170th Celebration

ON CAMPUS

170 Celebration

For any of the over 1,200 people that attended, the SHC 170th Anniversary celebration at Oracle Park on September 10 will live on in their memories for years. Speaking of memories, however, below are the responses from those who came as to what their favorite SHC memory is. Please note: some responses have been shortened and/or edited.

When Ken Hogarty let me sneak into the Cathedral early to get our seats for graduation • WHEN MY DAUGHTER PINNED A BELLARMINE WRESTLER IN HER FIRST MATCH EVER • When my daughter received her acceptance email this year! • BR. JOSEPH’S LATIN CLASS, BROTHER MARRIS’ ENGLISH CLASS AND MR. JOHNSON’S GEOMETRY CLASS • The food fight I wasn’t involved in because I didn’t have that lunch when it happened!!! • The acceptance letter • THE LIFELONG FRIENDS I MET AT CATHEDRAL HIGH SCHOOL • Baccalaureate • Play Day - Our class won the Spirit Trophy all 4 years • Shakespeare Class during my Senior year! • BASKETBALL CHEERING SECTION • Winning the Bruce Mahoney in 1998 • The COVID graduation experience for the class of 2020 could not have been better under the circumstances. • WINNING MULTIPLE BASEBALL AND BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS • Walkathon • Friends • For a young man who didn’t care for reading during my adolescent years, I credit my Junior year English teacher, Mr. Mike Otterstedt, for introducing me to the joy of reading • SHC’s family community feeling is the best. All are welcomed. All who have entered continue serving their community and world. • MAKING FRIENDS THAT LAST FOR EVER! • Playing in the SH Band and traveling to the girls high schools to play • GREAT CLASSMATES! • I loved my years at SH, but being able to play football under Bill Henneberry and his guidance after my father died is something I will never forget • Caravanning in the car parade to SI for the Bruce Mahoney! • THE CLOSENESS OF THE SH STUDENT BODY • Cathedral High School class of ’82 was the greatest. I remember being matched with an awesome big sister, Julia Martinez, my freshman year. We had fashion shows, movie nights, plays and spirit day with fun festival games • WORKING THE CIOPPINO FEED • The band • Winning the baseball championship in 1970 in our first year in the WCAL. The dogpile on the field afterwards was epic!!! • TOO NUMEROUS TO ANSWER IN THIS SPACE • I believe that SHC was the only school to welcome anyone who wanted to come from St. Rose when it closed. It was great to be able to finish our senior year (mostly) together, meet new people, play soccer and softball, and try cross country • FOOD FIGHT IN THE CAFETERIA • Brother Arnold’s temper tantrums and Brother Conrad Elder way back in the 60’s • Beating SI for the Bruce! • Playing mush-ball in the courtyard lawn • My daughter loved the trip to Catalina! • Beating SI in football freshman year at Kezar 18-13. Schulz to Distefano 2 times for TDs!!! • Friends made and playing sports! • PLAYING 4 YEARS OF VARSITY BASEBALL • Playing on a team beating SI • Winning at SI in 1982 and watching Keith Crawford ’83 mow down the Wildcats on their home field. He may have been running behind the Kevin Gogan ’83 • My favorite school memory was the Winter Ball my senior year. We all had such a good time and I spent the entire evening with a fun group of friends • SPANISH CLASS WITH BROTHER ANTONIO • Varsity Basketball coached by Jerry Phillips • Theater • 2007-08 SHC’s Women’s basketball team Winning their 3rd straight State Championship • Undefeated 33-0 season • WINNING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP • My favorite memory were the rallies in the gym before big games, Beat SI!!! • I loved having classes with my DePaul Scholar classmates! • School field trips when our kids were younger • GRADUATION DAY! • In 1976, it snowed one day • Basketball AAA Champions 1969 • Not a specific memory, but being involved in both community and sporting events. The events bring families together that end up forming relationships that last beyond the 4 yrs of high school! • Playing in the last SH-SI in the old AAA city league at Kezar 1966..... 18-13 Irish Win! • Attending and watching the kids win the Bruce Mahoney football and baseball games was just as fun as watching my own kids play team sports again (volleyball and golf.) • GRAD NITE AT DISNEYLAND • Working in the theatre and making life memories with Brother Rob and my classmates • My daughter starring in Arsenic and Old Lace and the Crucible productions • JV football and my Senior year • FRESHMEN YEAR TRIP ABROAD TO SPAIN & PORTUGAL • My favorite memories include the history electives I took, the school trip to Washington DC, and playing for the softball team 2007-2011. • 2022 I2 SHOWCASE • My son’s, graduation in 2021 • Making the women’s freshman basketball team my freshman year and being coached by Tim Burke • As parents, we enjoy going to the Bruce Mahoney games and the Walkathon, and helping with the BBQ • Cheerleading my senior year! • CATHEDRAL’S PLAY DAY • The SH “double decker” dance - rock music upstairs in the gym and r&b in the cafeteria • Br. Conrad directing traffic every morning • Spanish class with Mr. Sazo • Acceptance Letters!!! • Seeing my boys on their first days of school • Varsity basketball championship • FRESHMAN FOOTBALL 1971 • Having (the late) Mr. Karas squirt water in my face when I fell asleep during his geometry class • My wonderful classmates and teammates who have been lifelong friends, as well as the devoted and special coaches and teachers that taught me so much during those 4 years • ’Dare to be Different’. Great advice from the Daughters of Charity • SH SENIOR HAWAII TRIP WITH BROTHER ARNOLD AND PHYSICS TEACHER BROTHER PHILLIP • meeting the gang from St Monica’s • Being the first class to use the “Fighting Leprechaun” on our school jackets • The “lock in” started it all off! 2003 was the first year to have this before the school year started. I felt like this experience bonded our class from the start and I still cherish the lifelong friends I have made in high school • Maybe it’s when we started our Junior year & finally could pick a co-ed class with the boys! Or maybe off campus senior lunch days racing to the beach for ‘lunch’ and back in 45 minutes • The moments that stay with us are those spent with other volleyball/basketball/baseball parents who were just as supportive of our kids and occasions when experience the growth of so many students over the years • I was surprised to be the recipient of the Matthew Englander Award • VOTED MOST UNIQUE, CLASS OF 1991 • Being blessed to hit the game winning shot against SI to win the Bruce Mahoney trophy in 1988 • Winning the championship 4 yrs., 1974-1978 • I remember being one of the first members of the Scholar Program and Senior Seminar, also the campus ministry group • Watching our son, celebrate with all his SHC friends immediately after graduating in May 2021 • Attending team sports with different class years and alumni • New York City and London Choir trips • 1978 WCAL Baseball Champions • The talent shows we’re always amazing! • Mr. Sansoe’s Vietnam class was great, Walkathons, etc. • Making lifelong friends • KEN HOGARTY’S ENGLISH CLASS • Going to the Taco Bell after school and hanging with friends • Beating SI at the 2021 Mahoney Football Game on the way to a State Championship • Chatting with teachers about life in the Learning Commons every day • The “5 Finger Cheer” at hoop games at Kezar • Football • Playing soccer • Close Up with Mr. Connelly and Mr. Sansoe • The ‘Give a Cheer’ song • Neighborhood, Marty’s, and graduating • Building life-long friendships! • The Principal telling then us we were the best looking group of parents and the swearing us into the PTA • Seeing our son head off for his first day of 9th Grade! • FOOTBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, DECEMBER 2021 • HOCO last year • Team sports! • Masks everywhere during COVID, but smiling eyes - ALL THE TIME! I love this school! • Senior Retreat • Placing in a citywide essay contest & returning to the table where Lowell’s principal was seated! He thought smart kids only went to Lowell & SI! • Graduation day! • Playing sports, meeting new friends, and meeting my wife • Back to School Night 2022 • 2022 GRADUATION • Music Theater Workshop, Acting Camp, Math Summer Classes • Matilda play was exceptionally outstanding! • Meeting new people •

Alberta Williams-Jarane ’77 reliving Cathedral memories with classmate and SHC Board member Janet Holland ’77

Alberta Williams-Jarane ’77

has spent a lifetime pushing boundaries, quieting critics, and forging her own path.

By Mark Pardini ’88 G rowing up on Sacramento Street between Broderick and Baker, hard on the intersection of Pacific Heights, the Fillmore, and the Western Addition, Alberta Williams-Jarane ’77 could hardly have imagined the life that lay before her. From the schoolyards of St. Vincent de Paul School in the Marina to Cathedral High School, to a globe-trotting professional and, now, a respected entrepreneur in Westchester County, New York, Alberta has carved out a path of success that is both admirable and remarkable. “The most important lesson I learned is to believe in yourself,” Alberta recounts of her time at Cathedral, “to fight for what you believe in, to be passionate about the things that are important to you, and to follow those passions.” A 1973 graduate of SVDP, Alberta recounted being the first African-American in school history to win the “Girl of the Year” award in 8th grade. She still maintains contact with some of her classmates from the school and sees them on both coasts. Moving on to Cathedral, she remembers

noFEAR her class equally as fondly. “If I’m not mistaken, we had 77 girls who ended up graduating in the Class of ’77. If you tell our class story against the cultural backdrop of the mid-1970s, we were really a remarkable group of young women who collectively were very close, very connected, and very supportive of one another. Not understanding our place in the world yet, I think we were a little more defiant than perhaps other classes might have been.” Exemplifying this friction was the newly-required typing class at the time, meant to prepare the young women for careers as secretaries or lower-level admin jobs upon graduation. “We were still being taught things like typing with the hope that skills in office work might lead to a great career as somebody’s secretary”, Alberta says, describing the dilemma. “What no one could anticipate was how valuable using a keyboard would become in the coming days of the digital revolution. I think it was Sister Antoinette who taught typing, because I came out of there typing like 140+ words a minute. I was a machine! That was pretty funny and impressive.”

Beyond her numerous intellectual and educational skills, Alberta remains most fond of the powerhouse basketball program she helped lead, starting all four years on varsity. “I guess I shouldn’t say this but…hey, we were a kick-ass basketball team! We were very competitive.” She remembers not only pickup games at Hamilton Playground against grown men, but games at lunch in the Cathedral courtyard, site of the current Sister Caroline Collins, DC, Theater on the SHC De Paul Campus. “We would always play a pickup game of basketball at lunchtime….and it was pretty sweaty and funky, and hard, that kind of thing. It was just a lot of fun.” After proudly graduating with honors and as class salutatorian, Alberta first attended University of San Francisco, then University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and then Howard University (all pre-med) before finally landing at prestigious Georgetown University’s School of Dentistry. It was while Alberta was in Washington D.C., however, that she began to gravitate towards her next calling. “At the time that I was at Georgetown, the world was catapulting into this new digital domain. I saw a powerful and fundamental shift in how we would live our lives. I saw something I had never seen before. I needed to be a part of that shift,” she shares. “By day, I was this student at Georgetown School of Dentistry. By night, I was sitting in the Georgetown library playing with these two big computers. One was an Apple II, and the other one was an IBM. They were monstrous machines, but I was utterly fascinated.” She began to revisit her earlier ambivalence about Cathedral’s typing class (“I just knew that I wasn’t going to be somebody’s ‘secretary’.”) in a new light. “In Alberta (with ball) and her 1977 teammatesthis new world, I could see, for the first time, the value of creating and designing visual and editorial content, particularly of complex topics in a way that increased awareness and appreciation; all produced using the new digital tools of the day. So, when I sat behind that computer for the first time, I was like, ‘Wow. I can see how this is going to change the world.’” She first began applying her interest in computers and programming to her job as a medical and dental school notetaker, proposing a plan to share digitized class materials with fellow Georgetown students at a cost-saving to the university. “While my idea was promptly rejected as too radical for a notetaking service, my rejection also became my ‘aha’ moment, inspiring me to pivot away from dentistry, saying good-bye to Georgetown to enter the emerging business of digital design. I walked off campus and within seven days I was working for a large, DC-based aerospace company,” she shares. “My job was to translate complex marketing content into more palatable content for their clients. I did that for six months, flew around the country a lot, and got paid way too much money for somebody who had never done this before. But, I got to sit with computers and gain greater and greater proficiency with the digital creative and production tools of the time. I was hooked.” Alberta and her husband, Hassan, left California in 1993 for New York City. Little could they know how deeply enmeshed they would become in Manhattan and Brooklyn culture, art, and everyday street life.

FEATURES

alberta williams-jarane ’77 (cont.)

Don't ever be afraid “ to take risks in the things you most believe in. Failure is a stern reminder of what you have to do to get better.”

ALBERTA WILLIAMS-JARANE ’77

In NYC, Alberta focused entirely on brand strategy and design, spending the next 30 years with increasing responsibilities that led to her becoming Managing Director of a New York agency. Alberta completed her career as a full partner in Arkadia & Co., a boutique design agency that she co-founded along with two partners. Over the course of her career, Alberta worked with a top shelf client roster including work for such brands as American Express, IBM, GE, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, Dewars, Sleep No More, Techonomy, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Not bad for a kid from San Francisco making her way in The Big Apple. In 1999, she and her husband, Hassan, decided on a lifestyle change, leaving Brooklyn to move to Westchester County along the Hudson River. A few years later (after the birth of her two sons), her husband opened a small gourmet store. Hassan, a native of Morocco and a talented fashion and editorial photographer, had an interest in fine meats and cheeses. He soon opened Mint Premium Foods in Tarrytown, NY. Debuting in 2003, Mint was a small shop with the air of a North African or Parisian market where visitors could find flavorful cheeses, charcuterie, olives, and chocolates. A first of its kind in the rivertown community, Mint was instantly welcomed into the Tarrytown village. In 2021, Mint received the Michelin Plate designation, becoming a part of the Michelin Guide New York for its high-quality food and flavors. In 2016, Hassan and Alberta expanded on the popularity of Mint and opened Pik Nik BBQ down the street, harkening back to the barbeque joints of her youth (in the Fillmore and in Hunters Point). “Barbecue is a universal language,” Alberta declares. After Pik Nik BBQ became an instant sensation in Tarrytown, in 2017 she sold her share in Arkadia to devote her full attention to managing both establishments along with her husband. Not everything was easy for the entrepreneurial couple of color in a predominantly white, largely conservative (but changing) community. Part of the Williams-Jarane story is “intentionally breaking through barriers to open and nurture our businesses. To protect our interests at all times. To make sure our sons’ education was at the center of everything we did. To standing with our community to fight for the rights of those marginalized voices most often neglected in affluent spaces.” Alberta remains a strong advocate for social justice, especially in the classroom. Both of her sons are graduates of the Tarrytown school district, with her oldest son, Khalil, graduating from the University of San Francisco (Class of 2020). Khalil lives in the Bronx while he works on developing a VR experience for young men. Alberta’s youngest son, Miles, lives in Manhattan’s East Harlem and is a junior at LIM College where he studies for his BS in Marketing with an emphasis in Fashion Management. He also works full-time at the flagship Fifth Avenue store of Prada as an Assistant Manager in Women’s Fashion. When asked to give advice to current SHC students, Alberta provided a few responses, each perfectly suited for such a trailblazing and passionate spirit. “I would tell every graduate, but especially the women graduates, to know your worth in the marketplace and to stand by that at all times in your career.” Further, she shared, “Don’t ever be afraid to take risks in the things you most believe in. Failure is a stern reminder of what you have to do to get better." "Travel, travel, and then travel some more. Go to faraway countries. Learn new languages. Take the red eye somewhere. And then finally, always have a sense of humor. Life’s too short!” For a school whose motto implores its students “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve,” Alberta Williams-Jarane serves as a perfect exemplar for students willing to take chances, learn new things, and through their efforts, shape and affect the world around them.

Alberta and husband Hassan in their shop Mint Premium Foods