2018 Fall Magazine

marin catholic FA L L 2 0 1 8

Mark Jaeger ‘97 Taking ceramics to the next level Pg. 39

E X P A N D I N G O U R F ai t h and F U T U R E

OUR MISSION Marin Catholic is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school serving young men and women. Consistent with our Gospel values, we are committed to the education of the whole person. As a community that values faith, knowledge and service, we provide our students with a spiritual, academic, and extracurricular environment.

We expect our students, through their experiences in the classroom and as active members of the school community, to develop the attributes of an educated person: responsibility, both person and social; critical thinking ability; and appreciation for the complexity of the world around us. In partnership with parents, we hope to instill in our students the confidence that will empower them, as informed and compassionate individuals, to effect change in our world. We are committed to learning as a lifelong process.

Board of Regents 2018-19 Shannon Alten Stacy Miller Azcarate Robert S. Basso Michael Bentivoglio Jack Boland ‘74 Gregory A. Bullian ‘76 Fred Craves, PhD* David Friend Duane M. Geck* Drew Gordon Jono Grayson ‘06 Ross Guehring ‘98 Chris Hill Margaret Jacobsen Marcia R. Jervis ‘61 James Jordan Knopf ’93 George W. Pasha, IV ‘80 Kevin Sharps, Chair Anthony Spinale Don Tarantino *Emeritus

Introducing our New Regents Stacy Miller Azcarate Stacy and her husband Don live in Tiburon. Their son Dylan is a junior at Marin Catholic who participated in the Sacraments program last year and plays on the football team. Stacy has her own law practice that specializes in legal recruiting and law firm expansion consulting. She is active in several not-for-profit organizations and serves on the Board of Counselors of the USF School of Law. She holds degrees from UC Santa Cruz, USF’s School of Law and Fordham University’s School of Law. Jono Grayson ‘06 Jono is an alumnus from the Class of 2006. He was a star athlete for the Wildcats and went on to play both football and baseball for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Jono has been actively involved on the MC campus and within the Marin City community, as a role model, mentor, and spokesman. He is employed by Lyft where he is responsible for its data engineering and talent acquisition/recruiting efforts.

Anthony Spinale Anthony and his wife Angie live in Kentfield. They have two children: Ava, a sophomore at Marin Catholic, and son Alex, who is in seventh grade at San Domenico with plans to attend MC. Now retired, Anthony is a private investor, having spent his career in the financial services sector. Most notably, Anthony worked at Barclay’s Investment Bank and Barclay’s Global Investors, serving as COO and CFO respectively, and as a Managing Director of both. Anthony received his BA from Williams College and his MBA from the University of Virginia.

Longtime Regent, Bob Basso, Earns National Honor Marin Catholic Board member, Robert Basso received the 2018 Phi Kappa Theta Foundation Man of Achievement Award at Seton Hall University. Robert has served on the Board since 1999. Robert and his wife Mary, have two sons who attended Marin Catholic, Bobby ’02 and Johnny ’04.

Basso is a 1967 graduate from Seton Hall University and earned his MBA from Pace University. He is the Former Chairman and President of Correspondent Services Corporation (CSC) and founder and President of Broardcort Capital Corporation.

Basso has more than 40 years of wide-ranging experience in the financial service industry, including senior management positions at Merril Lynch, Paine Webber, UCS and Fidelity Investments.He becomes the 35th recipient to receive the award through the Foundation’s 64-year history.

The Phi Kappa Theta Foundation Man of Achievement program recognizes brothers who have risen to prominence in their fields of endeavor. These brothers not only serve to inspire fellow members but serve as a great source of pride for Phi Kappa Theta.

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

IN THIS ISSUE 1 Letter from the President B ig Wishes for Little People: 3 Alumna Grants Wishes for Sick Children 5 MC Student Helps Veterans with PTSD H ealing Service:

talian Visitors Enhance 7 IItalian Program Global Opportunity for our 9 AEntrepreneurial-Minded Students S hark Ward: 11 Marine Science Teacher Tags Sharks in Florida S trides in Science: 13 Facilities Upgrade for Better Learning

15 Alumnus Sets Multiple Track Records M ax on Track:

Fields of Dreams: 17 New Fields Advance Athletic Program

19 Former ASC Student Thrives Beyond MC L earning to Learn:

21 New Academic Support Center B uilding Better Spaces:

Launches in 2019

riple Aspirations: 23 TThree Sets of Twins Journey to Stanford onvent Building Becomes New 25 CCounseling & Campus Ministry Facility

B ridging the Gap: 27 Cats Helping Cats hinking Outside: 29 TNew Entrepreneurship Program heology Teacher Peggy Semling 31 TTakes Sabbatical in the Holy Land S acred Spaces: 33 New Grotto Expands Faith Beyond the Chapel

R esident Sage Retires: 35 Tom Lippi ’69 Retires after 43 Years Novel Idea: 36 AEnglish Redesign Puts Faith at the Center

38 Art Highlights ll Fired Up: 39 ACeramics Teacher Takes Class to the Next Level

S etting the Stage: 41 Performing Arts Center Gets Upgrade S tats! Stats! Stats!: 43 Learning to Love Math M ath Speak: 45 College Prep Math Ideas in Action: 47 Sustainability Projects Become Realities on Campus

Production Notes This magazine is a gift to the Alumni, Current Families, Faculty, Staff and Friends of Marin Catholic.

MC Staff Tim Navone, President Chris Valdez, Principal Roxanne Civarello ’06 Director of Communications Jacqueline Tobe ‘01 Director of Advancement Sandy Starkey Manager, Alumni & Community Relations Patrick O’Sullivan Database Manager Terry Powers Associate Director of Advancement

Writers/Editors Tim Navone Roxanne Civarello ‘06 Terry Powers Carolyn Mock ‘19 Printing Bill Hurley ’77, H & H Printing Design Gilbert & Associates Photo Contributors Jennifer Skinner Jim Gillespie Chris Owens Bill Schneider, VarsityPix Contact Us: Marin Catholic 675 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

Kentfield, CA 94904 Email: communications@marincatholic.org Phone: 415-464-3841 School Website: www.marincatholic.org

The Annual Fund

is the cornerstone of our fundraising efforts and provides the rich academic and extracurricular offerings that define the Marin Catholic experience. Tuition revenue alone leaves a $3,400 per student gap.

Therefore, we rely on the generosity of our community to close this gap and receive a tax-benefit at the same time!

This past year the Annual Fund helped: • Provide support for Faculty/Staff and curricular development • Enhance programs in the arts and athletics • Allow Campus Ministry to offer more life-changing spiritual retreats • Celebrate Mass and Holy Hour • Returf the Richard Ghilotti Family Athletic Field • Provide over $2 million of tuition assistance to families in need • Expand student activities and clubs • Welcome Health and Wellness speakers • Provide state-of-the-art technology • Build a new Academic Services Center for students with learning differences • And of course, keep the lights on!

Marin Catholic thrives due to your philanthropic commitment and support. Thank you! Please join us in recognizing the spirit of giving in our community. Our Annual Report is online at marincatholic.org/mcgivesthanks and includes the Honor Roll of Donors, Event highlights from the year, College Acceptances, Baccalaureate Mass … and more!

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L e t t er from t h e P residen t

Hannah Stoner, Jack Sasan ’06, Joanna West ’04 (see page 19) ASC Director Leah Gallant, President Tim Navone and Matt Sasan ’00.

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Dear MC Families and Friends, Recently when I was touring an alumnus around campus, we visited the new state-of-the-art recording studio in the music center. “Are you kidding me?,” he said. “These kids are so spoiled. I hope they know how lucky they are. And to think we used to have music class in a portable.”

Those campus tours continue, and each year different alumni come back to say, “No way! Why did you do this the year after I left?”

I always meet those comments with a smile, and then list off the several enhancements they enjoyed that the previous classes didn’t–the Student Center, the gliders, the chapel, the stadium complex.

In this magazine, you will see many celebrations of the Marin Catholic program and campus, along with more dreams to be realized in the near future.

We are a community blessed beyond measure and filled with people who are committed to our Catholic mission.

One of the results of our fantastic teachers, program and facility is the desire to become a Wildcat. We are experiencing all time highs in interest, yield, and enrollment. Our largest classes in the last 30 years are our freshman and sophomore classes.

To meet this need, we are embarking on another Campaign to build more classrooms, update our theater and counseling spaces, and build a state-ofthe-art science center.

As we continue to make Marin Catholic the finest school possible, we humbly ask for your prayers and support as we again take a leap of faith in making this dream happen.

Enjoy the pages ahead, and may they inspire you to play a role in making our future even brighter.

God bless, Tim Navone President MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 2

Big Wishes For little people With some helpful guidance from Sister Rosemary during her senior year, Laura Euphrat ’83 went on to pursue her passion of becoming a nurse and starting Little Wishes, a program designed to help children maintain their identity through difficult illnesses. Euphrat, who was encouraged not to be so loud by Sister Rosemary, now gets to channel her gift of loudness to celebrate and encourage the sick.

“You really are a refreshing, if volatile, presence and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Keep it growing, a little more… quietly,” Sister Rosemary wrote in my 1983 yearbook (and, btw, she gave me three detentions for talking in class on my very first day at Marin Catholic!).

My gift of gab landed me multiple detentions. Yet despite my innate ability to fill any quiet moment with words, even at inopportune times, the MC faculty encouraged my self-expression rather than dismissing it. Their belief in my potential combined with the school’s emphasis on service to others ultimately led me to become a pediatric oncology nurse and the co-founder/CEO of the non-profit, Little Wishes.

Since 2003, Little Wishes has helped seriously ill, hospitalized children from losing their identity to illness by tapping into their passions. We encourage even the tiniest of patients to identify their happiest desire and wish for something that will fill their heart and brighten their darkest days.

Each wish, no matter how simple – a princess dress, Spiderman figure, book or a musical instrument – makes a huge difference by providing a welcome diversion and easing the discomfort of long hospitalizations and painful treatments.

Every wish is delivered with fanfare and song by hospital staff (I get to be noisy!) to celebrate the patient and build a supportive community. Nine-year-old cancer warrior Ryker (pictured left) said it best: “Little Wishes gives you that ‘we can get through this feeling’,” upon receiving his wish of a crab leg dinner to curb his chemo craving.

Little Wishes has granted over 11,000 wishes in 20 hospitals in 12 states. Our current quest is to raise enough funds to keep on granting children’s wishes in perpetuity.

I’m grateful for Sister Rosemary’s advice to “keep it growing.” I think she would be proud – even if I didn’t do it quietly.

More information on Little Wishes can be found at www.littlewishes.org or by calling (415) 459-WISH. Laura Euphrat ‘83 connects with one of her Little Wishes recipients. She started Little Wishes to bring joy to chronically ill patients.

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HEALING SERVICE Marin Catholic students are often exceptionally dedicated to their service work and work hard to seek a project that is meaningful to them. Chris Colwell ‘19 discovered his niche while working with the Wounded Warriors Project at a Dolphin Research Center in Florida to help veterans who suffer from PTSD through their healing process.

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How did you get involved with this service project?

My Uncle Ryan has served in the army, completing two tours in Afghanistan. He suffers from PTSD, and as I was growing up, I witnessed its effects. I became very interested in hearing people’s experiences, but I became even more invested in helping and healing. After researching ways in which I could be involved at such a young age (maybe 13/14 years old) I discovered the Wounded Warriors Project that was collaborating with the Dolphin Research Center in Florida.

It seemed perfect, especially considering my grandma lived close by and I was planning to visit her in the summer.

What is the mission of Wounded Warriors & what specifically do you do for them?

Wounded Warriors is an organization that is dedicated to helping veterans who are suffering injury, whether that be physical or mental. It partnered with the Dolphin Research Center in Florida to give special sessions for warriors with PTSD and other brain injuries that make it difficult for them to return to civilian life, and often to the water. I began by learning to train the dolphins and built a trust with them. I went on to work directly with the men and women who sought help from the DRC, the goal being to forge a relationship with them and comfortably bring them back into the water with the dolphins.

Is there a particular experience that stands out to you?

My first day, men and women arrived for their sessions and I introduced myself. I was struck with the magnitude of the emotionally taxing task that lay ahead of all of us. PTSD is such a consuming and destructive injury, yet these people were brave enough to take a step towards fighting it; and they were looking to me for guidance. The session was fulfilling and eye-opening. I became friends with one of the men, and at the end of our time together, he looked at me and told me how deeply grateful he was.

Does the work you do tie into your future career goals?

All my life, I’ve wanted to directly help people. I believe that the best way I can fulfill that purpose is by being an Emergency Room doctor. I currently volunteer at Marin General Hospital after school and I am involved in a research project by which I’m able to shadow experienced physicians.

I hope to obtain my EMT basic license by the end of my high school senior year. Working with veterans has helped me to grow emotionally and mentally and it has directed me to my desire to make a positive change in the lives of others.

Final thoughts: I am beyond grateful for the organizations with whom I have volunteered. I feel as though I am participating in the world and am on the path to reaching my real life purpose.

It’s so important that Marin Catholic makes service one of its top priorities and puts effort into shaping its students, in and out of the classroom, and in a mental, emotional, and spiritual sense.

Pictured is one of the earliest volunteer groups with which Chris participated. The Research Center was happy to have yet another successful day with so many helpful volunteers.

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Conversazioni The Italian Visitors Program

In the past several years, the Italian language education at Marin Catholic has been strengthened through a program that enables a group of Milanese students to visit the Bay Area and work with our eager Italian students. As part of her curriculum, Mrs. Gruenwald and her students create videos that are exchanged with high school students in Italy and their instructor. The videos encompass a wide range of topics but focus on cultural differences in holidays, student life, and cuisine, ensuring the improvement of not only linguistics but of cultural awareness and appreciation for diversity as well.

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Finally, after much communication and preparation, Italian students journey to Marin, where they are greeted with welcoming and loving arms. Over the course of ten days, the Italians and their MC host families explore the attractions of San Francisco and the beautiful beaches along the near coast. In an effort to continue the educational growth in which the project is rooted, Italian students also attend classes at Marin Catholic. Time is spent in Italian classes, where MC students can be trained in better pronunciation and grammar straight from the experts, as well as other subjects in which the Italian students’

Continue

English is enhanced. By the end of the visit, both sets of students share an unbreakable bond. A number of MC students even traveled to Italy over the summer to reconnect with their former host siblings.

The Italian Visitors Program is a unique opportunity. It serves as the highest level of linguistic education, as “authentic conversation is the best way to gain fluency in another language” (Gruenwald). It allows both sets of students to be better equipped for their lives beyond high school, giving them the tools of curiosity, communication, and the desire to love others for their differences, not despite them. Both schools hope

to continue the program in years to come so that students can continue “to meet peers and build lasting friendships” (Gruenwald).

“

There’s a human who lives on the other part of the planet who you didn’t know two weeks ago and who cried today to say goodbye to you… Thank you for taking the time and having the courage to step outside your world and meet a new friend.

-Prof.ssa Gruenwald (after their goodbyes)

”

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glo b al oppor t uni t ies This past summer, Principal Chris Valdez and President Tim Navone traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico in response to an invitation from alumnus Trenton Truitt ‘87, former senior vice president of Wizeline, to visit their Mexico offices and work on a partnership between Marin Catholic, Wizeline, and three Catholic schools in Guadalajara.

Next summer, 12 Marin Catholic students will travel to Guadalajara to partner with 12 students from Liceo Del Valle, Torre Blanca, and Colegio Alta Mira Catholic schools. Together they will spend their days working at Wizeline, a product development and design technology company whose mission is to “raise the middle class of Mexico” by bringing the Silicon Valley dream of innovation and technology to Mexico.

During this pilot program, students will learn coding skills, project management skills, and leadership skills through a project designed to address a problem students see in the world and how they would attempt to fix it.

“The long-term goal is for this program to be built into a travel and experiential opportunity for our students who chose the entrepreneurship track between their junior and senior year,” says Navone. “We have high hopes that students connected by their shared Catholic faith can find solutions to the challenges our world faces today. We are incredibly thankful to Mr. Truitt and the Wizeline community for opening up this global opportunity for the young people of Marin Catholic and Mexico.”

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Shark Ward T

his past summer, for his professional development project, Marine Science teacher Joe Ward ’94 took part in the University of Miami’s Shark Research & Conservation Program (SRC) where he conducted cutting-edge shark research and assessed the ecology and biology of sharks in relation to urbanization and climate stressors. The SRC Program is part of the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, recognized as one of the top collegiate programs for marine research in the world.

His two weeks on Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean 3 miles off the coast of Miami included the following research methods:

• Drumline sampling and trap surveys • Acoustic tagging and tracking telemetry • Satellite tagging and tracking telemetry • Non-lethal biopsy sampling • Morphological measurements • Diet & nutritional analysis • Blood sampling and processing “This set the gold standard for professional development,” says Ward.

“Never in my 14-year career of teaching have I ever experienced a type of professional development where I can bring back to the classroom 100% of everything that I learned and experienced.”

On board, Ward was tossed right into the process of collecting important data. “We were taking fin clippings, morphological measurements, muscle biopsies, and inserting tags into the dorsal fins of sharks. We pulled up ten and a half feet hammerheads, bull sharks, nurse sharks, black tip reef sharks, black nose reef sharks, lemon sharks and a few other species. We even caught a sawfish, which is a highly endangered species and one of the most bizarre looking creatures I’ve ever seen in person.”

Besides the hands-on experience, Joe made connections with marine scientists, grad students, and boat captains that will last a lifetime.

“The people I was around for these two weeks were some of the most passionate marine science folks I’d ever met,” says Ward. “I gained knowledge from each conversation I had and was inspired in one way or another to be a better teacher and to spread the love of the ocean. I made connections with the University of Miami that I will continue to use as a way to support the growth and betterment of the marine science program at MC. Not only did this trip provide me with a once in a lifetime experience in the world of sharks, but it rekindled my love for the ocean, marine environment, and further fed that burning fire to learn more about sharks and the ocean and share it with my students. This is something I will never forget and I am so grateful for having this opportunity that MC provided for me.”

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STRIDES IN SCIENCE When Marin Catholic opened its doors for the first time in 1949, students walked into the 400 wing to see a state-of-the-art science lab. In the 1980’s those facilities were enhanced with the opening of the Desmond Science Wing. Unfortunately, not much has happened in the last 30 years.

In 2016, the Marin Catholic community pulled together to create a Vision Plan for the next 30 years. The top priority of the students, parents and faculty was new science facilities. Over the last three decades, the curriculum and course offerings continued to grow, but the facilities did not keep up. Now is the time to connect the two.

Over the next year, Marin Catholic is launching a Capital Campaign to respond to what the community has been seeking.

Earlier this year, MC contracted with GL Planning and Design, one of the leaders in designing state-of-the-art educational science facilities, to put our dreams on paper. New classrooms, labs, and other interactive spaces will encourage students to learn and engage even deeper. Our goal is to incorporate all aspects of modernday learning in a more robust academic environment. With a successful fundraising campaign, we will break ground in summer 2019.

To learn more about the project contact the Advancement Office at 415-464-3843.

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Max on Track

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Recent graduate Max Glasser ‘18 attends UC Davis and is playing D1 soccer and running track. Max was the first ever Marin County Sprint State Champion with a time of 46.97 in the 400-meter dash. Max also measures up quite well on the all-time MCAL list; he holds the MCAL record in the 400-meter dash (46.97), and is now 2nd all-time in both the 100 meter (10.77) and 200 meter (21.44) dashes. He also placed first at the Stanford Invitational (47.31), which tied him for the all-time record. Congratulations, Max! When did you begin track?

I began track in middle school at Sinaloa. At that point in time, it was mainly for fun, but it was definitely where I realized I truly enjoyed racing and finally decided I would be pursuing track and field at the high school level.

How do you stay motivated & dedicated to your sport?

I love track and being able to see how the little things lead to a big improvement.

All the hard work you do at practice gets put to the test at the moment the gun is fired. I have always found it quite amusing how much work goes into the concentrated and short amount of physical output of a race, but those high stakes circumstances make it that much more fun! Track is so objective in the sense that you either win the best time or you don’t, and as a result, you have to stay mentally strong when that time is not met, but it makes everything worth it when you finally hit the goal you have been chasing the entire season.

How did MC help you meet your goals & push you to do better?

MC played a huge part in helping me attain my goals. I was lucky enough to be trained under Coach Earl Downing who made it possible for me to achieve my best times. He always took a very calculated and scientific approach to the season and essentially documented everything we did at practice.

This allowed for tangible evidence of progress made, and made it not only efficient and focused, but enjoyable. MC also has quite an amazing athletic environment. I had a great weightlifting coach at MC and was surrounded by hard-working athletes who truly cared about each other as people. I had a strong support system both in the classroom and on the track, which was truly a blessing.

MAX GLASSER ‘18 400-Meter Track STATE CHAMPION 2018 with a time of 46.97, FASTEST in Marin County history and FIRST MARIN SPRINT STATE CHAMPION EVER. Holds ALL-TIME Marin record in 400-meter (46.97), 2ND ALLTIME in 100-meter (10.77), and 2ND ALL-TIME in 200-meter (21.44).

How does it feel to have beat records in Marin & at Marin Catholic?

It is surreal to have beat records in Marin and at Marin Catholic. My goal was always to have the fastest 400 meter in MCAL history, and I really wanted to have the fastest for the 100 and 200, but ended up just missing out on that. Undoubtedly, the best experience was the state championship in the 400 meter, as it was essentially 4 years of hard work and growth put into one race.

What does the future hold with you & track?

I am currently at the beginning of my soccer season at UC Davis, but when that is wrapped up I will be running in the spring. I have some goals for the year, the loftiest being to break the 46-second barrier and win the conference, and we will go from there!

Photo: Bill Schneider, VarsityPix

Placed FIRST at Stanford Invitational and holds ALL-TIME FASTEST RECORD OF 47.31 in the 400-meters.

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FIELDS OF DREAMS If you have driven down Sir Francis Drake Boulevard since summer, you can’t help but notice the incredible athletic fields just completed in the past year. The Bishop Thomas A. Daly Baseball Field completed last summer, features a new 9-inning scoreboard, multi-colored and textured turf that plays like real grass and dirt, and a 21 Palm Tree Memorial Grove that honors some of the most special members of the Marin Catholic community. Bishop Daly flew in from Spokane, Washington to take part in the memorial grove ceremony and alongside Monsignor Robert Sheeran blessed each individual tree with family members of the honored one. A special thank you to the Alten Family and Alten Construction for all their support of this project.

This past July, Marin Catholic completed the gorgeous new Richard Ghilotti Family Field, featuring both light and dark green colored turf every five yards on the playing surface. The field is also accented by navy and white end zones and the Marin Catholic crest in the center. The state-ofthe-art turf system now features a padding and rubber base designed to best protect students from head injuries. The new field will be the center of all the action for football, men’s and women’s soccer, track and field, and men’s and women’s lacrosse.

This past August, Marin Catholic transformed the former wrestling room into some much needed locker rooms for field hockey, baseball, lacrosse, and soccer, along with storage areas for athletics. The rooms feature state-of-theart lockers with cabinets for valuables and personal locked areas for equipment, along with seated chalk talk areas and whiteboards.

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Learning to Learn

Marin Catholic recently caught up with Joanna West ‘04.

West was not only a student in the early days of the Academic Service Center for students with learning differences, but was an advocate for her fellow classmates in making sure the program had all the needs and voices to ensure their success.

You are one of the great success stories from our early days with the Academic Service Center. How did we do in preparing you for life in college and beyond?

I had a wonderful high school experience at Marin Catholic and I sincerely believe it was a key factor to a successful transition into college. I worked so hard at MC and I think my cumulative GPA was 3.00. I continued to work hard my first semester at college and my GPA was 3.97. It was the first time I made my dad cry that didn’t involve me crashing the family car.

When did you discover your learning difference?

I was diagnosed with my Learning Disability (LD) at the age of seven. LDs have no effect or bearing on intelligence; rather, it is a difference in how information is processed, especially in regards to academic basics (reading, spelling). When I was a kid, the diversity of my learning style put me at a disadvantage in school. Learning has always been my passion despite struggling to be a good student.

How did you overcome your learning difference?

At Marin Catholic, I learned to become my own advocate. If I wanted to learn and be successful, I had to take responsibility for it. I taught myself to understand how I learn.

That included: • Teaching myself a wide range of study skills • Learning how to communicate with my teachers; everything from basic questions to incorporating them as part of my “education team.”

• Having the confidence to ask questions and admit I didn’t know the answer.

Tell us what you have been up to since graduation. What did you study and where did you land in your career?

After MC, I went to Northeastern University in Boston. I completed their five-year Co-Op program and graduated in 2009 Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Communication. In 2010, I began working at the Cambridge MA biotech company Genzyme in Regulatory Affairs International. I worked there for almost eight years until my fiancé and I decided to move back to California. I recently completed my MBA at Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business where I focused in International Business Management and Operations.

I will be forever grateful for the foundation and support I received from Marin Catholic which has guided me to where I am today.

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Building Be t t er S paces In the late 1990’s a Godzilla-sized crane appeared in front of the gymnasium to lift a portable building over the gym to house the school’s brand new Academic Support Center for students with learning differences. This past August, a similar crane appeared to take that weathered portable away.

“The portable was intended to exist for a few years until a permanent building was in place,” says President Tim Navone. “A few years quickly turned into 20 years, and I am so happy to be watching the construction now take place.”

Marin Catholic contracted with Thompson Builders (owner Paul Thompson ’81 and project manager Matt Sasan ’00), who broke ground on the project this fall. The new building will be enhanced by an outdoor area for students to recharge and relax. The goal is to complete the project by early 2019.

“This has been a vital program for our students with learning differences,” says Navone. “But the old facility did not suggest it was a program that was valued by the school. Now our students can receive support in a surrounding that reflects exactly how much we value them.”

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Dayton “Buddy” Seto-Myers and brother Dryden “Sonny” began their college career at Stanford this fall. This is the third time Marin Catholic twins have headed off to Stanford in recent history.

Buddy says he is most looking forward to the interdisciplinary world that he will inhabit. Studying at the crossroads of humanities, social science, and natural science, he is excited to hone dovetailed critical thinking skills via the art of oral and written argument.

After Stanford, Buddy hopes to pursue a career as a medical doctor, a pathologist, or maybe as the first accidental astronaut.

But whatever path he chooses, he knows he will pursue humanitarian work in his post collegiate.

The following is a selection from Buddy’s “Aspirations Essay” to Stanford.

Stories dance to the rhythm of the teller and reveal the wisdom of forgotten knowledge; our narratives bear witness to the past and renew future birthrights. Oral histories are the verbal storehouse of our earthly imprints and the heart of who we are as a people. Ma-ui, the cunning, courageous, and combustible demigod, occupies a prominent position in Polynesian folklore and now, Disney filmography. Oral or animated, Ma-ui is consistently portrayed as the dynamic yet duplicitous champion of humanity. Fishhook in hand, Ma-ui harnesses the sun, gifts man with fire, and heaves eight Hawai`ian islands from the ocean depths. As a child, I listened in awe as my ku-puna, my Hawai`ian forebears, told the stories of our people and our land. Under starlit heavens, in the light of glowing fire, beside watery shores, myths of creation once explained all that I knew and love. In their reciting, I lend my voice to the collective art of mo`olelo, or storytelling, and become a Mana`i`akalani, a magical fishhook, one that catches and cradles Hawai`ian dreams. My Hawai`ian name Kalanikumupa`a, he who bears the wisdom of heaven, was bestowed upon me at birth by my Auntie, Princess Owana Ka`o-helelani. Written in the stars and mirrored in the seas, I am bound by ancestral reverence to seek and support knowledge. To honor my heritage and heed my head, I’ve embarked on an expedition of mind that marries biology with belief, chemistry with custom, and physics and mathematics with folklore. I am Hawai`ian: storyteller and scientist.

Through the Honors Biology at Marin Catholic, I focused my energies on Chemistry, and informed my interest through Honors and AP courses.

Adventuring into the molecular world via advanced lab techniques like titration and calorimetry, I keenly absorbed the practical interconnectivity of biology and chemistry. As such, I sought to immerse myself in formal biochemical lab-work and landed a position at the Buck Institute for Aging Research. From my work there, I realized that in the narrative of human life, scientist and storyteller are defined by the How’s. How do things work? How can I make life better?

A return to Biology and Calculus thus beckoned me and I dove headfirst into the AP offerings. Not only will I learn “How the world works” but I also will gain the opportunity to make it better. Like synaptic neurotransmitters, the various concepts of reality gained light, connectivity took shape, and made sense…well, only until I discovered the disconnect between quantum mechanics and general relativity and feared even Ma-ui could not fashion a Unified Theory to cross the divide. Science turns to theory and theory to philosophy. In this cosmic philosophy, I read stories that sought to explain the intricacies of the natural world– not dissimilar from Hawai`ian creation myths.

My ku-puna (ancestors) were biologists, chemists, and physicists. They studied animals, volcanos, and stars. They developed medicines, fashioned vessels, and traveled the seas. They pioneered, wondered, and believed.

In their footsteps, I, Kalanikumupa`a, wish to be Hawai`ian storyteller and scientist, the collector and holder of human wisdom.

With love, Buddy 23—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

Triple Aspirations

Alexandra Slessarev ‘07 graduated from Stanford in 2012 with Honors and Distinction in English. She served as an editor for the Princeton Encyclopedia for Poetry and Poetics and later as a technical writer and research analyst at UCSF. She is currently a JD candidate attending Harvard Law School while also attending Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health where she will earn her Master’s.

After graduating from Stanford, Eric Slessarev ‘07 has continued to do scientific research. He is currently a graduate student at the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Education, Evolution and Marine Biology program. His current focus is on oil biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, terrestrial carbon cycle, geochemistry and geomorphology of soils.

Three sets of MC Twins at Stanford

Austin Narcomey ‘15 is set to graduate Stanford in 2019 with a degree in Computer Science. In addition to school, he is currently working in the Aerospace Systems sector at Northrop Group developing software to manage and control aerospace systems. He is building experience in computer programming, aerospace engineering, and handling classified information.

“

My time at Marin Catholic was an excellent academic environment for me to grow and develop my skills such that they could flourish at Stanford.

”

–Austin Osceola Narcomey ‘15

Like his brother, Andrew Narcomey ‘15 is set to graduate Stanford in 2019 with a degree in Computer Science. He has served as a research assistant at Cornell University, a wealth management intern at Morgan Stanley, and currently as a Risk and Quantitative Analysis intern at BlackRock.

“

My success at Stanford is credit to the amazing teachers at Marin Catholic, particularly in science, mathematics, writing, and theology, who prepared me for all the challenges that college brings.

–Andrew Osceola Narcomey ‘15

”

To learn more please visit marincatholic.org/stanfordalumni MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 24

A

E X P A N D I N G O U R F A I TH A N D F U T U R E B

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For decades students have wondered what was located upstairs in St. Anselm Hall on the back of campus. Those who had D classes upstairs in the 800-wing would look down the dark hallways with deep curiosity. Some would use the restrooms at E the start of the hall, but very few had the courage to walk any farther beyond there.

That is about to change.

(E) UNISEX TOILET

(E) VOLUNTEER OFFICE

(E) UNISEX TOILET

819 C-3-X 45 SF

820 X-X-X 165 SF

818 C-3-X 125 SF

11'-3"

(E) BELL TOWER

CLG. HT. +7'-11" 3 8'-0"

(E) STAIR 3

UP

CLG. HT. +9'-1" 1

5'-7 1/2"

(E) OFFICE 821 X-X-X 175 SF

817

13'-6 1/4"

(E) HALLWAY 835 A-2-B 410 SF

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(E) ALUMNI ADVANCEMENT ASSOCIATE

CLG. HT. +9'-0"

816 X-X-X 137 SF

(E) TECHNOLOGY 815 X-X-X 94 SF

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814A X-X-X SF

814 X-X-X 110 SF

(E) STORAGE

-

813 X-X-X 115 SF

813A X-X-X SF

13'-8 1/2"

Originally the building was designed as a convent to house the Sisters who taught at Marin Catholic in the 1950’s. As Gthe years passed, those rooms turned into storage areas and offices for facilities, development, communications and technology.

(E

(E) STORAGE

822 D-2-B 304 SF

F

A

A

(E) KITCHEN

(E) HALLWAY

(E) PANTRY

812 X-X-X 279 SF CLG. HT. +8'-11"

811 A-2-B 151 SF

(E) HALLWAY

834 A-2-B 91 SF

823 D-2-B 146 SF

(E) DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE SPECIAL EVENTS

(E) CAMPUS MINISTRY

UP

(E) UNISEX RESTROOM

828 C-3-X CLG. HT. 69 SF +7'-11"

(E) UNISEX RESTROOM 829 C-3-X 114 SF

(E) PRESIDENT'S LIBRARY

824 A-2-D 578 SF

With the growth in enrollment, it is time for St. Anselm Hall to be gutted and I transformed into a space that reflects the needs of the students. With a successful Capital Campaign, St. Anselm Hall will now be the home to a new Counseling J Center, seven classrooms, and a Campus Ministry Center.

831 A-2-B 108 SF

CLG. HT. +7'-11"

827 A-2-B 245 SF

(E) PRINCIPAL'S CONFERENCE ROOM

H

(E) HALLWAY

832 X-X-X 129 SF

(E) SACRISTY ROOM

20'-2 1/4"

810 A-2-B 162 SF

(E) LOBBY

833 A-2-B 114 SF

CHRISTIAN SERVICE

826 B-1-D 877 SF

(E) ARCADE CLG. HT. +8'-11"

1

X-X-X SF

EXIT

A

UTILITY 825 X-X-X 184 SF

(E) CHAPEL X-X-X 1683 SF

K

To learn more about this project please contact the Advancement Office at 415-464-3843.

L

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FIRST FLOOR PLAN - EXISTING CONDITION

1/8" = 1'-0"

N SIGNATURE

NO.

1160 BATTERY ST SUITE 50 SAN FRANCISCO CA 94111 415 512 7795

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25—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

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APPR

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ISSUED FOR CO

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CLARIFICATION

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SCREENED LINES INDICATE EXISTING ITEMS TO REMAIN

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DARK DASHED LINES INDICATE ITEMS TO BE REMOVED

3.

DARK SOLID LINES INDICATE NEW/ RELOCATED ITEMS TO BE INSTALLED

4.

CEILING HEIGHT IS 8'-6" UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE.

B CLOSET

CLOSET

808A X-X-X 34 SF

808B X-X-X 35 SF

C (E) DRAMA CLASSROOM 808 X-X-X 1,230 SF

D

(E) VEST. 807 X-X-X 564 SF

E

(E) BOILER ROOM

806 X-X-X 65 SF

(E) PLATFORM

800 E-1-A 262 SF

(E) ELECT. 806A X-X-X 41 SF

(E) HALLWAY 809 A-2-B 205 SF

(E) A/V (E) STORAGE ROOM 804 D-2-B 102 SF

803 D-2-B 47 SF

F 2

NUMBERED KEY NOTES

(E) DRESS ROOM 805 D-2-B 272 SF

(E) SHOP ROOM

UP

(E) STAIR 2

800A E-1-A 166 SF

(E) TOILET

830

UP

805A C-3-X 31 SF

(E) GREEN ROOM CLG. HT. +8'-5"

(E) VESTIBULE

802 D-2-B 606 SF

ACCESS TO CRAWL SPACE THROUGH FLOOR HATCH

3

ACCESS TO CRAWL SPACE THROUGH ACCESS PANEL UNDER STAIR A

(E) MECH. ROOM

801B X-X-X 40 SF

3

DEMO EXISTING CONCRETE LANDING AND STAIRS.

2

G

CLG. HT. +8'-9"

CLOSET

801A X-X-X 40 SF

1

The Convent building was the home of Marin Catholic’s Holy Names Sisters beginning in the 1950’s.

805B X-X-X 33 SF

A

DN

(E) STAIR 1 801C

A

BASEMENT FLOOR PLAN EXISTING CONDITION

(E) CLASSROOM 801 A-2-B 557 SF

1/8" = 1'-0"

A-XP100.dwg

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EXISTING CONDITION ROOM FINISH LEGEND NO SCOPE / NO CHANGES

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PORCELAIN WALL TILE WAINSCOT OVER GYP. BD. W/ EPOXY PAINT

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08/03/2018

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MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 26

O

Bridging the GAP After attending Boston College, Nick Narodny ‘02 went on to co-found two tech companies including Grovo, a highly successful microlearning platform to help employees flourish. Narodny recently hosted an MC New York alumni gathering on the Grovo rooftop in NYC. This past spring, Adam Callan welcomed me to his Economics class to speak about entrepreneurship. After all, I co-founded two venture-backed technology companies in the last eight years, I should have something to say on the subject, right? Right, but what exactly? Reflecting on my experiences I realized that what drove me to start my very first business way back as a freshman at MC is what still propels me today – identify a problem you a) care about and b) know something about and c) solve it. It’s that simple (note: solving it won’t be that simple).

Flashback to 1998, my first year of high school. I had a bowl cut (I don’t anymore), I loved (and still love) computers and my parents were (and still are) real estate agents. Life was good. And yet I noticed that some of the real estate agents I grew up around were having technical difficulties. Why was that a problem? Some were wasting up to two hours a day battling their computers or trying to recover from a crash. The Windows 95 machines they relied on were so loaded up with malicious software and pop-ups they were barely usable. I knew how frustrating that was and I also knew how to fix it. So my friend and I gave real estate agents computer lessons, fixed their computers and made them websites. Pretty straight forward. The pain of their problem was so great that they were happy to pay us to make their technical woes go away.

I saw a problem that I knew something about, asked questions and delivered a solution worth paying for. At the time I didn’t think of myself as an entrepreneur but I was, and so is anyone who asks a lot of questions and works to fix a problem.

Sure you’re saying, “but I’m not a techie computer person.”

I say, not a problem. Other enterprising classmates of mine planned weekend ski trips, made funny t-shirts, rented video games and so on. Find a need you care about and know something about. Ask questions. If you make someone’s day better because of your solution, you’re on your way.

After graduating from Marin Catholic and then Boston College, I’ve tackled bigger and bigger problems. In 2010, I co-founded Grovo to make training on the job drive behavior change and last year I started Aalto to help solve the real estate inventory problem in America’s major cities.

I couldn’t be more thrilled that Chris Valdez and Tim Navone are flexing their entrepreneurial muscles and starting the Alumni Mentorship GAP program. It’s a solution to a problem my bowl-cut freshman entrepreneur-in-training self would have loved to have had.

27—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

“Everyone has problems. Understand them and solve them. Then you can charge for it.”

Nick Narodny ‘02

Guiding Alumni Program A new alumni program launching this school year will be led by two recent alumni, Les Smith ‘09 and Gavin Hession ‘12. The GAP mentor program is designed to help alumni create learning and career education and opportunities for our current Marin Catholic students. The goal is to expose our students to potential careers before they select their college and majors. If you’d like to learn more about becoming a GAP partner and share your business experience as a mentor, please contact Les Smith ‘09 at smithlw2323@gmail.com or 707-334-0479 or the Alumni Office at alumni@marincatholic.org.

Les Smith ‘09 and Gavin Hession ‘12

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 28

TH I N K I N G O U T S I D E At MC, we are always looking for new ways to help students find their vocation: (1) what am I good at? (2) what do I value? (3) what am I committed to? We want students to graduate with strong, declarative answers to these questions so they will be on their way to success in their relationships, in college, at work‌and ultimately to their calling.

Currently, we are in the early development of an Entrepreneurship program that will focus in on the intersection of Catholic Social Teaching and innovative business venture. Combined, these two forces have the power to develop a just society and afford our students to develop the skills of vocational and virtue-based entrepreneurs.

At the blueprint stage, this program will consist of courses here on campus and work outside the classroom. To support the school year curriculum, we are in partnership with Catholic University of America and their Summer Entrepreneurial Camp, where our students have spent the past two summers learning to pitch ideas in a Shark Tank style forum. We are also in the development stages with a summer project with Wizeline (see more on page 9), a tech company headquartered in San Francisco and campused in Guadalajara, Mexico, where we will be sending 12 students next summer to participate in a week-long program in coding and business seminars.

Both of these programs start with the question--how can entrepreneurialism and business help to develop a just society?

Stay tuned. We are planning to announce more details this spring!

29—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

Griffin Nott ’20 at the CUA Entrepreneurial Program in the summer of 2018. Students were given a variety of supplies in a cardboard box to prompt a creation of a basic prototype of something they would invent.

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 30

Eternal Word, Ever Speaking: Listen

Former Director of Campus Ministry and current Theology teacher Peggy Semling ’84 took a semester-long sabbatical to the Holy Land last Spring to enrich both her spirit and her craft. The following reflection is one example of how important professional development is for the learning experience of our students.

T

he sound of the birds hooked me in and held me for the next three months of my Assisi to Jerusalem sabbatical. In a way, it felt like God was continuously reminding me to listen, to that still, soft voice of His, and to know that He walks with me every step of the way. I had decided on Assisi after visiting the medieval town for a few days following the “Closing of the Doors of Mercy” in Rome in 2016 when I was determined to see Pope Francis. There was just something about Assisi. I knew I wanted to return to find out what that something was, what was calling me. So I rented an attic apartment in the old town, memorized the “Our Father” in Italian, read St. Bonaventure’s biography on St. Francis, and had a very loose plan to study, pray, and hike around in St. Francis’s 1200 AD footprints.

31—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

After waking to the bells of San Rufino outside my window, I heard the birds as I walked down to daily morning Mass in a beautiful side chapel of San Rufino, where St. Francis and St. Claire were baptized. I was accompanied by eight Franciscan sisters, a few elderly parishioners, and the local priest, where we came to know each other through prayer.

Morning hikes up to the caves of the Hermitage had me following in Francis’ steps until lunch time, always with the birds chirping, even when it was snowing. My favorite prayer time was down in the tomb of St. Francis in the Basilica. His remains sit above the tabernacle, and I could pray there in silence until the Franciscan friars would come in and sing the psalms in Italian accompanied by one of the younger friars playing an old organ... chanting nei secoli dei secoli… Amen.

Praying for the needs of my students, family, and friends, was the sweetest time on my sabbatical, and the time I felt closest to God. It was that slow kind of spiritual time. By late afternoon I would head down the hill to San Damiano for Vespers. The walk through the olive orchards to the valley floor was flooded with evening light, birds singing, and God smiling. The walk back up felt a bit more penitential, much like the Dipsea, but ended with some awesome Italian gnocchi with truffles.

I left Assisi on March 21, to embark on the second part of my sabbatical in the Holy Land. As I headed down the hill on a local bus to the train station, I looked back over my shoulder at the Convento di San Francesco sitting at the top of the hill, and was sufficiently choked up, sad to leave a place that felt like coming Home.

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 32

SACRED SPACES Marian Consecration & Grotto Blessing

The St. Francis Chapel, often referred to as “the most beautiful chapel in Marin,” has, in the past, been a place where a few students and faculty members would gather for morning Mass. Now the chapel is bustling with sometimes upward of 80 people for morning Mass and is the destination for other faith-based activities like Sunday night Holy Hour, Sunday night Mass, Team Chaplain meetings, Kairos reunions, and a place for theology class reflection, prayer and confession throughout the school day.

“When I started to hear there was congestion in the chapel, I was both excited for what was happening, but concerned about the lack of sacred spaces on campus beyond the chapel,” says President Navone. That’s when an angel entered.

“I received a call from someone not previously connected with the school who was inquiring about the positive things going on at Marin Catholic,” says Navone.

“We met and he asked me to share what my dreams were for the school. We walked around campus and I told him about three sacred spaces that I wanted to happen for our students–an outside Stations of the Cross, scriptural verses on the buildings in the freshman and junior halls, and someday a Marian grotto like the one at Notre Dame.”

After the tour, the angel benefactor returned with a large check with a few simple words–”Let’s get started.” “On what?”

Navone answered. “All of it,” he said.

One year later all three projects are complete. Now students and faculty have options and destinations for prayer and community all around campus.

33—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

Photo by Chris Owens

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 34

Resident Sage Retires Veteran English teacher Tom Lippi has retired after 43 years.

Lippi’s passion for teaching and learning is unmatched.

Tom has been a one-of-a-kind teacher, one that those students fortunate to have had him will remember the rest of their lives.

They will remember his warmth and his wit, his evident care and concern. They will remember the ways in which he caused them to think more deeply, to ask questions, and confidently to share insights.

No two of Mr. Lippi’s lesson plans were alike. He designed each of them both to engage and involve his students actively, students he preferred to call scholars—a more active term— who leave his class with a sense of accomplishment, often greater awareness of themselves or of the great questions of human existence.

Over his many years at this school, Tom has advised and lent his counsel to many administrators; he has mentored and encouraged scores of young teachers and colleagues; but, most significantly, he has touched the hearts and minds of thousands of students.

Below, former students of Tom Lippi and now working at MC: Brittany Diego ‘97, Mark Jaeger ‘97, Katie Tuttle ‘91, Adam Callan ‘01, Lisa Ingels ‘92, Lynn Maloney ‘98, Tom Lippi ‘69, Brian Jaeger ‘95, Jessica Kraus ‘78, Julie Meyer ‘96, Anna Marie Smith ‘12, Gina Jaeger ‘00, Joe Ward ‘94, Roxanne Civarello ‘06

35—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

A Reflection from Tom Lippi I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’ Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades For ever and forever when I move.

I wrote those lines not long after I returned home from the Trojan War… Not really.

Of course those are the words of Ulysses, from Tennyson’s poem of the same name. After a life of adventure—the bulk of his years spent in trying, with great difficulty, to get home—Ulysses, finally there, yearns to leave again, to seek new adventures, to—as he puts it (in words I have sent legions of my seniors off with), “…strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

Inspiring. I’m in. Save me a seat in that boat.

Or maybe not…

Ulysses must go because he finds no inspiration at home, because he laments that he might “rust unburnished, not to shine in use…”.

I’ll take my leave from our boy here. I may indeed find myself at the threshold of a new untravelled world, and the crossing of that threshold does require my leaving this home that Marin Catholic has been for me.

But I leave knowing, happily and humbly, that I have been of use.

I realized pretty early in my life what I was supposed to do and where I was supposed to do it. I did not settle for this job; I sought it. Allow me to be presumptuous for a moment. I was called to it. I know this. That statement may suggest that I perceive a purpose, a higher power, at work in my life (even beyond my mom and dad!). I think I do. And I’m not trying to brag here. In fact, I find the whole idea pretty humbling.

My brother Ken and I were raised by parents whose faith was deep, quiet, and lived. They taught by example.

They would never allow us to entertain the notion that we were somehow special or exclusive or entitled, that we possessed a precious secret to which others were not privy. But they never let us doubt even for a moment that we were blessed, called to do good work, to render true and humble service, we were loved, and that love manifests itself in how we live our lives, in particular in how we treat others. Marin Catholic allowed me, indeed inspired me, to do that good work. I trust that on my best days I did manifest that love to my students and to my colleagues.

I have had it returned to me, so often and in so many ways, over the course of my time at MC. Looking back, I’ve probably been thinking about becoming a teacher for most of my life. Since my St. Rita’s days, and through high school, college, grad school, I’ve been making mental notes about those teachers I loved. I was, and I am still, truly inspired by great teachers. Until the day I packed up and moved out of Room 304, I was learning from them, and stealing freely.

I was formed at school by dedicated, passionate teachers, role models, many of whom made real sacrifices, often working a second and third job in order to afford to stay at MC and in Catholic education. Honestly, the best teachers I had were my high school teachers, like Bill Isetta, whose classes helped me to fashion informed opinions and opened my eyes to the world outside the friendly confines of Marin; or Jack Breen, who helped me to find my voice in speaking and writing, one that I finally deemed worthy of sharing; and Father David Pettingill, who made me,

insofar as I am or aspire to be, a scholar, and who inspired me to strive to instill the joy of learning into my own students. In how I did my job, I hope I have honored my mentors’ commitment and discipline and insistence upon excellence—and the great joy they took in their work.

In the experience of every person, there is, or should be, the teacher who got it, and you, and who helped light a spark, help you find your way.

Always remembered. Cherished. Indispensable. I have been blessed to have known such teachers. I hope and pray I was one of them myself, for somebody.

I have worked alongside a few…

My own children sat on Thomas Thompson’s knee and thrilled to hear his original stories, in which they starred. That’s how deep and abiding my family’s relationship to this school, these people, goes. My goodness, what a gift: we got to help in the raising of each other’s children.

My colleagues, fellow teachers, staffers, administrators, authentic embodiments of faith, knowledge, and service, played crucial roles in the formation of my children, Kelly and Joe, who are good people, know who they are what they stand for (our family mantra of dubious origins!), what they are called to be and do. I am grateful to them, to so many others. …to the “lifers” with whom I have grown up and with whom I am growing old, still growing, bending, perhaps with varying degrees of flexibility, in the inevitable winds of change, or the turning of the wheel… but steadfast in their passionate dedication to their work and its legacy. …to my students who, like me, came back to their school to teach.

What greater affirmation of the experience could there be? My younger colleagues, who honor me by calling me a mentor, but their excellence, dedication, and passion, in fact, are powerful lessons to me. The good work goes on at MC. I feel a father’s pride.

As someone often more “at home in the metaphor,” I might end where I began: My time at MC as a student, teacher, colleague, parent, has indeed been some journey—an adventure, a long, strange trip, a quest, maybe even a pilgrimage…I reach the end of my teaching career with mixed feelings, to be sure. Seems only right.

In between hanging out with family, fussing in my garden, making my way though the nightstand stack of books-I-have-to-read, and making myself of use in other ways still to discover, I do relish the time I will have to look back and remember it all with satisfaction and true and humble gratitude. Maybe even a touch of wonder.

I’ve been blessed.

So while Ulysses (and another hero of mine, the Boss) allows that he has been “always roaming with a hungry heart,” I take great joy in affirming that my heart is full.

Along with Tom Lippi, Marin Catholic also celebrated the retirements of Jeff Stewart, Teri Hanley, and Elisa Puchir who, combined, have dedicated over 120 years to Marin Catholic. Congratulations and thank you to our retirees!

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 36

A novel idea Marin Catholic is in the second year of an English curriculum redesign guided by the belief that it is vital to pause and ask the essential questions about course content.

Framing our redesign is this question: given our Catholic mission, what should our students read, study, and contemplate in their English classes? It is a basic question but the answer is not simple at all.

As Catholic educators, we maintain the belief that the act of reading literature is the act of sharpening the poetic imagination, cultivating an intuitive sense of the transcendent, and expanding our view of the world and its people to gain a greater sense of hope and possibility.

We believe that reading literature is as formative an experience as any other our students may encounter at MC. This puts much responsibility on our English teachers as they select their books.

Flannery O’Connor suggests that our formational work in the Catholic school English class is about helping develop and inspire “the kind of mind that is willing to have its sense of mystery deepened by contact with reality, and its sense of reality deepened by contact with mystery.”

As a result, the English 9 curriculum adopted the “Parable of the Good Samaritan” as a touchstone text because Christ’s parable provides ultimate lessons in mercy and social responsibility and provides the answer to the question: how ought I relate to my fellow human beings? With this parable as a guide, the freshmen will go on to read Reginald Rose’s court drama Twelve Angry Men, Tolkien’s fantasy novel The Hobbit, and Shakespeare’s Othello.

These beautiful works inspire in students a willingness to develop O’Connor’s kind of mind. Our ultimate hope in this redesign is that our four years of literary study at MC will help students to be both grounded and animated by the mystery and reality of our faith and humanity.

41—MARIN Catholic • fall 37—MARIN FALL 2018

Drawing from real life

AP 2D Drawing standout artist Rachel Schottstaedt ‘18 spent four years in MC’s Drawing and Painting program under the direction of Art Department Chair Orin Carpenter.

“Rachel’s artistic ability and artistic instinct was well beyond her age,”says Carpenter. “Her approach to art was similar to the approach of a chess player. She was strategic in the technique while never losing the vibrance of spontaneity.”

Schottstaedt is now pursuing a book illustration degree at the California College of the Arts. To view more of Rachel’s portfolio, visit rachelschottstaedt.wixsite. com/rachelschottstaedt.

Zoo Animals On Campus?

The answer is yes. The MC Art Department approached the San Francisco Zoo to bring live zoo animals on campus to be subject matter for students to draw in their “observation drawing” unit.

“I am so excited because it allows us to push kids to see in a different way,”says Art Department Chair Orin Carpenter. “To be in the presence of a live zoo animal is not only exhilarating, but challenging for artists.”

Marin Catholic • fall 2018 — 38

All fired up.

I fell in love with clay over 20 years ago as a student in Mr. Tuchsen’s class at Marin Catholic and it changed my life. I’m constantly in awe and humbled by the endless techniques, processes, and expressions that clay allows. Today, as the ceramics teacher, I aim to stay connected to that awe and humility by exploring the many possibilities of the medium. When my friend Evan Hobart became the director of the ceramics program at the Mendocino Art Center, or MAC, I saw an opportunity to create a truly unique field trip experience for MC students.

In ceramics we work with the earth to create form and through the process of heat, or firing, we permanently change the material and surface. At the MAC our students participate in raku firings, soda firings, and most notably a wood firing. These kilns are heated manually and therefore requires constant supervision and work. Students work in 4-hour shifts, day and night, feeding the kiln wood by hand over a period of 4 days. When wood is used to fire a kiln the ash travels through the kiln and melts on the ceramic forms to create an organic glass surface that is truly incredible.

When I first considered this trip I was hesitant for many reasons, after all, I have never heard of a high school ceramics program anywhere that offered such a high-level experience. Could high school students handle a process that requires such maturity and responsibility? Would they be able to manage the overnight work shifts? Would they be able to fully understand and appreciate the process and transformation of the material? The answer to all of these questions was a resounding YES. My students and I have successfully fired almost a dozen wood fire kilns together and each and every time I have witnessed their growth and appreciation throughout the experience.

I feel blessed to witness hands-on, project-based, learning every day in the classroom studio, but when you provide an experience beyond the classroom, in the field, you create the opportunity for life-changing education. I have seen many of these students inspired to new heights by the experience of the Mendocino Art Trip. –Mark Jaeger ’97

Left: MAC ceramics director Evan Hobart describes the wood fire process to MC students.

Right: Camille Postaer ‘17 opening the stoke door of the wood fire kiln at peak temperature.

Photos: Ben Rupers ‘11 39—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

Alumni Spotlight: Matt Biasotti ’16 “The annual trip to Mendocino is a journey that is incomparable to most. It’s an opportunity to dive into a ritual that has been practiced for thousands of years, the wood fire. After my initial trip to Mendocino, I was so inspired and fueled that it ultimately lead me to study ceramics with a wood fire focus at Montana State University. This trip has been the foundation for many others besides myself as the turning point for their careers in the ceramic arts. Mendocino allows students to get involved in a material and subject matter more intensely than any other.”

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 40

S E TT I N G TH E S T A G E Back in the late 1990’s, Patrons of the Arts co-founder Klif Knoles gathered a team together to build a new stage in the Performing Arts Center. The entire Arts program, which consisted of four teachers, was expanding and needed a new stage to support the growth.

Twenty years later the Marin Catholic Arts Program is flourishing in every way.

The department grew from one teacher in Dave Tuchsen throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, to four teachers in the 1990’s, to nine teachers today. Marin Catholic has become a destination for Marin’s artsminded middle school students, or as Art Department Chair Orin Carpenter calls it, “The best arts program in all of Marin.”

Thanks to a generous group of benefactors led by Regent Greg Bullian, the music program was recently enhanced with a state-of-the-art recording studio. Now students can practice, rehearse and record in a professional studio as they prepare to play music at the next level. Alum T.R. Hofmann ‘04, now a Franciscan named Brother Isaiah, recently recorded his latest album “Poco a Poco” in the new studio.

The next project for Marin Catholic is to replace the stage from the late 1990’s to further enhance the Performing Arts Center.

Recent upgrades include new acoustical wall panels, more wireless microphones, and a professional-grade projector and screen to support the performances and the new Film and Television course.

To learn more about the Arts at Marin Catholic or to support the growth of the program, please contact the Advancement Office at 415-464-3843.

41—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

CLASSICS COMING TO OUR CURRICULUM Art Department Chair Orin Carpenter and Catholic Formation and Curricular Integration Director Ryan Mayer are working together to create a unit for the Advanced Art curriculum on the Theological and Cardinal Virtues.

“I think the arts are such an important avenue for revealing God’s truth, goodness and beauty,” says Mayer. “Our Catholic heritage has such a rich tradition of using the arts as a means of telling about God. The virtuous life is beautiful. What better way to show that than through the arts?”

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 42

Stats!

Stats!

Stats!

By Graeme Ashley ‘18

43—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

Following the 8:55 am bell, I walk from my A Block AP Government class in senior hall to room 200, the location of my AP Statistics class. I take my seat, get my binder and notebook out of my backpack, and wait for class to start. Suddenly everything goes silent. For a moment, not a single person says a word. As Mr. Luther enters, excited scholars erupt into our morning chant: “STATS! STATS! STATS!,”growing progressively louder each time. Mr. Luther puts his things down on his desk and begins his lecture.

This energy and eagerness to learn is typical of anyone who has taken a class from Mr. Luther (2017 Teacher of the Year as selected by the senior class). By allowing antics like the morning stats chant, Mr. Luther creates an effective, spirited, and fun learning environment. He strikes the perfect balance between fun and academics.

AP Stats is easily the best class I’ve ever been a part of. While many laughs have created closer bonds with our classmates and Mr. Luther, make no mistake, AP Stats has been one of the most knowledge-enriching and helpful classes I’ve taken in high school. Mr. Luther has taught me about the importance of interpreting data carefully, and the skills necessary for collecting and drawing conclusions from data.

Mr. Luther’s gift is getting to know each and every student personally, and making them feel like the most important member of the class. At Boston University, I’ll miss the learning environment in AP Stats, because I’m sure teachers who care about the individual interests of their students will be few and far between in college.

Letter from Former Stats Student to Mr. Luther Hi Mr. Luther, For the longest time I have been meaning to email you and I am so sorry for my delay, but better late than never. I wanted to reach out and say thank you. Thank you for everything you taught me in AP Stats my senior year because not only did you inspire me to continue studying statistics in college and graduate with a minor in it, but believe it or not in every college stats class I took, I referred back to my AP Stats binder and all the notes I took during your class.

I wanted to say thank you for sparking an interest in something I love. You helped give me the confidence to take on a minor that many, including myself before taking your class, feared. Thank you for giving me the tools and the foundation to succeed in statistics.

I wanted to share with you that I graduated this summer Cum Laude with a B.S in Marketing and a minor in Statistics from San Diego State University and very fortunately graduated with a full time job. Here’s the proof, I still have and use my stats binder from your class! My notes and examples from your class helped me through every statistics course!

I hope you are well and you have a fantastic school year.

Alyssa Gobar ‘14

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018 — 44

M A TH S P E A K Thanks to donations from MC grandparent Diane Grialou and the Williams Stamps Farish Fund, for the past several years Marin Catholic has been able to release senior teacher Terrie Freni-Johnson for a period to serve as the school’s Math Coordinator.

“The Math Coordinator supports the other math teachers by guiding the department in their professional development,” says Freni-Johnson. “It was clear that the needs of the department were greater than the Math Department Chair could handle alone. Now we are able to focus on improving student learning through the investigation of assessment and feedback.”

Through the work of Freni-Johnson, the department has selected College Prep Math (CPM) as the best practice to enhance student learning.

The desired outcome of moving to CPM is for students to deepen their conceptual understanding and to improve their retention of algebra skills. The productive teamwork and discussions help students deepen their understanding.

CPM’s homework constantly spirals through previous topics, which creates a continuous review of fundamental algebra skills and topics throughout Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2.

“We have been wanting to give students an opportunity to engage in math talk rather than sitting back and taking notes,” says Johnson. “In a short period of time, we have already seen students having deeper conversations in math.

The vocabulary they now use shows they have a better understanding of what is going on.”

To learn more about CPM, visit www.cpm.org.

45—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

y x

m=

y m = xy – –x y = 5x – 1

2

1

2

1

y= 5–3 x 2–(-1)

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018—46

IDEAS IN ACTION For more than a decade, Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES) students finish their year with a culminating project and proposal to the administration with ideas on how to make Marin Catholic more sustainable.

APES teacher Erik Schmitz puts together a panel of administrators, along with local professionals who work on sustainability, to critique and provide feedback to the students.

The good thing is that so many of these proposals have been implemented at the school, including Dark Tuesdays, a simple solution of using only natural light in the classrooms one day a week presented by Carlie Burkhard ‘12 and Carlyn Williams ‘12.

“We asked our energy supplier to measure the impact of turning off the lights on Tuesdays to see how much money we saved,” says President Tim Navone. “Last year alone they estimated that we saved a minimum of $4,000 and a maximum of $6,000. That’s a huge win from a wonderful, but simple student idea.”

Take a look at the other student APES projects put into action.

47—MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018

Dark Days Carlie Burkhard ‘13 Carlyn Williams ‘13 Textbo ok Recycling Blair White ‘09 James Groh ‘14 Jack Long ‘14 LED Lighting Michael Grinnell ‘10 Brian Araujo ‘11 Nick Cherbero ‘11 Alec Ratto ‘11 Anya Daniels ‘12 Michael Keyes ‘12 Tommy Rooney ‘12 Devin Massanti ‘15 Jack Snyder ‘15

Reusable Water Bottles Danielle Moreno ‘10 Dominic Simons ‘10 Olivia Colvin ‘11 Jacqueline Garcia ‘11 Lauren Kretzschmar ‘11 Sarah Merrion ‘11 Tyler Scott ‘11 Erica Smith ‘11 Thomas Boyer ‘13 Johnny Kunst ‘13 Spencer VanMeter ‘13 Natalie Gonzalez ‘14 Anne-Celine Jeffroy-Meynard ‘14 Marie-Nicole Jeffroy-Meynard ‘14 Bailey Beck ‘14 Maddie Cincebeaux ‘14 Gabrielle Martini ‘15 Christina Weiss ‘15

Skylig ht Installation Stephanie Noonan ‘10 Ferrel Monterroso ‘19 Brendan Wolf ‘19

Fair Trade Choco late Commitment Samantha Novick ‘12 Neeki Zohadi ‘12

Bee Garden Shelby Brown ‘12 Megan McCullough ‘12

Bioplastic Cafeteria Utensils Emily Cincebeaux ‘10

Bathroom and Shower Faucet Aerators Trent Blodgett ‘10 Drew O’Neill ‘10 Tayla Moore ‘11 Brittany Rolstad ‘12 Lizzie Afendikova ‘13 Johnny Arens ‘17 Andrew Colletti ‘17 Paper Elimination Garrett Maring ‘10 Alex Smith ‘11 Hailey Stephens ‘11 Alyssa Devine ‘13 Richard Epidendio ‘14 Katrina Gale ‘13 Water Bottle Refilling Stations Bijan Bahreyni ‘14 Nicholas Hallmark ‘14 Nicholas Gernhard ‘16 Cafeteria Plastic Water Bottle Ban Johnny Tillapaugh ‘11 James McCarty ‘16 Ryan O’Keefe ‘16

Landscaping Drip Irrigation Mike Cornett ‘11 Matt Nutting ‘11 Michael Podshadley ‘11 Megan Parent ‘15 Sheela Ziari ‘15 Recycling Enhancements Chase Raskowsky ‘10 Connor Renk ‘11 Adam Chmielewski ‘15 Jessie McLellan ‘11 Rachel Minikes ‘11 James Pelfini ‘14 Tori Robertson ‘11 Casey Armusewicz ‘17 Dimitri Fulconis ‘16 Joe Levin ‘17 Elizabeth Neill ‘17 Claire Ongaro ‘16 Cat Spina ‘17 Will Dalporto ‘18 Nick Gardner ‘18

Cafeteria Co mpos ting Suzanne Viera ‘10 Christian Gilmer ‘10 Riley Ford ‘11 Max Friedman ‘10 Megan Govi ‘10 Alex Heimbrodt ‘11 Mark Netting ‘10 Jake Seijas ‘11 Erin Stewart ‘11 Kitty Thornton ‘10 Kaitlin Torre ‘11 Craig Porter ‘12 Kate Walera ‘12 Abby Farrell ‘15 Kelsey Fenn ‘14 Shane Kunst ‘15 Julia Malet ‘15 Michaela Andrues ‘16 Gabby Doerschlag ‘16 Jackie McLaughlin ‘16 Gueverly Mendez ‘17 Carly Ross ‘17 Chase Geffert ‘17 Chloe Hadfield ‘18

Sus tainable-Minded Method Soap Angus Dorward ‘18 Jack Wight ‘18

MARIN Catholic • FALL 2018—48