CoNVENT & STUART H A L L SCHO O L S O F T H E SACRE D H E A R T The Bulletin is published for the parents, alumni, friends, faculty, and staff of Convent & Stuart Hall. Correspondence and change of address may be sent to: Convent & Stuart Hall 2222 Broadway San Francisco, CA 94115 Tel: 415-563-2900 www.sacredsf.org bulletin@sacredsf.org Communications Director Jo Ann W. Shain shain@sacredsf.org Editor Stefani Blair blair@sacredsf.org Graphic Designer and Photographer Heather Cenzer cenzer@sacredsf.org Alumni Editor Marian Zizzo zizzo@sacredsf.org Contributing Photographers Stefani Blair Heather Cenzer Amanda Coffee '04 Sarah Delaney Patricia Feeney Gallagher '76'72 Linda Gutierrez Jeanne Johnston Ray O'Conner Jo Ann Shain Yearbook Staffs of Stuart Hall for Boys, Convent Elementary, Convent High School and Stuart Hall High School Dieter Zander Marian Zizzo Contributing Writers Stefani Blair Amanda Coffee '04 Sonia Evers Tricia O'Brien '82'78 Joshua Forman-Ortiz, Stuart Hall-12 Sarah Neal Lauren Richardson Jo Ann Shain Gordon Sharafinski
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Printing Rick Weaver, The Printing Business
(Above) Stuart Hall for Boys seventh and eighth graders enjoy the festivities at The Feast of Philippine Duchesne Day hosted by Stuart Hall High School.
Special Contributors - Convent Elementary eighth graders: (l to r) Samantha Dilley Georgianna Harris Mia MacLean-Vernic Lauren Hutchinson Helen Carey Caroline Grassi Mikaela Esquivel Varela Sarah Neal
Contents GREEN
Feature
Features Shared Tradition 14 Our Eighth graders tell the stories of the Religious of Sacred Heart retired at Oakwood.
Special Series Changing Our Footprint: Our Eco-Council is behind many of the green initiatives you may not know about. page 10
30 Darwin, God and the Universe
A dialogue with renowned theologians and scientists helped Convent & Stuart Hall high school students examine evolution and creation.
44 Alumni as Teachers
Plus: Finding Joy in Nature, photos by Sarah Delaney , Jeanne Johnston and Dieter Zander page 18 It Takes a Village to Be Green, by Lauren Richardson page 24 Going Green with Red Wigglers, with Tracy Sena page 27 Sprucing Up the Neighborhood, by Joshua Forman-Ortiz page 36 Alumni and the Struggle to Clean Up Our Oceans, by Amanda Coffee ’04 page 46
Bulletin Convent & Stuart Hall Winter 2010 Volume 32, No. 1
Children of the Sacred Heart who grow up to be educators of the Sacred Heart.
From the Classroom 17 Tales of the Fourth Grade Somebodys 20 Street Art and Spanish Culture 28 Out of the Class and Into the Classics 35 Ten Years at Stuart Hall High School On Stage 22 Moss Trap , A Farce in Three Acts 32 Inherit the Wind , The Rhetorical Fisticuffs of Our Time
Departments 4 Letter from the Director 6 The Bulletin Board 9 Fall Sports Round Up 16 Convent of the Sacred Heart Elementary 24 Stuart Hall for Boys 28 Convent of the Sacred Heart High School 34 Stuart Hall High School 37 Greetings, Alumni! 47 Class Notes 50 In Memoriam 51 Our Mission C o nvent & S tuart H all
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Message From the Director Dear Parents and Members of the Schools of the Sacred Heart Community, Recently I had the opportunity to address all of the members of our employee community at a gathering in our school chapel. I chose to begin my remarks with the following quote from Janet Erskine Stuart, a remarkable RSCJ for whom the two boys schools are named: There are two ways of preparing children for the government of themselves (after schooling), one direct and the other indirect. The first has its merits, it is quick in results, often very successful. It fosters piety, inculcates some clear principles, dictates the main lines of action, and by rule and maxim, fits the being into its place in the world, and gives it means to do its duty creditably. The indirect method is longer and less clearly defined. It aims at giving a guiding light within, and power to climb a difficult path, and pick a way through unknown country by that light. This must be waited for, and slowly developed, but in the end it is of greater worth. The training of the Sacred Heart aims at this. This particular passage cleanly captures the essence of our approach to educating your sons and daughters, a path to learning that emphasizes thoughtful examination and process rather than rote memorization or pat answers. I wholly embrace Mother Stuart’s invitation to choose the patient approach, the one that engages the student in the learning journey. I assure you, as I walk through the halls of our schools, I see the teachers engage your children in a manner that respects them as learners, as young persons who will be best served by “being taught to fish rather than being given a fish.” At that same gathering, I recounted a recent visit with my new best friends, the kindergarten girls. These lovely, little creatures inhabit the rooms one floor down from my office, and when I want a break from adult concerns, I simply go down the stairs to observe them. On my last visit, I came upon several of the girls gathered at their cubbies, retrieving items for their next activity. I asked, “Are you off to recreation?” To which one of girls responded, “We don’t even know what that word means.” After I explained that it often means “play,” I quickly learned that they had their play period prior to lunch and now, after lunch, were preparing for their rest period. I told them I wished I could join them, since I thought the option of a nap after lunch was a very good thing. One of the girls informed me that she found the rest period very boring, and another noted how slowly the time passes. Our conversation went on for a few moments until a small voice
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piped up, “Excuse me, Mr. S., but you’re distracting us when we should be going to our rest period.” That ended our conversation, but in that little voice I heard the voice of my mother and every teacher who has reminded me that I need to be mindful of the task at hand and not get caught up in my need to be playful and teasing, traits I too often exhibit. While this experience was delightful and represents the joy that is so much a part of the culture of our schools, it also represents the honesty of an exchange between student and teacher. The hierarchy stands behind the importance of authentic conversation. Of course, we must be mindful of manners and proper etiquette, but not at the expense of sincerity and respectful candor in the discourse. “Out of the mouths of babes. . . .” The opportunity to teach is truly a gift and a privilege. Imagine spending your days creatively engaging young quizzical minds in the pursuit of new ideas and information. Our most important responsibility as administrators is to seek out the very best teachers we can find for your children, teachers who find joy in the guiding, listening, probing and patient engagement process of learning rather than the listing of maxims and duties; teachers who embrace “the Sacred Heart way.” In this Bulletin, there is a theme of preservation – of natural resources and legacy. So as you page through, enjoy the insights you find into the schools you have chosen for your children and the glimpses of adults who truly care about their students and the way they learn. Know we all believe that stewardship, of the planet as well as of our heritage, is our imperative. Your children confirm for us our belief that teaching is indeed a priceless gift. With gratitude for your trust and confidence,
Gordon Sharafinski Director of Schools
Community
29th Annual
DIRECTOR’S CLUB DINNER February 4, 2010 The Director's Club Dinner honors those who generously donated to the Annual Fund at the leadership level of $3,000 and above.
Click here to view more photos from the event
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The Bulletin Board Grab Your Safari Gear – CELEBRATE SPRING is Here The 18th Annual Celebrate Spring Weekend will celebrate Africa Travel with us to The Heart of Africa at Celebrate Spring 2010 on March 19 and 20. This year’s extravaganza will take us across the continent of Africa starting with the Zulu Market on March 4, and culminating with the Celebrate Spring weekend. As the major annual Parents Association fundraiser, Celebrate Spring has something for everyone, and, to quote one student, “It’s the best weekend of the year!” Celebrate Spring begins Friday, March 19, on the Broadway campus with a distinctive Boutique and elegant Garden Luncheon. From 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., guests may roam the boutique hunting for the perfect purchase, shop the extensive flower market and choose from an outstanding selection of custom-made Easter baskets. Advanced ticket purchase is required for the 11:00 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. seatings; complimentary valet parking is available.
On Saturday, March 20, Family Festival welcomes kids of all ages from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with free admission. Activities include a visit with the Easter Bunny, carnival games and prizes, arts and crafts and an outdoor barbeque. There will also be live performances by The Bubble Lady and Diamano Coura, African Dance Troupe. Saturday’s Evening Gala will evoke the majesty of the Heart of Africa from the Grand Ballroom of the Regency Center. The enchanting evening will begin with gourmet dining, cocktails and specialty wines provided by an array of outstanding San Francisco restaurants and caterers. The pulse of Africa will continue into the night with a rousing Live Auction, followed by live music and dancing. The Gala begins at 6:00 p.m. Advanced ticket purchase is required; complimentary valet parking is available. In addition, bidders from all over the world may participate in an Online Auction for artwork, event tickets, vacations, sports memorabilia, clothing, jewelry and gift certificates. Bidding opens at noon, March 13, and closes at noon on March 21. Access the auction online at www.celebratespring.org.
Celebrate Spring benefits programs at Convent & Stuart Hall and everyone is welcome!
Celebrate Sp 2010 The
The Swirl of Success
Heart of
heartof Africa
HEart heart
Tasting A tradition eagerly anticipated by wine enthusiasts all year is the Fall Wine support ds procee and Sale. The October 1 event featured many hard-to-find labels; the weekend-long Celebrate Spring event in March.
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Africa
Community
the elementary schools The annual Halloween Parade for
ulty.
is a treat for students—and fac
ssi Award Donna Morgan Wins Ro tors of t to three different Direc
tan After serving as the assis the highest honored in January with s wa n rga Mo a nn Do School, ich focuses e Esther Rossi Award, wh Th s, yee plo em to en award giv o nominated of community. Those wh on Goal IV: the building ssure, calling mor and grace under pre Donna mentioned her hu ” Nearly person in the community. her “the hardest working Employee Rossi family attended the the of ers mb me n ze a do nounce the award. Service Assembly to an
A Pocketful of Wishes
e Cure
Race for th
m for the annual Our co-ed high school tea e on September 27 Susan G. Komen 5K rac ed division and placed second in their tim ing division. second in their fundrais
During a September 16 ceremony celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Greater Bay Area MakeA-Wish Foundation, the Stuart Hall High School community was honored ard. with the group’s Hero Aw cipated ol year, Stuart Hall parti During the 2008-09 scho re than es program, collecting mo in the Pocketful of Wish nts, for the foundation. Stude $3000 in pocket change er aft ed pired to get involv faculty and staff were ins rtunity for once-in-a-lifetime oppo Make-A-Wish fulfilled a Stuart spent his senior year at James Kessler ’09, who in May d die he cancer. Before Hall battling a rare blood a and am Ob ance to meet Barack 2009, James had the ch Va o squez . Campus Minister Sergi attend his inauguration on behalf of the school. accepted the Hero Award
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The Bulletin Board Con ve
nt & Stua rt
Com mun ity Serv ice Hal
l
Coastal Clean-Up
r Atherton m all four schools and ou fro le op pe 80 n tha e or M er 19. our beaches on Septemb tify au be d lpe he ity un comm
Helping Haiti
Our Fall Classic
T & STU A
2009
HALL
CO
EN
T
8
V
R
N
l-4, Kameron, Stuart Parent Farah Makras (Tyler, Stuart Hal n originally scheduled to Hall-2, and Lyla, Convent-K) had bee hquake hit, and with her visit Haiti before the January 12 eart anize our donation efforts. trip cancelled, decided instead to org Convent & Stuart Hall Over the course of several weekends, k hundreds of boxes for the volunteers helped her sort and pac nd nation. U.S. Coast Guard to take to the isla
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More than 130 golfers and tennis players spent a sunny afternoon on October 16 at Presidio Golf Course and the Olympic Club playing to win—and to raise money for Convent & Stuart Hall. The evening festivities included dinner, awards, a live auction and a raffle for various prizes.
Fall Sports Roundup Cougars
ol’s Cougars captured Convent Elementary Scho ague Independent Athletic Le their first-ever Bay Area -country this fall. Championship in cross
Cubs
rose to the The Cubs’ varsity tennis d the JV BCL Playoffs this year, an Jamboree squad placed third at the g the din in Golden Gate Park, en d. season with a 10-4 recor d coach Cubs’ athletic director an ted as the lec Elena DeSantis was se r Coach no North Coast Section Ho honor st he for girls' soccer, the hig ction. se r ou a coach can receive in
Lions
The Stuart Hall for Boys' cross-country placed second in their division overall, their best finish in 10 years. Lions' soccer also had a great season, with six out of eight teams going to the playoffs, and four of those teams playing in championship games. We had two CYO champions for soccer, and the JV soccer squad was the BAIAL runner-up.
Knights
The Knights advanced to the playoffs in soccer this year, losing in the semi-finals. The JV cross-country team placed third overall in their division, ahead of Marin Academy, Urban and Bay. The varsity cross-country team advanced to the California State Championship at Woodward Park in Fresno and finished 16th in an extremely competitive field of almost 300 teams statewide.
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Changing our
Footprint
Our community's Eco-Council is working hard behind the scenes to make sure the only mark we leave on this world is our legacy.
GREEN
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Feature
Community
O
n a typical day at Convent & Stuart Hall, you might see a group of Middle Form boys in the garden outside Stuart Hall for Boys, getting their hands dirty and helping parent Theresa Foster pick cilantro for the cafeteria, where Chef Ian and the kitchen crew will use it at lunch. You might see a co-ed team of fourth graders sacrificing their recesses to monitor the blue, green and black bins in the cafeteria, helping the younger kids to recycle and compost. Outside, you might see parents adding the finishing touches on a greenhouse they donated and helped build while Convent High School teacher Tracy Sena brings the nutrient-rich worm castings from her own composting bin out to fertilize the soil. At Stuart Hall High School, you might overhear students talking about urban ecology while selling baked goods to raise money for trees to plant in the neighborhood. But there’s a lot to the Convent & Stuart Hall green movement that you may not notice, such as the lighting retrofit in the historic buildings on the Broadway campus that makes better use of energy-efficient CFL bulbs, or the timers that were installed to keep the lights from staying on needlessly. You might not notice that water bottles and water delivery service have been eliminated from most corners of the two campuses, replaced with filtered water fountains and filtered water cooler stations with compostable drinking cups (made from corn, not petroleum). And recently all of the bathroom products—everything from toilet paper and seat covers to paper towels of the rolled and tri-fold variety— switched to 100-percent recycled materials. Many of these changes, these teachable moments, are driven by the Eco-Council, a small team of faculty, staff and parents who are looking for ways to reduce the school’s environmental impact while teaching awareness to the community. The Eco-Council formed in spring 2008, after Stuart Hall for Boys parent Christine Gardner and Head of School Jaime Dominguez had a conversation about the school’s vision for being more sustainable. They concluded that while many people were “green” in their own ways, a more coordinated effort, with valuable input from others, could really make a difference. The group that formed has been leading the school’s many green initiatives ever since. The members are: Geoff Smith from the facilities department; the Heads of the Schools, including Jaime, Anne Wachter, RSCJ, Andrea Shurley and Tony Farrell; parents Christine Gardner (Beau, Stuart Hall-2), John Dilena (Jason, Stuart Hall-2, Sophie, Convent-K) and Theresa Foster (Ben, Stuart Hall-8, and Claire, Convent-3); science faculty members from all four schools, including Sarah Delaney and Raina Cohen from Convent Elementary School, Arnaz Raj from Stuart Hall for Boys, Matthew Jones from Stuart Hall High School, and Ray Cinti from Convent High School; and staff Devin DiMartini from Stuart Hall High School.
Progress
In the year-and-a-half since the council started meeting, they have made some great strides toward greening the community, Geoff says. One of the biggest accomplishments is Sr. Wachter’s effort to eliminate eight-ounce bottles of water in the cafeteria, which has saved the school from having to purchase—and then send to landfill—about 3,000 plastic bottles each month. Working to save energy has also been a major focus for the council. In addition to a campaign to remind everyone to turn off electronics and lights when they’re not in use, the facilities department installed florescent lights throughout the older buildings. The CFL bulbs use about a quarter of the energy that the outmoded incandescent bulbs use and last up to 10 times as long. Although Geoff has not yet received the quarterly update on energy usage for the end of 2009, he has already seen the kilowatt hours (kWh) on our energy bill decline considerably. In the first nine months of 2009, the Broadway campus used 17 percent less energy than the first nine months of 2008. “I am sure once I get the quarterly report for the end of 2009 and January 2010, we will see an even larger drop in usage,” Geoff says. Many of the seemingly small changes have led to teachable moments for students of all ages, even the little ones. In the Mother Williams Library at Convent High School, for instance, any “waste” paper with printing on just one side is collected regularly by Student Council members, who use it to make scratch pads for the kindergartners. “The students take a lot of pride in their work, especially with things like the reusable paper bins,” Geoff says. “They take it seriously.”
The Broadway campus used
half as much energy
in July, August and September 2009 as the same time period in 2008. Ongoing Work
The momentum of the past 18 months is helping the EcoCouncil to stay positive about some of the biggest challenges they have moving forward. While they are working to have more three-bin stations for recycling, composting and landfill, helping students and staff to sort their waste properly is an ongoing test, Geoff says. Providing more of the three-bin units will help, Jaime adds, because people will become conditioned to place compostables in the green side, recyclables in the blue, etc. “If there’s an option,” he says, “our kids and staff will try
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to do the right thing.” As the facilities department buys more of these bins, Arnaz will continue to work with students to create signage that will educate users how to sort their waste. The Eco-Council is also continually receiving feedback and making adjustments as needed; during a January meeting, for example, Delaney mentioned that her Middle Form science classes in the Siboni Center use a lot of paper towels on experiment days, and without a composting bin in or near her classroom, the students have to place used towels in the regular garbage can. “We’re teaching them good habits and then telling them sometimes it’s okay to break them,” she cautioned. With that feedback in hand, the facilities department now has a better idea of how the bins should be repositioned on the floor she shares with other science and art labs. Paper consumption is another concern for the Eco-Council. Even with guidance from the technology department about how to print double-sided, the four-school community orders 40 cartons of printing paper each month, which equates to about 20,000 sheets, according to Penny Green from the Business Office. Members of the council are brainstorming ways to help cut that amount considerably. It may seem like a lot of minutiae to think about, but members of the Eco-Council know the small things add up. And they know they have an attentive audience: Even as they work to plan Earth Day activities for the April 20 event, they know they are speaking to a community of people who already recognize that conservation needs to happen everyday.
Eliminating 3,000 water bottles each month from lunch service saves over 90 pounds of plastic from the landfill each month and saves the school about
$4,600/year. Switching to recycled, chlorine-free paper products in bathrooms will save $13.26/case
of rolled paper towels and $42.75/case of toilet seat covers; recycled toilet paper costs $4/case more than the non-recycled we previously had.
Consumption Fact: From 2008 to 2009, our consumption of toilet paper decreased by 24 and paper towels decreased by six rolls.
rolls
The Broadway campus lighting retrofit helped us to use 17 percent less energy in the first n 2009, compared to the first nine months of 2008, saving the school approximately
$5,0
Consumption Fact: The Broadway campus used half as much energy in July, August and September 2009 as the same time period in 2008.
20,000 sheets
Consumption Fact: Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco order of printing paper each month. If you have ideas about how the Eco-Council can cut paper consumption, contact Geoff Smith at gsmith@sacredsf.org.
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nine months of
000.
Taste the Difference Owners of the lunch service provider on the Broadway campus, Taste, and its Chef Ian, hosted families for coffee in December to discuss their overall philosophy to “hot lunch.” In addition to their effort to provide balanced nutrition, Chef Ian said he and Taste are committed to supporting the school’s efforts to be green. He already uses 100-percent natural grass-fed beef for hamburgers (see below) and buys locally and seasonally from Bay Cities Produce and Niman Ranch Hot Dogs. Whenever possible, he said, they would serve organic options; they recently switched to organic milk, for instance. The staff at Taste immediately supported the Eco-Council’s efforts to replace kitchen paper products with compostable plates, utensils, containers and cups.
Natural Selections After a long morning of games during Convent Elementary School’s Field Day last May, students and faculty lined up to enjoy a barbeque lunch, made special for two reasons. First, the vendor, Brandon Natural Beef, is owned by parents Bob and Lisa Carey (Helen, Convent-8, and John, Stuart Hall-7). Second, the meat they served was all organic. Almost two years ago, the Careys started raising grass-fed cattle on their ranch in Colorado, part of a 520-acre plot of land homesteaded by Bob’s great-grandfather Brandon more than 100 years ago. They now sell their steaks to restaurants all over San Francisco, and supply burgers to Chef Ian for his hot lunch menu. A number of families in the Convent & Stuart Hall community have also been enjoying deliveries of 10 to 15 pounds of Brandon beef each month. The Careys’ cattle are raised by a fourth-generation rancher and her family, who rotate the herd between pastures of alpine grass that are irrigated with mountain spring water. Because the cows are never fed grains from feed lots, Bob said, the meat tastes better and is more nutritious. “A lot of beef sold in the U.S. that’s labeled ‘natural’ is still fed grain,” he said, “Even if it’s organic grain that they’re being fed, that’s not what cows are meant to eat.” Studies have shown grass-fed beef is a great natural source of omega-3 fatty acids, unsaturated fats and other vitamins, he added. “We recommend people eat better beef, not more.”
GREEN Feature
The Green Features In this issue, you’ll find stories of preservation in every section. • Convent Elementary School’s Seventh Graders Find Joy in Nature, page 18. • It Takes a Village to Be Green at Stuart Hall for Boys, page 24. • Going Green with Red Wigglers at Convent High School, page 27. • Stuart Hall High School Spruces Up the Neighborhood, page 36. • Sacred Heart Alumni Want to Clean Up Our Oceans, page 46.
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O
ur Shared Tradition
Convent Elementary eighth graders tell the stories of our Religious of the Sacred Heart at Oakwood.
Schools of the Sacred Heart is like a tree: intertwined internationally. Our schools reach from San Francisco to Uganda to Tokyo. Even though our diversity throughout the world might set us further from each other, we are connected at the roots of this tree by the five fundamental Goals and Criteria our schools follow. Our eighth grade class took Goal III, a social awareness that impels to action, and went back to our roots. We visited the Religious of the Sacred Heart who are retired at Oakwood, which is on the campus of our school in Atherton. These women made careers out of giving themselves to their communities. John Lennon once said, “We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant ... You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.” This is a one-of-a-kind community that connects us all on many levels. These nuns have given us this “plant,” or gift of love, and I feel that every time one of our Convent & Stuart Hall classes visits them, we give back that “water” and “life” that they gave to us. A few of my classmates got together to write down the stories we learned on our trip, so we could share them with you. —Samantha Dilley
M
eeting the sisters was great. It really gives you a sense of how widespread the Convent community is. It’s not just in San Francisco or California, but all over the world.” -- Caroline Grassi Mary Louise “Mamie” Jenkins, RSCJ Born: December 17, 1924
From the start, Mamie Jenkins, RSCJ, showed us how spirited she is. My classmate Mackenzie Hutchinson interviewed her, and discovered how Sr. Jenkins became interested in being a Religious of the Sacred Heart. Sr. Jenkins had gone to public school until high school, when she decided to go to a Catholic school run by nuns. The nuns had been so amiable and welcoming toward her that when she was 18, they inspired her to join. Her family was confused at first, but slowly began to accept it. African Americans were not known to join Catholic orders at this time and Sr. Jenkins was the first African American to join the RSCJ in the United States province. Mackenzie asked Sr. Jenkins, “What would be the most important advice you’d give to me as a child of the Sacred Heart?” Sr. Jenkins replied, “To love and be loved for it. It’s all about love, and forgiveness.” One thing Sr. Jenkins
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obviously loves is music. When we sang for the nuns, she clapped and sang along with us. Just watching her made me smile and want to join in. Sr. Jenkins' spirit and love for all compels those around her to feel the happiness that she brings with her everywhere. —Georgianna Harris Madeleine Desloge, RSCJ Born: August 9, 1916
Madeleine Desloge, RSCJ, is one of the many sisters we met at Oakwood. Not only did she tell us about her work in St. Louis and beyond, but also about her family’s relationship with Convent of the Sacred Heart. Sr. Madeleine grew up in St. Louis. Her great-aunt, in fact, was a pupil of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, who brought Sacred Heart education to the Americas. Her family had been affiliated with the Society for a while, and Sr. Madeleine had been strongly encouraged to join the Religious. Sr. Madeleine herself was named after St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, who founded the Society of the Sacred
Community
I
Heart. Although her family had put some pressure on Sr. Madeleine to join the Religious, t was cool to see that even in the end she felt confident in her decision. though they are Sisters of the She worked in St. Louis at first, staying at the Sacred Heart, they are just as convent that St. Philippine had founded. Then normal as any other human she traveled back and forth between Louisiana being.” -- Emily Man and St. Louis for most of her work with the Religious. Sr. Madeleine is an amazing woman and Religious, and an inspiration. To us, meeting nuns like Sr. Madeleine is what the trip had been all about.—Caroline Grassi Anne Davidson, RSCJ Born: July 25, 1921
Anne Davidson, RSCJ, was a normal girl who dealt with sickness as it made its way through her family. She did not even think of being a nun. Even though she had a Catholic education, she planned to be married and have kids. Little did she know, that would all change. After her senior year of high school, Sr. Davidson had a vocation from God. He told her that she should enter a convent. Sr. Davidson was perplexed about which convent she should join and where to go, but to her relief, God helped to point her in the right direction. She entered the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as God told her to, and she is more than thrilled to tell her story.—Lauren Hutchinson
Theresa Teshima, RSCJ Born: July 11, 1921
Sister Theresa Teshima belongs to the Religious of the Sacred Heart, and I had the chance to interview her. She is part of a very small community of Japanese Catholics living in San Francisco. I learned about how she has lived in places such as the Philippines, Japan, New York, Chicago, Omaha, NE, and many others, and that she is fluent in Japanese. More importantly, she told me about another place she lived before joining the Religious: an internment camp during World War II. Sr. Teshima showed up to work at her Japanese accounting firm in Los Angeles one day, and the FBI had been waiting to take her to San Francisco to meet up with her family, and then to an internment camp in Topaz, UT. Sr. Teshima had the opportunity to leave the camp to attend Duchesne College in Omaha, but her family had to stay until the end of the war. Although her life was not being threatened, being taken away from your home for eight months, at 21 years old, is not easy to deal with. Sr. Teshima is a very inspirational woman whom I am extremely happy I had a chance to meet.—Mia MacLean-Vernic Helen Lorch, RSCJ Born: August 23, 1910
Helen Lorch, RSCJ, joined the Religious of the Sacred Heart after her husband passed away, and has been a nun for 30 years. Although her two children visit her at Oakwood, she says that most of the visitors she receives are her other children: the students from the Sacred Heart schools. Sr. Lorch grew up in Iowa and went to
the local public schools through high school. She says she taught literature at the University of San Diego, for “a very, very long time.” When asked who the most inspirational person in her life has been, she immediately responded that it was her aunt. Sr. Lorch explained that when she had been in junior high school, her parents passed away and her aunt became her guardian. Her aunt was always there to support Sr. Lorch in any way needed. Sr. Lorch told us some of her favorite things; her favorite color is pine green, her favorite food is beef soup, and her favorite ice cream flavors are vanilla and rocky road.—Mikaela Esquivel Varela Mary “Be” Mardel, RSCJ Born: March 2, 1918
Sister Mary Mardel, or “Be” as many people know her, grew up in California and changed schools a couple of times because of her asthma. When Sr. Mardel was 17, she realized that the only person who she wanted to marry was Jesus, so she joined the Religious of the Sacred Heart two years later. Over many years she taught at several Sacred Heart schools, including ours. Sr. Mardel also founded the St. Madeleine Sophie Center in El Cajon, CA, an institution that serves adults with developmental disabilities. Following the lead of civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, Sr. Mardel joined farmers and others on August 1, 1973, for a non-violent protest supporting American farmers in Fresno, CA. Along with the other protestors, Sr. Mardel was arrested and sent to jail, where she was visited by numerous people, including her former student Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was on the San Francisco's Board of Supervisors at the time. Officials eventually told Sr. Mardel she was free to go, but she declined, saying that she would not leave until they let the other protesters go as well. Independent and unique, Sr. Mardel is loved and respected by all.—Helen Carey –Pull Quotes by Sarah Neal
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h f appy
eet
One student's passion for the step, jump, twirl and leap. —By Sarah Neal, Convent-8
My heart pounds so fast I can feel my body vibrating with each beat. Adrenaline rushes through me while I stretch for the last time, side stage. As numbers 80, 82, and 83 take their bows and walk back to where they began their dance, I take a deep breath, position my arms far behind my back, and venture up the stairs to the middle of the stage to show the judges what I can do. Irish dancing is not about winning. In fact, the happy feeling I get when I do win and step onto the podium clutching my trophy, does not add up to half the excitement I feel when I point my toe and begin to dance. I’ve been involved with Irish dancing since I was in the first grade, and I can tell you it is all about the thrill of flying through the air and awaiting the judges’ evaluation of every step, jump, twirl and leap executed by my feet. Once the music finally comes to an end, and my heart rate slows down a bit, I smile my hardest, even through the dryness of my mouth, and proudly walk back to my
original spot. Once safely off the stage, panting like a dog, I am overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment and sheer joy. Whether I am in bed or in class, my feet are constantly tapping out the Gaelic rhythms, or my fingers are beating across the surface of my desk. Strangely, it keeps me focused. It gives me an outlet for all of my energy while simultaneously allowing my brain to focus on learning. When I was in third grade, and on a basketball team, I would often get caught on the court practicing a step I had just learned. “Sarah get your head in the game,” I often heard. “Stop dancing around!” I tried, I really did try, but keeping my feet still did not come easily for me. Bottom line: without dancing I am sure I would be a different person. It has helped me through times of stress and anger, and I have made many friends though it as well. Irish dancing has been a cornerstone of the last eight years of my life, and I intend to continue with it for many years to come.
Sarah’s Irish Dancing Accomplishments - Open Championship Solo Dancer - Qualified to compete in the 2010 National Championship Competition - Placed 19th (in figure dance) at the 2009 World Championship Competition - Placed 24th at the 2009 Western Region Oireachtas Competition
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Photo courtesy Sarah Neal
Convent Elementary
Tales of the Fourth Grade
Somebodys
How Convent Elementary School’s fourth grade teachers
empower the Leaders of the Lower Form. Everyday the Grant Building is alive with girls in maroon pinafores and capes who don’t walk the halls without a teacher escort. But the fourth graders do. The younger girls have the hot lunch that is served, and can’t chose from the ala cart menu. But the fourth graders do. The younger girls don’t switch classrooms for different subjects. But the fourth graders do. Some rights of passage are important at Convent Elementary School, and rising to the fourth grade is a big deal. This is not just about having choice at lunch or being trusted to walk the hallways alone. When girls enter the fourth grade, they transition from being Little Sisters to Big Sisters. This is when they become Leaders of the Lower Form. This is also an important time for nine- and 10-year-olds in the learning process, and for that they rely on Convent’s fourth grade team(pictured above): lead teachers Amanda Pagano and Kelly Beal, and associate teacher Michelle Hom. As teachers they are drawn to this age, Amanda says, in part because their students know enough about the world around them to hold a conversation about it, but are still curious little girls. “It’s a magical combination,” she says, “because one day they’ll tell you about how they believe in dragons … but then they have these real opinions on world peace and war and the environment.” The big transition between third and fourth grade is that the girls are reading to learn, rather than learning to read, and do more independent, critical thinking. The curriculum they have created takes advantage of this, Kelly says, with real-life applications. In math, the girls learn the everyday value of knowing fractions. In February, they finished their memoir-writing projects, which taught them to narrow their focus in storytelling (an alternative to the common “and then, and then,” method). Also in February, the girls began BizWorld, working in groups to develop a product—in this case,
friendship bracelets—then market and sell them, keep track of finances, sell stocks for their company and make a presentation to a venture capital group (older students). In May, the girls will start the Influential Women project, which requires them to write a paper on a woman who has contributed to math or science and to present their research to the class. The bigger projects, as well as the smaller daily lessons, incorporate creativity, math, problem solving and teambuilding in many forms. Michelle says one of their challenges as educators is to help them with the independent work they do in groups. “We spend a lot of time on cooperation,” she says. In fact, the girls spend entire classes dedicated to communication and social skills. “Friendship issues are huge at this age,” Amanda says. Having a team of teachers makes developing great curriculum easier, says Kelly, who is in her third year teaching on Broadway. She previously taught at a private school where she was alone in her grade. “We have great opportunities to bounce ideas off each other,” she says of Amanda, who is in her fifth year with the school and third year as lead teacher; and of Michelle, who is in her second year as an associate teacher and is a candidate for her master’s degree from the University of San Francisco. All agreed that the key to their success is the support they feel from Lower Form Dean Kellie Irish and Head of School Anne Wachter, RSCJ. “It’s nice, as a teacher, to have all the resources you need,” Amanda says, “and to have the freedom and trust to do what you think is right with the curriculum … to make adjustments based on the girls’ needs.” To the girls, it may seem like using balloons to conduct static electricity and playing four-square at recess are just fun things, but for their team of educators, these moments are helping them realize all that they can do in this world.
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Finding
Joy in Nature
Two trips this fall allowed seventh graders to see and touch the world we’re working to protect.
GREEN Feature
—Photos by Sarah Delaney, Jeanne Johnson and Dieter Zander
T
his year, Convent Elementary School created a series of Goal III Days for the Middle Form; these special projects focus on the Sacred Heart goal, “a social awareness that impels to action,” and they involve leaving the Broadway campus. In October, while the eighth grade girls traveled to Oakwood to visit the retired RSCJ nuns (read more on page 14), the seventh grade girls traveled north to do a little work at the Silver Penny farm, which encompasses 17.5 acres between Sonoma and Petaluma. The property is owned by Rita and Marvin Cardoza, who have been sharing it with Middle Form math teacher Brenda Davis and her husband. The Davises hope to one day restore it so people who live in the city may visit it as a place of spiritual renewal. While service is at the heart of the student’s activities (and the farm has a lot of deferred maintenance it could use) Davis says they found a way to weave a thread of preservation throughout the day—not just preservation of environment, but
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preservation of spirit. “We talked about the carbon foot print that is left when we do not eat locally grown foods,” Davis says. “We had the girls look at food in their pantries and track the miles it traveled until it reached their plates. They were amazed at the findings. We also talked about the value of shopping at local farmers markets.” The girls then worked in the garden at the farm, trimmed trees and fished frogs out of the pool. For preservation of spirit, Davis adds, they sat by the pond and reflected on their own spiritual journey. Mud Pact Preservation has also been an emphasis in Sarah Delaney’s Middle Form classes. In addition to teaching eighth graders physics and chemistry, she teaches the seventh graders natural sciences, including biology and environmental science. One of
Convent Elementary
their most hands-on units involves a trip on a marine science research boat out to the San Francisco Estuary. The crew of the Marine Science Institute took the seventh graders on a four-hour tour, examining the estuary’s ecosystem, collecting plankton, running hydrology tests and observing wetland ecology from the ship. They used a trawl net to catch a variety of fish species to identify and measure before releasing. After the girls poked around in mud samples investigating invertebrates, they made a “mud pact,” which Delaney says is to “protect the mud of the Bay and all of the living things that live in, on and under the mud.” —Photographers Sarah Delaney and Jeanne Johnston are Middle Form teachers at Convent, and Dieter Zander is a friend of Brenda Davis.
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From the Heart Stuart Hall for Boys teacher Linda Gutierrez, the 2009 Mary Mardel
F
rom the Watch Tower at the palatial Moorish citadel known as the Alhambra, there is a sweeping view of the whitewashed buildings and English elms of the Spanish city Granada. From this angle, you can see the history of the area written in its buildings’ Baroque and Gothic architecture, sitting at an unlikely intersection of Muslim and Catholic influence. But you can also learn a lot about the city’s heritage from the view at street level, says Linda Gutierrez, who teaches Spanish at Stuart Hall for Boys. Linda is currently exploring the culture and history reflected in Spanish street art for her graduate program thesis, and incorporating that knowledge into her lessons at Stuart Hall. “I have always paid attention to graffiti and murals in my travels, but I started noticing them more in Spain,” she says. “I think there are teachable moments in them—about culture, about problems with the city, about problems with the environment. A lot of the art exists just to beautify the city, but there can also be important messages in them.” Linda is working toward a Master’s in the Art of Teaching Spanish Language and Culture from the University of Granada. The program allows Spanish teachers from the United States and Canada to take courses at the university during two intensive summer sessions, while continuing to teach at their respective schools during the year. Linda traveled to Granada in 2009 for her first five-week summer session and will go back this summer for her second. As the 2009 recipient of the Sister Mary Mardel Award, Linda was given a small grant to help with expenses related to her studies. Every year a Convent or Stuart Hall elementary school teacher is chosen for the award, which may be applied toward professional development. Linda says the honor is just one way administrators here encourage a lifetime of learning. “This award made me feel more connected to the school and more respected as a colleague,” she says. “It’s not just about the financial support. It’s what that
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support symbolizes.” Like most of the faculty at the school, Linda looks for learning opportunities every summer. Since she joined the Stuart Hall faculty six years ago, small stipends from the school have helped her to study in other Spanish cities, such as Balboa and Madrid, and in South American countries, including Peru. Bringing Spain Home Every time Linda returns from a summer spent immersed in learning teaching methodologies or a mix of subjects relating to Spain, she says she brings home a renewed passion for her job—and a greater depth of knowledge to share with her students. She finds ways to use all of that information to engage her boys, who range from third grade to eighth grade. This year, she has introduced more media, movie clips and commercials into her lessons. The walls of her classroom are covered in posters and pictures that help students learn the cultural differences from region to region. And she’s been working on interdisciplinary lessons with colleagues. In a project with art teacher Will Jaggers, for instance, her sixth graders have to research an artist from a Spanish-speaking country, teach the rest of the class about the artist and his or her work, and then create a piece in that artist’s style. “It’s a nice assignment that combines language, culture and art, and segues into a lot of history,” she says. As Linda organizes all of her thesis research on murals and graffiti art, she will begin to share that with her students as well. She already takes her eighth graders to the Mission District to Precita Eyes, one of the country’s few muralist co-ops. The group gives tours of the art on 24th Street, exposing students to Central American history, civil war, and immigration issues. Although many people think of graffiti as just tagging—when people spray their names just to claim their territory—it can be so much more, she says. “I think graffiti art and murals are underappreciated
Co-Ed Elementary
of Granada Award recipient, is researching street art to help her students better understand Spanish culture.
because people don’t recognize it as art if it’s not hanging in a museum,” she says. Street art didn’t start as a nuisance, she explains. Its roots are in the Mexican culture, where artists used the medium as a way of celebrating the community or a moment in history. World famous Mexican painter Diego Rivera, who was heavily influenced by Picasso, painted a number of murals in Mexico and the United States, including one in San Francisco. “We are so lucky to have that here,” Linda says. “I also teach more classic paintings, but the street art keeps the students engaged. It’s new and always changing.” Although Linda’s travels and graduate courses have given her a better understanding of Spanish culture and language, she doesn’t see this as an opportunity that’s hers alone; she is only too happy to share her knowledge and resources with others. “I recognize that they have given me such a great gift and I want to give something back to the students and to the other Spanish teachers here,” she says. “It feels good to know that the school is so supportive, and that our administrators like it when we’re excited and want to continue to learn. That’s how it should be.”
Photos courtesy Linda Gutierrez
Top left: A mural depicting civil war in El Salvador, which is part of the Precita Eyes tour in San Francisco. Above: Last year's eighth grade Spanish class on a tour of San Francisco's murals; the boys had just watched a movie about the assassination of El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero when they came across this art.
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Moss Trap This January, when Minnie Moss and her faithful butler, Rhett, decided it was time to sell the once glorious Moss Manor, they found some real characters coming out of the woodwork. Moss Trap, the co-ed theater production featuring thespians from Convent Elementary School and Stuart Hall for Boys, is a highly comical farce loosely based on Agatha Christie’s more well-known play, Mouse Trap. As the sale of Moss Manor gains attention from potential buyers, Mrs. Moss finds a cast of whacky characters and a slew of trouble at her door—and then a body turns up! The Middle Form cast and crew worked for months this fall to bring this series of strange events to the stage.
Cast for the Fall play (alphabetical by character): Amazing Manny Showenbaum Nick Lynch Colonel G.I. Barfley - Rico Colley Donna Quakenbush Alexa Rosenstein Dr. Charles Horse - Ethan Young Hafawitz - Michelle Espiritu Happy Charmin - Samantha Dilley Holmes - Teddy Hurley Holski - Julian Finnegan Jud Voyd - Benzi Blazman Martha Hardy - Annie LeFevre Maureen "Boom-Boom" O'Reily Caroline Bertain Minnie Moss - Sarah Bloch Myrtle Mae Voyd Gabby Sanchez-Corea Nellen Voyd - Diana Silvestri Pat Pending - Sarah Armstrong Phyllis Upton - Lauren Finnegan Rhett the Butler - Jack Weber Shamus Barrister - Loie Plautz T.T. Charmin III - Joseph Ladd Watson - Maya Chatterjee
Photos courtesy Jeanne Johnston
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Crew Student Director: Director: Kellie La Jeanne Johnston Stage Manager: Assistant Director: Gigi Harris Bill Jennings Lights: Helen Carey Assistant Director: Caroline Grassi Kristin Monfredini Sound: Art Director: Mikaela Esquivel Varela Robert Windle Sets: Theatre Manager/Light Emily Man & Sound Design: Hana Nakajima Chris Miller Haley Friesch Producer: Janet Kim Andrea Deville Collins Cecilia Grimaldi Costumes: Salina Kamara Ellen Finnegan Alexandra Hansen Jeanne Johnston Marie deTomasi Kristin Monfredini
Co-Ed Elementary
P I H S R E LEAD
101
Two lucky elementary school students each had one day to rule the school.
It is a tradition and treat each year for a student at Stuart Hall for Boys and at Convent Elementary to assume the mantle of leadership for one day at his or her school. (Head for a Day is an Online Auction item at Celebrate Spring.) This year at Stuart Hall, fifth grader Georgie Hurley was Head for a Day. Fourth grader Katie Niver took the reigns at Convent. Each student took the opportunity to learn about the administrative side of their school, greeting classmates in the morning, helping with clerical duties, addressing the school assembly and, of course, in the manner of true heads of state, making declarations. Ms. Niver proclaimed free dress for the fourth grade because, “They have been such good role models and leaders of the Lower Form.” Mr. Hurley announced: “We are always told to respect our parents, teachers and classmates, but today I want you to remember to respect yourself as well. As is tradition, as Headmaster for the day I get to grant one wish. So I declare that tonight will be No Homework Night for all students. Remember to respect yourself by using your time to have fun.” Katie Niver (left) enjoys lunch with Head of School Anne Wachter, RSCJ, and Heads Niver and Hurley proved themselves savvy leaders as her friend Sydney Doyle. they pleased their constituents and exited while still beloved.
Georgie Hurley greets classmates as they arrive (left), much as the real Head of School Jaime Dominguez does everyday (right). He also enjoyed reading to "the little guys" in kindergarten and first grade. C o nvent & S tuart H all
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It takes a village … to be completely
Green
—By Lauren Richardson, Stuart Hall, Middle Form Science The Native Americans have a saying, to “think seven generations out” with every decision. At times, I wish we, as a society, would at least think two generations out, and often we don’t. I have no doubt that we give, and will continue to give, everything to our children (time, money, resources, love and so much more), but what are we giving to their children? And all future generations? If we really want to prove without a shadow of a doubt that we care (which I know we do, with all our hearts), we WILL do everything in our power to make sure that they are going to have a sustainable life for centuries to come. I want to remind you how easy this is to do, and show you that at Stuart Hall for Boys, we are already doing so much. I started the year with an internal cheer: Our new Director of Schools, Gordon Sharafinski, spoke at the Blessing of the School Year about seeds he had planted outside his window. As a science teacher, I could not have been more thrilled to hear that even with his busy schedule, the Director of Schools made it a high priority to connect with the Earth and the soil. I had just spent the summer at the California Academy of Sciences, in their Teacher Institute on Science and Sustainability, a program designed to provide teachers with
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Top: Students help parents build new planter boxes in the Midlands. Photo by Sarah Delaney. Bottom: Parents from the first grade install a greenhouse. Photo courtesy Lauren Richardson.
tools and knowledge to inspire the next generation to protect our most precious resource. From the top down here at Stuart Hall, there is a deep desire to create a sustainable, healthy environment. I see this when the sixth graders cheerfully take out the recycling, or when the fourth graders diligently monitor the compost bins. I saw it in November when eighth graders built new planter boxes along the midlands area, and last June when more than 50 boys came after school to plant the garden in front of our building. We are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of our students. The desire is deeply present within their hearts and they show how they respect the earth at many turns. It’s not just the boys. I see where they get some of their inspiration— at home. Thanks to Stuart Hall’s first grade parents, we are fortunate enough to have a new greenhouse. We also have a worm bin, watercatchment system and other resources being donated by parents. By the time this goes to press, our greenhouse will be full of tiny new seedlings. Each Stuart Hall boy will have an outdoor space to start his seedlings, just as Gordon did outside his office window. We hope students are being influenced by the example we’re setting at the school. Without the vision of Head of School Jaime Dominguez, and the hard work of the
Stuart Hall for Boys
It’s Easy to Be Greener
GREEN
Feature
Instead of buying physical gifts, donate to environmental groups, foundations or organizations in your loved ones’ names. Recycle, Compost, Reduce, Reuse and Repair. Reduce energy use by turning off lights, unplugging appliances and wearing a sweater when cold. Switch light bulbs to compact fluorescents (CFLs). Make sure to dispose of CFLs properly because they contain mercury.
Working in the garden is a source of pride for the boys.
Stuart Hall faculty and staff, much of the change in our building would not have been possible. Jaime has supported the school garden, the recycling and composting initiatives, as well as the “Bus to School” days, the bike racks on campus and the elimination of plastic water bottles during lunch. When we wanted to save paper, Jaime asked Nick McSpadden from the Convent & Stuart Hall technology department to teach everyone how to duplicate print. Many of our faculty are doing things everyday to be green. Mary Blum (Middle Form, Latin) sorts through the trash bins (compulsively) to find compost and recyclables. Amy Torrano (Grade 3) packs a waste-free lunch everyday. Tracy Brennan (Associate, Grade 2) rides her bike and drinks from a reusable water bottle everyday. We have many faculty who take the bus to school, and several who walk, including Mary Kay Leveroni (Learning Specialist) and Winnie Post (Administrative Assistant). Alice Rose (Learning Specialist) uses zero VOC paint and sustainable materials in her home, and Linda Gutierrez (Spanish, Grades 3-8) composts at home. Britanny Hall (Associate, Grade 3) doesn’t own a car—on purpose—and carpoolers (for more than 18 years) include Ann Gigounas (Middle Form, English), Mary Welday (Grade 1), Donna Hamilton (Convent Elementary, Educational Therapist) and Joanne Oppenheimer (Computer Studies). These examples may make you think, “Great! We’re done.” I beg of you—please don’t say that yet, or ever. More can always be done, and I am hopeful that if we make it a priority in our daily lives, we will implement so many more wonderfully “green” changes, especially since there is such a huge desire for change among the faculty, custodians, staff, administration, parents and students. Please make everyday “Earth Day” because without Earth, we’re in quite a bit of trouble. —Lauren Richardson teaches science and health in Stuart Hall's Middle Form.
Buy sustainable products, and stop using disposable items. Drink from a re-usable cup, and bring your own take-out containers to restaurants. Walk, bike, carpool or take the bus when you can. If you have to drive, make sure you inflate your tires and observe the speed limit to decrease harmful emissions. Buy local, eat organic and eat seasonally. Reduce your consumption of beef, which requires lots of energy and water. Save paper by using duplicate printing. Reduce water consumption. Use low-flow faucets, showerheads and toilets. If you can’t replace your toilet, place a brick or a full glass bottle in the back to reduce the amount of water each flush uses. Take e-waste to the San Francisco dump or GreenCitizen for safe disposal. To learn more, visit: http://www.calacademy.org/sustainable_future/ pdfs/sustainability_made_simple.pdf http://sustainablechoices.stanford.edu/
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May This Be a Place of
Discovery
Scattered throughout the Broadway campus during a three-year reconstruction effort, the Stuart Hall for Boys community is home at last. A door can symbolize hope and opportunity, and the threshold of the new Stuart Hall for Boys offers both. After vacating the building for three years during an extensive seismic retrofitting and reconstruction, the students, faculty and staff were officially given back their building during a brief ceremony on September 3. Board of Trustees President John Linehan gave the building’s keys to Head of School Jaime Dominguez, who read a blessing that said, in part: “May this home be a place of discovery, where the possibilities that sleep in the clay of your soul can emerge to deepened and refine your vision for all that is yet to come to birth.” He then invited people from each part of the school community to cut the red ceremonial ribbon. That select group included: Rex Bales, a kindergartner representing the youngest member of the community; Student Body Commissioner General Andrew Ryder, representing the Middle Form; PE teacher Greg Sinclair, who is in his 41st year at Stuart Hall for Boys; Don Maclean, the former Board member who helped spearhead the construction project; and Gordon Sharafinski, Director of Schools. In the processional that followed, members of the eighth grade class were officially designated “keepers of the school” and each one was called by name to enter the building. All other classes were then called by group and allowed to enter their new home as well.
Family Matters
A program that encouraged connectedness is going strong in its second year.
The impetus for creating the Families Program last year at Stuart Hall for Boys was that the boys and faculty were scattered all over the Broadway campus while their building had to be renovated, and faculty wanted a way to keep everyone connected. Each Family has a “house,” a Coat of Arms, faculty members as “parents” and at least one or two boys from each grade (K-8). Now that the boys are back in their own building, the program has been a valuable way for everyone to get to know each other better, says Carol O’Malley (Grade 3 teacher). “There aren’t a lot of chances for kindergartners to hang out with eighth graders, but with their Families they can,” she says. This year, “Family time” every other month is spent playing games, some inside such as Yahtzee, others outside, such as H-O-R-S-E. During the first Family outing this fall, Carol’s House of Barat took to Syufy Court for basketball. One of the taller guys started running the ball with the skill of someone headed to varsity, while a boy half his size stood by cheering. After a solid three-pointer, the older boy took the ball over to the kid in short pants and said, “Your turn.” His small shot missed the net completely, but he got a high-five from all of the taller boys on the court. The respect, it seems, goes both ways.
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Convent High School
Going Green with Red
GREEN
Feature
When it comes to waste, let the worms do the sorting.
W
between levels and so the hen Tracy Sena walks through the cafeteria at lunch, moisture can drain to Chef Ian knows what she is after. The Convent of the Sacred the bottom. Adult worms Heart High School teacher loads a blue plastic tray with salad, tend to navigate toward pasta, apples and hamburger buns—a smorgasbord of fruits, the new scraps, where vegetables and grains. Bananas are always a great find, she they feast, digest and expel says, but it’s actually the thick yellow peel that she covets. until that level is ready to She ignores the meat, cheese and greasy fries, but when the go to the garden. Then familiar Tully’s logo catches her eye, she picks up a cup. they move on. The newly Of course this special diet isn’t for her; it’s for her worms. For almost two years, Tracy has maintained a composting bin hatched worms tend to stay on the levels that have with red wigglers on the small balcony outside of her Flood smaller, previously Mansion office. When she isn’t teaching computer science digested pieces. or advising the student-run paper the broadview, she can be Every few weeks, Tracy seen “dumpster diving” for her scrap collection, or asking her colleagues and students to hand over their leftovers. Thanks to takes the end product— worm castings—to the Tracy, those who dine in Flood know that citrus fruit peels are garden in front of Stuart toxic to worms, and that high-fat items can stink and attract Hall for Boys to spread vermin. But practically everything else—from the Tully’s cup it around. Gardeners call to the coffee grounds and filter—can go in her bin. Tracy says Tracy Sena and her black gold. this compost “black gold,” she has even dumped the paper contents of her shredder in she says, because it does so much to improve plant and root the bin to soak up extra moisture, adding: “They love growth. One could pay handsomely for bags of it in gardening the broadview.” stores. She turns our trash into soil treasure. These red wigglers (Eisenia foetida) are a breed of Even more nutrient-rich than the worm castings is the earthworms commonly used in “vermicomposting,” which moisture that collects at the bottom of the bin, which Tracy is a fancy way of saying, “worms that aid in the natural drains into a bottle and takes with her to the garden. “Worm biodegrading process to create nutrient-rich, garden-ready tea,” as it is called, smells awful, like rotten eggs, but the soil that is better for plants than fertilizer and reduces the plants and soil love it because waste sent to landfills.” These the good stuff in it is so highly worms are great for composting concentrated. because they can eat their own As a former elementary school body weight in a day, Tracy says; science teacher, Tracy sees they also have male and female the bins as an opportunity for reproductive organs so they are teachable moments. The space constantly producing cocoons full on her balcony is too small to of baby wigglers ready to nibble accommodate classes, but she on the onions you picked off would love to see red wigglers all your salad. over the campuses. “There are so Tracy’s worms live in a multimany great science experiments tiered bin with trays that are we could do,” she says. “There’s about six inches deep, the just so much we can learn bottoms of which are lined with The tiny white stringy things are baby worms, enjoying what is from them.” small vents so worms may travel left of an artichoke.
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Out of the
Class
and into the
Classics
Convent High School faculty took art history students to Italy for a brief but intense exploration of ancient societies, histories, art and architecture.
—By Sonia Evers, Convent High School Fine Arts Faculty Last spring, 25 students from Convent of the Sacred Heart Nicoletta Lanza. In addition to being a renowned music High School took a whirlwind tour of the wonders of Sicily director, the duke is the adopted son of Giuseppe Lampedusa, and Rome. The sophomores, juniors and seniors were author of the great Italian novel, The Leopard, best known to accompanied by Celine Curran, Dean of Students, and faculty Americans by the film version with Burt Lancaster. The girls members Karen Randall, Sarah Garlinghouse and me. were entertained with stories of turn-of-the-century Sicily and We specially designed the itinerary to introduce the students treated to special Sicilian hors-d'oeuvres and sweets, straight to the world's first multicultural society, the island of Sicily, out of the film itself. which over the course of history was ruled by Asians, Africans From there they visited the Byzantine Cathedral of Monreale, and Europeans. A Greek colony, Roman built by the Norman King William II, province, Arab emirate and Norman brother-in-law to Richard the Lionhearted, ...the lights switched on kingdom, Sicily holds a unique place and filled with breathtaking mosaics, to illuminate the mosaics, in Western history. There Archimedes including the earliest portrait of St. transforming them into a taught, St. Paul preached, Fibonacci Thomas Becket. The sophomores also sea of sparkling gold introduced Arabic numerals to the West, immediately recognized the interior, with and political corruption flourished. its looming image of Christ Pantocrator, and gem-like colors. Armed with knowledge of the ancient as the stand-in for Old St. Peter’s in world (from their freshmen history Zefferelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon. We classes), the Italian Renaissance (from sophomore Art thought of St. Madeleine Sophie as the bells for Mass rang and Foundations), and the full sweep of the history of art (from the lights switched on to illuminate the mosaics, transforming AP Art History), the girls were ready to explore the ancient them into a sea of sparkling gold and gem-like colors. But Greek temples at Segesta and Agrigento, the Roman mosaics could the splendors of art and culture possibly top four Sicilian at Piazza Armerina, the awe-inspiring Byzantine cathedrals of men picking up and moving a car so that our bus could round Monreale and Palermo and the baroque splendors of Taormina a corner? All in a day's adventure! and Syracuse. With our enthusiastic bus driver Sebastian, we traveled On the first day, everyone simply from Palermo to Taormina. There the girls climbed over ignored jetlag and set out for the the remains of Greek temples, explored the most extensive archeological museum followed surviving Roman floor mosaics complete with hunting scenes by a special invitation to the and dancing ladies, admired the snow-capped peak of Mt. Palazzo Butera, home of the Etna, Europe's most active volcano, and wandered Duke and Duchess of Parma, the narrow streets of Taormina where D.H. Gioacchino de Lampedusa Lawrence was inspired to write Lady Tomasi and his wife Chatterly's Lover.
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Convent High School On to Rome where we dropped all of our bags in one hotel room so we wouldn’t miss our appointment at the Villa Borghese. There the students were introduced to the seductive yet icy Pauline Borghese carved by Canova and the extraordinary marbles of Bernini. Upstairs everyone encountered two elegant Titian blonds, one dressed in white and red silk and the other nude as the students debated which was sacred and which profane. At Santa Trinita dei Monti, we admired the miraculous fresco of the Mater Admirabilis, depicting the Virgin Mary, painted in 1844 by a young French girl, Pauline Perdrau. On the last day, I immersed my AP art history students in the riches of the Vatican Museum. After the others joined them, they began a private after-
Students and faculty admired Mater, the remains of Greek temples and other Italian culture on their trip.
hours visit to the Sistine Chapel. The guards escorted them along miles of elaborately decorated corridors celebrating the deeds, and misdeeds, of centuries of popes, but the light was beginning to fade and everyone hurried toward the Sistine Chapel. The enormity of the space, modeled after the Temple of Solomon, and the intensity of the imagery, commissioned by Popes Sixtus, Julius and Clement VII, were overwhelming. As the sun was setting and the light in the chapel grew dimmer, I hurriedly discussed the entire cycle of frescoes. Meanwhile, Mrs. Curran quietly chatted with the guards, convincing them to turn on the lights, illuminating the frescoes in brilliant color. Standing beneath the central image of the creation of Eve was a transformative moment for each of us. After that, everyone was in the mood to celebrate! Off to Trastevere and dinner in the Piazza Santa Maria. —Sonia Evers has taught AP Art History, Art Foundations, and Women’s Studies at Convent of the Sacred Heart High School since 2001. Photos courtesy Sonia Evers
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Darwin, God and the Universe Convent & Stuart Hall high school students joined renowned theologians and scientists in examining evolution and creation in a daylong co-ed event.
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he sun cast a heavenly light into the Flood Mansion’s Duchesne Room as George Coyne, SJ, adjusted the small white tab peeking through his black shirt collar and continued speaking eloquently about science. From the small, attentive audience of Convent & Stuart Hall high school students, one girl raised her hand. “If researchers found scientific evidence of life forms on other planets, how do you think the Vatican would react?” she asked. “Well, the reaction would be very slow, and probably reluctant,” Fr. Coyne said. “Now, there’s no real data to support life in the universe elsewhere. So we have to ask if there are conditions for life elsewhere based on what we already know … Let’s assume we find all of the conditions for life elsewhere. Does that mean there’s life? … How do you define life, anyway?” He paused. “What do you think?” The fact that Fr. Coyne cited a lack of evidence, rather than scripture, was not lost on the students in this break-out session, or anyone else who heard him speak during the Darwin Project: A Dialogue Between Faith and Science on November 12. To celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday, Convent & Stuart Hall high school faculty planned a daylong interdisciplinary program discussing creation and evolution with a panel of renowned scholars—an event inspired and led by Karen Randall, the English department chair at Convent of the Sacred Heart High School. The program started in the Syufy Theatre where panelists offered their thoughts about the relationship between faith and science; students then chose from a list of 18 focused break-out sessions to delve deeper; and then everyone reconvened so students could ask panelists questions.
Can You Believe in Both Science and God? In his opening remarks that morning, Fr. Coyne told the entire co-ed high school population that when people ask, “Can you believe in both science and God?” they are asking the wrong question. “To believe leaves room for doubt,” he said. “Science knows, faith believes. Belief doesn’t apply to science. And science doesn’t know everything, but what it knows, it knows.” Fr. Coyne is a man of faith who holds degrees in math, philosophy, theology and astronomy; he is one of the few people in the world uniquely qualified to discuss with authority any matter of divinity or astrophysics. The Jesuit astronomer served as the director of the Vatican Observatory for nearly 30 years while teaching astronomy at the University of Arizona. Like Fr. Coyne, all of the panelists who came to Broadway for the Darwin Project are well-known for their work in science or theology (or both). They included: Dr. Stanley Prusiner, a neurologist and biochemist from UCSF who won the Nobel Prize in 1997 for identifying the cause of mad cow disease and its human equivalent; Peter Hess, who teaches liberal studies at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga and serves as the Faith Project Director at the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit organization working to keep evolution in public schools’ curriculum; Fr. George Coyne is one of the few people in the Leslea Hlusko, a paleontologist who teaches Integrated Biology at UC Berkeley, world uniquely qualified to discuss with authority any and is a researcher at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology; and matter of divinity or astrophysics. Francisco Ayala, a Spanish-American biologist and philosopher from UC Irvine who is a former Dominican priest and has been called the “Renaissance Man of Evolutionary Science” for his study of population and evolution genetics.
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Co-Ed High School
Left: Students extracted their own DNA from cheek swabs and made necklaces from the glass vials. Center: The distinguished panel takes questions from the students. Right: Artists create collages depicting hybrid species.
The Origin of Darwin’s Theories In addition to Darwin’s 200th birthday, 2009 also marked the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s most known work, On the Origin of Species. But Darwin had written much of the book’s content nearly 20 years earlier, Dr. Stanley Prusiner explained in his opening remarks. As a young geologist in the 1830s, Darwin had been a part of the HMS Beagle’s five-year survey of South America when he became interested in various species. “Darwin was a genius by any measure,” Prusiner said. “He was puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife throughout the world.” Upon returning from South America, Darwin wrote about his findings but eventually set his natural science work aside to pursue his geological research, Prusiner said. In the late 1850s, scientist Alfred Wallace sent Darwin his own research, which came to many of the same conclusions Darwin did about the origin of species, and Darwin decided to publish what he already knew. “Wallace was on the right track, but he missed the idea of natural selection, which was an important part of Darwin’s conclusion,” Prusiner said. Some critics of Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection have contested their validity because they are just theories. “In the empirical sciences, a theory is not a guess,” Prusiner cautioned. Philosophers and mathematicians use theory to explain unproven but suspected ideas; the life sciences use it to explain confirmed observations. “This is not a hypothesis,” he said. “This is what we know.” Design Without a Designer Panelist Francisco Ayala added that Darwin’s theories of natural selection illustrate what many think was his greatest contribution to science: he demonstrated
design without a designer. As an example of this, Ayala talked about how the human eye and other adaptations, such as birds’ wings, contribute to the natural process. They developed as functions to help the species survive and procreate. “If not for the purpose it serves," Ayala said, "it never would have existed.” But science isn’t the only way of gaining knowledge, he added. Ayala, who is not only a biologist but also a former Dominican priest, said that common sense, artistic experiences, religion and philosophical reflection are also ways of gaining knowledge. He pointed to Picasso’s famed mural Guernica, which he painted out of outrage over the German bombing of a Basque village during the Spanish American War. Describing images on the canvas is only one way to know the painting, Ayala said, while reflecting on its historical significance and symbolism is another. Interest in a subject, he concluded, may go beyond what science will tell us about it. To Have Religion If one way to gain knowledge is by religious experience, panelist Leslea Hlusko reasoned, we should be asking: Are we the only species that has religion? In her remarks, the evolutionary biologist provided students with evidence from a number of historic archeological sites and asked, given those facts, if the species uncovered had practiced religion. For example, during a dig at Cahokia, Mound #72 (near St. Louis), scientists uncovered a platform from thousands of years ago with a male skeleton lying on a bed of 20,000 mother of pearl beads; to one side sat the bodies of a family carrying weapons, and to the other side, four men had been decapitated and their hands cut off. Nearby a group of 50 young women had been buried, perhaps sacrificed, with the man on the platform.
Is that evidence of religion? At a site in Ethiopia dated 160,000 years ago, scientists found two adult skulls with scratches around the circumference like those a stone tool would have left, as if someone carefully de-fleshed them, as well as a child’s skull that appeared polished on the edges, as if someone had carried it around. Is that evidence of religion? The point, Hlusko said, is that religion may not be just a Catholic versus Protestant versus Muslim ideal, but a phenomenon that existed with other species long before H. sapiens walked (upright) into his nearest cathedral. Models of Interaction Once we reconsider what it means to have science and to have religion, what is their relationship to each other? Panelist Peter Hess said this relationship is similar to observations of a Clementine orange. “Would you describe that piece of fruit as being a sphere, or as an object that is orange in color?” he asked. Classifying the orange in two different categories doesn’t have to mean the categories are contradictory, said Hess, coauthor of the book Catholicism and Science. Hess told students that creation is in a metaphysical category with no claims to prove how or when the world came to be, whereas evolution is in a scientific category with testable data that makes no claims about God’s existence. Many people think of religion and science as subjects that overlap, or as subjects that try to trump each other, but he said the most productive model for interaction is what he calls the “dialogue model,” when people speak of them as separate entities that intersect only tangentially. Dialogue in Action With all they had to digest, students took a short break and then broke into
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small groups. From the conversation with Fr. Coyne in the Duchesne Room to the Debate Team’s deliberation over teaching intelligent design in public schools, Convent & Stuart Hall students had the chance to work together to examine the topics closer. Raymond O’Connor, theology teacher at Stuart Hall, led “Adam, Eve and the Snake: What About It?” posing the questions: If this is really the story of creation, what can we learn from it? Why take it so literally? Convent Studio Art instructors Rachel McIntire and Clare Sydlowski had students create collages and drawings of hybrids and cyborgs (think: what if a tuba and a tortoise morphed) and write “background” stories for each. Convent science teachers Ray and
Christy Cinti held a hands-on lab called “Genes in a Bottle,” where students extracted their own DNA from cheek swabs and then collected the floating white strands in small glass vials they made into necklaces. Pure Energy As the afternoon drew to a close, students filed back into Syufy Theatre for an open forum with the panelists. Students felt empowered to ask tough questions, inquiring about each guest’s religious background, having them speculate about Darwin’s feelings on genetic engineering, and asking pointedly if they believe in creation. In further examination, one student asked, “How does religion relate to the
Big Bang Theory?” Fr. Coyne answered, “It does not.” He then added: “This is the best scientific explanation we have for the [growth of the] universe.” The theory, he clarified, proves the universe’s constant expansion from a hot, dense state, but admitted people are often misled by its name because the scientist who coined the term did so sarcastically, saying, “Oh, you’re just talking about your big bang theory.” “Given the data,” he said, “we don’t know that there was a large explosion, only that there was pure energy converting to matter.” Fr. Coyne continued: “God did it, if I’m a believer. But that has nothing to do with creation.”
An Idea Is a Better Monument Than a Cathedral A talented, co-ed cast brought the evolution and creation debate to life with Inherit the Wind. Following the dynamic dialogue of the Darwin Project, the co-ed high school drama program performed Inherit the Wind November 19-21. The play is a fictionalization of the 1925 Scopes "monkey" trial, where a small-town biology teacher presents the lesson of evolution included in his textbook and then gets arrested for teaching something contrary to creation. In a verbal clash of moral titans—between a fundamentalist politician prosecutor and a famous defense attorney looking for his next cause célèbre—Inherit the Wind borrows significantly from the transcripts of the real trial featuring William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. For pictures of the production, visit www.sacredsf.org and click on News.
This production starred junior Christian Gehrke as Matthew Harrison Brady; senior Doug Greer as Henry Drummond; senior Keefe Tankeh as Bertram Cates; sophomore Maddie Kelley as Rachel Brown; senior Alexa Collins as EK Hornbeck; and senior Noel McCann as Reverend Brown.
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Co-Ed High School
Bringing the Network
Home
Last summer, Convent & Stuart Hall hosted more than a dozen Sacred Heart girls from around the country for a week of service.
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hen 17 eighth grade girls from Sacred Heart schools all around the country descended upon San Francisco in July, one of the first things they agreed to do was give up their cell phones for the week. In their introduction to the Network Services Program run through Convent & Stuart Hall—called Bay to Waves—the girls agreed to serve others selflessly and to post their reflections on a blog (http://baytowaves2009.tumblr. com/). Ray O’Connor, service director at Stuart Hall High School, led the program with the help of staff, students and current parents from both high schools. In addition to seeing the city, the girls met the RSCJ at Oakwood; served the homeless at St. Anthony’s Foundation; helped the National Park Service with maintenance projects; served dinner at the Most Holy Redeemer Church; and cleaned at the Village Well community center. These are some of their blog reflections: “It’s always interesting to meet with another Sacred Heart girl, like seeing an old friend after a long time apart. No matter where you’ve been—they know who you are.” —Anne Ziegler, Grand Coteau, LA “I’ve never been so proud to be a ‘Sacred Heart Sister’ as I was today—I never really realized how awesome and active the RSCJ community is.”—Monica Meeks, Omaha, NE.
“We listened to a man named Fitz talk, who has worked with St. Anthony’s for a really long time … he told us about homeless demographics … lots of mentally ill and addictively ill, also a lot of vets, and most surprisingly, seniors. We ate lunch with the homeless, who were all very nice, interesting people. It confirmed what I’ve learned from other service—all the people you ‘serve’ are really just like you.” —Monica Meeks, Omaha, NE. “Today we went back to St. Anthony’s and this time we switched our locations so I went to the clothing shop to sort clothes while the other group went to volunteer at the diner ... After finishing at the kitchen, we went to the Islamic Society of San Francisco and spoke about interfaith worship and how Christianity, Islam and Judaism are not all that different.”—Gillian Burkett, Greenwich, CT “We started off by working at Baker Beach and we shoveled sand onto the sand ladder … At Most Holy Redeemer, every Wednesday they have a dinner for the homeless population in the Castro; they served the desserts that we made yesterday. It was different than St. Anthony’s, but the people were awesome as always and the stories were amazing. … We went up to the church, which is a beautiful church that serves a predominantly GLBT community and should be an example for other churches.”—Andrea Berios, Houston, TX
“Everything we’ve done this week has been building up and it really hit me tonight, so I’m seeing things in a different way now. I’ve got lots to tell you ... when I get home.”—Caroline Cazayoux, Grand Coteau, LA “This week has been amazing, and I am really sad to leave. All of these girls have become so close to me, and it will feel tragic to leave them. I love going to a Sacred Heart School because of the awesome connections we make with each other.”— Priyanka Nadkarni, Forest Ridge, WA
Photos courtesy Ray O'Conner
For more information about the Network Service Program, contact Ray O’Connor at oconnor@sacredsf.org or 415-345-5817. C o nvent & S tuart H all
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I
f putting together a wildly successful athletics program at Stuart Hall High School in just 10 short years is the equivalent of a touchdown in Bay Area sports, the latest news from The Hall is the two-point conversion. Starting this fall, the Knights will field an eight-man football team, says Athletics Director John Bertken. And that makes Stuart Hall the only independent school in San Francisco to offer students a little gridiron action. The game of eight-man football is similar to the regular 11-man game, Bertken says, except for the obvious (three fewer players on the field); the actual size of the playing field is also smaller (40 yards by 80 yards). The Knights will join the Central Coast Section, a division of the Mission Trails Athletic League that was created specifically for eight-man football teams. They will play other relatively small schools, mostly from the Peninsula, such as Anchorpoint Christian High School in Gilroy and Pinewood High School in Los Altos. (For all other sports, Stuart Hall will continue to play in the Bay Area Conference-Bay Counties League West.) The football season will include a jamboree at the end of August as well as two preseason games on September 11 and 18, followed with a bye week and then six straight Saturday games. As provisional members of the league for this first season, the Knights will not be eligible to play in the post season or to have players on the all-league team. But the league is creating a Northern California Regional Championship for 2010-11, which will grow into a CIF State Championship the following year, for which Stuart Hall will be eligible.
Forward Motion
Bertken says the idea to introduce football to Stuart Hall had been considered for some time, but recent interest by senior Nate Tom ignited the momentum. According to the Stuart Hall newspaper the roundtable, Tom read a San Francisco Chronicle article about Crystal Springs Upland High School’s start-up team in the Central Coast Section and brought it to Bertken’s office. After doing some research, Bertken made a proposal that included developing a small coaching staff and recruiting a 20-man roster that will not compete with
ANY GIVEN SATURDAY Starting this fall, Stuart Hall High School will extend its athletic prowess to the football field.
other fall sport powerhouses, including cross country and soccer. For home turf, he made arrangements to use the same fields that the soccer team uses for home games—the San Francisco Gaelic Athletic Association (SFGAA) fields on Treasure Island. “Right now we are working to solidify the coaching staff, and I will be putting out a ‘playbook’ for parents and players that will discuss the philosophy, and logistics of the program,” Bertken says. A four-day tryout camp in August, similar to a college preseason camp environment, will help coaches build the squad. “The nice thing about eight-man football is that it is unique in the Bay Area. We will be offering something that many people have never seen,” Bertken says. “This is the perfect niche for us to gain recognition. I believe we will be very successful.”
Getting to know our opponents in the Central Coast Section Mascot
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Mascot
09-10 Record
09-10 Record
Anchorpoint Christian High School Gilroy
Warriors
9-0-1
Pinewood School Los Altos Hills
Panthers
6-3-0
Crystal Springs Uplands School Hillsborough
Gryphons
6-1-0
Woodside Priory School Portola Valley
Panthers
2-5-0
Marina High School Monterey Peninsula
Mariners
5-1-2
Trinity Christian High School Monterey
Warriors
1-7-0
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Stuart Hall High School
Tenacity
Stuart Hall High School marks its 10th year in the city.
For years, parents at Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco asked for a high school program for their sons, modeled after the K-12 offerings at Convent of the Sacred Heart. After many meetings, focus groups and feasibility studies, plans for Stuart Hall High School started to take shape in the mid-1990s. With property at the corner of Pine and Octavia purchased, neighborhood gatherings held and architects hired, construction began in 1999. The Board of Trustees recruited Gordon Sharafinski from Milwaukee (with a promise of no snow days) as the founding Head of School. His first tasks included finding students, hiring faculty and staff, building curriculum and programs and finding a place to house everyone that first year until the permanent site could be constructed. Gordon and his team set up shop at the Star of the Sea School on Eighth Avenue, though the sparse facilities made recruitment a challenge. The dozen teachers Gordon hired, along with some very supportive parents, began building the outstanding boys high school that The Hall has become. Adding one class of students each year, they achieved full enrollment by the fall of 2003. From the first graduating class (which just celebrated their five-year reunion; see page 39), one-fifth of the class got accepted to UC Berkeley, a claim few other high schools can make. Now it’s hard to imagine that Stuart Hall High School is only 10 years old. It is a well-established, highly successful college preparatory program with sports teams regularly winning championships, artwork recognized beyond the school community and alumni in fine colleges and universities across the country.
One of the first educators Gordon hired is Mike Buckley (above), who teaches history and religious studies. “Our
program, compared to our peer institutions, draws its strength from the fact that we are 100 percent focused on educating young men,” he says. “There is a unique set of challenges to becoming a young man, and we can address those directly.” The school’s community service program is another asset, Mike says, because of its structure and because Service Coordinator Ray O’Connor has made so many great connections in the city. But if there is a silver bullet, he says, it is the rigorous academics and the faculty who lead them. “They are challenging, but our guys have all kinds of support; it’s definitely not sink or swim,” he says. “They are challenged and if they aren’t rising to the challenge, we notice it early … we address it and find out how to help them succeed.” As someone who joined the faculty and administration in the early days, current Head of School Tony Farrell says he felt a strong entrepreneurial energy right away. “We were building something special,” he says. “The kids knew it … and the adults knew it. Those first colleagues were exactly what I was hoping for … everyone was working together toward a vision of an ideal school.” Since taking the helm when Gordon moved to Director of Schools last summer, Tony has been constantly amazed by his ‘guys.’ “I have been most impressed by what I have witnessed at our Senior Retreats,” he says. “Every year, our guys display that they are able to relate to each other in ways that teenage males typically don't get credit for … On our retreats, you can see that a true transformation has taken place. These guys are not just four years removed from eighth grade—they are well-rounded young men ready for life.” The well-rounded and dominant athletics program that has developed in one short decade is also something that keeps the energy alive at The Hall. “It was initially posited that it would take us 10 years just to be able to compete with our league,” Tony says, “and yet we've already won league titles in soccer, basketball and baseball. And we're doing more than just competing—we're winning.” That “can do” attitude permeates the building at Pine and Octavia, Mike says. When he joined the faculty just out of graduate school, he and the other faculty threw themselves into building this program. “I had a lot of confidence,” he says. “I never had a sense that this wouldn’t work out. … And that’s really how we built this school—by having no fear.”
SAVE THE DATE: Stuart Hall High School 10-Year Anniversary Celebration will be held on April 15, 2010. C o nvent & S tuart H all
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GREEN Feature
A True Grassroots Movement While studying environmental science, Stuart Hall High School students decided to help change San Francisco’s urban landscape. —By Joshua Forman-Ortiz, Stuart Hall-12
L
“
Photo courtesy Ray O'Conner
A social awareness that impels to action.
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”
-- Schools of the Sacred Heart Goal III
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ast year’s senior social justice class gave a presentation to the school, informing us of the importance of trees in San Francisco and the steps one could take to plant and take care of a tree. The presentation was moving, but as I walked outside our Pine and Octavia campus, I noticed the absence of trees on our block. Something had to be done. As students at Stuart Hall High School, we are committed to the five Goals and Criteria shared by all Sacred Heart schools. Based on what we have learned in our Advanced Placement environmental science class about global warming and urban ecology, we have developed a project to enhance our community and take action for the environment and our neighborhood. This project attempts to address Goal III: “A social awareness that impels to action.” Mr. Jones, our environmental science teacher, contacted Friends of the Urban Forest, a non-profit organization committed to planting trees in the belief that they are an essential part of an urban environment. Tree by tree, the people at Friends of the Urban Forest are making San Francisco greener. Planting trees helps the city because it is good for the water cycle, takes carbon out of the atmosphere and enhances the beauty of our urban landscape. The environmental science students got busy making fliers and contacting neighbors interested in having trees planted. After a lot of hard work, the class had 11 neighbors signed up, and we have now joined forces with Rosa Parks Elementary School to plant more than 30 trees throughout the neighborhood. The students in my class also worked together to raise more than $500—enough to pay for about seven of the trees. Starting February 20, my fellow Stuart Hall High School students joined Friends of the Urban Forest and our neighbors in planting trees. After the trees are in the ground, trained students will take care of the watering and tree maintenance for the next several years. I’m very excited to have this chance to get involved. The trees we be plant will make our city more beautiful and will benefit the environment. Also it’s great to work together with neighbors and local organizations such as Friends of the Urban Forest to build a better community. —Joshua Forman-Ortiz is a senior at Stuart Hall High School.
Convent & Stuart Hall
Dear Alumni Community, Greetings from the Alumni Office! As we make our way through the beginning of a new year, it is a time to reflect on the past months at Convent & Stuart Hall. One of the highlights from 2009 is that we welcomed back our first graduating class of Stuart Hall High School for their five-year reunion (see story on page 39). This class has been the foundation of the school and it was fantastic to see the interaction between former classmates and former faculty members. We also had a record number of alumnae return to the Flood Mansion on November 7 for the annual Convent of the Sacred Heart Reunion (see story on page 40). It is never too early to start planning your next reunion; this year, the reunion will be held November 6, 2010, and will honor high school classes whose years end in ’0 and ’5 and elementary school classes whose years end in ’6 and ’1. There will be special seating in the Mother Williams Library for the Class of 1960 as they celebrate their 50th reunion. I would also like to mention that the new and improved alumni website will launch soon! From the site, you will be able to take advantage of the many features tailored to our alumni community. This new website will be a wonderful tool to reconnect with friends with whom you have lost contact, share photos with fellow classmates, plan reunions and much more! Wishing you a prosperous year and hoping to see you soon. In the heart,
Alumni Calendar 2010 Marian Zizzo Alumni Coordinator zizzo@sacredsf.org 415.345.5816
March 19 Celebrate Spring Garden Luncheon
May 12 Nos Amis -A cocktail reception for Parents of Alumni
March 20 Celebrate Spring Family Festival, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
November 6 Convent of the Sacred Heart Alumnae Reunion -Honoring high school classes ending in
-Special seating for Alumni at 11:00 a.m.
Celebrate Spring Evening Gala, 6:00 p.m.
’0 and ’5 and elementary school classes ending in ’6 and ’1.
March 26 Stuart Hall for Boys Alumni Basketball Challenge
November 24 Stuart Hall High School Class of 2005 Five Year Reunion
April 5-11 AMASC World Association of Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart: World Congress 2010 in Malta
December 6 Gingerbread Workshops
April 15 Stuart Hall High School 10-Year Anniversary
December 18 Stuart Hall High School Alumni Homecoming
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Reconnecting Over a Little ’Za Annual Convent Elementary Alumnae Pizza Party The Broadway Alumnae of the Sacred Heart (BASH) Board hosted the annual Convent Elementary Alumnae Pizza Party on February 9. The event celebrates the alumnae currently in high school (elementary Classes of 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009) and provides an opportunity for the girls to re-connect, share memories and catch-up. Many of the girls enjoyed writing Valentine’s Day notes to their former Convent teachers. The reunion continued in the Herbert Gym where the Convent High School Varsity basketball team played an exciting game against University High School. Convent came away with a big win, which made for an even better gathering for our elementary school alumnae! A special thank you to the event’s Chair, Devi Kane Zinzuvadia CES’91.
Left: Grace McLaughlin CES'07 and Kayla Abe CES'07. Middle: Chantal Gish CES'09, Alexa Povlitz CES'09, Lia Russell CES'09 and Pagé Goddard CES'09. Right: Bianka Quintanilla-Whye '13'09, Rowan Puri CES'09, Wilhelmina Ocker CES'08 and Kristen Kennedy '12'08.
Save
the
DATE
The first annual Convent & Stuart Hall Alumni Liturgy and Luncheon will be held on Monday, May 3, 2010. Alumni Liturgy – 10:30 a.m. Alumni Luncheon – 11:30 a.m. Valet parking provided
Celebrate Spring March 19 - 20
If you would like to participate in the Liturgy or help plan this event, contact Marian Zizzo at 415.345.5816 or zizzo@sacredsf.org.
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Special Alumni seating at the 11:00 a.m. Garden Luncheon
Celebrate
2010 The
Heart of
Afric
Stuart Hall High School
Five Year Reunion
The Stuart Hall High School founding Class of 2004 gathered on November 25, 2009, to celebrate their five-year high school reunion. The festivities began with a tour of Star of the Sea School where the class spent their first year as Stuart Hall students while the building at Pine and Octavia had been completed. As they went through the classrooms, they noticed artwork from nine years ago that was still hanging on the walls. The celebration continued to Johnny Foley’s Irish House (owned by a current Stuart Hall High School family). They enjoyed the next few hours by retelling stories, reminiscing moments that were displayed in the yearbooks and catching up on the past five years. Many members of the faculty and administration shared in the festivities. Thank you to everyone that was able to join us. We will forever be grateful to the class who truly founded Stuart Hall High School. Note to the Stuart Hall High School Class of 2005: If you are interested in organizing your five-year reunion, contact Marian Zizzo, Alumni Coordinator (alumni@sacredsf.org).
Homecoming
at the Hall
The annual Stuart Hall High School Alumni Homecoming was well attended on December 22. The most recent graduates from 2008 and 2009 challenged the older alumni to a basketball game. The game was a close match and was followed by a friendly reunion with faculty, former coaches and alumni families. Coach Charles Johnson told the young men that it is always great to see them return to campus. Athletic Director John Bertken was touched to see so many of the guys return who had helped found the school. The BBQ was followed by the high school's basketball game versus Lowell High School, one of the city’s great basketball powerhouses. The Knights succeeded in providing a great win over the Cardinals for those who came to support their alma mater.
Nick Dietz '08, Peter Shatara '08, Corey Linehan ’08’04, Kyle Beffel '08
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Convent of the Sacred Heart
Reunion2009
More than 260 alumnae and spouses— many ranging from the Class of 2004 to the Class of 1948—returned to Broadway on November 7, 2009, for one memorable evening of Convent of the Sacred Heart alumnae. Former faculty members from as far as San Diego made the trip as well. The event began with tours of the school followed by a special Mass. During the liturgy, Gordon Sharafiniski, Director of Schools, presented Golden Diplomas to all members of the Class of 1959, who celebrated their 50th graduation reunion. The night concluded with a wine reception and dinner. Guests were encouraged to take class photos in the photo booth and were able to take home copies of these photos as gifts! Mark your calendar for the next annual alumnae reunion on Saturday, November 6, 2010. If you are interested in helping plan your special milestone, contact the Alumni Office at 415-345-5816.
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Class of '64'60 Class of'99'95
Congratulations to the Class of 1959 on their 50th reunion!
Class of 1959 C o nvent & S tuart H all
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Broadway Alumnae of the Sacred Heart
The BASH Board legacy is to support the school by lending a hand to future generations and reaching out to alumni.
– By Tricia O’Brien
Legacy is an important and special part of our community. Part of the mission of the Broadway Alumnae of Sacred Heart (BASH) is to raise money for scholarships to benefit the children or grandchildren of alumni. I’ve been struggling with how to get the BASH message out there about who we are, how we raise money, what this means to the community, and how to get more people to attend our events. Maybe a story will help. Allow me to use myself as an example. My dad married a Convent grad, Class of 1956, and subsequently spent time with Mom’s many friends from the school community. Eventually he sent his four daughters to the school and some of their classmates were children of Mom’s former classmates. There was never any question as to where we were going to attend school. Dad wanted us to have the Sacred Heart experience that had benefited our mother and that he had grown to know, love and appreciate. Dad attended every event that he could. We knew it was a great experience at the time, but I’m not sure we realized how it would stay with us forever, at least not until now. Recently my dad passed away and I have to say that the love, prayers and support from the community, past and present, were overwhelming and truly helped my family and me get through this experience. The November Board of Trustees meeting was my first time back in the Flood Mansion since his passing and as soon as I entered the building, the memories poured in—happy memories of homework shared, trips to Washington, D.C., fatherdaughter dances, senior teas, graduations and much more—all shared with my proud dad and still cherished in my heart. I’m sure there are many alumni who share similar memories and treasure the support they received. It was the same as the care that goes out to current students and their families; that is just the way it works in our community. Because we appreciate what we received, the BASH Board works hard to extend our Sacred Heart family. We raise money to help future students attend our schools so they, too, may benefit from the Sacred Heart experience. One way to raise scholarship monies, without encroaching on the school’s already busy calendar, is to partner with outside venues such as the Bath Sense shop in Laurel Heights or local eateries. They invite us to shop, dine or be entertained while a portion of their sales are given back to our community. These opportunities are highlighted in Thursday Notes, on the right-hand column from the Parents Association, and are listed on the Calendar of Events found on www.sacredsf.org. We encourage you to attend these great BASH events, get to know other alumni, and help us help our school. —Tricia O’Brien ’82’78 is the BASH Board President (2007-10) and can be reached at tricia_obrien@hotmail.com.
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Christmas with
BASH Gingerbread Workshops Raise Record Amount for Aid, Alumni Programming This past December, the Broadway Alumnae of the Sacred Heart (BASH) held the most successful Gingerbread Workshop fundraiser since the tradition began in December 1996. The two well-attended workshops and sales from the To-Go Houses combined to raise more than $14,000, which helps support current students through scholarships. Congratulations to the volunteers who worked endless hours to bring the community this year’s festivities. Special recognition goes to Gingerbread Workshop Co-Chairs Melissa Dong Mountain ’90’86 and Tara Proses ’90’86. Their planning began in April 2009 and included soliciting for table sponsorships to make the event even more successful. If you’d like to be involved in planning the 2010 event, contact Alumni Coordinator Marian Zizzo at 415-345-5816.
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. The Flood Mansion was full of people and music on December 2 as many Convent & Stuart Hall alumni, parents of alumni, and current and past faculty members kicked-off the holiday season with the beloved Alumni Noëls event. The evening was filled with food, drinks, laughter and the sound cherished holiday tunes. Thank you to our Honorary Song Leaders Debbie Cucalon ’73 and Celine Watters Curran ’73. Event Co-Chairs Leslie Davalos Bergholt ’90, Marilee Hearn ’63’59, Cecy Jones Korematsu ’83’79 and Betsy Doyle Roth ’89 also deserve a special round of applause. This event is a chance to celebrate the holidays with the Convent & Stuart Hall community. (Top) Brother and sister Tara Proses '90'86 and Brain Proses SHB'90 with Gordon Sharafinski and Jamie Dominguez.(Bottom) Rowland Rebele and Patty Ann Smith Rebele'74. C o nvent & S tuart H all
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Often children of the Sacred Heart grow up to be educators of the Sacred Heart.
W
hile Andrew Gaspari SHB’00 finished a business and marketing degree at the University of Colorado, he thought he was on his way to becoming one of this generation’s Mad Men—inspiring consumers through clever marketing and ad campaigns. Now, nearly two years later, he is starting to think that the audience he is meant to inspire is his class of second graders at Stuart Hall for Boys. If you had asked Andrew when he was a student if he would ever find himself working alongside some of the very teachers who gave him detention and homework, he would have said no. But, like more than a dozen faculty and staff at Convent & Stuart Hall, Andrew has discovered that many roads lead back to Broadway. In fall 2008, a tormented economy got in the way of Andrew’s post-college plan: he had hoped that his senior year internship with a Denver-based “gourmet burrito” restaurant chain would turn into a full-time marketing position. When it didn’t, he found himself moving home to live with his family and search for a job in the Bay Area. Not much materialized for all of his effort, he says, until a classmate from Stuart Hall, who had been substituting in the city, suggested he contact his alma mater about teaching and coaching opportunities. Andrew had played soccer, baseball, basketball and cross-country as a student, and was hired to coach fifth grade baseball last spring. He also started substituting, and says he felt right at home on this campus, and in the front of the classroom. “I already knew so many people here, and I really got to know some of the other teachers and administrators while I was subbing,” he says. “When a position opened up, I jumped on it.” This year, Andrew has been serving as associate teacher in Melissa Spears’ class, as well as coaching basketball and baseball. He says Melissa did a lot to help him prepare for the school year. “She’s awesome. She has done so much for me to make this a great experience,” he says, “although I don’t know that you can completely ready yourself for what it’s like.” By 7:30 a.m., his boys have more energy than they know what to do with, he says, and they want their teachers to match it. “I can sense them coming through that door,” he says. “It’s almost like an earthquake.” Teaching eight year olds is not unlike marketing, Andrew says. “I know it sounds weird, but it’s amazing how much of business school translates to this classroom,” he says. “We have 19 kids
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with 19 immediate needs, and you just have to address them,” he says. “It’s like I have 19 different clients, and they all need my attention.” He also feels like he is constantly working to earn the students’ trust and loyalty, constantly positioning himself as someone they may rely on for support. It can be draining, he says, but the rewards are infinite. “To see the smiles on their faces, when they’re learning and having fun, is so great,” he says. And then there’s the bonus of working alongside some of his own former teachers, including: his eighth grade English teacher Ann Gigounas, his third grade teacher Carol O’Malley and his Middle Form math teacher David McSpadden. Although he hesitates to call them by first name and is afraid to eat lunch in the faculty room (“It feels like I’m not supposed to be in there!”), he says it’s an honor to work with the people who molded him as a person. He still quotes “Mrs. O’Malley,” who told him once, after a scuffle with a classmate, “A day without sportsmanship is a day without sports.” “If I could just get one of these kids to hear something I said and have them carry it with them like that, that would be an amazing feeling ... so fulfilling,” he says. “This beats marketing burritos any day.”
The Alumni Among Us This list only includes alumni of Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco, but there are almost a dozen current employees who attended other Sacred Heart schools as well. Jeanne Vecchiola Asdourian’79, Convent High School, Administrative Assistant Mary Ashe’48, Archives Athena Benevento’90’86, Stuart Hall for Boys, Kindergarten Teacher Caitlin Curran’00’96, Convent High School, Admissions Director Celine Watters Curran’73, Convent High School, Dean of Students Jennifer Dahl’82’78, Convent High School, Registrar and College Counselor Assistant Patricia Feeney Gallagher’76’72, Office of the Director, Campaign Director Sarah Garlinghouse’94, Convent High School, History and Fine Arts Teacher Andrew Gaspari SHB’00, Stuart Hall for Boys, Grade 2 Associate Teacher
Sacred Heart Alumni in LA Hold Annual
Tapas and Margaritas Fiesta Sacred Heart alumni in the Los Angeles area were hosted on September 20, 2009, at the home of alumna Bunny May and her husband Martin. It was a beautiful day with new faces and old friendships being rekindled. The group even held a raffle with prizes benefiting the Associated Alumnae and Alumni of the Sacred Heart, Los Angeles Chapter. If you are in the Los Angeles area and did not receive an invitation, please let us know so you will be invited to future events. We look forward to seeing many of you this fall!
Claire Gerlach’00’96, Extension and After School Program Karen Glaub CES’80, Convent Elementary School, Administrative Assistant Nicholas McSpadden SHB’98, Technology Department McKenzie Morgan’01’97, Convent Elementary School, Kindergarten Associate Teacher Amanda Scdoris CES’91, Convent Elementary School, Hoffman Library
Top right: Convent Alumna Grace Hiney. Middle: Former Broadway faculty Mary Lococo Forsyth and Alumni Coordinator Marian Zizzo. Bottom left: Renee Harman Mitchell'52. C o nvent & S tuart H all
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Currents of Change Sacred Heart alumni are part of an important movement to clean up our oceans. –By Amanda Coffee’04 Goal III, “a social awareness that impels to action,” may be planted in the Sacred Heart community, but the water of college and soil of young adulthood often turns alumni into blossoming philanthropists. As an active member of the San Francisco community, I am involved in philanthropic efforts with many of my former Convent classmates. This December, we celebrated the Spinsters of San Francisco’s 80th anniversary in the city’s premier venue—the Flood Mansion. The young professional associations of the San Francisco ballet, opera and symphony are replete with Sacred Heart alumni committed to giving back. I have also had the opportunity to work with Ocean Voyages Institute, a non-profit founded more than 30 years ago to preserve the ocean environment. In April 2008, Project Kaisei was launched within the institute with the goal of educating people about the marine debris in the world’s oceans and finding solutions to this massive problem. This important project is reliant on volunteer effort and a significant part of that effort is provided by many of my former classmates, colleagues and community members. The first month-long expedition on S/V Kaisei from San Francisco was completed in August 2009, focused on understanding the North Pacific Gyre, home to what has been called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” This area of spiraling ocean currents is approximately twice the size of the continental United States and is known for accumulating large amounts of waste and debris that become trapped between North America and Japan. Mary T. Crowley, one of the co-founders of Project Kaisei, and one of the founders of Ocean Voyages Institute, was on board Kaisei for the project’s maiden voyage. Mary is a graduate of our Sacred Heart school in Chicago, and has a lifelong commitment to ocean education and marine ecology. On this voyage, the 25 people on board the Kaisei included a team of scientists, filmmakers and people working on passive collection devices. The R/V New Horizon, operated by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography of UC San Diego, also sailed to the gyre area in support of Project Kaisei, with a team of 22 people. In the gyre garbage accumulation, they found everything you could imagine— toothbrushes, plastic baseballs, lawn chairs, laundry detergent bottles and plastic
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GREEN Feature
cases for soft drinks or beer. One of Project Kaisei’s most important goals is to develop solutions for collecting the garbage with both passive systems to be energyefficient, as well as active systems. This goal has additional importance because there are concerns that various sea life organisms are ingesting the small pieces of plastic and carrying the toxins into the food chain. The next Kaisei expedition in 2010 will continue removing debris and raising awareness of this problem. Marine pollution has no quick fix. It requires a global effort to figure out ways to reduce our plastics consumption, recycle Photos courtesy Amanda Coffee'04 items so they don’t end Amanda Coffee helps raise awarness for up in the ocean and Project Kaisei, which is working to clean up manufacture plastics our oceans. that are recyclable and biodegradable. Fortunately, there are members of our own Sacred Heart community who are dedicated to the long-term commitment of helping create awareness and novel solutions to protect our precious marine ecology. For more information about Project Kaisei, visit www.projectkaisei.org/. —Amanda Coffee’04 served as the Editor-in-Chief of the broadview and is a graduate of the UC Berkley, where she studied mass communications.
Class Notes
Noelle Martinez graduated from San Francisco University High School in May and is now attending Columbia University.
Class of 2008
Class of 1964
Class of 1954
Convent of the Sacred Heart
In July 2009, the class of 1964 held a fun gathering of classmates at Sue Worner Tierney's family home. The gathering was a planning meeting for their 45th high school reunion in November 2009. Back row (l to r): Mary-Lou Mann Stein, Lee Anna Burke Kelly, Carolyn Mahoney, Chelly Lastreto O'Neal, Mary Ripple, Angele Bonura Rice, Madalyn Tremaroli Fitzpatrick. Front row (l to r): Sue Worner Tierney, Jackie Farrell Sciarrillo, Kathy McKenna, Cathie O'Gara.
H i g h S ch o o l
The class of 1954 (pictured below) held a wonderful reunion at the Town & Country Club in San Francisco on November 7, 2009. Top (l-r) Alice Devine Neumayr, Jeanne Grazzini O'Meara, Sandra Schoch Varaona, Patricia Ferrari Novak, Virginia Phillips LaRue, Jane Leland Pedley, Noël Doyle Brown, Roberta Roberts Gleeson. Bottom (l-r) Toni Zanco Thurling, Peggy Bracken Jacquet, Marian Murphy Walsh, Alberta Petri O’Brien, Muriel Andrade Hebert.
Stuart Hall
Convent of the Sacred Heart High School
fo r B oy s
Amanda Owen-Walkup is currently head of the Lowell Shadowing program. She is also volunteering at the Randall Museum where she works with all the animals from squirrels to hawks as well as Wonder Dog Rescue, where she goes every weekend to help adopt out dogs.
Susan Stalk McMann wrote this to the editor of the USF Magazine: As a graduate of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, I was delighted to read the article on the history of USF's purchase of Lone Mountain, and am so glad the campus was rescued and is now an important part of USF. As a student at the Convent, I was privileged to attend a retreat there, and actually stayed in the dorms. My dream was to attend college there … we always considered ourselves a sister school to St. Ignatius and to USF, I would like to see you go a little deeper into the history and share the quality of education that the order of RSCJ contributed through the Convent and through that college, and still provides today through Convent & Stuart Hall. The women who taught me there remain the most reverenced teachers of my life, as I feel they provided me the same quality of education I would have received had I qualified at that time to receive a Jesuit education (no girls at that time). Looking forward to seeing a follow-up article in a future USF newsletter.
Stuart Hall
Class of 2005
Class of 1962
H i gh S cho o l
Convent of the Sacred Heart Elementary School
Class of 1966
Andrea Charlton Feeney is starting a business with her sister Carolyn Charlton Squeri ’68 as College Counselors and School Admissions Advisors.
Class of 1956
Carolyn Ranken is a happy retiree. She enjoys traveling and volunteer work.
Class of 1982 Diana Wall, RSCJ, '82 recently traveled to Rome to make her final vows to the order of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. Convent & Stuart Hall congratulate Sr. Wall! C o nvent & S tuart H all
E l em e n t ar y
Class of 1973
Convent of the Sacred Heart
Brenda Brooks Fitch ’66’62 is living in Palm Springs, CA, and selling real estate.
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Class Notes Convent of the Sacred Heart High School Cont.
Class of 1983
Class of 1992
Meagan Levitan ’83’79, along with husband Dale Carlson and daughter Jacqueline Carlson (Convent-2) are thrilled to announce the arrival of Seher Anne Carlson. She arrived on January 16 at 1:30 p.m. weighing in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces.
Nicole Sciarrillo, daughter of Jacqueline Farrell Sciarrillo ’64’60, was married to Cass Vanini on August 16, 2009, at B.R. Cohn Winery in Glen Ellen. They are currently living in Brooklyn, NY, where Nicole is an agent in advertising, and Cass is a film and commercial editor.
Class of 1984
Margaretha Payne Carter checks in from Essex: My daughter, Elizabeth Grace "Lily," turned four in November and now has a brother, Luke William, who is twoand-a-half.
Class of 1994
Class of 1986
After three years, Stephanie Donohue Pilla ’86’82 and her husband George had the wonderful opportunity to go back to the site of their wedding reception: Convent of the Sacred Heart on 91st Street in New York for an alumnae cocktail party on January 25. They live in New York with their two-year-old daughter Clementina and hope that she can attend the school when she's older!
Pearl Ng is currently living in Hong Kong. A few years ago, she started a luxury women’s accessories line named Pearly, currently based in Hong Kong (www. pearlycollection.com). After graduating from Convent, Pearl attended the Rhode Island School of Design and New York University and had not been to San Francisco for 15 years. In November 2009, she returned to campus for a tour and to see her former faculty members. Check out the broadview’s December 16 feature article on Pearl at http:// broadview.sacredsf.org.
Class of 1988
Class of 2004
Marie Hurabiell checks in: Exciting and busy times for the Hurabiell-Trader family. My law practice is active and flexible so that I can spend maximum time with my daughter, Cassidy, who will be going to kindergarten next year! Zynga, the company that my husband, Andrew, co-founded two years ago, has grown to more than 700 employees. Cassidy loves preschool and exploring the world around her!
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Amanda Coffee graduated from the UC Berkeley, where she studied mass communications and has been raising awareness of the non-profit Project Kaisei. Read more about this effort to clean up the oceans on page 46 of this Bulletin.
Class of 2009
When Emma Powers graduates from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow this April, she and one other classmate will become the first American women to ever achieve such an honor. Read the January 8, 2010, article about this accomplishment in the San Francisco Chronicle by visiting www.sfgate.com and searching for “Bolshoi.”
Class Notes
Stuart Hall for Boys
Class of 1974
Giovanni Ford is Leasing Manager at Parkmerced in San Francisco. They have great activities and upgraded apartments. If you know young families, students or empty nesters looking to live in a vibrant community, call Giovanni at 415 405.4601 or email him at gford@parkmerced.com.
Mark Swartz is flying F-18 Hornets off the USS Eisenhower.
Class of 2001
Nick Mattes graduated from New York UniversityTisch with a bachelor’s of fine arts in dramatic writing in May 2009. Nick is looking for opportunities in the entertainment industry.
Class of 2004
Daniel Mattes is a sophomore majoring in International Relations at Stanford University.
Class of 2006
Stewart Goossens swam from Europe to Africa and raised $10,000 for a Marine Mammal Center. It is said that he is the youngest American to ever swim the waters between Spain and Morocco.
Stuart Hall High School Class of 2007
Griffith Cannon, a junior at Colgate University, placed fourth for his track team at the Colgate Invitational on September 19, 2009, in 27:41 for 8K, or about 5:34 per mile.
H i g h S ch o o l
Eduardo M. Olbes is back in his homeland of the Philippines. He is married to Blanche Locsin-Olbes and has one son, Luca Olbes. Eduardo is a Director responsible for local corporate coverage in the Global Banking unit of Citibank NA (Philippines).
Class of 1997
Convent of the Sacred Heart
Class of 1984
Luke Swartz is stationed in Naples in the U.S. Navy.
fo r B oy s
Class of 1979
Class of 1994
Stuart Hall
Dr. Peter Weber, a neuroscientist at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, appeared in an October episode of 60 Minutes called, “Epilepsy: A Fight for the Cure.” Katie Couric reported on the movement to raise awareness and research funds for this disease, which affects about 3 million Americans. Peter was featured for his work to record the brain's electrical activity to map brain function.
Stuart Hall
Charles Greene is a Strategic Sourcing Partner at The Green Group. He recently visited renovated Stuart Hall for Boys building with Jaime Dominguez, Head of School.
Thomas Ross is teaching Greek and Hebrew at a seminary in Wisconsin, while his wife Heather is teaching at a Christian high school. He is also working on a doctorate degree in theology. He has edited two books and written another, "Heaven Only for the Baptized? The Gospel of Christ vs. Baptismal Regeneration," which is set to go to print soon. He can be contacted through his blog: http://thross7.googlepages.com.
H i gh S cho o l
Class of 1966
Class of 1993
Class of 2008
Class of 1989
Hiten Patel (above) and his wife Sangita Patel were ecstatic at the arrival of their baby girl Keira Laxmi Patel on January 10, 2009, and look forward to the day in the future when she starts her first day at Convent.
Sam Catapano is now a freshman at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
We’d love to hear from you! Please send your current e-mail address and any class notes to Alumni Coordinator Marian Zizzo at alumni@sacredsf.org. C o nvent & S tuart H all
E l em e n t ar y
Class of 2009
Convent of the Sacred Heart
Corey Linehan ran his first 8K in 31:47 for his Georgetown University club track team in an open invitational at Princeton University in October 2009.
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In Memoriam
Schools of the Sacred Heart extend sincere sympathy to the following: The family of Priscilla Tippett Wise ’56. Renee Harman Mitchell ’52 for the loss of her husband, William Mitchell. Andrea Milano ’85 and Dr. Christina Milano ’90 for the loss of their father, John G. Milano. Nancy Kentzel Dice ’64 for the loss of her son, Ian Dice. Elvera “Ellie” Fusco SFCW’50 for the loss of her brother, Larry Fusco. Diana Wall, RSCJ ’82, for the loss of her uncle, Dr. Robert Wall. Denise Domergue-Wilhite ’64 for the loss of her mother, Consuelo Padilla Domergue. The family of Patricia Tynan Tenison ’46’42. Joanna Gallegos, Convent Elementary School Middle Form Dean, for the loss of her motherin-law, and Thomas Fregoso SHB’90, Anthony Fregoso SHB’94 and Teresa Fregoso CES’92 for the loss of their grandmother, Noemi Novelo Fregoso. Julia Arce, Convent High School Theology Department Chair, for the loss of her father, Manuel Thomas Arce. Susan Toler Carr ’76 and Valerie Toler ’71 for the loss of their father, Burl Toler. Chris Miller, Convent & Stuart Hall Theater Manager, for the loss of his brother, Steve Miller. Maggie Hollway (Convent-3) and Payton Hollway (Stuart Hall-4) for the loss of their great grandmother, Dee Dee Griscom Storm.
Paul B. Fay III SHB’63 and Sally Fay Cottingham CES’70, for the loss of their father, Paul B. Fay Jr.
Phyllis Mutch Charlton for the loss of her husband, and Dr. Francis J. Charlton, Carolyn Charlton Squeri ’68, Andrea Charlton Feeney ’73 and Corinne Charlton Barbour ’75 for the loss of their father, and Joseph Feeney ’04’00, Claire Feeney CES’03, and Michaela Charlton ’05’01 for the loss of their grandfather, Dr. Francis Charlton.
Jeanne Burns for the loss of her mother, and Matthew Dougherty SHB'92 for the loss of his grandmother, Mary Agnes Burns.
Ruby Russell, crossing guard at Convent & Stuart Hall, for the loss of her son, Ronnie Watson.
Liam Aiello, Convent Elementary School language arts and literature teacher, for the loss of his father, Thomas George Aiello.
Lauren Carroll ’00’96, Ryan Carroll ’05’01 and Savannah Carroll ’09’05 for the loss of their grandmother, Olga Carroll.
Mary Welday, Stuart Hall for Boys first grade teacher, for the loss of her mother, Lucy Welday.
Lorenzo Scotto di Vettimo (Stuart Hall-4) and Gabriele Scotto di Vettimo (Stuart Hall-K) for the loss of their grandfather, Michele Scotto di Vettimo.
Anne Bird for the loss of her husband, and Ryan Bird (Stuart Hall-4) and Thomas Bird (Stuart Hall-1) for the loss of their father, Timothy Bird.
Sybil Schoning Burns ’49’45 for the loss of her husband, Robert Burns. Peggy O’Brien ’56 for the loss of her husband, and Tricia O’Brien ’82’78, Margaret O’Brien ’87, Jennifer O’Brien Weslow ’89 and Megan O’Brien ’93’89 for the loss of their father, Dr. John O’Brien. Kristopher Suzuki ’07’03 for the loss of his father, Osamu Suzuki. Andrea DeVille Collins, Convent Elementary School kindergarten teacher, for the loss of her uncle, and Alexa Collins (Convent-12), for the loss of her great-uncle, Hubert Singleton. Kristin Buck Wilson ’59’55 and John C. Wilson Jr. for the loss of their daughter, Mary “Katy” Wilson CES’79. The family of Jay Miller SHB’50.
Ruth Beering for the loss of her husband, and Tara Beering ’89’85 for the loss of her father, Frank A. Beering.
Brendan McDermott SHB’09 and Christopher McDermott (Stuart Hall-6) for the loss of their grandfather, Gordon Gilroy.
Dennis Phillips, Stuart Hall for Boys Middle Form Dean, for the loss of his mother, Elizabeth Phillips.
Jason Kirchner SHB’93 and his wife, Shannon, for the loss of their daughter, Katherine Elizabeth Kirchner.
Thomas McAfee for the loss of his wife, and Bryn McAfee ’00’96, Peter McAfee SHB’99 and Tyler McAfee SHB’94 for the loss of their mother, Mary McAfee.
Ursula Marsten for the loss of her son, and Sheldon Marsten SHB’83, Tony Morgan SHB’77, Karl Morgan SHB’77 and Marlene Marsten Peterson ’91’87 for the loss of their brother, Serge Morgan SHB’75.
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Charlotte Kiaie (Convent-12) and Frederick Kiaie (Stuart Hall-4) for the loss of their grandfather, Dr. Ala Kiaie. Mia Hainer (Convent-3) for the loss of her grandfather, Robert K. Mauch. David Thacher SHB’70 and John Thacher SHB’68 for the loss of their father, Carter P. Thacher. Kayla Peirano ’08 for the loss of her mother, Carla Periano. The friends and family of Catherine “Kay” Baxter, RSCJ. Jane Christian Waal ’40 for the loss of her sister, Elaine Christian Carlsmith ’51’47. Susan Burrie ’75 for the loss of her brother, Daniel Burrie. Dr Barrett H. Weber for the loss of his wife, Barrett F. Weber SHB’73, David H. Weber SHB’76, Dr. Peter B. Weber SHB’74 and Dr. Robert W. Weber SHB’78 for the loss of their mother, and Megan Weber CES’09, Jackson Weber (Stuart Hall-8), Natalie Weber (Convent-4) and Robert J. Weber (Stuart Hall- 3) for the loss of their grandmother, Elise “Beezie” Weber. Angela Taylor, Stuart Hall for Boys Lower Form Dean, for the loss of her cousin, Leila Leboyd.
SCHOOLS OF THE SACRED HEART SAN FRANCISCO Convent of the Sacred Heart Elementary School Convent of the Sacred Heart High School Stuart Hall for Boys Stuart Hall High School
MISSION STATEMENT Founded in 1887 as an independent Catholic school, Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco carry on the educational mission of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. We share with the other members of the nationwide Network of Sacred Heart Schools five common goals and the commitment to educate to: A personal and active faith in God; A deep respect for intellectual values; A social awareness that impels to action; The building of community as a Christian value; Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom. A K-12, four-school complex, Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco offers the unique experience of single-sex education within a coed community. Students are expected to achieve their highest level of scholarship while learning to assume leadership roles as responsible, compassionate and contributing members of society.
S S S NETWORK OF SACRED HEART SCHOOLS Convent & Stuart Hall Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco, California girls K-12, boys K-12
Stone Ridge School Bethesda, Maryland co-ed preK-K; girls 1-12
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton, California co-ed preK-12
Newton Country Day School Newton, Massachusetts girls 5-12
Convent of the Sacred Heart Greenwich, Connecticut girls preK-12
Academy of the Sacred Heart Bloomfield Hills, Michigan co-ed preK-5; girls 5-12; boys 5-8
Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart Miami, Florida girls preK-12
Academy of the Sacred Heart St. Charles, Missouri co-ed K-8
Sacred Heart Schools Chicago, Illinois co-ed K; girls 1-8; boys 1-8
Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School St. Louis, Missouri co-ed K-6, girls 7-12
Woodlands Academy Lake Forest, Illinois day/boarding girls 9-12
Duchesne Academy Omaha, Nebraska co-ed preK; girls 9-12
Schools of the Sacred Heart Grand Coteau, Louisiana girls preK-12; boys K-5; boarding-girls 8-12
Princeton Academy Princeton, New Jersey boys K-8
Academy of the Sacred Heart New Orleans, Louisiana girls preK-12
Convent of the Sacred Heart New York, New York girls preK-12 Country Day School of the Sacred Heart Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania girls preK-12 Duchesne Academy Houston, Texas girls preK-12 The Regis School Houston, Texas boys preK-8 Forest Ridge School Bellevue, Washington girls 5-12 Sacred Heart School of Halifax Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada girls ages 3-18; boys ages 3-18; The Sacred Heart School of Montreal Montreal, Quebec, Canada girls ages 12-17
Stuart Country Day School Princeton, New Jersey co-ed preK; girls K-12
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Schools of the Sacred Heart San francisco 2222 Broadway San Francisco, CA 94115
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