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EDUCATOR RETIREES
In June 2021, eight Saint Francis educators will retire. We thank these incredible men and women for the 258 collective years of selfless service they have given to the Saint Francis High School family, embodying the Holy Cross mission and shaping hundreds of lives.
Years at Saint Francis: 26
Sofia Blanc
Spanish teacher, World Languages department chair, moderator for International Club and senior class
“I have many favorite memories but one that has made an impact in our Saint Francis community is the establishment of the International Showcase. It started as an idea from my club board members 18 years ago. Little by little, it developed into a two-day event at the Performing Arts Center. The International Showcase gave an opportunity to our diverse student body to display and share their artistic skills and culture to our entire Saint Francis community.”
Years at Saint Francis: 33
Mary Jo Carroll
Religious Studies and English teacher, drama assistant
“Throughout my 58 years in education, I’ve experienced many changes in trends, focus, methodology and technology. But the basic tenet of education remains: students + teacher + caring environment = learning. Our gifts and talents as educators enlighten and enable students, and theirs do the same for us. What an awesome and beautiful responsibility we have toward those who have been entrusted to us. I have learned from my fellow educators as models and advisors, by word and deed, and I am so grateful.”
Years at Saint Francis: 43
Sal Chavez
Mission outreach, Religious Studies teacher and department chair, soccer coach
“My job was living out my faith every day in a number of different ways. Before I arrived, I was actually looking for a position to support students of color in San Francisco, but I realized that I could do this at SFHS: to help attract students of color to campus in my small way and to help students who are not of color widen their understanding of the world and appreciate other communities.”
Years at Saint Francis: 23
Olivia Ciampa
Spanish teacher, yearbook moderator, lunch prefect
“These past 23 years have been the most rewarding years professionally and socially. Everyone has been key to my development as an educator, colleagues as well as students. The time literally flew by. I am very grateful.”
— PRINCIPAL KATIE TEEKELL ’00
Years at Saint Francis: 25
Tom Johantgen
Visual Performing Arts teacher, water polo and swimming coach
“One of my favorite memories is when then-President Kevin Makley sent me an email he had received from a graduate who had just passed the final test to be a licensed architect and wanted to tell the president about his math teacher [yes, I did teach math for one year] who helped him through a rough patch in school. He outlined the story the way he remembered it and said what a difference it made for him. I remember the student but do not remember the story he told. It made me realize the way we impact the students as teachers will never be known to anyone, including us, but we are making a difference in their lives.”
Years at Saint Francis: 31
Debbie Gosalvez
Executive assistant to the principal, academic administrative assistant, registrar and substitute coordinator
“My advice to educators is to always keep the mission and values of Holy Cross your first priority. I was blessed that my children Gina ’98 and Mario ’01 had such caring teachers. In my work at Saint Francis I have always tried to remember our students are someone’s precious children and always treat them in the way I would want my own children to be treated.”
Years at Saint Francis: 39
Tim Houlihan
Director of Planning and Facilities, Capital Campaign Director, Development Director, Athletics Director
“I’ll always be grateful to the Brothers of Holy Cross for giving me the opportunity to be part of their community. For 39 years, I had the chance to come to a place that I love and collaborate with people who are not only talented and caring colleagues but also my very good friends. I have had the great pleasure of watching my own three kids experience Saint Francis, and I can speak with admiration of the dedication and commitment of our phenomenal teachers and staff.”
Years at Saint Francis: 38
Sherrie Tasnady
Guidance and College Counselor, Stock Market Club moderator, English teacher
“The camaraderie of the faculty will always bring a smile to my face. Those unforgettable times when authentic personalities emerge while everyone is sharing ideas present moments of fun and appreciation for all the great minds that are a part of this community. Most of all, I will remember the spontaneous moments in Sobrato, the Quad or during a rally when something unexpected gave me pure joy and the knowledge that I chose the perfect career.”
Renewing Our Hope
“Hope springs eternal” may sound cliché, and given its place in the English language as one of our most wellworn phrases, perhaps it is. But after a long, arduous year of the pandemic, social unrest and political strife, this spring “hope springs eternal” has never sounded more apropos.
Alexander Pope coined the phrase in his seminal work of poetry, An Essay on Man, in 1732. In 2021, we all can see glimmers of hope this spring, as temperatures start to warm and flowers begin to bloom. Maybe we can appreciate these things a bit more fully now that we also are beginning to see students back on campus, vaccines being distributed and businesses reopening after what indeed has been the longest of winters.
As we think about what is next at Saint Francis, we also pause to reflect on the sacrifices and struggles we’ve all borne witness to this past year. We give thanks to the front-line workers across the spectrum, from health care to education to public safety to food service and more, as they have been so critical in our ability as a community and as a society to weather these many months of relative isolation.
But as spring takes hold, so does our renewed sense of hope. We’re excited by plans for the not-so-distant future at Saint Francis, as we think about all that will be possible in the creative, collaborative new spaces planned for our campus. We’re overjoyed at the sight of our students and educators returning to school, at least in limited fashion. And we are filled with hope for what is to come as we think about sending off this year’s senior class into a world that needs their ingenuity, compassion and leadership, and likewise as we imagine what the next year on our campus might hold as we long for a full return to the classrooms, theaters and athletic fields that have remained vacant for so long.
As you read this issue of Progress and learn about some of our alumni who are positively impacting the communities they serve, in keeping with the tenets of Holy Cross, and about educators who likewise are striving to make a difference for our students, we hope you’ll agree that Saint Francis is a place where hope indeed does spring eternal. Perhaps at no time
in recent memory has that been more important than right now, nearly 300 years after the phrase was first put to paper by one Alexander Pope.
Whether you are an alumnus, a current student, a parent or grandparent, or an educator, you are an integral part of the Saint Francis family, and your support of Saint Francis lends hope for our collective future as a community. Thank you!
Paul Lanning, EdD, CFRE
Executive Director, Institutional Advancement
