walked last August on the campus of Boston College, where he is studying law. John attended UCLA and spent his last year abroad in Paris at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. He graduated while abroad, receiving both a BA (Magna Cum Laude) from UCLA and a diplome (sic) from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris He also visited Brazil and loves the music and culture, he said.

Brandon Amdahl, Class of 2002– is a senior at the University of the Pacific and preparing for law school.

Cassie Perret, class of 2002– a star vollyball player while at WPS, was named MVP of the Bronco Invitational

by Santa Clara University. She averaged 4.70 points, 4.10 kills, 2.10 digs and 1.20 blocks per game while hitting at a .415 clip as Santa Clara beat Fresno State and nationally-ranked Arizona and UC Santa Barbara to earn the tournament title. She was also the reigning Sports Imports/AVAC National Player of the Week, the first such honor for the Santa Clara program.

Anthony Schoch, class of 2002– will be studying in Quito at PUCE, Pontificat Universidad Catolica del Ecuador for a semester beginning March 1, 2006. He will be studying Latin America politics and culture and will return to McGill University in the fall.

Raymond Austin, class of 2002– is an honor student at UC Santa Cruz and active in campus government, having most recently been Internal Vice-Chairman of the Student Union Association and a student representative to the UC Board of Regents. His sister, Bernadette, reports that he organized the Practical Activism Conference held on Oct. 28 and is busy with the Filipino Student Association—plus, he played the part of the Prior in a campus production of Angels in America.

Chris Nemetz, class of 2003– is at UC Santa Cruz majoring in legal studies. He is completing an internship with the US Federal District Court in San Jose in the pre-trial services division.

Peter Trudelle, class of 2003– and three teammates qualified and competed in the NAIA track and field national championships in Louisville, Kentucky. Peter was part of the 4 x 800 relay (each person runs half a mile.) The 4 x 800 relay team finished top 10 in the nation. Peter ran his fastest time ever in his leg of the relay to help the team set a new school record.

Cynthia Sleight, class of 2005– is at Barnard College and says she loves living in and exploring New York City. She had the part of Ernst Ludwig and was a chorus member in a production of Kander and Ebb’s “Cabaret”, which opened the second week of November.

Charles Arnold Is Honored

12

A plaque was installed by classroom six this summer honoring Charles Arnold, who taught Algebra from 1960 to 1968 and again from 1980 to 1984. His sons Chuck(1964)and Ray(1966)attended the Priory; son Harry is an alumnus of the Class of 1968 and Dave is an alumnus of the class of 1984. Mr. Arnold was truly committed to Benedictine education and wanted it for his nine children, Dave said. He taught at school before going to his full-time job as an electrical engineer in exchange for tuition for his four boys--an option now frowned upon by accounting experts but available in those days. His sisters would have been Priory students, too, Dave says, if they hadn’t grown up before the campus became coed!

Tak Vieravan (1984), Scott Stache (1985), Jose Pathmanand (1986) and Poom Ostanada (1985) held a mini-reunion in Thailand.

Peter Trudelle at the NAIA track and field national championships at Louisville, Kentucky.

Young Bae Lee (1997) and his wife, Jie Hyeong, and Soong Kim (2000) visited Director of Admissions Al Zappelli and others on the campus this summer.

Suzi (1998) and Zolton (2000) Kovacs are both abroad—Suzi is studying in Hungary and Zolton is with the military in Iraq.

13

First of Two Parts

Hello, b-e-net/BENET! Remember the name—you are in on the start of something new. A fledgling international consortium of Benedictine schools is now an established organization with an eight-member board, a purpose, a three-year cycle of meetings around the globe, and one of the most contemporary websites on the net to pull it all together.

Go to b-e-net.com

Gathered in the elegant and historic buildings

of Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey, with a backdrop of forest in blazing fall color, delegates at the Third International Benedictine Educators Conference focused on the critical issues of their individual campuses.

A nun from South Africa: “We have 730 girls and only 11 classrooms. We have divided the rooms in half, and we are using every available space for classes. Our class size is 60 to 70. In our dormitory, we have 10 or 11 girls to a room. I tell people not to bring their children in from the countryside because we are full.

But there is no other way to get an education. So I can’t turn them away.”

A female lay administrator from the Philippines: “Our post-graduate programs are very highly regarded and in fairness to our school and our students our status should be changed from college to University. But there is no priest to head a university and I am told that the Order will not agree to the change under our leadership, even though we have earned it.”

14

A teacher from Brazil: “The biggest problem for my students is lack of jobs after graduation. With no jobs, they have to pass exams and obtain a university education. How can we help them deal with this difficult economic situation?”

Despite time-zone fatigue and language barriers, the reasons for coming poured out. One school has no monastics; another has no electricity.

Students under intense academic pressure have little time for humanistic and spiritual development.

Emerging social issues such as domestic violence call for trained staff, and there are none.

The conference title, Globalization and Education: A Benedictine Response, gives a context to the challenges and the beginnings of an answer.

The presence of 152 people from 17 countries is remarkable because when the first international conference was called in 1999, Benedictines did not even have a directory of their order’s institutions around the globe. This is an offshoot of the strong Benedictine tradition of autonomy—each monastic house is its own community and traditionally the schools are an expression of the monastic house’s ministry.

BENET, the international organization, is the Benedictine educators’ way of addressing concerns for the future in the face of declining numbers of monastics. B-e-net.com is an exciting and beautifully designed tool for working together globally. Check it out!

“We clearly are not in charge of globalization, but we can’t ignore it” said Sister Mary Collins, a noted author and Benedictine educator, in her keynote address. Global economics and marketing are resulting in a form of “corporate takeover” of education that leads parents to want to specify the content of their child’s school experience [as

though they were purchasing a car with options, for example].

Despite the social pressure and the distortions in perception that technology and media can create, Benedictines should commit to providing holistic experiences that help each student to form a selfidentity, she said.

Her Top Ten checklist for any Benedictine institution includes: • Prayer, including interfaith prayer (which the Pope has approved).

• Thoughtful and responsive obedience. The term here refers not to coercion but rather obedience to a process of interior growth that can happen when there is silence and time for reflection.

• Stability in relationships.

• The discipline of daily practice.

• Stewardship of creation—the antithesis of a consumer, throw-away society and the opposite, also, of a “virtual” experience in place of experience with real, tangible materials.

• Humility, used here to mean an outgrowth of wisdom and an ability to be accountable for one’s life. This humility is a major part of St. Benedict’s Rule.

• Communities of mutual service.

• Hospitality—this could be the most noticeable of the Benedictine traits and it means willingness to welcome and see to the comfort of a stranger with strange ways.

• Conversatio, a process that can lead an individual to develop a full sense of his or her humanity.

Three grace notes that Sister Mary adds: she would have Benedictines concerned for justice, accepting of the new information that explains the cosmos, and aware of the individual’s links to God and the creative world within that cosmos. “The young need to know how faith and God relate to the universe…and I’m not talking about pseudoscience.

We can learn to live with truth and what we don’t know,” she said.

Woodside Priory has a history with Delbarton and St. Mary’s Abbey going back half a century when WPS’s founder, Father Egon, arrived at St. Mary’s as a young monk. He taught theology from 1951 to 1955 while working on his English.

Fathers Giles and Beatus, who attended the conference, remember his classes; Father Egon remembers making the students laugh with his mispronunciations and malapropisms, he says.

The April issue of Priorities will carry a report of the nuts and bolts of the conference—the ways in which schools are looking inward and outward to become better stewards of Benedict’s rule. Student exchanges, shared projects between schools, and a surprising growth of monasteries in developing countries are among the topics.

—C. Dobervich

B-e-net.com is an exciting and beautifully designed tool for working together globally. Check it out!

WPS conference participants are (from upper left) Brother Edward Englund, Tim Molak, John Erkman, Carolyn Dobervich, Therese Inkmann and Ruth Benz. Therese led a workshop on Ecology, and Brother Edward, Tim and John moderated workshop discussions.

15

Alumni News & Notes

The Priory’s First-Ever Sports Hall of Fame Starts Here!

You might know these faces as classmates or teammates—or, for the younger crowd, as legends and stars in stories handed down by monks and coaches. You might have seen their jerseys framed in the gym. Now WPS made school stardom official with a ceremony on November 11 that officially inducted these players into the Woodside Priory School Sports Hall of Fame.

“But wait!” said a deluge of emails when the message went out to all alumni. “I know a really great candidate you missed!!”

“We’re excited that the Hall of Fame has generated so much interest and we look forward to future induction ceremonies when all of our great athletes can be celebrated. We appreciate nominations—keep ‘em coming!” said Mark Stogner, WPS Athletic Director.

Armando Araujo, 1968, Socer Bela Csikesz, 1971 Soccer Patrick Cain, 1976, All Around Robert Keady, 1977, All Around Daniel Hart, 1981, Baseball Jose “Pepe” Iturralde, 1981, Soccer Dan Doyle, 1984, All Around Mike McCrady, 1985, Baseball Miklos Oyler, 1995, Basketball Ramiro Arredondo, 1997, Soccer Cassie Perret, 2002, Volleyball

MikloOyler, Class of 1995

16

Campaign Update

By Devin Coats, Class of 2001

On my first visit to the Priory since my

graduation four years ago, I expected to gaze across those lovely green playing fields and reminisce about graduation day. Processing off the stage, walking over the field, happily stepping onto the... parking lot!?

Wait a minute! We processed happily onto outdoor basketball courts, where we hugged our teachers and families and each other! Now it’s a parking lot? And... what happened to the real parking lot next to Founders Hall? Since when did it turn into a giant hole?

Sophomore Molly Dellheim explained in her article for the school newspaper that the demolition I observed is part of the preliminary work for the Trinity Project. Here is an excerpt.

“If the school receives its building permits, construction should begin in spring 2006. The first stage of the Trinity Project is the construction of the new Performing Arts Center. The Performing Arts Center will be located next to Founders Hall.

The building will include an auditorium, main lobby and gallery (for displaying student fine arts), classrooms for choir, drama and orchestra, and a shop to store sets.

“Once the Performing Arts Center is built, the second stage of the Trinity Project can occur. The library will move back to its original home in the current Assembly Hall . . . With the library cleared out of the space under the cafeteria, the third and final stage of the Trinity Project will be set in motion—the current library will be transformed into the first ever student center.”

The Priory student body has tripled in size since I enrolled a decade ago, and I expected that the school would change, as it always has, to accommodate its students, their needs, and their abilities. I admit I was unsure about whether or not

this new Priory would feel like the same school I attended. As I was walking around, visiting with the people who had prepared me so well for my university years, I heard many stories that helped me make up my mind.

Molly points out in her article that facilities issues aren’t exactly new. Citing the Priory’s “humble beginnings” in 1957, she tells students that “it is difficult for people who see the Priory today to imagine it with a student body of 14 and a campus that consisted of one building.” The open space in front was the ‘gym.’

Year Two at the Priory brought with it a facilities crisis. Although the school could not accommodate them, twenty-six boarding students were accepted with the expectation of a new dormitory—but the dormitory plan fell through.

Where were the students--all boys, of course--to sleep? At the last minute, a solution presented itself-a $35 army barracks. According to the story, the health department objected because the barracks only had a small window and could not possibly have enough air for the 20 students. To which complaint an intrepid monk—Father Leopold— answered that there would be plenty of air in the barracks—because it was not actually fitted out with doors!

The beginnings of the athletics program had a similar do-it-yourself feel. The first soccer field—created in 1958—was cleared of rocks by the members of the monastic community themselves.

Students helped build the tennis and basketball courts. Soccer quickly became so popular that by 1965 the Priory already needed a second field.

Today, the athletic program is growing and improving just as rapidly as it was in those first few years. Until recently, the weight room available in the gym was “just about as big as a bedroom,” said Mr. Stogner, and could only be used in a very limited way. With some careful reshuffling, the weight room is now accessible to more students and sports teams. The school also has a training room where Athletic Trainer Ellen Payne and her (Continued on page 18)

Musician’s Views

Facilities Shape The Priory Experience— And Always Have Every decade had its trials—and laughs.

17

(Continued from page 17)

A Sophomore’s View Of The Trinity Project “The new Performing Arts Center, with the new and larger auditorium, will be an all school meeting center… The new library will include two computer labs and media classrooms, a garden reading room looking out on Church Square, private and group study areas, and a new rare books room. . . Students will be able to “hang out” at the new student center, which will have a Panther Café [and a central lounge area] and will house the offices of the yearbook, Associated Student Body, and potentially the Dean of Students and Campus Ministry.”

Molly Dellheim Class of 2008 Excerpted from an article in the student newspaper

assistants see to sports injuries and teach classes in kinesiology—all new additions since I played basketball there.

In recent years, buildings like the Fine Arts building and the Chapel have been renovated to accommodate the larger student body—so to speak.

Science teacher Paul Trudelle remembers watching the eighth- and ninth-graders, especially the boys, cling to the edges of the pews in the back of the unrenovated Chapel. Desperately trying not to fall off the pews and onto the floor—thus attracting unwanted attention—the students would perch as carefully as possible. Now, with the beautiful renovations to the Chapel, all students have a place to sit comfortably so that they can focus on spiritual, not physical, balance.

The music program has, from its inception, been plagued with space and facility issues that I remember well. I played in the budding orchestra, led by Dr. Martin Mayer, when it practiced in the Father Christopher Room in Founders Hall, peppering the administration’s day with bursts of unpolished music.

Even after we vacated Founders Hall for the upper reaches of campus, we lent unintentional musical accompaniment to the day. Brother Edward Englund remembers trying to hold a Plato seminar in, appropriately enough, what was then called the Seminar Room (today it’s the orchestra/choir room).

The class had one rather unusual component: a soundtrack provided by the orchestra’s percussion section, enthusiastically rehearsing in the Assembly Hall next door. Plato’s harmony of the spheres indeed!

I had a similar experience when practicing with the chorus in the Seminar-cum-Music Room. A teacher from next door came over and asked us to stop because his class couldn’t hear him over our voices. (Or maybe ours were more interesting… .)

18

As student interest grew, we began doing small ensemble work. Finding a room—any room—with the appropriate acoustics was next to impossible.

Father Martin Mager remembers the Shoo-be-doowahs, an all-male a cappella group, practicing in the men’s restroom in Church Square because the space was available and it had the best acoustics! Maybe that explains why all four boys studied science and engineering in college.

The Priory has always been a place of resourcefulness and energy, and facility changes play a large part in that. After all, where would the Priory be if the monks all those years ago hadn’t moved those rocks, and bought that army barracks?

The improved facilities that each generation provides make it possible for the students to use their talents in all aspects of their school lives. That fuels the excitement and vitality that make the Portola Valley Benedictine education so valuable.

Although I would not change one minute of my Priory experience, I would really have enjoyed that Performing Arts Center, and all of the other renovations the Priory has made and is in the process of making.

Maybe despite the changes the Priory is the same place I attended after all—the place that with energy and dedication turned a five-foot-tall elevenyear-old with a very short attention span into a five-foot-eight university student with a penchant for opera, and laid the foundation for who I am and who I am to become.

Ora et Labora indeed.

Editor’s Note: Devin is living in New York City and wrote this for Priorities while home for the summer following her graduation from Columbia University.

The complete history of WPS’s first 40 years, including some humorous recollections, is online—go to www. woodsidepriory.com, click on The Priory/Overview, then on History.

Imagine the Possibilities the Trinity Project Will Unleash!

The Trinity Project provides the tools needed to continue to fulfill the Priory’s mission to assist students of promise in becoming lifelong learners who will productively serve a world in need of their gifts. Every student benefits from the Trinity Project; higher quality facilities simply result in a better educational environment. All faculty and students will feel the positive impact.

Imagine the possibilities when the Trinity Project is complete! Here are just a few glimpses into the future: • A shop and workspace that allow students to build and store drama sets or other projects for a variety of disciplines.

• Central space to display the best of student visual arts or visiting works of art.

• Centrally-located space to house student dances, all-school assemblies, and myriad performances in a room with quality acoustics that enhance the experience.

• A reading room in a garden setting with comfortable furniture where students can read for pleasure or study quietly in groups.

• A comfortable indoor area where students can meet when they are not in class.

• Much-needed classroom space.

• A beautifully-renovated and expanded library designed to handle a variety of needs.

• Twenty percent more library book space and double the technology classrooms—housed together in one building.

Generous Priory families and friends have already joined in supporting the Trinity Project. One recent gift of $400,000, which was just received from parents of the Class of 2005, is especially appreciated because it brings us closer to this goal NOW, said Kerry Gormley, Capital Campaign Director. The Priory cannot break ground on the first leg of the project—the auditorium, new classrooms, and performing arts center space— until 80% of the funding is in hand. We need to reach this goal by the spring for many reasons, she said.

“Once groundbreaking begins, we hope everyone will join in supporting this milestone in the Priory’s history. Everyone will be receiving more information in the mail,” she said. People interested in more information now are invited to contact Tim Molak at (650) 851-8221 or tmolak@woodsidepriory.com or Kerry Gormley at (650) 851-6116 or kgormley@woodsidepriory.com.

Library and Media Center The library will leave its current site below the dining hall and return to its original location alongside Church Square. The renovated space will merge technology, new media, and a modern yet comfortable library that encourages scholarly exploration and the love of reading.

The intention of the new center is to integrate traditional media (books, periodicals, and other printed materials) with the new media made available by technology (online resources, electronic libraries, research databases and the like).

This center will affirm the Priory’s dedication to make better use of technology to learn and teach.

(Continued on back cover)

Update Trinity Project

• Performing Arts Center with All-School Auditorium & New Classrooms • Renovated and expanded Library & Media/Technology Center • New Student Center $6.7 milllion committed towards $11 million goal.

For groundbreaking, 80% of funds needed in hand— goal is Spring 2006.

Endowment

Nearly $2.2 million is pledged towards $5 million gaol.

Current effort is the drive to fund scholarships named for Priory Benedictine fathers (the “Father Funds”).

Maas Family Commons

Completed and occupied in 2003.

Two Apartments Constructed, One Home Renovated Projects completed in 2001.

19

(Continued from page 19) Currently, students are crowded in both the library and computer labs.

The need for quiet individual study versus class meetings often clash. The new center will have more computers for students’ use during non-class times and will provide enhanced teaching areas for instructors. As shown in the drawings, the two parts of this center will complement each other while offering students and faculty expanded informational resources for their study and work.

The library will offer increased book shelf space, a garden reading room, and ample space for both individual study and research and group work. Long overdue, the renovations and relocation will create a beautiful and central resource center for all.

Performing Arts Center

Performing Arts Center—With An All-School Auditorium and New Classrooms The new auditorium, classrooms, and performing arts center is planned in a “village” style, with a central plaza. This first leg of the Trinity Project will provide a multi-purpose auditorium for all the school to share— an immediate concern since all-school events no longer fit in the Assembly Hall and so must be held in the gymnasium or even off-campus. This first phase is also integral in moving forward on the next two phases: the Library and Media Center and the new Student Center.

Student Center

New Student Center The first of its kind on campus, the new student center will provide students with the space and resources to pursue extracurricular activities and to simply ‘hang out’ with friends in the lounge. The components of this center will include a comfortable central lounge, a student information and resource area with computers, the school store, the Panther Café, outdoor patio seating, and student offices for student publications, ASB, and similar groups. The Dean of Students office may be located here along with the Campus Ministry.

Today, students sprawl on the benches outside (when it’s not raining) or crowd into the front room of the library to talk, hang out, or use computers. The new Student Center will give students a welcoming environment—to relax, or to engage in the vital learning processes that occur outside the classroom. This third component of the Trinity Project will truly signal the completion of the most pressing needs the Priory faces to fulfill its vision as “a learning community for the new century.”

Watch for the Annual Report in January!

Woodside Priory School 302 Portola Road Portola Valley, CA 94028 (650) 851-8221 fax (650) 851-2839

Return Service Requested

NON PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE

PAID

MENLO PARK,CA PERMIT #805

Celebrating Our 48th Year