CATE Fall 2019
BULLETIN
El Batidor
CENTENNIAL 2018–2019
Report on Philanthropy
CATE B U L L E T I N HEADMASTER
Benjamin D. Williams IV ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Charlotte Brownlee '85 CATE FUND DIRECTOR
Katie Convoy DIRECTOR OF MAJOR GIFTS & PLANNED GIVING
Chris Giles ALUMNI DIRECTOR
Andrew MacDonnell DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT
Lindsay Newlove DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EVENTS & GIFTS
Sarah Preston DIRECTOR OF STEWARDSHIP
Tiarzha Taylor COPY EDITORS Jeff Barton, Eva Diaz GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Mya Cubero MULTIMEDIA COORDINATOR
Aimee Stanchina PHOTOGRAPHERS
Charlotte Brownlee '85, Emily Calkins '20, Kenzie Davidson '20, Joe Gottwald '10, Lisa Holmes, Maya Fenelon '20, Monica Furmanski, Jacob Hernandez '21, John Knecht, Mercedes Maskalik, Ashleigh Mower, Annalee Salcedo, Tim Smith, Aimee Stanchina ARCHIVIST
Judy Savage MISSION STATEMENT
Through commitment, scholarship, companionship, and service, each member of the Cate community contributes to what our founder called “… the spirit of this place … all compounded of beauty and virtue, quiet study, vigorous play, and hard work.” FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
CATE SCHOOL
@CATE_SCHOOL @CATESCHOOL
The Cate Bulletin is published three times a year by Cate School and is distrubuted free of charge to alumni, parents, and friends of the School. Send correspondence and address changes to: communications@cate.org The Cate Bulletin is printed by V3 on Topkote paper.
Ram fans react to a buzzer-beater, half-court shot in the first half of the boys basketball CIF playoff game against Carpinteria High School.
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In this
Issue 4
HEADMASTER’S LETTER News of the World
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ON THE MESA
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DISPATCHES
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REPORT ON PHILANTHROPY
Features 34
FROM THE MESA TO THE NEWSROOM: CATE ALUMNI JOURNALISTS ARE DOCUMENTING THE NEWS OF THE WORLD From humble origins working on El Batidor, Cate alumni have gone on to more wellknown newsrooms including the New York Times and NPR. Our alumni journalists discuss how they got there and the Cate lessons that still serve them well.
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A CENTURY OF EL BATIDOR: CATE’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER TURNS 100 Reporting on both the news of the Mesa and the news of the world, Cate takes a look back at the many decades of El Batidor.
A winter sunset from the iconic bench.
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In Every Issue 104
CLASS NOTES
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IN MEMORIAM
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
On the Cover: El Batidor is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Issues from throughout the decades have reported Cate news and opinions to its readers.
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From the Headmaster
News of the World Kidd and Johanna’s experience, it is a tale of cooperation and collaboration—all of us bringing out the best and most genuine in each other. We didn’t manage to fight off bandits with pocketfuls of dimes as the Captain and Johanna No, it is something else that worries do, but the Class of 2019 did set them, some concern perhaps that the older generation has not left the planet or unprecedented standards of scholarship and achievement, our Cate families did its nations and peoples in entirely good contribute to the School on a scale we stead. In the Information Age, there is a lot of news and it can seem that most of have not seen in our history, and our it is not good. That’s not true, of course, GOLD alumni have turned our annual March Magic competition into an but perception matters, and at the very least the future—bright as I think it is— expression of relentless loyalty and good cheer. We certainly have our narratives has an image problem. to share. That is why we chose the book that we Those who help to tell the world’s stories did, for the “news” it contains is not are also highlighted here, in deference to ironically about what is happening or the many remarkable tales outside ours not happening in the world. It is about at Cate that transpire simultaneously the manner in which two people from with our own. Perhaps this is “news” very different places and backgrounds and generations manage to build a future that we don’t find elsewhere, which like for themselves and each other. It is about a Captain Kidd visit to town is not to be how we can find truth about the big stuff missed. by paying attention to the little stuff. It is about what communities do every day— For the story of Cate—fittingly full of challenge, opportunity, commitments, rely on each other. and investment—is an inspiring tale. Hope abounds here—on this campus Of course, there are other ways of reading the text. Captain Kidd reads the and in this Bulletin. If the future is as full news for a dime a listener in small towns and fulfilling as the present, then we are throughout the nineteenth-century West. fortunate indeed. He shows the importance and power of information, especially in a world where Servons, there is so little news available. And he validates language too, particularly journalistic reporting. fact, this is among the most remarkable, responsible, well-meaning, and able generations of students I have had the good fortune to work with.
News of the World, the book that inspired this year’s inquiry question and our school-wide read, was selected because of its two principal characters: Captain William Kidd and Johanna Leonberger. Their amazing journey together offers a host of opportunities for a community like ours, for it is not unlike the one we all travel in education and life: an odyssey that takes us on a surprisingly meandering path to knowledge not simply of the world but of ourselves and our place within it. That is a timeless quest, I know, but it is particularly relevant now, at least for all of us in schools, for the rising generation seems more unsure about the future than any previous generation has in my time in education. That is not because of any deficiency in their preparation or their ability or their inclination to do something worthy in the world. In
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In many respects, this very publication is an affirmation of Captain Kidd’s mission. Benjamin D. Williams IV It is the story of a year in the life of the Cate community. And in keeping with
Headmaster Ben Williams addresses the community of the 2019-2020 school year during Sunset Ceremony. 5
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on the
Mesa Book Review: Summer 2019 All School Read By Brooks Hansen her short life with a tribe of Kiowa Indians, the same people who four years prior murdered her family and took her away. This is not a job Kidd sought, wants, or from which he stands to benefit all that much—50 dollars will be his reward— but he agrees because this is something that must be done; circumstances have appointed him as agent, and Johanna as subject.
Paulette Jiles’ News of the World is a braid made of familiar elements. It is a western—complete with sprawling landscapes, groaning wagons, whiskers, shakedowns, guns, cowboys, bandits, Indians, and at least one gripping shoot-out. It is also—as many westerns are—a story of deliverance, figurative and literal. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd is a former newsman, printer, and military veteran scratching out his twilight years as an itinerant of the North Texas territories, traveling from town to town and reading newspapers aloud to paying audiences. In the winter of his 73rd year, he is enlisted by near strangers to transport a ten-year-old girl 400 miles south to her surviving relatives down in Castroville, near San Antonio. Her name is Johanna. She has lived almost half of 6
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With mission established, Kidd and Johanna’s trek south proceeds episodically along an arc that we can be sure will, by fits and starts, establish a growing bond between them, despite the fact that the girl is little more than a human parcel at the outset, grubby and mute. Jiles, who is also a poet, details their journey with practiced literary elegance, in prose that is unfailingly spare, clear, and lyrical. Her natural descriptions are both exquisite and felt, her characterizations deft, and her set pieces expertly rendered, including one extended skirmish near the middle of the story that provides both its dramatic peak and the crucial flexion point in the development of Kidd and Johanna’s emotional connection. What emerges as the novel’s sneakiest virtue, however, is the subtle mechanism by which Jiles manages to keep the pages turning even after the blackest
hats have been dispatched. There is the basic suspense: Will Kidd complete the mission and get Johanna to Castroville? But maybe more compelling is the secondary, barely spoken question: Is this a good or valuable thing he is doing? Are we rooting for him to succeed? It seems like we should be, but as the two encounter all the various obstacles the road has to offer—the perils, intolerances, and suspicions—the more resonant the question becomes, whether the restoration of Johanna to her blood relatives is a worthy cause. To her credit, Jiles is not a politically overt narrator, or much of a side-taker. Although her story takes place in 1870 and Captain Kidd’s readings include news that the 15th Amendment has just passed—the one establishing that voting rights shall not be abridged for reasons of race, color, or prior servitude—Jiles, like Kidd, nimbly sidesteps partisan controversy. By her lantern, the European-descended settlers and the territory natives are displayed in equally troubling and dubious lights, with just enough glimmering moments of grace to redeem the proceedings. For his part, Kidd is a protagonist of gruff integrity. Called upon to referee the various
impasses and misunderstandings wrought by Johanna’s innocence, he proves constitutionally above the fray of provincial squabbles. A good man for the job. Likewise, though some readers might find the process slow, Johanna does by-and-by achieve three dimensions. More than a package, more than an emblem, she emerges as an assertive, headstrong, and imaginative individual, albeit one who has been traumatized and transformed by experiences so violent and discordant that she will never be fully reconciled to any one setting. Kidd sees this, too, but is caught off-guard by its impact on him. Following one incident in which Johanna has stolen and killed someone else’s chickens—personal property being a foreign notion to her—Kidd is surprised by the cool streaks on his cheeks. “He realized they were tears, for the trouble that lay ahead of her. For all the years of roofs and walls and the peculiar rules against stealing chickens.” The point is clear. Whether we believe that Johanna’s re-joining her “own kind” would be a good thing or a bad thing, just or unjust, it is not going to happen. She will live her life between worlds, and it is in the context of that understanding that we come to see the problem here. As trustworthy and wise as Captain Kidd may be, his mission lacks moral clarity. By the time he reaches Castroville, this problem has become a quiet crisis of conscience. He must acknowledge the connection he has forged with Johanna, he must recognize the future that now lies before her, and he must take responsibility for the role he has played—and might yet play—in changing it.
Commitment Headmaster Ben Williams crafted the following statement on commitment at the request of the Class of 2020 to open the school year. To what do we commit? To live energetically, to listen earnestly, to consider carefully, to share generously, to imagine broadly, to wander joyfully, to act purposefully, to believe enthusiastically, to argue responsibly, to try perpetually, to fail occasionally and spectacularly, to respond confidently, to wonder happily, to wake eagerly, to celebrate frequently, to laugh heartily, to savor appreciatively, to lounge indulgently, to love graciously, to serve faithfully, to dream vividly, to join willingly, to communicate respectfully, to care passionately, to befriend naturally, to empathize intuitively, to trust implicitly, to breathe deeply, to rush rarely, to forgive completely, to aspire honorably, and to be genuinely. To ourselves and each other, this is our pledge at Cate.
Any description of how he manages that evolution—from dispassionate functionary to moral agent—would risk spoiling the ending, and it should be said that there are readers who will balk at the novel’s closing sequence, which proceeds much more quickly than what has come before; it reads more like an epilogue or an addendum, but a necessary one. Precisely because Jiles has succeeded in turning her story from a procedural into more of an epic, outcome matters here. We need to know what happened in the end, and after. It is indeed a credit to the author’s design, and a measure of her accomplishment, that the same observation we bring to Kidd’s journey could just as well be applied to the novel as a whole: as refreshing as it may be to watch the dutiful, impartial execution of a mission, there are occasions when neutrality just won’t suffice. Lines must be drawn. Choices must be made. Consequences must be clear. In that respect, News of the World is not just an affecting read, but—given the news or our world right now—a timely one.
Class President Avery Ransom '20 in an embrace at the conclusion of the seniors’ final Sunset Ceremony.
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CSI participants and counselor Nate Wilson '15 conduct a lab experiment.
Summer Camps Thrive Ask Cate students or faculty members what it means to be part of this community and the answers you hear will be varied, but our foundational values—commitment, scholarship, companionship, and service—remain constant. It only makes sense that Cate Summer Programs creates a similar, although much shorter, experience for its campers. Since our formal launch in 2016, Cate Summer Programs has grown exponentially. This past summer, over 400 campers (from 13 states and 10 countries) joined the Cate community and chose a summer experience in which they pushed beyond their comfort zones, gained independence, and had fun with new friends from around the world.
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Whether it was publicaly sharing written work in front of parents and peers, or trying to stand up for the first time on a surfboard, Cate Summer Institute campers embraced challenge and supported one another every step of the way. During Cate Sports Academy, when the coaches called for another round of speed and agility drills, athletes were challenged to test their physical limits and mental strength. Campers in Outdoor Adventure conquered their fears while taking a “leap of faith” on the ropes course, while Urban Hikers built relationships with the communities of Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Ojai, and Solvang. Each camper lived a small piece of the Mesa life that Cate students are fortunate to experience throughout the
CSI participant in the Science of Sailing class.
year, including the support of twenty-eight Cate faculty and almost thirty Cate students or alumni. As one parent remarked at the end of this past summer, “We are so grateful to the staff, especially the counselors. They are kind and attentive. The counselors are current and former Cate students. This attribute sets CSI apart from other summer programs. The counselors are like older, caring siblings. They are mentors to the campers—leading activities and providing support.” In addition to our programs focused on the middle- and high-school age groups, we also were proud to support our local community by partnering with Cate’s Early Learning Center to offer a Mini summer camp for preschool-aged children.
Campers of Cate Summer Mini take off down the Day Walk toward the McBean Library for storytime.
We are excited for the future of Cate Summer, and we are so grateful to this community for what we have been able to build together.
Convocation
Roundup “Who’s There?”
That is the question for us all, here at the beginning of a new school year, according to Ben Williams. The headmaster addressed the school community for the first convocation of the year. He recounted some of his own moments of transition—as a new first grader at Groton Dunstable Elementary, as a new sophomore at Westminster—and shared his own knowledge that transition is not easy. All of the students in the room, some new to the School and all new to their grades, could relate. However, Mr. Williams assured us that what awaits us is great. The answer to his question is ultimately, “We are. Together.”
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Monique Limon All Politics are Local California Assembly member Monique Limón addressed the Cate community on Monday evening. She opened her remarks with some background, noting that she had grown up in Santa Barbara County, which is the district she now represents in Sacramento. An English-language learner when she first attended public school, Limón excelled in her studies and was the first in her family to go to college, earning a degree from UC Berkeley and continuing on to a Master’s degree from Columbia. Limón spent many years in higher education before turning to work in non-profits, with her focus always on education. Limón explained that she had not set out to be a politician, but her work in education led her to the Santa Barbara School Board and eventually to the legislature. Now she is Chair of the Banking and Finance Committee as well as Vice-Chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus.
Gaviota: The End of Southern California The Cate community went on a field trip during Monday’s Convocation. Filmmakers Shaw Leonard and Tamlorn Chase screened their documentary Gaviota: The End of Southern California to a rapt audience. A six-year labor of love, the film covers all of the habitats on the Gaviota Coast, a 76-mile stretch of largely undeveloped wilderness in Santa Barbara County. The area is a global hotspot for biodiversity, and students were treated to the sight of many of the coast’s endangered species in their local habitats. From the snowy plover in the estuary to the mountain lion in the riparian forest, from the eight-foot Humboldt lily blooming in the chaparral to the great egret hunting in the kelp canopy offshore, Leonard and Chase captured striking moments of natural beauty. During the question-and-answer period after the film, the students were especially interested in how the pair managed to film in the backcountry; they heard tales of humping 90 pounds of gear upstream, extreme patience, and nasty bouts of poison oak, all in service to preserving this striking and vulnerable habitat that is the Mesa’s neighbor.
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After her opening remarks, Limón took questions from Cate students, most of whom focused on education. Senior Emily Calkins, a native Carpinterian, cited some dismal statistics about math readiness in a local elementary school and wondered what steps Limón was taking to ensure that every child’s academic needs are met. Limón candidly replied that the situation is complicated and that there is not a single answer. She advocates a mixture of state mandates and local solutions. Senior Marcos Brasil asked about Limón’s thoughts on area-based funding for schools, specifically moving funds from wealthier areas to less-privileged districts. Again, Limón was candid in her reply that the state cannot make everything equal. There is simply not enough money available. She once again spoke of a partnership between state and local control. Other questions included a query about Bitcoin, referencing Limón’s work on the Banking and Finance Committee, as well as a question about global examples for disaster relief work. Eager to hear more, a number of students continued the conversation after Convocation, joining Limón at a question-and-answer session hosted by the Politics Club.
Round Square From South Africa to Peru to India, Cate students make the most of Round Square opportunities around the Globe.
Cate’s RSIC 2019 delegation in India.
Will Holmes, Director of Community Engagement
To India and Beyond
Cate School has been a global member of Round Square for more than a dozen years. Round Square is an organization comprised of 200 like minded schools from around the world. One of the benefits of this membership is the opportunity it provides for students and adults to experience service projects, exchanges and conferences. The photos on this page are from this October when Cate’s delegation of eight traveled to Indore, India for Round Square’s annual international conference. On the following pages you can read articles written by students who went on service projects and exchanges this past summer. Enjoy!
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Jasmine Ross '21
My Round Square Service Trip to Morocco Because of my passion for social justice and human rights, I have been privileged to participate in a variety of service projects over the years. For example, when I was 12, I went to Boruca, Costa Rica, for 2 ½ weeks. There, I built a center of art for mask making by splitting cane with machetes and creating a palm roof, decorated the local elementary school by painting over desks that had been damaged, and beautified the community with murals. I also went to New Orleans to provide support for people who were affected during Hurricane Katrina. And I went to Dawei, Myanmar, to work with 19 Burmese kids who currently live at a boarding school due to their previous unsafe living situations (which involved either physical or mental abuse at home, or their parents’ becoming indentured servants in the opium trade). Despite my previous service experiences, however, I believe that the Morocco Round Square trip was by far my favorite one. This is because I got the opportunity to immerse myself in the Berber culture, working with the Berber community to build two rooms for women and children’s education, and to construct steps along a mountain side in Tacheddirt to increase tourism and increase safety for the villagers. The most memorable part of the trip, however, was getting to know all the students from different cultures and backgrounds, as it was an international trip. For example, I learned how in India many schools offer women a mehendi (henna) class because henna tattoos are such a prominent part of social events like weddings. I also discovered that the Zulu people practice Lobola, which is when a man offers cows as a dowry to the woman he wants to marry. After the trip, I exchanged playlists with other students,
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Cate’s RSIC 2019 delegation at the home of Kushagra Mittal (standing), who was an exchange student last spring. See Jay Hernandez article for more information.
Round Square delegates having fun while sightseeing around Mandhu, India.
Jasmine Ross '21 with Emma Fukunaga '20, from the Chadwick School, at a local market in Imlil, a village in Morocco.
which helps me to stay connected with them. My favorite of them all was a Bollywood playlist a girl named Shanaya Prima, from Mumbai, made for me, in exchange for a hip-hop and R&B playlist I made for her. This trip overall made me more receptive to new cultures and ways of seeing the world, and I hope to use these skills at Cate to
foster new relationships with people of different cultural backgrounds. I believe this ability to be open-minded will help me to make long-lasting and authentic connections that endure beyond my high school career.
Maya Fenelon '20
My Round Square Journey to South Africa For a month this past summer I was in South Africa attending Dainfern College. My time in South Africa was a fun-filled experience; from the game-day Saturdays to the birthday parties to the chaotic classes, I did nothing but laugh. Upon my being introduced to the school, many students were surprised that I was an exchange because they had thought I was South African. Through taking random classes in grades 10-12 on various subjects like business, Iszulu, Afrikaans, etc., and by participating in the cheer squad, I constantly met new people and easily adjusted to the community. A majority of socializing happened at school, during classes, lunches, and in sports, which allowed me to dive headfirst into the full experience. In classes, I became the spokesperson for the United States, as all the history courses I visited from grades 10–12 were studying U.S. history. In those 45-minute classes, I couldn’t have been more thankful for having taken Advanced U.S. History with Mrs. Holmes. It was awkward when I was asked about “the wall” or questioned about the last election, but I figured they were simply excited and curious. Outside of school, I was fortunate enough to stay with two different host families and experience two distinct South African lifestyles. I took tours of downtown Johannesburg and the outer township of Soweto, and made a weekend trip to Cape Town. I am extremely grateful for these expeditions because I was able to witness all
the different sides of South Africa, rather than staying entirely in the wealthy Dainfern community. Experiencing Soweto impacted me most because I learned so much about apartheid, which still has a big influence on the country. On a class trip, I traveled to Liliesleaf, a farm that was turned into a museum. Liliesleaf had been the meeting spot for the ANC (African National Congress) and Nelson Mandela. Later in the month, I visited Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned, and learned more about the function of the island back then. I even heard personal accounts from an exinmate. Through these excursions, I learned the history of South Africa, which allowed me to better understand the modern-day country I was living in. One of my biggest regrets was not trying more traditional South African foods. I often ate out with my families in Mediterranean and Asian restaurants, but I enjoyed every bite of my experience. Overall, I learned that I truly love traveling and seeing how other people live their lives. I came out of this month more aware of the world around me and with a new Xhosa name, “Nochachumbo,” which means beautiful flower. My trip taught me that I am more social and extroverted than I give myself credit for, and if I show that side of myself more often I can meet even more amazing people. At Dainfern, I connected with so many different people; coming back to Cate, I simply want to build more relationships with those around me and enjoy my time with everyone.
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Emily Calkins '20
My Round Square Exchange in Peru The food, the people, and the dancing made my exchange to Markham College in Lima, Peru, both vibrant and enriching. During my stay I experienced all the Round Square IDEALS Internationalism most notably. I went to the school’s Spanish plays, tried Peru’s amazing food, and immersed myself in Peruvian culture as well as the culture of the ten other exchanges Markham hosted during my stay. I learned how Markham’s leadership positions are both similar to and different from Cate’s. At Markham, prefects are on different committees, similar to the Round Square Board at Cate. They also wear very Harry Potteresque capes during lunch breaks. I enjoyed lots of the school’s events, such as a service fundraiser concert that spotlighted local celebrities, like Lotzo. The school also put on History Week and International Day, during which the prefects led culturally enriching games and activities. I also enjoyed after-school activities like salsa club, and got to act in a sci-fi film. Outside of school I loved the weekend social gatherings and immersing myself in Peruvian daily life. One of my favorite weekends was when 14
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my host family took me to the sand dunes in Ica. We got to sand board and ride in a buggy down dunes so steep that they were better than any roller coaster. The experience that impacted me most was the service trip I took to to Chincha, a community that’s still recovering from an earthquake. We spent the weekend building 15 houses around the village, working in groups of around ten students each. The houses had different styles of rooms and windows and were painted vibrant colors. The first night we got to go into the center of town and explore a night market, where I tried picarones, a fried donut-like pastry drizzled in a sticky maple syrup, and emoliente, an herbal (slightly slimy) hot tea sold by street vendors. The empowering experience of building a house from the ground up drew to a close and we shared a meal with the local families before heading back to Lima, filled with a new sense of gratitude for the lifestyle we have been given. I learned a lot about myself and how I exert myself in social settings. It was
hard when everyone spoke Spanish to each other, even when classes were in English. I’m proficient in Spanish, but I had to learn to insert myself into conversations. Although it was awkward when I stumbled through my Spanish, I’m glad that I connected with so many amazing people at Markham people I would never have gotten to know if I hadn’t had those experiences.
Jacob Hernandez '21
My Round Square Journey to India “Jacob, India is unlike anything you’ve ever seen.” That’s what my middle school counselor told me when I went back to tell him I was going to spend five weeks in India, a place that had never once appeared on my “places to visit” radar. And from the moment I got off the plane in Mumbai, I realized that my counselor’s words couldn’t have been more true. The main reason I wanted to go on an exchange was because I wanted to see something new. I am always trying new things and I felt like an exchange to India would be awesome. This was a big deal for me because I have never traveled anywhere outside the U.S. I had a mix of fear and excitement brewing in my stomach when I left home. I went in not expecting anything because I didn’t know much about India, but I was shocked as I got picked up at the airport and stepped into the humid, ninety-degree weather. The food, the sights, the people … it was all so different from what I was used to. I was glad that I had more than a month to soak it all in. My host family was a big reason why I had such an amazing experience. Kushagra (some might remember that he exchanged to Cate during the spring) and his family opened their doors and welcomed me with open arms. Feeding me until I
couldn’t eat anymore, going on a wild goose chase to find a milk drink that I became addicted to, and inviting me to family events were some of the many kind things they did for me. My host mother once told me, “We may be poor in economics, but we are rich in culture.” What impacted me most was how different India was from the U.S. Things like the architecture of the Taj Mahal, the various religions, and the social formalities were so interesting to me. This played a part in my discovery that I truly love to travel. I’ve already started making a list of places I want to travel to and, yes, India is on that list because five weeks was not enough time to experience it all. Since I found adventure in India, a place I had never thought about before, I’m making a conscious effort to seek out new experiences in areas I’ve never tried before. I had such a blast in India. Adding a couple extra weeks would be the only thing I’d change about my trip.
Jay Hernandez '21 pictured with exchange student Kushagra Mittal in India.
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McBean Adventures 2019 Former Trustee Peter McBean '30 endowed a fund to promote personal and professional growth for members of the Cate faculty.
John Knecht, Director of Instrumental Music
Costa Rica: Exploration in the Rainforest After two decades of traveling for musical study and personal enrichment, Cate Director of Instrumental Music John Knecht asked his wife and two sons, Ashton, 9, and Dylan, 6, where they wanted to go for spring break. “Costa Rica!” they responded. With a passion for animals, a love of the ocean, and a burgeoning interest in the Spanish language, his sons both agreed they wanted to see monkeys, sloths, and other rainforest creatures in what has become one of the hotbeds of eco-tourism. The Knecht family arrived in San José, Costa Rica, and quickly took public transport to the Manuel Antonio rainforest, a national park that borders the Pacific. Their hacienda was adjacent to the park and they were able to experience a variety of animals coming to visit, including the pesky Capuchin monkeys, who tried to steal breakfast each morning. While the ocean was a bit too intense to try their hand at surfing, they walked the rainforest and witnessed extraordinary visions of parrots flying past mother and baby sloths, who were climbing above sunning iguanas. On one particular walk back from the beach, they were caught off guard by a group of territorial howler monkeys letting them know that they had wandered too close to the monkeys’ tribal home. If you’ve ever heard a howler monkey, you know how that sound pierces your soul. 16
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In addition to animal experiences, the Knecht family learned about how Costa Rica is transforming into a climate change leader. On a horseback riding trip through a former plantation, they learned that fifty years earlier the country had transitioned from being a leader in palm oil production (which devastated the rainforests) into a leader in environmental tourism. During the 10-day visit, the president of the country, Carlos Quesada, announced that Costa Rica was committed to becoming the first carbon-neutral country by 2021 and free of fossil fuels by 2050. Each evening, the family returned to what would become their favorite restaurant, Costa Linda. There, they enjoyed local fare of rice, beans, plantains, and chicken. The
restaurant also streamed a constant mix of early MTV videos, circa 1984. While the boys wrote stories about their travels as homework for elementary school, some very important musical education occurred as they learned about Prince, Bryan Adams, Madonna, and Earth, Wind & Fire. The journey concluded with a trip to San José and a visit with Mr. Knecht’s mother’s cousin, who retired to Costa Rica to develop a non-profit in health care and public policy. They visited the national zoo and saw several amazing animals they hadn’t seen in the wild, particularly the iconic jaguar. The family would like to thank the McBean Fund for this amazing opportunity to travel, bond, discover, and learn about a country attempting to preserve the rainforests and its animals for the future.
John, wife Ashley, and sons Ashton and Dylan enjoy a ride to the Orange River.
Annalee Salcedo, Chair, Mathematics
Al-Andalus: History, Math, and Friendship reading, hiking, catching up, playing the ukulele, and singing. We filled our days in Seville visiting the cathedral, climbing the Giralda (the minaret-turned-bell tower), strolling along the Guadalquivir River, and watching street flamenco at the Plaza de España.
Last Winter Break, Chris, Rosita, Mimi, and I set out on a 2-week adventure in southern Spain. The trip was inspired by Chris’s interest in the history of the Moors in Spain, my new Islamic Geometry hobby, and the opportunity to travel with our old friends, the Kelloggs, who were a few months into their year-long sabbatical. We landed in Málaga, where we picked up the 9-passenger van that would transport our two families from town to town. Our itinerary included stays in Ronda, Seville, Córdoba, and Granada, the drives in between each city filled with episodes of the “Flashpoint History” podcast, about the rise of Islam in southern Spain and the series of events that led to the Reconquista (Reconquest). Ronda was a lovely “pueblo blanco” with charming white-washed buildings in a dramatic geographic setting. Most of the sites and restaurants were closed for the Christmas holidays so we stocked up on food and hunkered down in our Airbnb for a couple of days. We were totally happy to let the kids explore the grounds and to spend our Christmas cooking,
The highlight of our time in Seville was the visit to the Alcázar Real, originally a 10th-century Moorish fort that was repurposed as the Royal Palace of Spain. The courtyards and sculpted arches were beautiful, but the tilework was nothing short of breathtaking—and this visit marked our first experience being surrounded by Islamic Geometry. About a year and a half before our trip, I had learned about geometric designs in Islamic art, built on repeated patterns of circles, squares, and hexagons that are interlaced and tessellated, and which can be constructed using only a ruler and a straight edge. The math appealed to me, and the opportunity to use the geometry to create art became a new favorite pastime. To see some of the original, incredibly intricate tile work made us all wonder how this level of precision in craftsmanship and beauty in design was achieved a thousand years ago. Our next stop was Córdoba—and the highlight of my time in Spain. An old friend and mentor of mine from the school where I taught in Boston had grown up in Córdoba and was back visiting family. Walking around the old city with him, listening to his stories from the days of Franco, visiting artisan leather workshops that were owned by the generations of fathers preceding his childhood friend, and soaking in his encyclopedic knowledge of the Great Mosque allowed me to see the city through a unique lens. My friend’s perspective, coupled with what we had learned from our podcast about the archways that mimicked the palm
trees of Syria, or the mihrab that was oriented to face Mecca as if the mosque were in Damascus, were all details about the Great Mosque that truly enchanted us. Given the chance, I would return to Córdoba and spend my days in the orange tree courtyard of the Great Mosque, with my compass and straightedge. Granada was the last city we visited and our purpose was to spend as much time as possible at the Alhambra. The most ironic part of our visit to the Alhambra was that it occurred on the 527th anniversary of Reconquista Day, when the Moorish kingdom of Granada, the last stronghold of Islam in medieval Spain, was surrendered in 1492 to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. It is a city holiday in Granada, and given our two-week exploration and appreciation of Moorish history in Andalusia, it was not a day we felt inclined to celebrate. Rosita and Amelia did great on their first major vacation with more museums and churches than campfires or hikes. We are so grateful to the McBean Fund for making this opportunity possible. I learned so much about this amazing time in Spain’s history, I deepened my interest in and understanding of Islamic Geometry (which I’d love to share with Cate students), and I got to experience it all with my family and my oldest friends.
Annalee, husband Chris and children Rosita and Amelia visit the Alcazár of Seville.
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ON THE MESA
Lisa Holmes, Director of Studies
France & Spain: World Cup Soccer, History, Hiking, and Family Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris hosted one of the most dramatic matches of the Women’s World Cup tournament this summer as the American national team took on host France on a sweltering summer evening. Thanks to the Mc Bean fund, I was there, along with my husband Will and sons Scott (Cate 2020) and Matthew (Cate 2022). From our seats at center field of the sold-out game, we watched ninety minutes of thrilling soccer. The New York Times wrote of the match: “It felt like a final, not a quarter final, as the two favorites played for coronation, not simple advancement. The stadium was throbbing … It seemed too as if more than a quarter final victory were at stake … perhaps even validation of women’s soccer’s mainstream appeal.”
I am part of the first generation of women to benefit from Title IX and the spread of youth sports for girls. I discovered soccer as an eight-year-old in 1974. Since then, soccer had been a through line in my life from childhood to high school and college soccer to coaching in independent schools as an adult. I wanted to bear witness to women’s soccer at the highest level and to experience first-hand the global expansion of the sport. The French and American national teams did not disappoint.
week in Europe, we travelled from Paris to northern Spain to test our sons’ Spanish language skills that have been honed in the classrooms at Cate, explore the northern coast of Spain, the Costa Brava, and then to hike some of the many trails in the Spanish Pyrenees that reach into southern France. These trails have been part of journeys of faith and paths for refugees escaping war and turmoil. The villages through which the trails cross have individual histories that date to the Medieval era and provide beautiful and affordable bases for hiking.
In addition to our evening of soccer, we spent a week in Paris enjoying the beauty of the city and the incredible food along the cobblestone walking street where we stayed. In our second
We are grateful to the McBean fund for supporting the passion and curiosity around which our trip was focused.
Lisa Holmes, Scott '20 and Matthew '22 at the Pantheon in Paris 18
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Outings Week 2019 Above: Ellie Tunnell '23 and Harry McAdam '23 make sandwiches before heading out with their hiking group at Pyles Camp.
9th Grade Trip to Pyles Camp The Kern hike was unexpected for me since my group was the first to embark on the arduous journey on Day 1 of the trip. Our blister-free feet and socktan-free legs didn’t know what they were getting into. At first, the hike was more of a walk; we strolled through the grassy hills passing a field of hardened lava. However, the hike went on for an eternity, and although the conversations began normally, the standard hiking chants of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” and the classic game of 20 Questions quickly deteriorated into riddles no one understood, and talks of building a motorcycle from scratch. One of the highlights on the way down was the amazing views. You could see rocks with beautiful striations running across them, and trees stretching all the way down into the valley and back up into the mountains as far as the eye could see. Once we arrived at base camp, we savored our flattened ham and cheese or PB and Js. For dessert, we
ate copious amounts of Welch’s Fruit Snacks and devoured trail mix filled with nuts and M&Ms. The Kern River itself was frigidly cold and the jump was both scary (due to my fear of heights) and exhilarating. The way back up can only be described as miserable, given the fact that it was so dusty you could feel a layer of dirt across your face, and the trail was filled with switchbacks. A welcome reprieve was the spotting of a California mountain kingsnake. In the
words of Willie Kellogg, this appearance was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. After we arrived back at camp, we all crashed into our sleeping bags, then threw on our bathing suits for a much needed group shower. A bit later we enjoyed a love-filled dinner prepared by Wizard, Bumblebee, and Dolphin. — Liz Sutter '23 My group (Go A Team!) did the Teacups hike first, and it was really a
The freshman class poses for their first class photo. 19
ON THE MESA mix of emotions and chaotic moments. On the drive to the starting point, I napped and, in hindsight, I think that was a great decision, because little did I know that what was to come would be exhausting. When we arrived, we were faced with the first challenge: the stench of the pit toilets. Upon opening the door a horrible smell blasted out of the small dark room and repulsed me and many others. Despite all that, we started our hike at a fairly good pace. The view was beautiful and dramatic. Riddles and stories were told along the way, and many rounds of 20 Questions and Never Have I Ever were played. About halfway through our hike to the top of Teacups, we were lucky (and unlucky) enough to encounter a rattlesnake. While some people screamed and dashed past it, I was very excited about seeing it. After that commotion, we finally arrived at our base camp and sat down to eat the famous Pyles PB and Js and Welch’s Fruit Snacks. We then walked over to the fast-flowing river and waited to cross. After a while, everyone, and their wet hiking boots, made it across and we continued to the hardest and scariest part of Teacups—the rock scrambling. It was more like rock climbing, and we got so high so quickly that fear began to strike me. Climbing using the rope was even scarier, knowing that if you let go, you could fall to your death. Thankfully, everyone made it through safely, with barely a scratch. When we finally made it to the pools, everyone was more than ready to jump into the water, although some were more apprehensive than others. Above all it was immensely satisfying to see how far we had come and to survey the extraordinary landscape laid out before us. Heading back down to the bottom was much less terrifying than coming up, and by the time we got back to base camp, almost everyone was pink from sunburn. As we hiked back to the Yukons, we had some really nice conversations and spent some quality time getting to know each other. If I got any single thing out of Teacups, it would be the friends I made. — Claudia Carter '23 20
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My group’s final hike (more like a stroll) was called Freeman. At this point, many of us were sick of the riddles and Blake’s renditions of the Heathers soundtrack (which we still have stuck in our heads). Walking through the forest, we passed the “washing machine”—a loud stream with broad speckled rocks. As we continued walking, I became more aware of the blisters that had formed over the last few days and of the taste of iodine pills that had become a constant in my drinking water. The Freeman pools were the best part of Pyles for me. We shimmied our way all the way down the stream, trying not to let our heads go beneath the surface of the water, which quickly proved impossible. Saying goodbye to Freeman was hard, but the walk back was really fun. One of the highlights was Moose almost falling in the mud while we walked with our limited balancing skills across a long, broken-down log. Coming back to Pyles after the hike, the camp felt strangely like home. The routine of falling into our sleeping bags and throwing on our bathing suits for a group shower felt comfortable, as did our second-to-last dinner, which I think was tacos. That dinner, followed by kitchen crew, was some of the best fun I’ve had so far, especially yelling “rewash” everytime we dropped something. — Liz Sutter '23 Summarizing Pyles is quite difficult since so much happened in only five days, but I’ll do my best to put it simply. I became close to people I didn’t think I would be friends with, and I expanded friendships I already had before Pyles. I had many good laughs, and made a plethora of memories— and friendship bracelets. I learned so many new things about everyone who was there, and I also learned some things about myself. I truly enjoyed the moments I spent sipping hot chocolate by the fire and talking to my classmates, and I will surely value those moments for years to come. Mostly, Pyles made me feel lucky to be spending my high school years with the people who started to feel like family in those five days. — Claudia Carter '23
10th Grade Trip to Yosemite When I first learned that as a sophomore I would be taking a fiveday backpacking trip to Yosemite, my initial thought was, “How can I get out of it?” Used to sitting and studying for long periods of time, keeping still and focusing on the task at hand had been my most difficult test of endurance up to that moment. After all, I had no prior experience with any physical challenges so far outside my comfort zone. I began to doubt my ability to survive this trip. The morning we left, I saw excited faces beaming all around me. I may have managed a wan smile or two, but inside, I was quaking. I started worrying about the little things that could possibly go wrong. 1) No showers or bathrooms. Translation: “What was I going to do with my hair?” As only a fellow Asian will understand, the glossy black hair stays glossy for approximately one day. If left unwashed for multiple days in a row, it looks greasy and lank. 2) “What if I get lost on the trail and everyone leaves me behind?” This one kept me up all night. I should admit here that one of my favorite books as a child was Scott O’Dell’s classic, Island of the Blue Dolphins. In my childish fantasies, I imagined what great fun it would be to scavenge for food and make friends with a wild dog whom I would tame with my cunning and courage. The reality, however, of being lost in a park filled with hungry, dangerous animals made me break into a sweat. Korean newspapers were full of stories of foolish tourists who visited Canada and America, went up to take a picture with a cute bear, and met their grisly end—literally! 3) “Will our Pod dynamics be positive? What can I do for my Pod?” I certainly wouldn’t be any good to them if I was lost or too busy worrying about every single thing.
On the first night at base camp, we got a brief explanation of Yosemite. The s’mores and campfire calmed me down for a while, but then I remembered that we hadn’t even gotten started yet. This was the easiest part of the whole trip! In the evening, I sang songs with my friend inside our tent so that I could lull myself asleep. That night, I dreamed of large bears with big teeth. I was told that the next day was going to be an easy hike—or at least one of the easiest compared to the following days. I almost died. The packs were crushing me into the ground, and my hips and shoulders were aching. There were some pretty views along the way, but I was too tired to notice. My feet marched to the most important question of my life: “How much more do we have left?” Along the way, we had tangerines and trail mix, but I longed for some instant noodles. However, I later realized that the trail mix was extremely precious and learned to be thankful for the food I had. After hours of nonstop hiking, gobbling mouthfuls of raisins and nuts tasted better than the finest steak and potatoes. The last stretch was especially challenging. Without my pod members helping me, I would have given up and just set up the tent at the foot of the mountain, but eventually, I made it. That night, even though I was scared that a sudden rainstorm might flood us,
my podmates and I slept outside beneath the stars. I counted the days. First day over. Four more days until I got back to civilization. The last thought I had before I drifted off into an exhausted sleep was, “I have never seen the night sky look so beautiful.” The next day was even harder. By this time, I was so ready to give up. But then, as if by providential guidance, we arrived at Yosemite Falls. At first, I gingerly touched the cold water with my feet. We didn’t have showers, but the refreshingly cold water soothed my skin as it cleaned the dirt off my body. Then we climbed to the very far edge of the cliff and looked straight down from the top of the waterfall. The strong gusts of wind pushed the water back onto us, creating majestic rainbows and soft showers of water. Even now, I cannot forget how beautiful it was. For just an instant, I forgot about my burning muscles and my desperate need to take a shower. Once again, I felt my eyes opening to the majestic splendor of nature in its purest form. This had been the most difficult and longest of days, and frankly, I was surprised that I got through it. With the second day over, I was almost half-way through the trip. The next few days went by quickly. It was a continuous journey of spectacular views, full of once-in-a-lifetime
Rain and hail didn’t stop Beth Caylor, Jose Vega and their pod in Yosemite Valley.
Yosemite, CA
Sophomores Dawson Fuss, Juliette Calderon, Paige Rawiszer and Daisy Scott in Yosemite.
Heavy packs, gorgeous views, lively conversations, and lasting memories.
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ON THE MESA opportunities. Looking back on the trip, I am thankful that I took all the risks I did. When we climbed to the top of El Capitan and looked down from a 3000-foot-high vantage point, I noticed that even huge Half Dome seemed small from the top of the valley. Witnessing this overwhelming monument that will last for a span of time equal to that of eternity, a sense of awe consumed me. By comparison, my five days of sweat and pain seem positively insignificant. Second, third, fourth … soon, it was the last day of Outings Week. Once the bus came to pick us up from the trail, I realized that we were really going back to Cate. Now that I am back, it feels like I was never even there. I have to remind myself not to forget the experience. Every pod’s story and every individual’s story is probably different from my own experience, but nevertheless, all of us got closer to new people and gained special memories. I believe we were so lucky to have the chance to visit Yosemite because, when else will we be able to do this with our class? I’m from a big city, and hiking and backpacking have never been my “thing.” But during the rest of my years at Cate and beyond, when I will be spending many hours hunched over books in the library, I have a feeling that I’ll be taking this particular memory out like a cherished book and remembering the time I spent hiking in the sunshine. In conclusion, when I was asked to push myself to the limits of my endurance and physical ability, I conquered my fears and overcame my doubts about what I was capable of. With this in mind, this trip will always serve to remind me that even though things are tough in the moment, I should never give up because there is something worthwhile waiting for all my efforts. — Jinny Chung '22
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11th Grade Trip to Kern River Valley
(left to right) Juniors Taylor Kane, Yuki Kobayashi, Yulianna Cruz-Trinidad, Ryan Lack, Jasmine Ross and Dr. Laura Moore in Kern River Valley.
Trekking 40+ miles in five days was not exactly how I pictured spending a week away from the Mesa. To be completely honest, I was hoping I could use my herniated disk as an excuse not to go, so I could instead lounge and watch Netflix back at home in Oakland. Much to my dismay, this was not the case. Upon reviewing the pod list and noting that I didn’t have any close friends in my pod this year, I instantly began to feel anxious, creating a negative, exaggerated image in my mind that I would be isolated in the wilderness. When I looked at the coming week with a more positive outlook, however, I realized it would be a great opportunity to bond with peers I hadn’t had the chance to get to know before. At least this year we didn’t have to leave at 3 a.m., right? We started off with a six-hour car ride, only stopping in Lone Pine—a small, get-married-have-kids-and-die-there type of town—for dinner. Then, upon arriving at our first camp site, we set up camp, brushed our teeth, and put on layers—the usual outdoor affairs. For the most part, we’d wake up before dawn, pack away our soaked tents from the dewy night, and hike seven to twelve miles per day. Tending to hot spots and blisters became our new ritual. Assigning captains to each person was one of our survival tactics, and we each took on our allocated responsibilities. After hiking about 20 miles in our respective pods, we met at Henry’s Camp. Eating Mr. Williams’ take on “chili” the first night at Henry’s, after a chaotic yet adventurous journey, was not necessarily a highlight. The next day, we were gifted by the nature gods,
allowing us to bask in the sun. After our relaxing day, we engaged in the annual Pod Olympics. A few highlights include catching M&Ms in our mouths from about 5 meters away, holding oranges between our knees in a relay, and shuttling with an egg on a spoon, desperately trying not to drop it. The next day, my pod woke up at dawn and ventured up Devil’s Staircase, as we went the East-East route, ultimately making our way towards home. Listed below are a few memories that played into the authentic Kern Experience: • Mr. Wood letting Ryan Lack get drenched in her sleeping bag because she “looked too comfy to disturb.” • Numbing our bodies in the freezingcold river water with aching heels from the jagged rocks. • Playing 20 Questions and finally realizing we’re too old for “100 Bottles of Milk on the Wall.” • Hiking two hours in a thunderstorm to Henry’s while it hailed marble-sized chunks of ice from a hazy, gray sky. • Huddling next to the campfire like sardines in a can with frosted breath, yearning for warmth while we dried out our wet gear. • Riding horses at Henry’s Camp. • Lazing around in a hammock. • Playing Uno and Paranoia while watching the sunset. • Sunburns and farmer’s tans. • Even though I had originally dreamed of staying home during this “mandatory fun” week, I’m glad I went on the trip with an open mind, since I eventually grew to love all that Kern has to offer. — Jasmine Ross '21
12th Grade Trip to the Central Coast For Outings Week 2019, nine seniors visited the exotic destination of Santa Cruz campground on Carpinteria State Beach. We had planned to visit the Santa Cruz Channel Islands National Park, only a ferry ride and several games of Egyptian Rat Screw away, but on Tuesday morning, devastating reports of a boat accident came in. To be respectful and not to hinder rescue efforts, we decided to keep our distance. The SC '19 Crew included Brandon Man, Jacob Wu, Alyssa Queensborough, Jamie Morales, Madeleine Gutierrez, Maya Fenelon, Lea De Vylder, Dylan MacFarlane, and me. Our experienced campers were Patrick Collins (accompanied by his guitar and ukelele), Tim Smith, and Kelsey Dowdy (a UCSB climatologist-in-training and expert bodysurfer). After biking along the mean streets of Heartbreak Hill and Linden Avenue, the group set up camp approximately five feet away from the beach. Almost every day, we munched on sandwiches as we lay in the sand, and the effects of those hours of sun exposure can be proven with our bathing suit tans.
After three nights at the beach, we moved camp (by car) to the baseball fields on the Cate Mesa: another exotic destination. We had spent the majority of our trip on the beach, so, naturally, we wrapped up our trip with a halfday at the beach. Kudos to everyone for being open and flexible, to Mr. Collins for always holding a Diet Coke in hand when I saw him (always!), to Kelsey for great cinnamon crumble and brownies, to Mr. Smith for bringing us on impromptu hike-or-runs, to Brandon for cooking every single meal (he’s the next Gordon Ramsay, I promise), and to California for being golden, as usual. Some highlights of the trip included: • Our kayaking excursion from Butterfly Beach to Carp (we stopped when we got to Summerland) • Coffee at Handlebar • Writing college essays, or essays in general, in cool locations in SB (my favorite was the Santa Barbara Courthouse, which was hosting about five weddings at the time, and I’m pretty sure I was in all of the wedding photos) • Barbecue at Dylan’s house (because have you seen Ferris MacFarlane?) • Campfire sing-a-longs due to our affluence in ukuleles (three!) • Boogie-boarding — Alice Qin '22
A group of Cate seniors enjoying the beach at sunset during Outings Week. 23
ON THE MESA
New Faces on the Mesa Elizabeth Bird performs a concussion baseline test.
Elizabeth Bird
Lydian Blossom '07 Dean’a Curry THEATER ARTS
STUDENT SERVICES
Elizabeth began her athletic training career shortly after graduating from James Madison University in 2014. Born and raised in Texas, Elizabeth returned to the Lone Star State and to her alma mater, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, to serve as the school’s Assistant Athletic Trainer.
Lydian Blossom returns to the Mesa this year after an almost thirteen-year absence. A member of the Cate Class of '07, Lydian studied Theatre and Literature at Sarah Lawrence College and received her Masters Degree in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Between the two programs she lived in Brooklyn: performing, training, improvising, and devising theatre.
Dean’a joins our Student Services team as Director of Counseling Services. Dean’a is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and comes with a wealth of experience in the field of adolescent counseling and counseling systems management. Most recently, she was the Wraparound Program coordinator for Santa Barbara County Public Schools (K-12).
ATHLETICS
She fell in love with California while completing a Master’s of Science in Kinesiology at California State University, Northridge, where she also contributed as the University’s softball and women’s soccer teams primary and secondary athletic trainer. At Cate, Elizabeth is the Assistant Athletic Trainer. In her free time, she enjoys trail running and exploring California's backcountry and beaches. 24
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Dean’a and her husband, Michael, live in Santa Barbara and have a six-year-old daughter, Keaton.
Lydian Blossom '07 oversees Spencer Michaels '20 and Pierce Thompson '20 in the tech booth before Convocation.
Ben Swain '14 and Layton Harding '22 celebrate a point during an Ultimate Frisbee game against Santa Barbara High School.
Da’Jon James
Raphaela Riparetti
Ben Swain '14
Da’Jon joins the Cate community as the new Director of Vocal Music and a High House/Lido dorm parent. The East Coast native received a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Psychology from Syracuse University, during which time he directed musicals, performed in operas, and conducted various music ensembles.
Having grown up in the Netherlands, Raphaela earned a BSc in pure Mathematics at Sussex University in the United Kingdom, followed by a Postgraduate Certificate of Education from Brighton University. A truly global educator, Raphaela taught middle and high school math in the UK, the Netherlands, and Indonesia before moving to the United States in 2009.
While Ben is a new faculty member this year, he is no newcomer to the Mesa. Attending Cate as a member of the class of '14, Ben first found his passion for Spanish while working in the school's Grounds department over the summer, and developed it in the classrooms of Schoolhouse. His enthusiasm for language and education took him to Colorado College where he majored in Spanish while co-chairing an after-school program for local children to learn a second language.
MUSIC ARTS
He moved to Los Angeles to further his studies and completed a Masters in Choral Music from the University of Southern California. No stranger to keeping busy, while in Los Angeles, Da’Jon conducted choirs, guest lectured at colleges, was a private vocal instructor and worked with various bands and commercial artists in studios in Burbank and Irvine.
MATHEMATICS
When she is not teaching mathematics at Cate, Raphaela enjoys tutoring Math privately, writing and illustrating a children’s book, volunteering in a number of communities, raising her two daughters, and fixing up her family’s tiny Mountain Home up the San Marcos Pass.
MODERN LANGUAGES
Ben is enthusiastic to be back on the Mesa, teaching Spanish in the same classrooms where he found his passion for language. Ben is excited to be a part of the new memories that Cate students make by filling the role of a teacher, coach of ultimate frisbee, soccer, baseball, and a dorm parent in Cook House West. 25
ON THE MESA
Fall Sports
roundup
Peter Bulkley Armas '20 rips a shot for a goal during a home water polo match.
It has been a thrilling fall for our student-athletes: the fields and courts and pools have been a place for competitive energy and growth. We have seen some student-athletes learn new sports, while others worked on perfecting familiar crafts. Records have been set and league championships won. As we close in on the completion of another great fall season on the Mesa, we note a multitude of highlights from each team. The GIRLS VOLLEYBALL team had a fantastic season, highlighted by the team’s first ever Tri-Valley League Championship. The Rams were led by a talented trio of four-year varsity players: Maya Blattberg '20, Grace Blankenhorn '20, and Kenzie Davidson '20. These three seniors helped lead the team to
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a 19-4 record and a berth in the CIF Division 6 playoffs as the number 2 seed, where the Rams went on to win their first two matches before falling to Valley View High School in the quarterfinals. As is sometimes the case in the CIF playoffs, the seed does not always help your path, and the girls experienced that firsthand with back-to-back four-hour road trips. Although the season did not finish as the team had hoped, it was one that will live on in the record books at Cate. In the water, BOYS WATER POLO had a season of growth. A very young but determined team faced tough competition all season, and the boys never wavered. They battled hard, fought for each other, and grew together as a team. The team’s highlight game came near the end of the season with a 12-5 win against rival Villanova. The win was a great way to begin Fall Family Weekend, with many families in attendance. Seniors Ethan Ha '20 and captain Peter BulkleyArmas '20 were the anchors of the team
this year. Their determination and work ethic made those around them better and will leave the team well prepared for the future. In what has become tradition during fall seasons at Cate, the GIRLS TENNIS team dominated these past few months. The team finished their regular season undefeated to earn the Tri-Valley League title. On top of that, the Rams accomplished a rare feat by taking down the “Santa Barbara Big Three”—Santa Barbara High School, Dos Pueblos, and San Marcos. This is the first time in over five years that the Rams have defeated all three in the same season. Led by seniors Grace Fuss '20, Carol Cai '20, and Mia Foster '20, the team is now setting its sights on an even bigger achievement—a CIF-SS Championship. Good luck to the girls as they push toward their final goal. The FOOTBALL team was hoping to have saved its best play for the end of the season. The start to the campaign
Kimberly Rogers '20 and the JV volleyball team celebrate a win.
was one filled with inconsistency. The team suffered through injuries and some tough, hard-fought losses, but as the calendar turned to October, the Rams began to play better football. After enduring a tough defeat at the hands of rival Thacher to finish off the regular season, the Rams found themselves in a three-way tie for number one in the league, leaving their fate up to a coin toss. The toss would not go in the Rams’ favor, thus putting them in an unfortunate third-place finish in league. Thankfully, some important wins throughout the campaign, along with their strength of schedule, put the team in a position to earn a spot in the Division 1 8-man playoffs. The Rams wasted no time showing they belonged in the playoffs with a convincing 63-40 win over Calvary Chapel/Downey. Next up for the Rams would be a second round road contest against a very strong Flintridge Prep team on November 15th. This year’s group has relied on the efforts and leadership of its seniors—
Quarterback Will Bouma '22 drops back looking to complete a deep pass during a home game.
Callum Casey '20, Scott Holmes '20, Will Anderson '20, Khadim Pouye '20, Dalton Phillips '20, Elliot Tsai '20, Thomas Nettesheim '20, Chris Tarafa '20, and Charlie Heyman '20. What a year it has been for the CROSS COUNTRY teams as they prepare for their postseason run. The boys have had a great season, led by senior cocaptains Tesfa Asmara '20 and Dylan MacFarlane '20. The team has finished in the top half of all their races so far this year, highlighted with a win in the battle of Carpinteria early in the season. Asmara will leave Cate with top times at many courses. The girls team has been dominant all season. A team composed of one junior and the rest freshmen and sophomores has been finishing at or near the top in all its races. Sophomore co-captains Anna DiSorbo '22 and Meena Baher '22 have led the pack as the dynamic duo, finishing as the top two runners in many of the races. Anna broke the Cate course record this season
(which had stood for almost 20 years) and has also put her name among the top three for Cate records on many of the other regular courses. On top of all the team success Cate has experienced this fall, there have been two student-athletes recognized by the greater Santa Barbara community. Anna Disorbo '22 and Maya Blattberg '20 both received acknowledgement of their hard work. Anna was awarded with the Female Athlete of the Week in early October for her efforts on the cross country course, while Maya earned Scholar Athlete of the Year for girls volleyball. Both Anna and Maya represent all that Cate hopes for in its student-athletes. Congratulations to all student-athletes and teams on a very successful fall season, and good luck to those still competing for league and CIF-SS championships.
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ON THE MESA
Chidera Chukwumerige '22 puts one away for the Rams.
Khadim Pouye '20 goes up for a catch for a first down.
Fierce and focused, Carol Cai '20 is hard to beat on the tennis court.
Wade Nieman '23 scores a goal during a home water polo match.
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Co-Captain Anna DiSorbo '22 leads the pack up Heartbreak Hill to break the school record during a home cross country meet.
Cate Athletic Highlights 2018-19 League Champions
Girls Tennis (Tri-Valley League) Girls Volleyball (Frontier League) Football (Mt. Pinos League) Girls Soccer (Frontier League) Boys Tennis (Tri-Valley League) Postseason Qualifiers
Football–CIF-SS Division 1 8-Man (Quarterfinals) Girls Tennis–CIF-SS Division 1 (First Round) Girls Volleyball–CIF-SS Division 7 (Quarterfinals) Boys Cross Country–CIF-SS Division 5 (Finals, 23rd Overall) Boys Basketball–CIF-SS Division 5 (Quarterfinals) Girls Soccer–CIF-Division 7 (Second Round) Boys Soccer–CIF-SS Division 7 (Wildcard) Baseball–CIF-SS Division 7 (Second Round) Boys Track and Field–CIF DIvision 4 (Finals) Girls Track and Field–CIF Division 4 (Finals) Boys Volleyball–CIF Division 4 (First Round) Boys Tennis–CIF-SS Division 2 (First Round) Girls Lacrosse–US Lacrosse Los Angeles Division 2 Championships (Champion) Boys Swimming–CIF-SS Division 4 Girls Swimming–CIF-SS Division 4 First Team All-League
Anna DiSorbo '22–Cross Country Carol Cai '20/Grace Fuss '20–Girls Tennis Doubles Champions Sarah Polowczak '19/ Fritze Mayer '21–Girls Tennis Grace Blankenhorn '20–Girls Volleyball Maya Blattberg '20–Girls Volleyball Riley Borchardt '21–Girls Volleyball Sebastian Sak '19–Boys Water Polo Cullen Barber '19–TVL Goalkeeper of the Year Daniel Boateng '22–Boys Soccer Buba Fofanah '20–Boys Soccer Taylor Kane '21–FL Goalkeeper of the Year Kimberly Rogers '20–Girls Soccer Grace Blankenhorn '20–Girls Soccer Tali Nam '21–Girls Soccer Lily Riehl '21–Girls Soccer Ethan Ng '20–Boys Basketball Khadim Pouye '20–Boys Basketball Jack Deardorff '19–Baseball Will Deardorff '21–Baseball Daniel Panadero '21–Baseball Scott Holmes '20–Baseball
Theo Mack '20–Boys Volleyball Player of the Year Cullen Barber '20–Boys Volleyball Ethan Ha '20–Boys Tennis Singles Champion Brad Gordon '19/ Devin Pai '20–Boys Tennis Doubles C hampions Marcos Brasil '20–Boys Swimming 50m Freestyle Champion Keiser Ke '19/ Jet Ochoa '21/ Victor Vasquez '19/ Marcos Brasil '20–Boys Swimming 200m Relay Champions Anna Di Sorbo '22–Girls Swimming 500m Freestyle Champion Buba Fofanah '20–Boys Track 100m, 200m Champion Sean Zhan '19–Boys Track Triple Jump Champion Sean Zhan '19/ Kobby Nimako '22/ Drew Anastasio '19/ Buba Fofanah '20–Boys Track 400m Relay Champions Rivers Sheehan '19–Girls Track Long Jump, Triple Jump Champion All-CIF Recognition
Jack Deardorff '19–8 Man Division 1 Offensive Player of the Year Drew Anastasio '19–Football Callum Casey '20–Football Scott Holmes '20–Football Maya Blattberg '20–Girls Volleyball Ethan Ng '20–Boys Basketball 2nd Team Marcos Brasil '20–Boys Swimming Consolation Final Winner 50m Freestyle Santa Barbara County Medalists
Meena Baher '22–Girls Track Fourth Place 800m Chidera Chukwumerije '22–Girls Track Second Place (100m, 200m) Rivers Sheehan '19–Girls Track Champion (Long Jump), Second Place (Triple Jump) Sarah Polowczak '19–Girls Track Fourth Place (Triple Jump) Buba Fofanah '20–Boys Track Champion (100m, 200m) Rovenna Armi '19/ Elle Smith '19/ Chidera Chukwumerije '22/ Sarah Polowczak '19–4x100m Girls Relay Team–Second Place Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Awards
Phil Womble Ethics in Sports Award–Will Anderson '20 Cate Scholar Athlete of the Year–Rivers Sheehan '19 Santa Barbara Football Athlete of the Year–Jack Deardorff '19 Santa Barbara Girls Track Athlete of the Year– Rivers Sheehan '19
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Dispatches
Cate Fulbright Scholars Shine On The Fulbright Program aims to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship. — Senator J. William Fulbright Fulbright Fellowships have long been the Holy Grail of global scholarship. Founded in 1946, the Fulbright Program seeks “… to improve intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills.” It’s also highly selective. Every year, students, researchers, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists from around the world compete for 8,000 grants to deepen their own practice while simultaneously promoting positive cultural exchange. In recent years, a remarkable number of recent Cate graduates—4 from the Class of 2014 and 1 from the Class of 2015—have applied for and been granted Fulbright Fellowships. Following are dispatches from a few who could take time from their research around the globe to update us on their progress and reflect on how their Cate experience impacted their present work.
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Pharibe POPE '15 I credit Cate with cultivating my interest in language and communication. I graduated feeling confident in my skills as a writer, reader, and speaker, and I was eager to continue building those skills in college. I majored in Spanish at Middlebury College with the intention of continuing to explore my passion for language. I capped off my senior year by writing a thesis, which allowed me to hone all of the skills I had been developing over the years. In many ways, I saw parallels between my thesis process and the creative writing elective I took during my final trimester at Cate. In both cases, I really loved the opportunity to think and write creatively. I am currently teaching English with a Fulbright grant at a small school in Tejina, which is on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. My goal is to cultivate my students’ passion for language and communication—the same passion that my teachers at Cate and professors at Middlebury made accessible to me. In addition to teaching, I am conducting a community outreach project in collaboration with Cruz Roja España, and I hope to leave a lasting impact on the Canarian community that has so generously accepted me with open arms.
Chloe KING '14 I just returned home from four months in Timor-Leste, where my Cate classmate and fellow Fulbright Scholar Jenny Lundt and I were conducting research through a Davis Projects for Peace Grant. I am at home for another month preparing for finalist interviews for Rhodes and Marshall scholarships, which might lead to graduate school in the United Kingdom. After those interviews, I will spend a year in Wakatobi National Park in Indonesia researching the impact of various ecotourism initiatives on local communities and marine ecosystems. I fondly remember my time at Cate as gradually opening my eyes to the incredible wonders of nature, from joining Outdoors in the fall with Ned Bowler '84 or scuba diving the Channel Islands with Wendy Butler. My time since leaving has been broadly about protecting the world around us and the ocean ecosystems upon which we depend. I think Cate also taught me to reach for the stars—all the fellowship and scholarship opportunities I’ve had throughout college would not have been possible without the support of Cate teachers in the early days, so I am eternally grateful to our community.
Shirin VETRY '14 After Cate, Shirin Vetry attended the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in Political Science with minors in French and Francophone Studies and International Development. Her research, supported by Fulbright and Fox Fellowships, has taken her into the field of faith-based organizations and their use of faith and spiritually based programming and planning for ex-prisoners.
Fulbright Scholars Jenny Lundt '14, Shirin Vetry '14, and Chloe King '14 at Camp Cate in June.
Jennifer LUNDT '14 My Cate classmate and Very-BestFriend-in-the-World Chloe King and I received another fellowship this past summer to do a peace project in Timor-Leste with the Davis Foundation. Anyone interested can read about our project here: https:// www.davisprojectsforpeace.org/ projects/projects/2019/node/7641 Very few people have even heard of Timor-Leste, much less lived there for three months! I am so grateful for the time I had there. I owe Cate a LOT for the person I am now. The biggest thing may have been the knowledge of all the opportunities available to me. I learned about Los Niños and about the Mark Metherell '87 Service Challenge from Cate faculty. Mr. Ivan Barry told me about Round Square one day and practically forced me to apply to the summer service program in Romania. I was very much “iffy” about it at the time. Mr. Barry sold it to me by telling me that it would change my life, and it did!
Inspired by a girl I met on the Romania Round Square trip, I took a gap year working for a semester each at two Round Square Schools: one in Thailand and one in Morocco. I showed up to college an almost frighteningly keen 18-year-old ready for EVERYTHING. I feel I had a leg up on my college classmates; while they were still adjusting to life away from home, I was already applying for further research funding. I had a meeting with the fellowships office my first month of freshman year! I really credit Cate with fueling my love of the world and teaching me to go out and seize that dream. In January, I will begin a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Malaysia. I am currently backpacking through Southeast Asia; I’d love to connect with Cate people in the area!
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DISPATCHES
Carolyn Frary By Lindsay Newlove
For the past thirty-five years, the Mesa has shone a little more brightly and felt a little bit warmer because of a single human being: Carolyn Frary. If there is a member of this community who has not crossed her path and felt the better for it, then he or she has, or they have, surely been that rarest of Caties, a complete recluse, for, as Carolyn’s longtime friend and former colleague Wendy MacMurray attests, “Carolyn always puts a positive spin on things, she’s always there to help, and there is no one you’d rather work with.” Carolyn has Cate affiliations that long predate her actual employment on the Mesa. A native daughter of Carpinteria, Carolyn Granaroli (as she was known before she married her high school sweetheart and love of her life, Dale Frary) spent 13 years of her girlhood with her family in the Rose Story Farm house built by Colonel Howland Russell for his wife Katharine Russell—the same Katharine Russell who, once widowed, married Curtis Wolsey Cate and moved “up the Mesa” to become gentle Queen Mother to Mr. Cate’s stern and sometimes autocratic King.
Callie (Carolyn’s granddaughter) returns a smile for Carolyn and Enedina Garcia. 32
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Fellow Carpinterian and longtime Cate faculty member Terry Eagle asserts, “Carolyn’s presence on the Mesa has been a strong signal of acceptance by our town and a debunker of ivory-tower myths.”
companies and platforms. She has been instrumental in raising $168M for Cate. She is integral to her department, and makes all employees—new and seasoned—feel supported and welcomed.
Carolyn has held numerous positions during her long tenure at Cate, all of them under the aegis of the School’s Advancement program. Still, it is impossible to sum up her many contributions with a single title. Having done so much more than “manage” this and “coordinate” that, Carolyn Frary is, in her own right, a Cate institution.
Colleague Sarah Preston says, “The day I set foot on this campus Carolyn made me feel welcome and comfortable. She was always available to offer moral and emotional support when I needed it. She helped me feel I could manage my job and get through challenges in life. Her warmth and kindness have impacted the Cate community for 35 years. I am so grateful to be her friend.”
Carolyn has worked with three Cate headmasters, five directors of development, seven gift processing regimes, and multiple database
Colleague Elana Stone notes that “... the rest of the Advancement team looks to Carolyn because she holds all the answers, considers no task too big or too
small, and possesses a willingness to learn that is both humbling and refreshing.” Carolyn’s energy is contagious. From early-morning walks around Carp to CrossFit workouts, Carolyn’s strength and sunny disposition are always in evidence. Her look is current and colorful. She’s alert, cheerful, and always eating a healthy meal—often topped with avocado or grain-free granola. (She can, however, be tempted by Peanut M&Ms.) Carolyn was born and raised in a farming family with deep roots in the community. To this day you may see her, Dale, and sometimes a few of her
your estate plans, Carolyn can provide a nuanced analysis of the top options. She is at the core of the Carp and Cate communities because she cares deeply about both. Carolyn works with the utmost care, precision, good humor, and patience. She is the glue that holds it all together, recognizing the meaning of what we do and why we do it. Before there was an actual Blue Ewe, Carolyn was the Blue Ewe—she hauled plastic storage boxes out from the basement for every Family Weekend and big event, developing friendships with parents who lent a hand.
“Carolyn works with the utmost care, precision, good humor, and patience. She is the glue that holds it all together, recognizing the meaning of what we do and why we do it.” grandchildren on Casitas Pass, under an umbrella, selling avocados and citrus from their ranch. She has participated in many, many years of Carpinteria’s worldfamous Avocado Festival. It is said by some that Carolyn should be the honorary mayor of Carpinteria. She and both of her children are graduates of Carpinteria High, and her daughter teaches at Canalino School. Carolyn can provide details on the “Carp” of today and the “Carp” that used to be. Cate Director of Special Projects Hallie Preston Greene recalls a walk down Linden Avenue with Carolyn where every other person knew her—and stopped to chat. Major Gifts Director Chris Giles says that if you need to know the go-to person in Carp to re-upholster an ottoman, do a smog check, or revise
Director of Alumni Relations Andrew MacDonnell shared the following anecdote about Carolyn: “The first day I showed up at Cate, Carolyn took me to her personal storage facility and outfitted me with plates, mugs, and kitchen items for my apartment on campus.”
Carolyn’s relationships with the Business Office and Technology Department are both professional and social. Director of Technology Mike Ferguson says that “sharing an office with Carolyn was probably the best way for me to be welcomed to Cate. She is so kind and thoughtful, and she knows everyone and everything about Cate. She is someone I’m blessed to call a friend and I miss sharing an office and my days with her—it seemed a simpler time back then, thanks to Carolyn.” Carolyn keeps dog biscuits on her desk in anticipation of daily Cate canine visitors. She is a favorite visitor and visitee of the School’s Early Learning Center. Alumni from the 1940s to the 2010s have been the recipients of Carolyn’s kindness and helpful attitude for decades. From her genuine warmth at check-in tables for Mesa Dinner and Camp Cate—where she recognizes guests from a mile away—to her welcoming customer service in emails and phone calls, Carolyn has cultivated hundreds of relationships through the years. One alumnus in particular from the Class of 1986 gets a bit flushed and happy when he talks about her, saying “…after 35 years, she’s still got it!” Indeed she does, and so she will for years to come after her long-awaited and much-deserved retirement from Cate. Thank you, Carolyn, for 35 amazing years on the Mesa!
Alumni and Development Office 2001 / Meg Bradley, Terry Eagle, Wendy MacMurray, Carolyn Frary, MaryPat O’Connor, Lisa Cannon, Christina Papanestor, Amy Holder. 33
FEATURES
FROM THE MESA TO THE NEWSROOM:
CATE ALUMNI
JOURNALISTS ARE DOCUMENTING THE NEWS OF THE WORLD by Monique Parsons '84
“ Maybe life is just carrying news. Surviving to carry the news.” —News of the World, by Paulette Jiles
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I
was 21 years old and a senior in college when I decided to go to journalism school. I was weighing Columbia and Northwestern, and having never set foot in Illinois, I made an appointment with Jack Doppelt, a professor at Medill School of Journalism, and flew to Chicago to meet him. I was already leaning toward Columbia, but I let Jack make his pitch. He was a small guy with unruly blond, curly hair, and he sat behind a wide desk that made him look even smaller. The journalism school shared space with the law school in an impressive new highrise near the even more impressive Lake Michigan. I could see the lake and part of the skyline through the tinted windows behind him. Jack was frank: “Chicago,” he told me, “is a great city for news.” I had no idea what he was talking about. Wasn’t every city a great city for news if you looked hard enough? I learned over time that he was right: Chicago is a city of endless stories, and sometimes the biggest, best, craziest stories are right out in the open. All it takes is someone to pay attention. Thirty years after graduating from Medill, I thought of Jack’s line as I read Paulette Jiles’ News of the World, and I thought of it again as I spoke to a selection of far-flung Cate alumni all making their mark in the field of journalism. In the novel, rural audiences pay Captain Kidd to read the news of the day aloud in public settings. They don’t always like what they hear. (That much, at least, hasn’t changed.) The Cate journalists I spoke with aren’t mere news readers; they are writers and reporters and producers, and they work in every corner of our changing media landscape: in television and radio; newspapers and digital media; urban, rural, and small-town America. Some do it all at once.
KATE GROETZINGER '11 is a reporter
with KUER, which broadcasts NPR, BBC, and local news throughout Utah and beyond. She’s there on a 2-year fellowship from Report for America, a nonprofit that places journalists in underserved regions of the country. The organization’s mission is “to strengthen our communities and our democracy through local journalism that is truthful, fearless, fair, and smart.” Kate reports from tiny Blanding, Utah, population 3,690, where one of her recent stories highlighted a volunteer effort to bring Google “plus code” addresses and register thousands of voters on Navajo lands in southeastern Utah. “I’m very proud of being there in the community day in and day out,” Kate says, “forming relationships with all sides of the political spectrum, getting in their heads and building trust with people who have been burned by the national media. I’m really happy to be here.” The road to radio wasn’t a straight line. Kate landed the fellowship after graduating from Brown University as an English major, interning at The Texas Tribune, an award-winning digital magazine based in Austin, and enrolling in the University of Texas graduate program in journalism.
NICK WILSON '95 has built his career around service and community journalism. He’s a staff writer with The Tribune of San Luis Obispo, where he’s covered everything from education and sports to crime, government, and business. These days, he teaches journalism at Cuesta College and has a flexible beat that permits him to find stories just about anywhere. That includes a local laundromat, where he recently encountered a group washing tablecloths for a friend’s wedding—a bride with stage-four cervical cancer. Nick kept asking questions, and it turned into an uplifting feature story with thousands of views and a reach that extended far beyond San Luis Obispo County.
“At the core,” Nick says, “my favorite types of stories are human interest stories about people or communities or trends.” Nick studied literature and Spanish at UCSB, followed by graduate school in journalism at UC Berkeley, where an influential professor was Tim Reiterman, a former Associated Press reporter who covered the 1986 mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. He’s seen a lot of change over the years—shrinking staff, an emphasis on digital reach rather than front page placement, and a need for reporters who understand social media and visual storytelling. But he says communities need local journalism more than ever.
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FEATURES “They can’t get the information we provide anywhere else.” The fundamentals, he adds, remain the same. “I think news at its core hasn’t changed a ton. A good news story is still going to be a good news story.”
Another journalist who has adapted her career to a changing media landscape is ATHENA JONES '94, a national correspondent for CNN. After graduating from Harvard University, Athena got her start covering politics and the economy in Chile and Argentina for Bloomberg News; as a Reuters reporter in Buenos Aires, she covered the fall of military dictator Augusto Pinochet. After graduate school in journalism at Columbia University, Athena built a broadcast career at NBC, MSNBC, and CNN, covering Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign and, later, the White House. As a national correspondent based in New York City, she pivots from covering high-profile court cases and California wildfires to “Me Too” stories and politics. “I kind of jump around a bit, and I like that,” Athena says. Her various roles require flexibility and a core skill she first honed at Cate: strong writing. “Yes, I’m on television, but it involves writing,” Athena says, “You have to be a good communicator.”
English classes weren’t the only places she got to work on these skills at Cate, she adds. Assemblies in Hitchcock Theater were a training ground for public speaking as well. “I remember arranging vans to take people to see Schindler’s List and, on another occasion, to see Malcolm X,” she says. “I also remember that anytime anyone would make some sort of grammatical error that was obvious—the big one was saying myself instead of me,” she laughs—“the whole school would correct them.”
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“That’s my favorite project,” she says. “I’m proud of how explicitly feminist we got with it. The last episode is basically about queer theory, which is the best. I learned a lot, and the women’s college degree popped out.” Her interest in radio storytelling, however, can be traced back to a Cate English class. “Anna Fortner had a class called ‘This American Life.’ It was an English elective that was focused on audio, and you did a podcast in the class, and it was all about making narrative audio,” Megan says. “I was always an audio nerd, and when I took that class I had a realization that it was the way I wanted to think and create, and I started thinking that this is what I want to do.”
Also based in New York City, MEGAN CUNNANE '12 is a producer and editor for Vox Media, where she’s working on the critically acclaimed “Land of the Giants,” a documentary podcast about the titans of the tech industry. Season One focused on Amazon; the upcoming season, which Megan is helping to plan, write, edit, and produce, is all about Google. Her goal goes beyond telling the corporate history; she’s telling a story that shows “this is how you approach this company that has almost invisible dominance over so many parts of our globe.”
Megan, a Barnard College alumna, also worked as a producer and showrunner for podcasts at WNYC, including “Nice Try!” and “Sooo Many White Guys” with Phoebe Robinson. More recently, Megan produced a season of the narrative podcast “Nice Try!” The series focused on 36
some of humankind’s most fascinating attempts to build perfect communities, from Disney World to lesbian utopias.
Cate was also a training ground for
NELLIE BOWLES '06, a Columbia grad
whose career has taken her from covering “slice-of-life San Francisco stuff” for The San Francisco Chronicle—pieces on guitar shops, fitness studios, galas, hipster cookware stores—to reporting on the tech industry as a features reporter for The New York Times. “It wasn’t as big of a leap as it sounds,” she adds. “I was covering culture and nightlife and young people in San Francisco,
and when you’re covering culture and nightlife and young people in San Francisco, you’re basically just covering tech,” Nellie says. For The Times, Nellie writes gripping, page-turning profiles of figures like tech billionaire Vinod Khosla (“Every Generation Gets the Beach Villain it Deserves”); the Twitter CEO (“Jack Dorsey is the Gwyneth Paltrow of Silicon Valley”); and Lisa Jobs (“In ‘Small Fry,’ Steve Jobs Comes Across as a Jerk. His Daughter Forgives Him. Should We?”). Nellie was the first reporter to land an interview with Lisa Jobs, and says she found her a fascinating character. Creating this beat took work. Editors in New York weren’t initially convinced that Silicon Valley needed a features reporter, but Nellie kept pitching her idea. “For a long time the East Coast could only see the West Coast as a gadget story or a money story,” she says. “But it was always a power and culture piece. It was always a power story. It was always a culture story.” This kind of persistence is a hallmark of great reporting, and Nellie says her Cate years were formative. She was editor-inchief of El Batidor, wrote for The Cate Review, and took memorable English classes from Gaby Edwards and Ross Robins. But this Bob Bonning advisee says the lessons outside the classroom were just as meaningful. “One of the personality traits of a good reporter is often to be sort of antiauthoritarian and distrustful of anyone in charge, distrustful of power,” Nellie says. “In high school I really didn’t like authority figures. I really bristled. They had to manage it, but they didn’t try to kill that.” Between the work crews and the writing classes, “They let me be a troublemaker,” she continues. “Now, it’s professionally really useful. That orneriness and ability to be aggressive” have proven indispensable, she says, and her time at Cate helped her better understand California’s free-spirited, rebellious culture.
No matter what beats Cate alumni journalists are covering, they all seem to have one thing in common with the protagonist of News of the World: gratitude for the work they do, and a sense of optimism about the difficult road ahead. Megan Cunnane '12 keeps a quote from writer and podcaster Ashley C. Ford that captures how she feels about her career as a carrier of news: “I want to make so many things. I want to put so many stories into the universe. That’s what I’m working on every day. That makes me lucky. I never forget there are people who would kill to have the time and opportunities I have to be creative. I can’t waste this.” Megan adds, “I’m in a supremely privileged position to be telling stories with my work, and I owe it to the privilege of that time to do it well.”
Advice for Aspiring Journalists:
Be open to new experiences. Be humble. Listen when people tell you what you can work on, but be open about where you would like to go. — Megan Cunnane '12
Focus on building the fundamental building blocks: writing, communicating. If you do end up at a position, even if it’s low paying or unpaid, try to make the absolute most you can of it. Maybe give yourself a specific amount of time that you’re going to try this, and really, really try it. Try to shadow people. Try to learn as much as possible and be, if not indispensable, at least memorable. — Athena Jones '94
Some Recommended News Sources:
Megan Cunnane '12: The Cut “Today Explained” podcast The Collected AHP, newsletter by Anne Helen Petersen Athena Jones '94 The New York Times The Washington Post Don’t discount business reporting. The Wall Street Journal The business reporting sections of The Los Angeles Times papers and magazines are often the Nellie Bowles '06 best (and the best run). My other The New York Times advice is don’t move to Brooklyn; The Atlantic move anywhere else. The California Sunday Magazine — Nellie Bowles '06 The Intercept Kate Groetzinger '11 Public Radio The Texas Tribune Nick Wilson '95 McClatchy Newspapers, including The SLO Tribune and The Sacramento Bee The New Yorker Smithsonian Magazine ESPN Leonard Pitts from The Miami Herald David Lazarus from The LA Times George Will from The Washington Post, NBC and MSNBC David Brooks from The New York Times 37
FEATURES
A Century of El Batidor:
Cate’s student newspaper turns
By Leslie Turnbull '85
A
s this much-loved, sometimes criticized, occasionally irreverent, often insightful, and almost always well-written Cate periodical celebrates the 100th anniversary of its first publication during the 1919-1920 school year, it is well worth a look back on a century of student perspective reflecting traditions, trends, and transitions both on and off the Mesa. 38
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“El Batidor,” wrote the editors of the Friday, October 21, 2016 issue of Cate’s student newspaper, “is a creative project crafted by students, for students. There’s no class period for it, no athletics block, no proctored El Bat lab, no El Bat study hours. Writers collaborate through brainstorming or strike out on their own to find inspiration, and then it’s their job to interview, write, and then revise.” In that same piece, the student editorial board also wryly noted that, “This written memoir of the school is so often taken for granted, it’s worth taking a moment to step back and marvel at the El Bat phenomenon.…” And so it is. As this much-loved, sometimes criticized, occasionally irreverent, often insightful, and almost always wellwritten Cate periodical celebrates the 100th anniversary of its first publication during the 1919-1920 school year, it is well worth a look back on a century of student perspective reflecting traditions, trends, and transitions both on and off the Mesa.
Setting the Bar From the beginning, El Batidor was intended to be more than “... just a newspaper.” Unlike the Thacher Notes, a chatty broadsheet published over the hills at a certain school in Ojai, the original Santa Barbara School El Batidor was a magazine, not (as one early editor
pointed out) a mere “news sheet … an untried and mechanical type of publication.” Early articles bear out this lofty distinction. A 1921 editorial begins, very briefly, with a precise and concise paragraph of sports news: Our record in athletics this year has been very good. In baseball we may be justly proud of a victory over Santa Barbara High School, the first on record, and of a fine game with our Thacher rivals, which was anyone’s game until the last play. With a hearty exhortation “… that we win the gymkhana and do the year up brown!” the El Batidor editors then turn
to what’s really on their minds—namely, academics. If we stop to consider, we shall realize it won’t be long until examinations are upon us; not long before we will be chewing our pencils in the examination room, studying each his sheet of printed paper, wondering just how to answer this or that puzzling question. Several paragraphs in the same vein later, readers are urged to consider the importance of the outcome of their exams. (They mean years of work; they mean the culmination of one stage, one period of a man’s life, and they represent the gateway to the next stage, the next
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FEATURES lap of life’s journey.) And what should happen should they do poorly (or “flunk”). A hint: failure did not bode well for the early-twentieth-century schoolboy. Santa Barbara School students, as Mr. Cate’s boys were then known, were expected to be, like their school newspaper, “... a cut above.”
Advertising: Books, Suits, and Automobiles From reading those early issues, it becomes clear that El Batidor editors faced two main challenges to their stated quest for excellence: soliciting worthwhile contributions (“... few boys other than those on the staff itself have shown any interest whatsoever in contributing to the paper,” lamented one), and paying for the glossy publication itself. Lauding the quality and literary merit of their magazine a decade after its founding, the El Batidor staff of 1930 rebuffed suggestions their quarterly
magazine switch over to less expensive newsprint and called their publication “... the result of many years of effort and of gradually accumulated experience.” “We admit that a news sheet would cost less and come out oftener,” they wrote. “But we question whether this would be more interesting. We doubt whether long columns of school news would be read with as much interest as our present notes, which we believe to have a certain quality rarely found in other school papers.” Having thusly set certain (more expensive) standards, early El Bat editors turned to a revenue stream that even today’s digital journalists would recognize as a necessary evil: advertising. Readers of the very first issue of El Batidor—and those for many decades following—would be encouraged to spend their increasingly hard-earned dollars at local businesses. Whether these purveyors of fine goods were merely dispensing, as one editorial accused, in “charity” or whether they actually hoped for more customers from the Mesa is unclear; the fact remains advertising intermittently sustained El Batidor all the way from the era of the Motor Car and Mills Carpinteria Pharmacy (where a hungry student could tie up his horse at a curbside post before heading inside to the soda fountain) through the emergence of Yellow Cab and Rusty’s Pizza, whose delivery service sparked decades of late-night eating and inspired the now-immortal “Pizza Lawn.” Ads continued to appear in El Batidor even after the paper finally did transition to newsprint in the 1970s.
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Transitions Change, of course, is inevitable, even in venerable institutions like Cate (which has undergone three changes of name in its 110+ history, two of which were duly reported upon in El Batidor in 1944 and 1950). As a School-focused periodical, for almost ten decades the El Batidor has dutifully charted even the seemingly menial alterations in life on the Mesa: each fall, the names and (eventually) photographs of new faculty have appeared in the paper’s pages with leaf-like regularity, just as every spring sees the same pages bid farewell to those who are moving on. The paper has chronicled the debates between students, faculty, alumni, parents, and administration preceding certain facets of School life that might seem trivial now but were worth many pages of passionate prose in their time: the wearing of formal jackets to “… breakfast, lunch, and morning chapel” (1962); “hair length, non-compulsory lunches, etc.” (1973), and the exact role of prefects (1980). In hindsight, it is sometimes poignant and sometimes downright funny to realize the changes so vehemently argued at one point in the School’s history often finally took place, with little fanfare, over the course of time. El Batidor has also recorded more significant and transformational School transitions. Less than a decade after a 1935 Thanksgiving editorial in praise of the School’s flagship equestrian program called upon students “… to realize the importance of the horse,” that same program fell victim to mounting expense, paved roadways, and complaints by neighboring ranchers. Its loss was mourned in the pages of a 1942 El Batidor. In a more positive vein, the paper has also heralded, with all due fanfare, the funding and building of significant new programs and facilities on the Mesa. “Alumnus’ Father Donates $150,000 for New Library; Mr. Clark Discloses Plans” trumpeted a 1965 headline about what
improvements currently underway. One expects there will be no fruitthrowing or shrubbery-breaking at these sites, either … and if there is, the El Batidor will call it out. )
would become the McBean Library. If the price tag and amenities seem, by today’s standards, quaint, El Batidor reminds us the McBean was, for its time, literally ground breaking. Throughout its long coverage of Mesa building projects, El Batidor has also taken on the role of advocate. The move to the top of the Mesa in 1929 prompted editors to admonish their peers thusly: We are in the new buildings at last, and we would do well to have some amount of consideration for them. This consideration includes refraining from writing and carving on the walls, spitting on the floor, leaving trash lying about, breaking down plants and shrubbery, throwing fruit around the dormitories, and many other things which it is useless to mention. (It is worth noting that these activities have been similarly discouraged throughout every phase of the Mesa’s development, up to and including the recent Centennial Campaign and Booth Commons and other campus
Mr. Cate’s retirement and the subsequent appointment of his successor, Calvin Miller, dominated El Batidor headlines in 1950, just as the arrival of new headmasters and heads of school would do with the changing of every administration, up to and including that of one Benjamin D. Williams IV (an astonishingly youthful thirty-something) in 1997. Cate’s slow and (some would say, inevitable) move to coeducation can be traced in the pages of El Batidor, where coverage of female students evolved from reminders of how schoolboys were expected to comport themselves with young ladies at School dances in the 40s, 50s, and 60s to a 1976 interview with Taft exchange students in which the writer, wittingly or not, demonstrates an anti-coeducation bias by boldly calling those students’ year in Carpinteria a “defection” from the presence of girls at Taft. When Cate finally did admit it first female students, in 1981, that event was widely covered in El Batidor. Not long after—the very next year, in fact—the El Bat (an affectionate moniker dating back to the 70s at least) welcomed its first female editor, thus changing forever and for the better both the vibe and the decor of the “Bat Cave,” as the basement offices of the paper had come to be known.
Reflections on Today’s El Bat By Millie Todd '20
Throughout my years at Cate, I have come to see the value of the voices in our local community, and they are often best expressed through El Batidor. As an editor-in-chief this year, I have already been involved in the publishing of one issue of the newspaper, and we are preparing for the upcoming issues as well. The biggest takeaway I observed through the creation of the first issue was the enthusiasm and creativity of those who choose to write for us. Cate students are infinitely curious and will always look for a bigger challenge, so having those students explore the world around them for El Bat results in interesting, worldly articles that are shared with the community. Though El Bat is not an integral part of everyday Cate life, it is a regular piece that comes out several times per year, and, for the most part, people are excited to read it. Knowing this, as editors, we have to take into account the gravity of what we publish. The Cate Bubble is a common concept on the Mesa, which presents the importance of publishing articles that address news around the world, and not just from inside our bubble. Many Cate students aren’t exposed to the difficult situations constantly occurring around the globe, so it is our job to decide what is most important for them to see through the eyes of their peers. Along with this, we also include entertainment pieces and other pieces specific to life at Cate, which carry just as much weight for our demographic. In essence, our job is to curate a newspaper overflowing with world news, opinions, entertainment, and Cate issues for the Cate community, which is at times difficult, but also vital for the awareness of the greater community.
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FEATURES juxtaposition of a glowing El Batidor write-up of the Cate-Vosberg School’s $259 contribution to a WWII War Chest Drive and later, heated editorial debates about Vietnam-era issues encourages a reader to see Cate School as a telling microcosm of evolving world views toward war and peace.
The News of the World Similar cultural shifts can be charted through El Batidor coverage of other local, national, and international issues—some of them quite thorny. El Batidor has not shied away from religion, politics, or anything else that could be deemed controversial, especially in more recent decades. However, the paper’s editors have always endeavored to provide unbiased coverage of these “hot” topics over the years. (See sidebar.) A carefully balanced “Opinion Poll: South Vietnam” from the 1960s could be, with a more diverse array of participants, much like a similar, more recent, poll about American involvement in the Middle East.
Death, Conflict, and Resolution The Santa Barbara School/Cate community, like any other, experiences loss, as well, and as the School paper of record, El Batidor has meaningfully memorialized those whose own lives intertwined with School life. Mr. Cate’s passing, at the age of 91 in 1976, dominated the headlines of that year’s February issue. The tribute that followed was informative and poignant, reminding those left behind on the Mesa, some of them questioning the very purpose of the School (El Bat commentary on Cate disaffection and ennui dates to the early 1960s, at least): “... Cate School (has) lost an irreplaceable source of energy, wisdom, and inspiration.” 42
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Other Cate obituaries are perhaps equally moving; none more so than the memorials of Cate alumni and faculty lost in the various wars conducted throughout the century El Batidor has been in existence. The names and faces of young men in uniform looking out from pages from the World War II era remind us we will never see those men as older alumni, coming back to the Mesa to reminisce among their peers. Casualties of the Korean War are solemnly honored in issues from the 1950s, while grief for those lost in Vietnam in the 60s and 70s is more muted, in part because of the number of those on the Mesa who questioned the necessity of those losses. For along with respectful tribute to war dead, El Batidor has also covered the shifting national and international sentiment to war in general. The
Diversity, of course, was not an issue on the Mesa … until it was. When the Class of 1964 threatened to strike, en masse, unless the School’s thenBoard of Trustees revised its admission policies to include young men of color, the showdown was chronicled in El Batidor. Not that the paper’s coverage of Civil Rights both on and off the Mesa was perfect; a cringe-worthy headline from 1976 refers to a lack of adequate transportation of Cate students as “Our Busing Problem.” Still, throughout Cate’s ongoing efforts to become not just universally diverse but inclusive, editors of El Batidor have tried to keep its readership informed of both progress and the need for more. A similar arc toward globalism can be charted through the annals of El Batidor, beginning with a breathy profile of Cate’s first foreign exchange student, Per Haga of Norway, in 1962, through
interviews with subsequent AFSsponsored students until the School began to proactively seek its own international students in the 1970s. The arrival of “Overseas Students” and the formation of an “International Club” made front page news in the December 1977 El Batidor. Today, El Batidor staff and writers, like the rest of the School, hail from around the world, and articles by international students and about world issues and events are less noteworthy than the norm—not that the publication is resting on its laurels. “Cate claims to be very internationally focused,” warned a student quoted in a recent article about School engagement with world events. “Yet we don’t focus enough on what happens outside our bubble. We also live in Southern California, so it’s like we’re in a bubble-inside-a-bubble.” The article goes on to assert, “Because we are up on the Mesa, we have a sort of tunnel vision to what occurs … while we have started a lot more discussion lately, especially in clubs like Human Rights Watch, there is still quite a bit of work to be done.” After 100 years of progress, El Batidor recognizes and faces the “... work to be done” in its next century of publication by, for, and about Cate students.
Around the Horn with the Editors In light of the School’s latest inquiry question and despite pending exams and college application deadlines, 20192020 El Batidor editors Kimberly Rogers'20, Millie Todd '20, and Emme Wright '20 agreed to share current thinking about the way the paper presents “The News of the World.” Following is an interview with Kimberly. Does the current El Batidor have any standing policies surrounding the reporting of world events—i.e., are there certain subjects you will not cover, or areas that require clearance from your faculty advisor? We don’t really have particular policies regarding world events. Our main goal for these pieces is that they act as informative guides for Cate students who might not have a chance to keep up with international news, so we try not to have articles sway too much towards the under-researched, opinion-based side of things. What’s your procedure for deciding what national/international news is included in the El Batidor? Can you describe the reporting process? Do you choose a topic and seek out qualified student reporters, or do they pitch article ideas to you? We generally do our best to include at least a few world- or national-newsfocused articles in each issue. We usually include important current events in our
article ideas list at the start of planning for each issue, so that anyone who’s interested can choose to write about these. We also always welcome student requests to write about a specific news event. We just like to make sure these articles are well researched and easily understood to those who might not have the framework to understand the issue at hand yet. How do you manage controversy or dissent, both internally (should the three of you disagree on content or the reporting of it) and from the greater community? Are you willing to share any examples of times El Bat reporting on world events has stirred up a bigger conversation and how you on the paper, in your experience, chose to manage that? Generally, our way to “regulate” the news we put out and make sure it is leading to constructive discussions is by providing opposing points of view for controversial topics. For example, if one student wanted to write an op-ed criticizing a presidential decision, we would find a student to write an opposing piece so that readers can understand both sides of the issue. As El Batidor editors, what do you feel are your most pressing responsibilities in reporting world events to the Cate Community on the Mesa? I feel that, given Cate students’ wide variety of activities and time commitments, our most important role is doing what we can to educate everyone at Cate on the basics of what’s going on in the country and the world we live in. For example, Millie and I recently wrote a piece introducing each 2020 presidential candidate from an unbiased perspective in order to give each Cate student the same foundation with which to discuss presidential candidate preferences. During the rest of the year, I hope to publish more articles that provide students with the basis needed to have higher-level conversations about national and international issues. 43
In
memoriam
John Caldwell '59 November 14, 1940— July 31, 2019 By Benjamin D. Williams IV
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“In the pink!” That was John Caldwell’s response to virtually every query about his well-being. And he didn’t just say it. There was a pause first, like he was thinking about it. Then he threw the phrase out there, convinced of its veracity. It’s an English idiom from the 15th century, suggesting perfect health and ideal condition. It’s ironic to mention it in this setting, perhaps, here in the Katherine Thayer Cate Memorial Chapel on this Friday afternoon, but John was never one to equivocate. He was what he was—wonderfully, definitively, unapologetically, and happily—until suddenly he wasn’t. In this sanctuary that John treasured so, it is especially fitting that we celebrate him and that spirit of his that, despite his passing, remains vibrant, powerful, and present. My first lengthy conversation with John occurred over two decades ago, just after I had been appointed Headmaster at Cate. As a Cate trustee, John met all of the Head candidates and was a part of the selection process. John was kind and complimentary to me. We talked about schools and colleges. A graduate of Amherst College, John had some reasonable reticence about seeing a Williams grad take over at Cate, and he didn’t mind sharing that concern. Good rivalries are a lot of fun, and we had our fair share of Williams/ Amherst repartee over the years. In fact, I remember noting to John that his college came into being only because a former Williams College professor, Lord Jeffrey Amherst, stole a bunch of books from the Williams Library and used them to start the library at Amherst College.
“John,” I said, “Theft. Spiriting documents away under cover of darkness. That’s not a particularly auspicious beginning.” He laughed, of course. John was not one to take such things personally. And then he pointed out that Lord Jeff probably took them because the students at Williams couldn’t read. Our conversation after my appointment was similarly colorful and candid. John presented what he saw as the strengths and weaknesses of the various candidates, including me. I was young and engaging and tall, my chief virtues according to John. And he said I was “a pretty good speaker.” Not a rousing endorsement— given my age and height were beyond my control—but good enough, I suppose. One of the other finalists was apparently a former soldier and an already experienced Head of School. “Lots of folks liked you,” John said a little grudgingly. “I wanted the Marine, though.” He said it without heat, in that matter of fact way of his. Nothing personal— just the facts. Like the inimitable Sergeant Joe Friday on Dragnet. It was my introduction to John’s directness, to the keen analytical character of his mind, to his remarkable insight. I would rely on those very things over the 22 years that we worked together, as he led our construction projects for Cate 2000, as he took over the Advancement Committee of the Board shortly thereafter, even as he continued to consult on the current projects underway on the Mesa. Conviction and purpose oozed from John, making his every act an expression of commitment and belief: his writing, his guest appearances in a host of Cate classrooms, even his remarkably detailed SitReps when the Thomas Fire was bearing down on Carpinteria and Montecito. John and I chuckled at the differences between our various communications—his detailed and wellresearched, mine narrative, subjective, and significantly shorter!
The last time I heard John speak publicly was in this chapel in June, offering a eulogy as part of his 60th Cate reunion of his friend and classmate, Bill New. John carried a pulse oximeter with him, a device that Bill invented, and he held it up at one point to show the audience. There was in his voice not simply the factual accounting that has always distinguished John, but a certain amount of reverence too and profound affection. John was clearly awed by his friend, both for who he was and for what he did, what contribution he made to all of us and our world. The same generous pride surrounded John’s work at Cate and his frequent visits to the TRW or Northrup Grumman bunkers—to those moments when he could immerse himself in a project with a host of brilliant teammates and build or plan something unprecedented. It is not an accident that the book John penned is titled Anatomy of Victory. Analytical and academic as he was, John was an optimist, a hopeful and mildly restrained dreamer, a man who knew there was an answer or a way or even a possibility. “Coldwar”—John’s email moniker— always believed we could win. And with him on the team at Cate and elsewhere, it seemed we always did. On the wall of this sanctuary is a quote from Tennyson meant to capture the passage of time and its consequences. “And year by year memory fades from all the circle of the hills.” Perhaps lives are ultimately a form of echo reverberating for a while before a final silence. I have not lived long enough to know truly what legs a well-lived existence has. But I can say this: John Caldwell still resonates here and his good works are forever a part of this place. We know it and those who follow us will surely feel those echoes and sense his continuing presence. “All things merge into one,” fellow fisherman Norman MacLean famously observed. It’s a heartening thought, in this life and the next. 117
John Fulton Crutcher '52 July 13, 1934 —September 2, 2019 John Fulton Crutcher died September 2, 2019. John was born in Los Angeles, in 1934, to Margaret Fulton and John Page Crutcher. He attended Cate School, Stanford University, and the University of California at Berkeley, where he got his Master’s of Science in Geology. As a geologist, he worked in Alaska and then in the Outback of Australia. During his time in Australia, he fell in love with Southeast Asia while on a surfing holiday. John then got a job with the U.S. government as a China specialist. He and his young family spent two years in Vietnam. John sometimes traveled into the countryside of North Vietnam to talk with villagers. His next tour was in Taiwan, where he learned to speak Mandarin. John and his family also spent four years in Hong Kong. He enjoyed sailing, and with his son, John Page, sailed in the South China Sea Race from Hong Kong to Manila, Philippines.
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John was Commodore of the Aberdeen Boat Club and was instrumental in the early phases of designing and planning the current yacht club. In 1984, John moved to Europe, where he married Marie-Paule. The couple lived in The Hague, Netherlands, for two years, where they were inspired by elegant European homes. They then moved to Brussels, where they fell in love with an old Belgian manor and spent twelve years restoring it. In 1999, John and Marie-Paule moved to Sequim. They designed their home on Bell Hill and lived there very happily for 20 years. John will be deeply missed. He is survived by his wife Marie-Paule; their puppy, Choupette; brother, James Page (Barbee) Crutcher; daughter, Anh (Todd) Oppenheimer; son, John Page Crutcher; the mother of his children, Carol Davis; and grandsons, AJ and Moss Oppenheimer.
William Wright '50
January 16, 1932— May 14, 2019 William Franke Wright, Jr. died on May 14, 2019. He was 87 years old at the time. During his life he expressed extreme gratitude and fondness for Cate School. He described it as “his foundation” for future success, and William Franke Wright, Jr. was successful. He went on to serve in the Navy during the Korean War and later graduated from the University of California at Davis with a Master’s in Soil Science. He used his education in designing stable foundations for many infrastructure and land use development projects. His last project prior to retirement involved the environmental improvement plan for industrial uses within the Moss Landing watershed in Monterey, California. This was an extremely sensitive wetland habitat that required soil and waste management such that zero runoff and waste were emitted from the industrial uses within Moss Landing. His insight and knowledge allowed the industrial uses to continue without contaminating the downstream wetlands. William Franke Wright, Jr. is survived by his wife, Pat Hendrix Wright, and two sons, William Francke Wright III and Michael James Wright.
Paul Gordon '82
August 20, 1964 —October 19, 2019 Paul Heberton Gordon, born on August 20, 1964, died at the age of 55 on October 19, 2019 from complications related to Parkinson’s disease. Paul was born to Rosalie and Richard Gordon in Prescott, Arizona. Raised in Skull Valley, Arizona, where his parents owned Quarter Circle J cattle ranch, Paul learned to ride horses and herd cattle. He attended Skull Valley Elementary School and Prescott Junior High, but completed his high school education at Cate School in Carpinteria, California. At Cate, Paul excelled at academics and baseball, a passion he held throughout his life. Paul returned to Arizona for undergraduate study at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where he majored in pre-med. Upon completion, he and his fiancée moved to Tucson, Arizona, where Paul completed his medical studies and graduated summa cum laude. After marrying Lisa Lande at Quarter Circle J Ranch on June 26, 1986, Paul and his wife moved to Manhattan, New York, where Paul had accepted an internship and residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University. In 1988, with residency completed, Paul and Lisa moved back to the Southwest, where Paul joined the University of New Mexico Hospital as a staff neurologist. There they lived on Old Church Road in Corrales, New Mexico, with their three beloved German Shepherds— Bosque, Arroyo, and Santo. After a one-year fellowship back at Columbia
Presbyterian in 1996, Paul accepted a position with Lovelace Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He remained with Lovelace until 2002, but once again accepted work with Columbia PDG. Paul moved back to Manhattan, this time on his own, since Lisa and he had amicably divorced in 2002. He did groundbreaking research and offered compassionate care to hundreds of patients. Paul, forever striving to contribute, was determined to return to academia in pursuit of a PhD. He left the U.S. in 2009 for the Pierre et Marie Curie University in Paris to study Neurology and Neuroepidemiology and completed a PhD degree in Neuroepidemiology in 2012 with the highest mention for dissertation. Also at that time, he was working with Professor Meininger at the Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. Paul studied all types of rare neurological diseases, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), Alzheimer’s, and (fatefully) the one that also took his life, Parkinson’s. Paul moved back once again to the Southwest, this time to Mancos, Colorado, where he worked as a neurologist for the Navajo Reservation. During this time, on May 7, 2012, Paul married Guangnan (Nan) Duan. Due to health-related issues, Paul reluctantly retired in 2017 and passed in his home under the loving care of his wife. Never having children, Paul is survived by his wife Nan Gordon, and siblings, Chris Gordon (age 66), Craig Gordon (age 64), and Jennifer Gordon (age 61). 119
From the
archives Video Killed the Radio Star?
When Cate’s first female students arrived in September 1981, they were not the only new phenomenon to hit the Mesa. MTV was born that summer, and throughout the 80’s music videos were the evening entertainment most nights on the television in the Feedin’ Post (aka the student center). Was video responsible for the silencing of KSBS, Cate’s on-again, off-again radio station? While the first mention of student radio work appears in the May 1942 El Batidor, it wasn’t until Chris Strachwitz '51 brought a four tube mike-phono oscillator to High House that KSBS radio was born; SBS reflected the School’s then-name, Santa Barbara School. WIth 1 ½ watts of power, his Dixieland jazz was heard from Schoolhouse to Parsonage, with High House/Lido in between. Not just a music station, by the end of 1948 everything from news updates to quiz shows ( “Mesa Muffers”) could be heard over the airwaves, and the following year there was even a competing station, “KOCC” — the Voice of Parsonage, run by Tirey Abbott '50. KSBS ebbed and flowed in subsequent years, thriving when students willed it to life and languishing in off years. Its home moved from Parsonage to the basement of Long House, and eventually in the 1970’s down to the Hitchcock Theater, where it had a proper antenna and could be heard on AM880. Even in 1990 there was an attempt to revive KSBS by Spencer French '90 and Matt Weed '90 on AM530 from the Schoolhouse basement. Cate radio’s final mention was an April 1993 El Batidor yet again noting the “mourning of the passing of KSBS.”
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WAYS TO GIVE to CATE SCHOOL CREDIT CARD
Go to www.cate.org/donate to make a gift using Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Credit card gifts are also accepted over the phone at (805) 684-4127 ext. 288. CHECK
Gifts may be made payable to Cate School and mailed to: Cate School, Advancement Office Box 5005 Carpinteria, CA 93014
MATCHING GIFTS
Many companies will match gifts that their employees (and sometimes spouses of employees) make to secondary schools such as Cate. Please send your company’s matching gift form along with your gift. For questions, please contact Elana Stone at (805) 684-4127 ext. 288 or elana_stone@cate.org. STOCK GIFTS & WIRE TRANSFERS
A gift to Cate of stock held more than one year entitles the donor to a charitable deduction for its full current market value (in most cases without paying the capital gains tax on the appreciation, which would be required if the securities were sold for personal gain). For more information on making a gift of appreciated securities, please contact Laura Jespersen by phone at (805) 684-4127 ext. 215, or by email at laura_jespersen@cate.org. 121
ON THE MESA
CATE SCHOOL
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage
1960 Cate Mesa Road Post Office Box 5005 Carpinteria, CA 93014-5005
PAID
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CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS January 23 January 23 February 25 March 1-30 April 19 April 9 April 24-26
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Alumni Council Meeting (San Francisco) San Francisco Reception Phoenix Reception March Magic Walkathon Bikeathon Mesa Association Dinner Family Weekend
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May 2 May 23 May 24 June 5 June 5-7 June 6
Vintners Picnic Awards/Baccalaureate Commencement Camp Cate Kick Off Party (open to all) Camp Cate Alumni Council Meeting (Johnson Library)