News, Notes, etc Madden’s Corner

Sr. Joan (Audrey) Gibson, D.C.

1935 - 2022

Sacred Heart Cathedral lost one of its towering figures this past August 19 with the passing of Sr. Joan Gibson, D.C. Known for years as Sr. Audrey, she served as both a teacher and principal at Cathedral High School, co-principal of the newly merged SHC with Br. Philip Clarke, F.S.C, and then Assistant Principal under Br. Chris Brady, FSC ’70. A more expansive look at her legacy at both Cathedral and SHC will appear in the next issue of SHC Magazine. Eternal rest grant unto Joan, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

New Connections at De Paul

This summer was a watershed moment for SHC’s Visual & Performing Arts program as the long-awaited connection between the Sister Caroline Collins, DC, Theater and the sound booths in the new Chorus Studio was completed. What exactly did this entail and what does it mean going forward? In addition to new hardware (new sound boards in the Studio and Theater, cameras in both the Chorus and Theater, new video editing stations in both locations, etc.), this summer’s project essentially connected the Theater, Chorus Room, and Studio via enhanced cabling. On top of new recording capabilities in all Chorus Room spaces, a live performance in the Chorus Room can now be mixed into an ongoing performance occurring in the Theater, with the new video capabilities allowing visual synchronization between the two. For a musical for example, there can be extra singers or musicians in the Chorus studio being directed by the conductor watching them in the Theater, and that audio can then be streamed from the chorus studio back to the Theater to augment the performance. Cutting-edge stuff! Big thanks go out to Technical Theater Director Mr. Tim Mahoney for spearheading this effort in continuing SHC’s standing as the top performance art school in the City. Make sure to check out the VPA YouTube channel at bit.ly/shcnetwork to see all of the program’s latest performances, especially this Fall’s hilarious production of The Play That Goes Wrong!

MADDAN’S CORNER

Jack Lyons ’16 was a “small fish” at the University of Arizona, watching a lot of Shark Tank and getting over a breakup when he bought a sewing machine and added zippers to the back of his Converse. The shoes sparked his creativity, and he began customizing hoodies and pants he’d sport around campus. Lyons wore his custom kicks on a trip to Southern California, where a friend asked to buy a pair. In 2019, his streetwear clothing brand Pythia, named after the high priestess in Greek mythology, was born. Lyons funded the company with money he made from investing early in cryptocurrency. He gained traction for his brand by posting on Reddit and has since amassed 78,000 @pythia Instagram followers and 63,000 @pythiaclothing TikTok followers. Serving a core customer of 16 to 24-year-olds (including numerous SHC students), Lyons concepts and creates limited edition apparel and jewelry collections sold during visits to his website, pythiaclothing.com. To date, he’s released 15 collections. Lyons also made three lines exclusive to clothing merchant Zumiez that are sold in 200 stores across the U.S. In 2022, Lyons hosted Summer School, a series of online gatherings to share what he learned as an entrepreneur and open up conversations with “wantrepreneurs,” aspiring entrepreneurs. He bought billboards in San Francisco and Los Angeles to share sentiments like, “Tell somebody you love them” and “If you can make someone’s day, you should,” which was inspired by his walks to class in college. “I’d tell people I liked their outfit, and it would make their day,” said Lyons, who graduated with a computer science degree. “Then, it would make mine.” Heather Maddan-Dowdell is a fifth-generation San Franciscan. She met her husband, Dan, at a high school party. They have three children — Sicily ‘22, Asher ‘25, and Jackson, 13.