Saints Scene May 2022

MAY 2022 YOUR MONTHLY REPORT ON THE ST. AUGUSTINE HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE ST. AUGUSTINE HIGH SCHOOL • 3266 NUTMEG STREET • SAN DIEGO, CA 92104-5199 • 619.282.2184 • WWW.SAHS.ORG

SAINTS SCENE Testing, Testing ACT and SAT, Where Are We Now?

By Mr. Timothy Golden, Saints Counselor

LOOKING GREAT. The Campus 22 Beautification Project was undertaken to enhance the look around campus in advance of the school’s 100th year anniversary. The project will replace aging fences and structures along the track, double existing storage and add more than eight feet to the East side of the athletic field. The school will also replace the natural grass practice field with artificial turf. The project is expected to be completed May or June of 2022.

Sprucing Up Nutmeg Street

Getting Ready for 100th Birthday of the School

By Ty Woods, Class of 2023

With the 100 year anniversary of Saints just around the corner, the Saint Augustine High School football field will be receiving a full renovation. Set to be completed on June 6, the project will consist of a complete replacement of the fencing around the field, and it will also extend the track alongside the fence.

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Teaching Them to Think

The effects of the Covid pandemic continue to reverberate through the college admissions landscape. One of Mr. Timothy Golden the biggest impacts has been the use of standardized tests, such as the ACT and SAT, in admissions.

The number of SAT test takers dropped 36% from 2020 to 2021 as testing centers were closed across the country. The ACT was down 22% in the same timeframe. As a result, many college admissions offices were forced to evaluate applicants without this metric that had been used and valued for decades.

For some schools this was easy. They had been “test-optional” prior to the pandemic.

These schools acknowledged that not all students are great test takers and if students Continued on page 12

Saints Senior Aidan Rickwa

Earns Villanova Scholarship

Dear Saintsmen, Families & Community Our world is egocentric. And the messages of society are often contrary to the values we want to share with Saintsmen. We want to teach them to exercise compassionate care for others in a world filled with a “what’s in it for me?” attitude.

Egocentric thinking results from the unfortunate fact that humans are slow to naturally consider the rights and needs of others. We do not Principal James Horne naturally appreciate the point of view of others nor the limitations of our Continued on page 10

Aidan Rickwa, (’22)

Saintsman Aidan Rickwa has been named to receive this year’s Augustinian Schools Scholarship, a full tuition four-year award, to Villanova University.

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Augustinian Heritage

Max D’agnese (’22) and His Holy Aspergillum**

By Aidan Rickwa (’22) Engineering has become quite popular as a career and major, but not many high school students take as much of an interest in it as Max D’Agnese has. Most of you Saintsmen have probably seen D’Agnese around, but probably know him more for his work with the Saints band as conductor and playing the Baritone saxophone. **An aspergillum is a liturgical implement used to sprinkle holy water.

However, D’Agnese has made engineering and his future his own through the Saints Maker’s space. D’Agnese has done many different things in the Maker’s space, especially with the new 3-D printer.

Although he started with small projects just to learn the program and test out ideas, he has quickly become increasingly proficient in creating more complex and interesting projects.

Engineering has been a goal for D’Agnese for years, and he has been increasingly more involved. As founder and president of the engineering club at Saints, he is serious about his future and truly enjoys what he does. Being able to create incredible projects that he can call his own is incredibly rewarding and satisfying.

D’Agnese’s most recent project has been made in service to the school and the Augustinians. Fr. Max heard about D’Agnese’s impressive skills in design and engineering and wanted him to build an aspergillum, the metallic instrument used for sprinkling holy water.

D’Agnese began with how he wanted it to look and began thinking how to best begin. D’Agnese utilized a program called Solidworks, a CAD software, to build the design and then handcrafter the aspergillum using the school’s lathe in the Maker’s Space. Working with Mr. Freestone, D’Agnese began with 3-D printed prototypes before finishing the final project which was made in an aluminum alloy.

D’Agnese also made an impressive box to hold the aspergillum which was made of plywood and cushioned with a purple velvet. The aptly named “Augustinian Aspergillum'' in total took a little over twenty hours to complete. “I enjoyed the design challenge, and it was tons of fun to build,” D’Agnese said.

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Even if you do not want to be an engineer, we can all still stand to learn something from D’Agnese. His drive, determination, and passion for what he does is incredibly impressive and something we should all strive for in our individual fields. Whet her you want to be a doctor, teacher, or professional athlete, you want to be passionate and be ready to be pushed to your limits. D’Agnese also stresses the importance of ideas and making sure you act on them.

“If you have an idea and you don’t have the time or resources, write it down and come back to it because it may be your best idea yet,” D’Agnese said.

Although his Saints career is almost over, D’Agnese will have a lasting impact on this school for years to come with the Augustinian Aspergillum, the Engineering Club, and his developments for the Maker’s Space.

Beloved Varsity Tennis Coach Ruben Carriedo Retires

By Matt Linville, Director of Athletics In the coming weeks, as the CIF tennis season comes to an end, Saints will bid a fond farewell to beloved coach, Mr. Ruben Carriedo, who is retiring after 17 years of coaching.

Coach Carriedo graduated from Saints in 1961 after being a 4-year letter winner on the tennis team. After Saints, he accepted a scholarship to Notre Dame and was a 3-year letter winner for the Irish. After an honored career in education within San Diego Unified, Ruben retired in 2005. In 2006, then tennis head coach, Tom Isaak, asked Ruben to come be a part of Saints tennis.

From 2006–2009, Coach Carriedo worked as an assistant and JV coach. In 2010, he took over the varsity head coaching duties when Coach Isaak took over the golf team. During his tenure as head coach, Ruben’s teams won league titles in 2018 and 2022, as well as being a CIF Finalist in 2018, before winning the Division I CIF Championship in 2021.

“On the court, yes, last year’s CIF title was something special and certainly a crowning achievement,” Ruben said. “It was special to finally win a CIF title for Saints tennis.”

As Ruben heads off into retirement, Coach Michelle Hellman will take over as the head varsity coach, after assisting with this team this season.

This year team was a perfect 10-0 in league play and for the first time, Saints heads into CIF play in the Open Division, as the No. 6 seed.

“Coaching has been an unexpected source of great satisfaction,” Ruben said. “Never did I anticipate doing this and enjoying it this much. It’s a real pleasure to work with these young men and this school. They keep me active and on my toes.

The opportunity to give back and serve these kids and this school means a lot. Saints has given me so much.”

In 2016, Ruben was inducted into Saints Hall of Fame.

Congratulations, Coach, on your retirement and a wonderful career. Your impact at Saints will be felt for years. Thank you, Ruben.

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Grandparent’s Day Returns

SMILE FEST. Grandparents enjoying coffee and treats on the patio ahead of the Mass with their Saintsmen.

This year’s Grandparents Day at Saints was extra special in that it was the first one held after covid-19 cancelled the event for the past two years.

“Not to worry,” insists Mr. James Horne, Principal, “Grandparents Day returned for 2022 and it’s not going away. This event is part of the loving fabric of the school. We could be happier to see it back on campus.”

BEFORE MASS. Calvin Shaw with his Grandmother Janice Peerson.

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FUN DAY. Zachary Aceron with his grandmother Zenaida Bernardo.

ST. AUGUSTINE HIGH SCHOOL

AROUND

CAMPUS Where Are They Now? Saints Alum Fernando Andrade (‘19) is currently attending the University of California / Berkeley, where he was recently honored by the school as an outstanding scholar/ athlete. Fernando is a member of the UC Berkeley’s varsity Soccer team.

We’re Number One: Say It Loud.

The votes are in. Honors for the 2021-22 National Basketball Student Section of the Year go to St. Augustine High School’s “The Pit.” The local loud and proud beat out cheer sections from Alabama, Kentucky and Utah.

Now that they’ve been encouraged by capturing the top spot there’s no telling what’s in store for the 2022-23 year. We can hardly wait.

Winning SDSU Tennis Coach ALUM COACH. Congratulations to San Diego State’s Head Women’s Tennis Coach and Saints Alum Peter Mattera ( ’74) (left) for winning the Mountain West Conference Title!!

GO AZTECS! GO SAINTS!

HEY, MOM. Senior Will Strack and his mother Karen enjoying the mother son trivia game at the Mother/Son Lunch held recently at the Bahia Resort.

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ST. AUGUSTINE HIGH SCHOOL

AROUND

CAMPUS Saints Ice Hockey Star Senior Saintsman Sean Miller plays ice hockey for – the San Diego Central Jets.

As captain, Sean led the varsity team to a League Championship on March 12th. A few weekends ago, the Jets represented the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League (ADHSHL), along with Inland Empire Wolverines, in the California Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) State Championship Tournament.

The Jets won the State Tournament, beating the Santa Barbara Royals in the recent Championship game becoming the first San Diego team to win a state championship for ice hockey.

To top it off, Sean was named to the Division 2 All-ADHSHL Team, as one of the best forwards in the league.

Sean holds state trophy posed next to his dad and team coach Jim Miller.

SAFE TO SAY. Mr. Craig Da Luz, whose faculty responsibilities include being the head coach of Saints Varsity Baseball Team was recently named Coach of the Week by the San Diego Padres. Each week the Padres select a high school coach to honor. By early June the Padres will select Coach of the Year, which entails a $5,000 prize to the school’s baseball program. That’s Coach Da Luz #27 pictured after a recent team win.

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Follett Textbook Return Information All rented books must be returned to Follett within 2 weeks of the last day of school. Please login to your Follett account, or check your email (and spam folder) as you should be getting email reminders starting around May 20. The email reminders will include directions on how to print a free shipping label and return instructions. Failure to return a “rented” book will result in you being charged a full replacement fee.

All purchased books can be kept, passed along to other students, sold to other students, donated to Student Services, or sold back to Follett through www.valore.com. To attempt a sellback to Follett, please go onto the Valore website and use the ISBN of the textbook to receive a buyback price offering. If you accept, the website will prompt you select a buyback payment option and how to print a free shipping label.

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Cast takes their bow on closing night.

Shakespeare Spoof a Huge Hit Saints Drama has returned to a standing ovation with its recent campus performance of “Something Rotten,” a musical comedy with a book by John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick and music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick.

Set in 1595, the story follows the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.

Something Rotten! opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 22, 2015, where it played for 708 performances. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won one (Christian Borle as Best Featured Actor in a Musical). Tours and international productions have followed, including four performances this spring in Saints Raymond Center for the Performing Arts.

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Saints Junior Lucas Gonzalez (center) stole the show in his comedic and entertaining role as Nostradamus.

Freshman Max Leadley (right in this photo) played the lead role of Nick Bottoms and with his outstanding performance provided a glimpse of the bright future of the Saints Drama program.

Freshman Braeden Steele (above in his cool striped pants) opened the show with a colorful and engergic number titled “Welcome to the Renaissance.”

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Saints Art Show A busy schedule of campus events last month include the return of the campus Art Show. Collage “From the Eyes of Doc” by Nick Watson, (’22) was one of the featured works of art. Also, appearing in the art show was “Intersection” by by Edgar Alcoser (’23) mixed media on canvas board.

Teaching Them to Think Continued from page 1 own point of view. And we only become aware of our egocentric thinking if explicitly trained to do so.

Our mission to educate young men spans far beyond the identified curriculum and prerequisites. We want them to become thinkers, as Augustine was, and to challenge the ways of our egocentric world. By developing the minds of Saintsmen, and training them to think critically, we cultivate fair-mindedness, empathy, humility, and integrity that transform their hearts and promote change in the world.

Critical thinking isn’t just the domain of the intellectual; it is also the realm of the faithful. In a world of accelerated change and intensified complexity, thinking helps us bring forth issues critical to living our faith.

Yours in the Spirit of Catholic Education,

James Horne Principal

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Saints Senior Aidan Rickwa Continued from page 1 Aidan has had tremendous academic success and earned the Gold Medal for Academic Excellence as the top student in his class in 9th and 11th grade studies.

Our faculty has recognized him as the top student in AP US History, AP World History, Spanish III, Ethics & Morality, Honors English II, Chemistry, Geometry, and Algebra II/Trigonometry (and that is not a complete list). He is also a twosport athlete at school (Cross Country and Track & Field) who has additionally earned a black belt in the martial arts.

He is an excellent citizen at school and has a cumulative GPA of 4.38. He is the captain of the school’s Academic League team, the president of the Science Olympiad team and a member of the Chess Club on campus. Aidan has also dedicated many hours as the editor of and a writer for the Augustinian, our school newspaper. Furthermore, Aidan is an excellent citizen in the community and has given unselfish service to his fellow students as a Math Peer Tutor and as a Big Brother in our Campus Ministry retreats for underclassmen.

“We congratulate Aidan on the occasion of this announcement,” said Saints Principal Jim Horne, “he represents the best in academic excellence and demonstrates a care of others that will positively impact the environment at Villanova!”

Testing, Testing Continued from page 1 felt their scores were not an accurate representation of their abilities, they could leave them out of their application without penalty.

Some schools took this a step further by adopting “test-blind” or “test-free” policies where test scores would not be accepted or factored into the admissions process at all. The UC and CSU systems have made the permanent move to being test-blind for all future classes.

Even the private University of San Diego has moved to a test-free model of not accepting any scores. As of April 11th, there are 84 campuses across the nation that are now test-blind or test-free. The number of test-optional universities has almost doubled from the Spring of 2020 until now from 713 to 1,350.

So, what does this mean for our current juniors, sophomores, and freshman? It means that a lot has changed from just three years ago. For a growing number of schools, the ACT and SAT are a thing of the past. However, for many schools these tests can still be a valuable piece of the admissions formula.

The Saints’ counseling staff is still encouraging students to take these exams during the spring of their junior year or fall of their senior year. Some schools have moved back from being test-optional to requiring these tests again and more will probably follow suit in the coming years. A strong score can be a benefit for schools that will accept them. The good news is that those students that struggle to score highly on these standardized tests may have over a thousand colleges that will never need to see those scores. The list of schools that are test-blind, test-optional, or testrequired is changing daily.

Each school shares this information clearly on their websites and the website www.fairtest.org keeps an updated list of the test-optional schools.

Please remember your son’s school/ class counselor is available to help advise your family on how to approach this new landscape at any time.

Summertime Sizzle COME JOIN ST. AUGUSTINE HIGH SCHOOL’S SUMMER SESSIONS: Academic Classes and Sports Camps Classes for Credit, and Enrichment Sports Camps for Boys and Girls Ages 6-15 See Saints Summer offerings: www.sahs.org

THE DETAILS. Sharp eyed readers of Saints Scene will notice a subtle style change in the look of the publication.

Art Director Kristin Hardy, a 2005 grad of Academy of Our Lady of Peace, has refreshed the look of headlines and article text by utilizing the font family 'Halyard Display'.

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Sprucing Up Nutmeg Street Continued from page 1 In addition to the fencing and track upgrades, the field will also host two new field houses in the north and south areas. The two-story storage facilities will allow for easy access of PE equipment, as well as other sports equipment for Saints teams.

The south field house will showcase a new scoreboard looking out over the field. Its purple, white, and black colored markings will show off the Saints colors in a spectacular addition to the athletic field. The clearly visible print will make it perfect to view at any football, rugby, soccer, or lacrosse games.

White planter boxes filled with plenty of vegetation will line the eastern border overlooking the street. A door on the bottom floor will link the top of the field to the back of the alley below the field. This will allow for scorekeepers and other personnel to access and view the field with ease.

The north field house, like its southern counterpart, will feature wire lettering of the Saints logo on a clay backdrop. It will be set back against the intersection of Palm and 33rd street, and it will feature a variety of flowers and trees around its exterior. The unit will provide beauty as well as shade to the campus.

Each field house will feature a roll-up door with roof access, and both of them will be easily visible from 33rd street. There will be updated landscaping along the road, complete with palm trees, shrubs, and plenty of flowers. The current fencing will be replaced with a much taller, sturdier chain-link fence that will stretch around the perimeter of the field. The new perimeter will also allow for a wider track that will be extended back up onto the fence.

As a side project, the grass in between the batting cage and the football field will be completely replaced with turf. Rain and mud has made it difficult to maintain, so the turf should allow for more convenient and frequent use. The installation is set to begin during Easter break. Teams will be able to warm up on the turf with relative ease, and it will also improve the overall functionality of the space.

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Officially named the Campus Beautification Project, this renovation is the last step of the Saints master plan that started in the early 2000s.

It originally started with the construction of Mendel Hall.

Then, St. Augustine Commons which included a gym, a kitchen, and common gathering spaces, completely transformed the campus in the second phase of the project. This left the old gym, and plans were approved to repurpose it into a new theater. As a side project, the engineering lab was constructed, finalizing the master plan. Then, plans were made for one last project.

“The architect finalized the construction to be completed just in time for the 100 year anniversary of Saints,” Mr. Horne said. “The project signifies a meaningful end to nearly fifteen years of construction and renovation throughout the campus.”

While Saints fans may have hoped to enlarge the football field to host home football games, that dream will never become a reality due to the size constraints of the campus. To make up for this, Saints has committed to creating exciting new changes that will help showcase the beauty of our Nutmeg Street campus.

Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.

- Saint Augustine

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Anna Davis Wins Big Time National Golf Championship

Anna Davis, 16, is shown being presented the winner’s trophy for being the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Champion for 2022.

If you’ve noticed a little more zip in the step of Saints faculty member Mr. Bill Davis, it’s because he and his wife Beatriz are beaming with pride.

Reason is Anna Davis (twin sister of Saintsman Billy Davis (’24)) set the golf world on its proverbial ear when the 16-year-old lefty claimed the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur with a 3-under 69.

Anna, a 16-year-old high-school home-schooled sophomore,

SAINTS SCENE Your Award-Winning* monthly report on the St. Augustine High School Experience

*Awards: Saints Scene has been voted by the San Diego Press Club as the best Community Newsletter in 2011, 2019 and 2021.

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won the third edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on the same course that hosts the uber prestigious annual Masters/Augusta National.

The amateur win has opened a few doors for Anna as she is garnering invitation to Ladies Professional Golf Association events this summer.

We’re talking national championship, folks and it doesn’t get better than that.

Publisher: Edwin J. Hearn, Jr. Saints President Editor-in-Chief: James Horne, Saints Principal Senior Advisor: Fr. Gary Sanders, O.S.A., Augustinian Provincial Senior Editor: Kevin DeRieux, Finances & Facilities Director Senior Editor: Gregory Hecht, Assistant Principal for Academics Saints Scene Coordinator: Thomas Shess, Alum Parent (’05): Thomas.Shess@gmail.com Art Director: Kristin Hardy, OLP (’05), Kristin Hardy Design: kristinhardydesign.com

Circulation Director: Casey Callery, Director of Community Relations and Special Events.

Editor Emeritus: John D. Keller, O.S.A. (’55) Staff Photographers: Bill Hill, Saints Parent Correction Policy: While every effort is made to be accurate, we occasionally err. We do apologize to those impacted and kindly ask that you notify Saints Coordinator: Thomas.Shess@gmail.com for any corrections.

Mission of St. Augustine High School – Our mission is to provide a Catholic liberal arts education for young men in an environment that promotes the development of mind, heart and body in the Augustinian tradition. By helping to form loving disciples of Jesus Christ we communicate to the world the gospel values of community, truth and love.