parker 2009 CAJUN CARNIVALE… “LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER!” page 37
Coming and Going 20 exchange students from Beijing, 12 students to the Philippines
IN THIS ISSUE: ANNOUNCING A NEW VISION, A NEW ACADEMIC CALENDAR, AND A NEW HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL • WHAT’S ESSENTIAL AROUND HERE? • THINKING AND ACTING GLOBALLY • BEHIND THE MUSICAL • FRAN STYLES, PARKER PIONEER
Winter 2009
Issue No. 21
Your gift is the foundation for our future
The Annual Fund helps maintain Parker’s margin of excellence and supports so many of the School’s programs. Please join us in supporting Parker and keeping it the great school that it is today! Together we can make a difference and together we can reach our goal of $1.2 million. If you would like to make a pledge now to get on our books, we’ll send you a reminder in May 2009.
Invest your donation in any of the seven different funds:
Remember there are 3 easy was to give:
• Greatest Needs
— Fill out a pledge form that is payable by June 30, 2009, to get you on our books
• Arts & Music
— Call us at 619-298-9110 x256
• Athletics • Faculty & Professional Development • Financial Aid • Library • Science & Technology
— Online at www.francisparker.org, click on SupportingParker
features
parker
the magazine of francis parker school
contents FEATURES Letter from the Editor ..................................................................2 Vision Statement ..........................................................................3 Upper School Academic Calendar ...............................................4 Essential Understandings ............................................................8 Parker Ambassadors—The Philippines ....................................12 Chinese Exchange Students ......................................................17
Editor: Cathy Morrison, Director of Communications Photo Credits: Lara Falkowski pp. 21-23, 45 Francis Parker School Archives p. 2, 30-33, 54, inside back cover Lorenzo Gunn pp. 3-6, 10, 11, 30-31, back cover Jenny Huang, front cover, pp. 17-19 iStock Photography, inside front cover Bil Johnson p. 8 Lake|Flato Architects p. 40
Thinking Globally, Acting Globally—Milia Fisher....................20
Miriam MacPherson p. 37
The Making of a Musical.............................................................24
Cathy Morrison pp. 7, 9, 26, 27, 38, 39, 55, back cover Mike Muckley Photography p. 41
FACULTY Pat McKenna, New Middle School Head ..................................28 Fran Styles, Parker Pioneer .......................................................30 Faculty News & Notes ................................................................34
Margery Squier pp. 24-27 Kristina Starkey p. 36, 43, 52-56 Studio M/Michael Spengler Photography p. 20 Phil Trotter pp. 12-16
GRANDPARENTS GP Council Update......................................................................36 PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION Gala ..............................................................................................37 CAPITAL CAMPAIGN Capital Campaign News .............................................................38 Name a Seat ................................................................................40 BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2008-2009 Board of Trustees
Design: Heidi Spurgin » getpuredesign.com Printer: SOS Printing Accreditation Francis Parker School is a nonprofit organization governed by a Board of Trustees. It is registered with the California State Department of Education, and is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Parker is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the College Board, the Educational Records Bureau, the Educational Testing Service, and the School and Student Service for Financial Aid.
Welcome New Board Members ...................................................41 Memberships
ALUMNI Sing Your Own Songs—Laura Roppe ’88 ..................................42 Alumni News & Notes.................................................................43 ARCHIVES Archives—Planning Our 100th Birthday ..................................57 Mission Statement To provide a superior, college-preparatory education in a diverse, family-oriented environment that meets the academic, social, creative, emotional, and physical needs of the individual student.
American Secondary Schools for International Students and Teachers, Inc., Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, California Association of Independent Schools, California Association of Student Councils, California Scholarship Federation, College Entrance Examination Board, Cum Laude Society, Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education, National Association of Independent Schools, National Association of Student Councils, National Forensic League, National Honor Society, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Western Association of College Admission Counseling.
Non-Discrimination Statement Francis Parker School values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty, and staff from different backgrounds. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, creed, or national origin in the administration of its admission, tuition assistance, employment determination, or its other procedures or programs.
parker
WINTER 2009
3
features
Letter from the Editor BY CATHY MORRISON, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS The more things change, the more they remain the same… If you’ve seen any of the School’s publications, admission materials or development materials in the last two years, you’ve likely noticed a focus on a few key points: Balance. Global. Excellence. Take “Global,” for instance. Thanks to modern technology and communication tools, the world today feels a little smaller; world events seem more immediate, the impact we have upon one another seems a little clearer. As a result, when you read the Vision Statement on page 3, the Philippines article on page 12, the article about the Chinese exchange students on page 17, or the profile of Milia Fisher ’09 on page 20, you could conclude that Francis Parker School is working to keep current with global events and awareness. While that’s true, it’s not a new focus. The graduating class of 1920 had six student speakers who prepared remarks on the topic “Community Integration.” Presenting at the School’s first Commencement ceremony, they were talking about the “global” community. From its earliest days, our school directed its students to consider their roles and citizenship in the larger world. So as we articulate the vision for the School, talk about what’s happening in our school community and beyond, know that we’re building (literally and figuratively) on a solid foundation laid by our founders and predecessors. We honor them by continuing to review and articulate what we do, how we do it and why, working to make sure we’re true to the School’s mission. Remembering where we came from allows us to keep the School moving forward for the long-term future. If we do this right, one hundred years from now, someone will tell the Parker community, “this may seem new, but really, it’s what we’ve been doing for two hundred years.”
4
From its earliest days, our school directed its students to consider their roles and citizenship in the larger world.
WINTER 2009
parker
features
18 MONTHS AGO, THE FACULTY AND STAFF AT PARKER STARTED AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT CONVERSATION: WE ASKED OURSELVES THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION,
Francis Parker School Vision Statement This conversation has led us to clearly articulate a vision of what we want to achieve within the educational program at Parker over the next decade, and possibly beyond. We have distilled the essentials of these concepts into the Parker Vision Statement that has now been validated and approved by the Board of Trustees. This statement will be a guiding principle against which the evolution and integrity of our educational program will be measured. For example, the three divisions (Lower, Middle and Upper Schools) are currently engaged in a top-to-bottom review of division, departmental, grade level, and classroom goals and activities to ensure that they align with the overall vision statement and also integrate across grade levels. We will use this Vision Statement both as a guide and as a mirror as we continually try to advance our core mission of providing a superior college preparatory education to our young women and men. Francis Parker School is committed to graduating students who embody those qualities essential for academic success and personal fulfillment — intellectual curiosity, creative thinking, passion for learning, ethical responsibility, self-reliance, community engagement, and global competence — by offering a balanced, challenging, and integrated K-12 educational program in academics, athletics, and the arts, all in a vibrant and diverse school community. AT PARKER WE ARE COMMITTED TO DEVELOPING STUDENTS: — who strive for academic excellence while maintaining social and emotional well-being; —
who are able to participate in the fundamental human conversation on what is right, fair, and good, by developing the skill, aptitude, and imagination essential to determining what ought to be done;
parker
WINTER 2009
—
who effectively combine the skills of design, invention, leadership, and risk-taking with proficiency in purposeful research, effective writing, persuasive discourse and the traditional academic subject areas;
—
who are familiar with the cultural, political, historical, scientific, ethical, and economic forces that are shaping the world of the 21st century;
—
who possess the tools necessary to realize their individual talents and potential during their years of college and in their personal and professional lives.
We will bring the world into our classrooms through sustainable relationships with local businesses and universities, visiting faculty and lecturers, and web-based collaboration. We will take our classrooms out to the world through meaningful, age-appropriate opportunities for experiential education, service learning, environmental awareness, and character education. We will continue our commitment to retaining, developing, and hiring a faculty of highly-qualified, passionate educators from a broad array of backgrounds who are dedicated to inspiring excellence in each of their students. Our faculty will continue to pursue new opportunities for professional development and program advancement in their academic discipline as well as in the areas of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. Parker is committed to creating the best possible school for our current students and future generations. The mission of Francis Parker School is to provide a superior college-preparatory education in a diverse, family-oriented environment that meets the academic, social, creative, emotional and physical needs of the individual student.
5
features
Upper School Makes Changes to 2009-2010 Academic Calendar BY RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, HEAD OF SCHOOL; PATRICK MITCHELL, UPPER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, AND KEVIN YALEY, ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL
Mid-year exams (January Exams) will be eliminated; a required one-week Interim Program will be added; the academic calendar will be divided into trimesters
6
These changes will enhance the overall academic program and educational experience for our Parker students — changes that will increase instructional time, present new opportunities in experiential learning, ensure student wellness through genuine academic breaks, and, most important, advance our mission of offering a superior college-preparatory education. One of Parker’s major academic initiatives is student assessment — specifically, looking at the effectiveness of our program and instruction in relationship to student learning. In the end, our aim is to develop students who strive for academic excellence, who successfully acquire the knowledge, skills and understandings essential to meet the highest educational standards, and who possess the tools necessary to realize their individual talents and potential during their years of college and in their personal and professional lives. We can expect nothing less from great schools like Parker.
WINTER 2009
parker
features
ELIMINATION OF MID-YEAR EXAMS For the past year, the School has considered at length the following question on student assessment: What is the value of mid-year exams as they currently stand against the potential value of alternative learning opportunities, including an increase in instructional time and the introduction of a oneweek interim program? Through a variety of tests and assessments, Parker students successfully demonstrate their ability to recall and apply specific content, knowledge, and skills, as well as enhance their proficiency in time management, test preparation, and performance under pressure. Equally important is the opportunity students have to learn through classroom instruction, individual coursework, oral presentations, and collaborative research. With the elimination of mid-year examinations (January semester exams), almost two weeks of academic time is recouped, which will be used for increased instructional time and the introduction of an interim program. It is worth noting that other national and international educational models (including the International Baccalaureate or IB Program) successfully prepare students for advanced studies with far fewer examinations than are required in a typical American system. As for the final examination in June, the goal of this exam is not simply to measure how successfully our students are able
parker
WINTER 2009
to recall information and fact from roughly ten months of study; instead, it is an opportunity for our students to demonstrate their level of comprehension of the essential understandings for a particular course. ADDITION OF THE INTERIM PROGRAM Like many top independent schools, Parker has come to realize the potential educational value in offering an “interim” — a required one-week alternative learning experience. Not only is this type of experiential learning central to the mission of independent education, but independent schools across the country are discovering that the inclusion of an interim is valuable in preparing students for college, where such programs are increasingly common. Following are some of the most compelling reasons why Francis Parker School has decided to include a required one-week interim in our academic calendar: —
gives our students the opportunity to learn outside the conventional walls of the classroom
—
strengthens the relationships between students and teachers by allowing them to work side-by-side on a variety of projects or concentrated explorations of academic and/or community service themes and activities
7
features
The goal of the final exam is not simply to measure how successfully our students are able to recall information and facts; it is an opportunity for our students to demonstrate their level of comprehension of the essential understandings for a particular course.
—
allows our students and teachers to delve intensively into one or two activities or topics for a concentrated period of time
—
provides an opportunity for juniors to participate in an internship experience that may help them define their academic and career goals
—
encourages our faculty to generate ideas and collaborate with other faculty members to create interdisciplinary learning opportunities for the students
—
reinforces a passion for learning through enrichment opportunities
—
better prepares our students for college
—
strengthens the regular classroom education by drawing students and teachers into activities and places that will help bridge the gap between theory and real life
—
encourages our students to risk learning something that is unusual and to devote extended time to explore a specific interest in depth
8
ADOPTION OF A TRIMESTER SYSTEM With the elimination of mid-year exams, we were presented with an opportunity to investigate alternative academic calendars. In particular, we studied the benefits of moving to trimesters, and the advantages of doing so were very compelling. Moving from a semester calendar to a trimester calendar enhances our primary aims of improving student assessment,
increasing student wellness, and establishing a school-wide academic calendar, while strengthening our students’ college preparedness. Assessment: The move from four (quarterly) assessment periods to three equal assessment periods, only one of which would have a final examination period (third trimester), moves the School away from reliance on a semester exam as the primary tool of assessment and toward the use of alternative assessment tools that are more appropriate for the particular class and its academic goals. The trimester schedule also allows for a greater period of time during which a teacher is able to adequately measure student progress (twelve weeks vs. nine weeks). The narrative comments for the trimester would include student work and progress from a more substantial period of
WINTER 2009
parker
features
learning, while still allowing for ample time prior to the end of the next grading period to attend to any concerns in the student’s learning. Student Wellness: Under the current semester calendar, it has always been difficult to ensure that students had a real break in their academics. For example, the traditional breaks in the schedule (Thanksgiving, February Break, and Spring Break) did not fall at a time when the students and teachers could have an authentic academic break. Three evenly balanced periods of study, containing appropriately placed breaks, will create a less stressful and more productive learning environment for our students, and allow for more authentic academic breaks. The traditional Winter Break would no longer be used (informally) as time to prepare for midyear semester exams; the first trimester will have a four-day break at approximately the mid-point and will end with a full week off for Thanksgiving Break; the mid-point of the second trimester will generally coincide with the February Break, and Spring Break will fall at the mid-point of the third trimester.
their college applications, a trimester grade (12 weeks of study), as opposed to a quarter grade (9 weeks of study), gives the colleges and universities a stronger picture of our students’ academic standing. All School Academic Calendar: Moving to a trimester schedule puts the Upper School on the same academic calendar as the Middle School and the Lower School. FULFILLING THE MISSION OF FRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL In the end, Francis Parker School is committed to providing a superior college-preparatory education to students who will embody those qualities essential for academic success and personal fulfillment—intellectual curiosity, creative thinking, passion for learning, ethical responsibility, self-reliance, community engagement, and global competence. And we believe that these enhancements to our academic program will help us realize our vision, inspiring excellence in all that we do.
College-Preparation and Admission: Some independent schools across the country are moving to trimesters, while others prefer semesters. From the perspective of colleges and universities, this is essentially a non-issue, as each institution evaluates the individual school according to a particular system. In other words, whether a school is on semesters or trimesters, colleges and universities will recalibrate the transcripts to ensure equity in the admissions process. The advantages of Parker moving to trimesters and offering our students opportunities for academic enrichment far outweigh the benefits of mid-year exams. In particular, these new opportunities (e.g., junior year internships, community service learning, mini-courses, and trips abroad) not only enhance the student’s development and preparation for college, but they can strengthen the student’s college application. Also, as our seniors complete
parker
WINTER 2009
9
features
Essential Understandings: The Stuff That Matters and How to Learn It BY KEVIN YALEY, ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL
Have you ever had the following conversation with your child at the end of a long day? How was your day at school? Fine. What did you do in class today? I don’t know… Stuff. Did you learn anything? Yeah, I guess. Well, what did you learn? You know, stuff.
In short, your child is right. Schools are about learning and teaching stuff, and a lot of it. Schools in general seem to be teaching more and more stuff every year. Great schools, however, realize that the challenge is not simply teaching as much stuff as possible, but determining which stuff is most essential. More important, great schools are designing innovative curriculum and implementing more authentic forms of assessment to ensure students are learning the stuff that matters most. At Parker, we are doing just that. PARKER’S ASSESSMENT INITIATIVE: STUDENT LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING Starting in August 2007, a major focus of Parker’s professional development has been on student assessment — specifically, looking at the effectiveness of our teaching in relationship to student learning. In other words, are we doing everything we can to ensure that our students are learning the essential stuff, and learning well? We began with four questions: —
10
What are the most essential qualities that we want to develop in a
WINTER 2009
parker
features
Parker graduate? —
What do we want our students to know and be able to do in each subject area at each division (and at each grade level)?
—
How can we best design our assignments, our courses, and our curriculum to engage students in learning and allow them to learn the most essential stuff?
—
How can we best assess student work and progress in an effort to improve student learning and understanding?
1. WHAT ARE THE MOST ESSENTIAL QUALITIES THAT WE WANT TO DEVELOP IN PARKER GRADUATE? In answering the first question, we drew from two sources — the School mission and the Parker faculty. At the opening of our school year in August 2007, the Parker faculty set out to
capture what we believe to be the essential qualities of a Parker graduatethe stuff that really matters most. Over the next year, with input from faculty, staff, administration and volunteers, we put forth a vision for Francis Parker School whose focus is on the type of student we hope to develop. The centerpiece of the Vision Statement on page 3 was developed through this process, and is designed to be a fair description of what a Parker graduate should look like. When our graduates move on to college and into their professional lives, we believe that this is the stuff that will help them discover success and personal fulfillment. In this same manner, Lower and Middle School faculty and administration are currently working to develop a similar list of essential qualities for “graduates” of the Lower School and the Middle School.
2. WHAT DO WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO KNOW AND BE ABLE TO DO IN EACH SUBJECT AREA AT EACH DIVISION (AND AT EACH GRADE LEVEL)? With the essential qualities of a graduate as our end and our aim, we must consider how to develop those qualities within the context of each subject at the various grade levels, while at the same time determine the most essential understandings — what a student should know and be able to do. For example, —
What should a Parker 5th grade student know and be able to do in science?
—
What should a Parker 7th grade student know and be able to do in history?
—
What should a Parker 12th grade student know and be able to do in the arts?
To help facilitate the development of these essential understandings, we
Translation… What is a “rubric?” The applicable dictionary definition is “any rule of conduct or procedure.” When a teacher gives students the “rubric” for an assignment or project, it clearly outlines for the learners precisely what their finished product is expected to include in order to be eligible for the desired grade or outcome. It clarifies what is required of the student. What is “an exemplar as standards of excellence?” Showing students a concrete example beforehand, as in “this is what an ‘A’ paper looks like; this is what an ‘A’ paper contains,” so they may see a specific example of what they must produce if they wish to earn an ‘A’ for the assignment. These tools offer clarification, objectivity and consistency in assessing and giving feedback on the students’ work.
parker
WINTER 2009
11
features
invited Bil Johnson from Yale University to lead us in two workshops. By determining what the essential understandings ought to be, our faculty are able to sharpen the focus of the curriculum, fine-tune instruction, and provide our students with specific, meaningful feedback. Also, these essential understandings help frame up our discussions on a number of key issues such as adding or dropping curriculum, the current structure of examination periods, the type and amount of homework assigned, the depth and breadth of content covered, and the means by which we assess student learning. 3. HOW CAN WE BEST DESIGN OUR ASSIGNMENTS, OUR COURSES, AND OUR CURRICULUM TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN LEARNING AND ALLOW THEM TO LEARN THE MOST ESSENTIAL STUFF?
Once we determine the essential understandings of a particular subject in a particular year, how do we ensure that our students acquire these skills and competencies? To start, faculty have been taking a good look at all that we do in an effort to identify program and curriculum, strategies and techniques that best ensure student learning. Together, faculty have asked questions such as: —
What are we doing best?
—
What are we missing?
—
What do our current assessments measure?
—
What do we do currently that we can do more of?
—
Are we successfully moving our students toward the essential understandings?
By establishing our own high standards for what we expect our kids to know and be able to do, faculty are
Great schools realize that the challenge is not simply teaching as much stuff as possible, but determining what is most essential.
Great schools design innovative curriculum and implement more authentic forms of assessment to ensure students learn the things that matter most.
12
WINTER 2009
parker
features
able to refine curriculum, evaluate the how we assess the learning of our students, and continue to provide students with specific, constructive feedback. All of which will advance our primary goal — student learning.
educational roots, Francis Parker School recognizes that the real value of education is to help students learn, and to allow each child to use what he or she has learned by applying those understandings to reallife concepts.
One example of a change in curriculum and assessment is the integration of our balanced literacy program at the Lower School. Traditional curriculum and tools of assessing student reading have been replaced by a much more comprehensive, individualized program that is advancing our initiative to improve reading in our elementary students.
If our vision is to develop in our students the qualities of intellectual curiosity, creative thinking, passion for learning, ethical responsibility, selfreliance, community engagement, and global competence then we must realize that it is not only the stuff they learn that matters, but the learning itself.
The decision to modify our 2009-2010 Upper School Academic Calendar (see pages 4-7 of this magazine) was absolutely influenced by our understanding of what matters most for our students. We believe that the enhancements to the academic calendar (e.g. increased instructional time, opportunities in experiential learning, and genuine academic breaks), will not only advance our mission of offering a superior college-preparatory education, but will provide them with the stuff that matters most.
Assessment is seen as a means to improve student learning and not as an end in itself.
4. HOW CAN WE BEST ASSESS STUDENT WORK AND PROGRESS IN AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING? Traditional models of assessment, including the “teach, test, and move on” version, support the idea that the absolute value of what has been learned is measured in terms of the score on an exam. While traditional testing plays a necessary role in student learning, our faculty view assessment not simply as a series of tests, but as an ongoing process of evaluation — an instrument for improvement. Via a project, paper, or examination, assessment is seen as a means to improve student learning and not as an end in itself. In his book Making the Most out of College: Students Speak Their Minds, Harvard Professor Richard Light points out that more than anything, college students recognize the real value in their learning comes not from a grade on a test, but from their active participation in the “feedback loop.” An overwhelming majority [of students] are convinced that their best learning takes place when they have a chance to submit an early version of their work, get detailed feedback and criticism, and then hand in a final revised version…Students improve and are engaged when they receive feedback (and opportunities to use it) on realistic tasks requiring transfer at the heart of learning goals and real-world demands. By developing clear rubrics, offering exemplars as standards of excellence, and providing meaningful feedback to the individual student, we are working to ensure that our kids will acquire the essential understandings. Moreover, true to our progressive
parker
WINTER 2009
13
features
You can go home again.
Parker Ambassadors: The Philippines BY GRANT LICHTMAN, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN EMERGING ASIA
26 years ago, fresh with a graduate degree in geology and a half year of wandering along the backpack routes of southern Asia, I found myself in the central Philippines city of Dumaguete, a busy port town set between the warm Visayan sea and steep, verdant volcanic slopes. I came to visit a college friend who was working with the United Nations Development Project. A week later I had agreed to stay for a year as a visiting professor at Silliman University, one of the oldest and most respected venues of higher education in the country. My compensation: $100 a month, a midget halfbedroom townhouse neighbored by a family of pigs that woke up before the sun, a Honda motorbike, all the free scuba diving I could manage, and the busiest, most challenging year of awakening of my young life. This past summer I returned for the first time since that year, accompanied by Upper School teacher Phil Trotter. In his first two years at Parker, Phil has brought a unique and forwardlooking vision to Parker, based on his more than 20 years of teaching around the world. He teaches the new and popular Social Justice course; he is personally committed to a life of service; he has traveled extensively in the third world, not as a tourist but as an educator and a student of how we can better understand the critical issues that are facing those roughly 3 billion people on the planet who live on less than $2 a day, and how those issues are, in fact, our issues. Phil and I were funded by Francis Parker School to travel to Dumaguete to establish a partnership between Silliman University and Parker. Building on Parker’s highly successful student trips to South Africa over the last five years, and as a key component of our rapidly growing commitment to global education, our mission was to create a sustainable annual student trip to the Philippines centered on experiential and service learning. The goal of this trip is to provide students a truly once-in-alifetime opportunity to immerse, if even for a short period of time, directly into the lives and learning of a very different people and place. After an all-night flight from LAX to Manila, we arrived on the steamy tarmac of sleepy
14
parker winter 2009
features
Parker is committed to expanding our students’ exposure to, and knowledge of, the cultural, political, historical, scientific, ethical, and economic forces that are shaping the 21st century
Dumaguete airport and were greeted by our hosts from Silliman. In 1982-83 I had been deeply involved with a pioneering group of multi-disciplinary social and natural scientists engaged in basic and applied research across the central Philippines and throughout southeast Asia. During the later stages of the repressive dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, this academic group provided a much needed, if sometimes risky, counterweight to the heavy-handed Marcos regime. With the miracle of e-mail and the Internet, I had followed the career paths of some of my long-lost colleagues. Some had gone on in the intervening years to work at the highest levels of reform-minded governments in Manila and one, the garrulous and articulate Dr. Ben Malayang, is now president of Silliman, a thriving educational group that now hosts elementary and secondary schools as well as 8,000 undergraduates and graduates at the university level. Ben made sure that our welcome to Dumaguete was embracing, and that we would have the full resources of the university available to complete our work. I don’t want to imply that even a bit of our trip was tough duty; that would be a lie. So let’s get over the basics of a visit to Dumaguete, known to Filipinos as the “City of Gentle People.” Clean air-conditioned rooms at a seaside resort with gentle breezes, fresh mango shakes, and clean-swept lawns are $30 a
parker
WINTER 2009
night. We tried (believe me, we really tried) to eat $20 a day of fresh fish, fruit and an occasional cold beverage, and failed. Internet cafes offer day and night service for four bits an hour and we rented motor-scooters for five bucks a day. And the people really are gentle, hospitable, and accustomed to foreigners. But there was serious work to do, and with the eager facilitation of our hosts we set a busy agenda for our week in Dumaguete. One major goal of the student trip is to educate our students about the key issues and challenges that are facing not only this region or this country, but Asian countries in general as they emerge from the post-colonial, post-World War II era onto a politically, socially, and economically diverse stage. Our students will shadow Silliman students to their classes; all course work is conducted in English. Half-day trips in the area surrounding the city will be led by Silliman faculty, experts in their respective fields, in order to place into context issues of history, economics, society, and the environment. One morning Phil and I, accompanied by our designated handler, rented motorbikes and wound our way up into the highland area behind the city. In 1982, the last area of virgin rain forest was under assault by illegal loggers, many tied to the Marcos regime. The Silliman group of scientists had been instrumental, then and in the intervening quarter century, at
15
features
having the area designated as a national forest preserve. At the core of the preserve are the pristine twin Balinsasayao lakes, surrounded by lofty stands of hardwood rain forest. On the ride up the mountain we were able to see the extent to which subsistence farmers have encroached on the native forest, clearing even the steepest slopes to farm corn and root crops, pushed ever higher as flatter lowlands are tilled for cash crops like sugar and copra. We were paddled in fairy-tale quiet around the larger of the twin lakes in a small outrigger dugout by a former slash-and-burn farmer who now makes a meager but sustainable living on eco-tourists rather than cutting trees. The lake laps up against the native forest, a high canopy of clinging orchids and singing birds. We beached the canoe and climbed a narrow, wet trail of founded stones to a three-story bamboo and thatch lookout: the perfect classroom where we will spend the day with our Parker students, accompanied by some of the same Silliman faculty who have made this area their life’s work. We will see first-hand the relationship between fragile habitat, climate, water, native species, and the livelihoods of people who have called these mountains home for generations. Descending from the lakes we took a road to the site of a major geothermal energy project that for more than two decades has provided the main source of electrical power to the province of Negros Oriental. Sulfurous steam rises out of a road-cut and a local village uses the water from hot springs for washing. We took a detour to the 40-foot high Malapo Falls (where our students will want to stop for a cool swim) before resuming our journey through the back country. In the late afternoon we once again ascended on our motorbikes to a mountain shrine built by the Japanese government commemorating the last stand of local Japanese forces as they withstood an American naval barrage and land assault by Filipino irregulars in 1944. When we return to this spot with our students we will be accompanied by a young Silliman history professor who has just completed his second book, detailing the personal stories of families who took to hidden camps in these same mountains during the long, and sometimes brutal, years of Japanese occupation. The core of this student trip will be a three-day service learning experience that includes home stays with families in Dumaguete and surrounding communities. By naming this trip “Parker Ambassadors,” we hope to instill in our students the recognition that they are representing themselves and their school during their stay. We also hope that this emphasis helps students understand that the goals of the trip do not end when we return to San Diego. Silliman has an established system of community outreach and an entire service learning department. Many of their own graduate and undergraduate students are required to spend up to five months in community home-stay settings. Silliman hosts a number of international college visitors in their service learning program; they are extremely excited that Parker will be the first group of high schoolers to participate. What will our students encounter during their home stays? Phil and I visited a number of host families and toured a local clinic, a women’s cooperative bakery, a day care center, and an orphanage. During their threeday stay, our students will live with their hosts, help with shopping, cooking, and cleaning, and work part of each day alongside their hosts at one of these local community projects. The conditions are Spartan; budgets are small. Homes are clean and gardens tidy because these folks take a lot of pride in what they have, meager as it may be by Western standards. One guarantee: the hosts will insist that their students guests take the most comfortable spot in the house to sleep, even if that is a clean mat on a hard floor.
16
The core of this student trip is a three-day service learning experience that includes home stays with families in Dumaguete and surrounding communities. By naming this trip “Parker Ambassadors,” we hope to instill in our students the recognition that they are representing themselves and their school during their stay. We also hope that this emphasis helps students understand that the goals of the trip do not end when we return to San Diego.
WINTER 2009
parker
features
In his first two years at Parker, Phil has brought a unique and forward-looking vision to Parker, based on his more than 20 years of teaching around the world Phil and I were professionally impressed and emotionally touched by the work that these residents are doing to improve their own lives with extremely modest resources. We enjoyed fresh pancakes straight from the fire with the head of the women’s cooperative in the hillside village of Barangay Magsaysay, learning how this cooperative has succeeded in returning modest but important cash dividends to member families. We tried to make ourselves very small as we poked our heads into a one-room day care center where shy threeyear-olds were enjoying morning snacks and learning a few first words of English. We visited the small health clinic in a community where Silliman outreach workers make weekly rounds to rows of concrete houses, checking that women and children feel comfortable about coming in for their basic health needs. We helped cuddle babies at a remarkably clean and well-kept orphanage that had recently taken on sets of twins, triplets, and quad babies‌all at the same time. At the end of the home stays, our Parker studentambassadors will gather at Silliman, joined by all of the host families for a night of reflection and celebration. We guarantee that there will not be a dry eye in the house.
parker
WINTER 2009
One of the most significant challenges in Asia is the conflict between economic growth and environmental impact. As the upland rain forest, the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystem on the planet, has been heavily degraded by population and economic pressures, so too the coral reefs that support much of the biodiversity and food chain of our tropical oceans. For decades the reefs have been over-fished, dynamited, and poisoned as growing populations seek to feed themselves and their communities. For the Philippines, an archipelago of some 5,000 islands, the relationship could not be more critical. Starting in the 1980s, Silliman led the way in studying some of these local reef environments and in particular the relationship between the marine system and local subsistence fishermen. In 1982-83 I helped marine biologists map out individual reefs, meter by square meter, to establish baseline data for multi-decade studies. We tested the first artificial reef placements, using old rubber tires. We mapped out the extent of sea-grass communities by hanging on the outrigger of a noisy outboard, faces in the water, yelling results to students on the boat.
17
features
After more than a quarter-century of emplacing artificial reefs, creating sustainable village-based enforcement systems, and securing protection at the national as well as regional level, small successes blanket the region around Dumaguete. Phil and I dove along the coast south of the city, an area largely devoid of larger fishes in 1982. We inspected the more than 400 tire-based artificial reef modules that are now supporting a foundation of live coral, which in turn provide habitat for a teeming 50-acre haven for fish, an off-limits zone respected by the local fishermen as key to their long-term livelihood. We hired a boat to make the hour trip over to small Apo Island, the final destination for our Parker ambassadors. In 1982 Apo was a sleepy little islet with a remote village of subsistence fishermen and farmers; we would visit, dive, spend the night sleeping on the sand, sharing our rice and their fish. Now Apo, with its carefully guarded reef preserve, is a diving destination with an international reputation and a multimillion dollar exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Small fees to dive and snorkel pay for monitoring of the reef, and the villagers know that their future is based on acting as stewards of this precious resource. Phil and I dove and snorkeled in pristine tropical water, chasing swarms of reef fish, swimming lazily with a half dozen hawk-billed turtles, and nosing in amongst what the locals claim is the largest single colony of clown fish “in the world.” We met with the teacher of the small 80-student high school on the island and agreed to bring our
Parker ambassadors together with their students for a day of sharing about how lives are different and the same in San Diego, California, and Apo, Negros Oriental. Leaving Apo, we spent two last days debriefing with our Silliman hosts and creating a detailed agenda for our proposed trip. By the time we had arrived back in San Diego, we had an agenda and a budget to propose to the Upper School and Dr. Blumenthal. The trip is scheduled for two weeks over the February break, and will be open to a maximum of 12 Parker students. Parker is committed to expanding our students’ exposure to, and knowledge of, the cultural, political, historical, scientific, ethical, and economic forces that are shaping the 21st century. An important component of this exposure will be experiential learning, the kind that is often not best suited to the classroom. We also need to bring the world onto our campus; our partnership with Silliman will likely lead to short visits by one or more members of the Silliman faculty who can come to Parker and share their expertise with a larger group of Parker students. Within the next few years we anticipate that this model will expand from South Africa and the Philippines to include sustainable relationships and annual educational events for Parker students across the globe.
On Saturday, February 13, 2009, twelve students departed with their faculty chaperones, COO Grant Lichtman, Upper School social studies faculty Phil Trotter, and Senior Class Advisor and English teacher Carol Obermeier. The group returned on Saturday, February 28, 2009. Trip participants posted a blog journal of their trip on the School’s website at http://www.francisparker.org/ind ex.php?option=com_content&task =view&id=847&Itemid=341
18
WINTER 2009
parker
features
Bringing the world to Parker, twenty students at a time BY KEVIN YALEY, ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL
Francis Parker School is “a school which, by its environment, its methods, its opportunities, would develop the young for participation in citizenship—the world’s work.” Adele Outcalt, Francis Parker School Principal 1913-20
On Sunday, February 1, while most of us were watching the Super Bowl (or at least the commercials) twenty students from Beijing Zhongguancun High School arrived for the start of what was to be an amazing week for all involved. Thanks to our Parker families who opened their homes and their hearts to these students. As you can see from the comments we received from our families, the experience was truly magnificent. REFLECTIONS FROM OUR PARKER PARENTS/HOST FAMILIES: Jiaqi, or as we came to know him, “Sam,” jumped into our family routine with both feet on the ground. From attending a very raucous Super Bowl party, to adapting (and eating) every food put in front of him, the pleasure of hosting this boy was beyond all our expectations. He was, at all times, unfailingly polite, well-mannered (he did his own laundry), and endearingly enthusiastic about any new adventure we threw his way. With very little in common, two teenage boys—Sam and my son—spanned language, customs and continents to form a fast and enduring bond of friendship that has taught our family about the possibilities of global awareness and broadened our horizons in untold ways. Beijing will forever be known to us as “Sam’s home.” Thank you so much for this opportunity. As a family we received a measure of sharing and learning from our guest that was an invaluable life experience—we
parker
WINTER 2009
19
features
together. During the week, we had a chance to show her the real day-to-day life in America, and how the life of a Middle School student is here. We helped teach her how to do laundry by machine, and we shopped together, and introduced her to real American food. We had a wonderful week together. most wonderful week
hope Liu Funing takes home grand memories of her times at Parker and with our students. Our thanks to all who enabled us to be part of this exchange. Our family was delighted to have had this experience. Thanks to you and all of the organizers for giving us this opportunity. We’ll hope to visit our friend, Jiachen, in Beijing in a few years. He was an absolutely wonderful kid and we grew fond of him. We are honored to be a part of this very special experience! We had a great week and would do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you and everyone at Parker for putting this program together!
It has been a for our entire family, a chance to show off our neighborhood, our school, and our city. It was a chance to be ambassadors, and find how our similarities and differences bring us close together.
Thank you for your help organizing this event. We had a great week with the student. My two daughters quickly became friends with Miss Wang, and they all enjoyed their time
20
I wanted to share with you one story which Amanda may have shared could she have gone to the lunch today (or probably not as she tends to be a bit shy). She was unable to attend as her orchestra rehearsal created a conflict, but I was able to bring our student to the end of rehearsal after lunch. We were fortunate to have a student also with an interest in music. He hummed around our house and told me of his interest in opera and that he was beginning voice lessons. One night this week he asked to use the piano, and although he does not play, could find a few notes to help him “tune his voice.� The next thing I knew, Amanda was taking
WINTER 2009
parker
features
Beijing Zhongguancun High School A First Class School; A First Class Education
out her violin and began to play from his music score so that he could sing along with her. Music truly is a universal language, and they spent quite some time playing and singing. She then taught him “Chopsticks” on the piano and discovered that he knew how to sing “Silent Night.” So on her violin she played and again he sang. I think that experience was worth a million dollars! Again, thank you. It has been a most wonderful week for our entire family, a chance to show off our neighborhood, our school, and our city. It was a chance to be ambassadors, and find how our similarities and differences bring us close together. We were the ones who benefited from this exchange. Thank you for the opportunity. I was delighted to see Gong Yu Ping wearing her Parker sweatshirt when she got off the bus! She has been a pleasure to host. Thank you for allowing us to participate in this program. Li was a pleasure to have at home. She joined right in with our activities. We learned about life in Beijing and she learned about life in San Diego. We found universal themes: laughter, games, care, curiosity and fun. We all benefited from her visit.
parker
WINTER 2009
Located in the heart of Zhongguancun, Beijing Zhongguancun High School was established in 1982. After merging with Qinghuayuan High School in 1998 and with Shuangyushu High School in 2003, it now boasts 4,000 students in over 90 classes with 300 faculty and staff. The mission of the school is to “create an education for students’ development and provide an arena for students’ success.” Combining an excellent teaching staff and an atmosphere of academic thought and creativity, students leave Zhongguancun High School ready to take on the rigors of higher education not only academically, but also fully prepared for life. Recently the school was honored with the “Beijing Environmental Model School” award for its efforts in promoting environmental awareness in all parts of life (“humanism, technology, and patriotism”) and to create a culture of environmental awareness in the classroom as well as the campus itself—known for its pristine “springlike” environment. Many different aspects of the school make it a Model School for Environment. An astronomy laboratory, weather station, computer classrooms, sports fields, and an internationally ranked wild animal museum with over 910 exhibits are all examples of why Zhongguancun High School was given this distinguished award. In 2003 the school was honored with the “Haidian Advanced Education Award” for its reputation in society of strict teaching, excellence in education, and remarkable University entrance-examination scores. Other awards the school has won recently are: “The Domestic Advanced Collectivity Award for Art Education”; “The Golden Sail Orchestral Corps Award”; “The Beijing Model School Award for Science,” and the “Haidian Advanced Award for Traditional Sports.”
21
features
Thinking Globally, Acting Globally BY LARA FALKOWSKI, COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATE
Milia Fisher, a Parker senior, gives this description as she sees her past, present and future begin to unfold in front of her. As she feels the passion to help others, she realizes that it is her time and her turn to make a difference. And so she does.
Milia’s first “moment” came during an Upper School assembly on January 14, 2008. She sat listening intently to the story of Craig Kielburger. At age eleven, he began the human rights organization Free the Children. She notes, “As I sat there, I began to empathize with the protagonists in his stories…My mind drifted back to my own childhood, when I met the brothers of these children in Soweto, South Africa. I thought of the week when I had held hands with their sister in a dusty village...I promised her then that I would come back. I looked into her eyes and told her ‘I’m going to be there for you’.” During the assembly that day, Milia renewed the promise she made to this young girl, and to herself. A few months later, with the help of Parker’s Upper School administration, Milia established the Global Awareness Director position in Parker’s Associated Student Body (ASB). When she created this position she had two visions: to enhance Parker’s global curriculum and the global opportunities offered to students; and to put a coherent sister school program into place. Soon after, Milia and fellow senior Joe Celentino started Parker’s own Free the Children (FTC) Club, to build a school in Sri Lanka. The students wanted to make a difference in a needy region of the world where the impact would be strong. They needed to raise a total of $8,500; the cost to build one school.
“Once in a while there are those moments. You know, THOSE moments. Moments where everything becomes very quiet and clear, your heart beats quickly, and you can barely breathe. Suddenly, it becomes apparent that all your preceding life experiences pale in comparison to this one shining fraction of a second. It’s only then that the fog around you lifts and the lines that define the corners of your world suddenly become very precise. In seventeen years on this earth, I’ve had two of those moments.” —MILIA FISHER ‘09
Together co-presidents Milia and Joe, and senior Carrie
22
WINTER 2009
parker
features
Fjeldheim, president of the Amnesty International
Club, organized Parker’s first Global Awareness Fair, which took place on September 19, 2008. The students spent six months organizing the Fair. They wanted to coordinate a global education campaign within Parker, and find a way for these clubs to extend beyond their own club members, while simultaneously raising money to put toward the clubs’ causes. Milia comments, “We wanted to educate Parker students about global issues in a fun carnival-style atmosphere so that people would get the message that helping the world is fun and rewarding.” Milia, Joe and Carrie brought in a group of local non-profit organizations to make Parker students aware of the numerous opportunities available. They wanted to show students that they could have a global impact while working at home. Upper School ASB Advisor Marc Thiebach comments, “Milia, Joe and Carrie were instrumental in making this an informative and fun event. Kudos to them for this student led effort to pursue our School’s global education initiative.” All of the fundraising profits from the Global Awareness Fair were donated to Parker’s Free the Children and Amnesty International Clubs. The Fair raised over $3,000, most of which is being applied to the Sri Lanka project. Milia and Joe have several other fundraising efforts planned to raise the remaining amount. In the summer of 2010, Milia and Joe plan to lead the student committee to Sri Lanka, where a group of Parker students will physically construct a school for the community. Even though they will be in college, Milia and Joe plan to continue the work they started at Parker. Milia’s second goal, to establish a sister school to Parker, came to fruition with the help of Upper School Spanish teacher Alex Gomez and social studies Department Chair Tom Crowley. During the summer of 2008, Señor Gomez and Mr. Crowley traveled to the Atlantic Coast of Colombia for a research project. (See the Winter 07-08 Parker Magazine for the full story). Through his personal contacts, Señor Gomez was able to gain access to Palenque San Basilio and key Afro-Colombian leaders and educators. During that trip, Señor Gomez and Mr. Crowley established a relationship with a Colombian elementary school in Palenque, Colombia—Colegio Paulino Salgado— situated in the low-income part of the city of Barranquilla. Milia learned about this relationship and together with Mr. Gomez and Parker’s Spanish Club president, Tina Ramenini ‘09, pursued the opportunity to help this poorly equipped school. Milia discovered the non-profit organization, Computers to SD Kids, which distributes refurbished computers from big corporations to local San Diego community service projects. They donated ten desktop computers and ten flat-screen monitors to the cause. On January 19, 2009, the computers were packaged for free, courtesy of UPS, shipped at a discounted cost, and paid for with donations acquired by Parker’s Spanish Language Club. When the equipment arrived in Colombia, the Secretary of the Interior received the computers, storing them in City Hall to await the special presentation ceremony on February 17, 2009. Early in the 2008-2009 school year, Parker’s administration approved Palenque Elementary School as Parker’s second-ever sister school (the first was a school in Japan in the 1980s). Milia hopes that this will be one of many more Parker sister
parker
WINTER 2009
23
features
schools throughout the world. To ensure its sustainability, Milia is working to implement an educational campaign, making this project a permanent part of Parker’s global education program. Milia, Tina and Señor Gomez plan to establish correspondence between our school’s Spanish language classes and the students at Colegio Paulino Salgado. Further, they hope to establish an annual trip to Barranquilla, in which Parker students and teachers will participate in service learning activities at the Colombian School. Milia commented, “I want the Parker community to become educated about development issues in the third world, racial conflict in Latin America, and global armed conflict. Additionally, I hope this experience will teach Parker students about the unique culture of the Afro-Colombians as well as their struggle with marginalization in Colombia.” February 12-21, 2009, found Milia, Tina, and Señor Gomez in Barranquilla attending the special presentation ceremony, setting up the computers at Colegio Paulino Salgado, visiting with students and teachers, and meeting school officials to discuss the future of the joint partnership. They also had the unique opportunity to meet the Governor and Secretary of the Interior of the Atlantic State, as well as leaders of the AfroColombian communities. Photos and film footage of the trip were presented to the Parker community upon their return. Milia’s second moment of clarity came during a phone conversation with Señor Gomez. He told Milia how the teacher from the elementary school in Palenque, Colombia, took a bus to the capital to find and learn to use a computer. She told
24
Señor Gomez that her students knew about the angel from the United States who was going to send them computers, the only computers in Palenque. The teacher told her class, “Mis hijos preciosos, someone cares whether or not you are going to be able to taste the world, someone wants you to have a better life. Su angel.” Milia said, “There were tears rolling down my face, and I could feel the hot air around me so much more acutely because I knew that the angel was me….There were no major sacrifices involved, no taxing weight on my life, just a few minutes of work each day that eventually added up to something incredible.” Milia’s community service efforts don’t stop there. She, Annie Condon ’09 and Keerthi Reddy ’10 are representing Francis
Parker School in the March 22, 2009, World Water Day project organized by Project Concern International (PCI), to raise awareness about the need for clean drinking water in developing nations. PCI enlisted the support of students from Parker, La Jolla Country Day, Bishop’s, Hoover High and High-Tech High, as well as three Sudanese students from the Sudanese Refugee Center. The student committee attends monthly meetings to plan all aspects of the walk, including logistics, marketing, and education. Milia’s participation in the project has been crucial as she leads the group of Parker students, and serves on the external Marketing Committee. Lauren Shade, Parker’s Assistant Director of Community Service, commented, “Milia has a genuine desire to better the lives of others less fortunate and uses her talent as a leader to
WINTER 2009
parker
features
achieve this goal. It is amazing that as a high school student, Milia envisions fundamental changes in our society, which would alleviate global problems like gender inequality and poverty. I can only imagine what a high school student with this vision will be capable of in the future.”
“Mis hijos preciosos, someone cares whether or not you are going to be able to taste the world, someone wants you to have a better life. Su angel.”
Outside of Parker, during summer 2008, Milia participated in the WorldLink internship with the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. She wrote, “I understand how incredibly daunting the task of educating yourself on the world’s many issues can be. That’s exactly the reason I chose to take this internship, because I wanted someone to guide me through my discovery of the world’s many conflicts. WorldLink led me through my learning process.” She researched one of five assigned topics on global conflict, while meeting weekly with the other interns to present and discuss articles on their individual topics. Milia researched and produced a 52-page compilation report on gender inequality. She said, “I gained a greater understanding of the issues that my generation faces, particularly gender inequality, as well as an appreciation of the type of work that a non-governmental organization can do to help alleviate global conflict.” She added, “I’ve never thought of myself as disenfranchised because of my gender; however, I definitely realized how much women need to fight for, especially in the third world, and how much progress needs to be made in order to achieve gender equality.” Milia plans to study International Relations or Development in college. She has always known that she wanted to pursue global social justice, because her father
grew up in South Africa and his young adulthood was dedicated to fighting the Apartheid. He continually inspired her with his involvement and stories of social justice. When Craig Kielburger came to Parker, his presentation reminded Milia of that passion, and inspired her to keep moving forward. She notes, “It’s what I love to do, which makes everything a lot easier. After I realized that this is what I want to do with my life, my whole future seems brighter. I’m excited for college, to study global issues, and to get out into the world to work with organizations that are changing peoples’ lives.” Parker’s global education initiatives include increasing opportunities for community relations, multicultural awareness and global citizenship. The School seeks to educate children to practice good citizenship and character, including thoughtfulness, consideration for others, and appreciation for social service. Milia embraces these initiatives, stating, “It all came together in my junior year. I’m surprised at how much I’ve been able to do in only a few months because of the support that Parker and Parker administration have given me. They have been an integral part of all of my projects. I’ve been lucky to have had the opportunities to realize my passion at this age. I just feel lucky.”
parker
WINTER 2009
25
features
The Making of the Musical BY CATHY MORRISON, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
You’ve seen the notices in the Parker News & Notes, The Music Man flyers on the Middle School Office window, A Chorus Line stenciled on the wooden construction wall. The calendar says there’s an Upper School Musical Theatre Production April 23-25. The All-Middle School Musical is set for March 12-14. Stand in the lobby of the Galli-Curci Center, and you’ll see framed programs from two decades’ worth of student productions. If you’ve attended any of these theatre productions at Parker—ever—you’ve come away deeply impressed with the student performers. And maybe you’ve wondered how it all comes together for an evening of magic in the Galli-Curci Center. Drama is an elective course offering in the Middle School; in the Upper School, students may choose from American Musical Theatre, Drama 1, or Advanced Theatre as drama electives. Speech is offered in both Middle and Upper School. According to Middle School Theatre Director Ellen Burns, “Middle School drama has grown from an after-school club (1986-on) to an 8th grade arts class (1989-on). Last year, drama was also offered in the 7th grade, and this year it is an all-school program offered to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.” Students don’t have to take a drama class to participate in the Middle School musical. Theatre Arts Department Chair Gordon Cantiello adds, “Students get involved either through the drama club or classes in drama.” Since fall 2007, Parker productions have included Annie, A Chorus Line, 45 Minutes from Broadway, and Noises Off.
26
Upcoming productions feature the all-Middle School musical The Music Man in March 2009, and the Upper School spring show, A Piece of My Heart, in April 2009. The Summer Musical Theatre Conservatory will stage Rent on July 31, 2009. How do Gordon and Ellen go about choosing which shows they will do? Gordon explained, “It depends on the students enrolled in the class, and sometimes we don’t know who those students are until they sign up, and until they sign up, we can’t pick a show. Very interesting, isn’t it?” Part of the process is finding a piece that fits the number, interests and composition of the group of performers. For instance, if Gordon has very few male students signed up, he must find a show with fewer male roles, adapt some roles for females to play, or, as in the case of Annie last year, Vincent Pasquill ’09 played four different roles; he also appeared in several different ensemble scenes. Matt Margulis ’12 is Mr. Versatility this spring—he will play five different characters this April in A Piece of My Heart. When it came to choosing A Chorus Line, Gordon said, “After a week of discussion, the students selected the show with my guidance.” From Ellen’s point of view, the selection process comes down to “instinct and a sense of what Middle School-age kids enjoy and can grow from in this world of theater. I’ve chosen (and written) ones that educate the kids in character, plot development, and stage knowledge, and often I have to create dialogue for individual kids so they get a part with more depth. In most shows, input from the students is part of it.” Building the show from the auditions to the closing curtain
parker winter 2009
features
PRESTO CHANGE-O! The fast costume change was a backstage highlight of A CHORUS LINE. Going from their dance wear to the traditional gold costumes, the entire cast had to change within about one minute and thirty seconds.
can take 8-10 weeks. The academic component means the underlying purpose is student learning and progress at every turn. Ellen explains, “The teaching takes place as the drama unfolds. In the classroom, Middle Schoolers learn through regular reading and discussion from the text Stage and the School, as well as handouts and lessons in everything from mime to character development. They study acting techniques, stage terminology, costuming, voice, and body language. Then they practice what they’ve learned in the classroom on stage in the Galli-Curci Center…character development is enhanced by practice and exercises as well as lectures and research. For example, kids do research into the era of their play, using the School library.” Along the lines of “essential understandings” (see the article on page 8), Gordon describes the academics of Parker theatre: “Sometimes people say ‘our academics’ and ‘the arts classes,’ separating them, but I can’t think of anything more ‘academic’ than being in a production. There should not be a separation of those terms. We have goals, objectives, and we certainly demonstrate what we’ve learned. We’re out there letting everyone see for themselves what we’ve learned.” Other faculty are involved in this teaching process as well. Librarian Laura Alexander works with the Middle Schoolers, not only for researching their play’s historical era, but she also works with Ellen to put together the Shakespeare scenes for the 7th grade Renaissance Faire each year. Visual Arts Chair Barry Cheskaty has built Middle School sets with parent
parker
WINTER 2009
volunteers for more than a dozen years. He said, “My role as an assistant to Ellen Burns over the years has been in the realm of set builder for both Air Band and Drama productions. I’ve also had the pleasure of having some parental assistance from time to time, most notably, Mr. & Mrs. Lancelot, Mrs. Rix, and Mr. Leary. For more than twenty years, Ms. Burns’ drama students have enjoyed the opportunity to explore, study, and gain valuable performance experience. In addition to being an important avenue for artistic expression in the Middle School, the experience gained by her students better prepares them for their continued exploration under the guidance of Mr. Cantiello in the Upper School.” Both Upper and Middle School programs share the expertise of Terry Hendricks, who serves as the Musical Director. Ellen notes, “He’s been an invaluable help in after-school rehearsals. Terry has gone beyond teaching and playing the music and songs. He taught the students the final marching scene in 45 Minutes from Broadway.” Kat Kowalski began working this winter as Stage Manager for The Music Man. Ellen says she’s “really impressed with her background and her work ethic.” Junior Natalie Wirshbo is doing choreography for all the dance numbers and “has the patience of a saint.” Once the show has been cast and the scripts handed out, getting to the final curtain call takes “hard work and discipline,” according to Mr. Cantiello, who adds, “There is also a lot of sacrificing from our students and parents. Not only by getting here at 6:45am each morning for 8-10 weeks, but on
27
features
Barry Cheskaty pointed out when asked to comment for this article, “the upcoming Middle School production of THE MUSIC MAN will be Ellen Burns’ final theater performance as she nears the end of her illustrious tenure at Parker. I am grateful for her dedicated service to our students and I wish her the best of health and happiness in her retirement.” weekends and for our final technical week.” Parent volunteers are key. Ms. Burns credits them with being “involved in every aspect, from wardrobe, to set building and painting, to snacks—they spend many hours, plus they have to drive [students] to rehearsals and shows.” You can add ticket sales, publicity, wardrobe, photography, makeup and green room management to this list for parent and faculty volunteer contributions for Upper School shows as well. With any production, some things are predictable, other things, not so much. On the unpredictable side, there is the audience—it wouldn’t be a show with out one— but Gordon says, “The audience is 50% of the process. Until our first audience, we don’t know how it will play. That’s why professional shows have a ‘try-out’ period to work out the timing, to find where, if it’s a comedy, the humor lies. Where the rhythm of a show is and what works and what doesn’t.” Regardless of the show, Ellen finds that predictably, “drama
28
and kids—they really, absolutely become a family. I’ve seen it happen here at Parker from our very first shows, and although the kids are different, they wind up in the same wild and warm family-like circle. They fight, they feud, they forgive, they forget, they grow into brothers and sisters. They hate the work, make friends with kids they never would have known, love the snack breaks and the wardrobe and makeup and warm-ups and the shows. After the show and endless afternoons and evenings of rehearsals and set work and costumes, when the makeup comes off and there’s no more after school dramatic family, they’ll tell me something’s sadly missing. They say it, of course, like 11-, 12- or 13-year olds, and are often quite funny. But their bond often lasts for years, and I see them in Gordon’s plays. They’re still spunky, and still a family.” To that, Gordon adds, “My favorite show is [whatever] one I’m working on at the moment. I love the process of directing. I love the exploration. The ‘getting to know’ each and every student. It’s the best job in the world!”
WINTER 2009
parker
features
You can’t get cast if you don’t audition! PARKER MAGAZINE: What is a typical Parker audition like? How does this compare to more “professional” audition experiences? GORDON CANTIELLO: The students prepare a twominute song or monologue and they usually have a dance component if we’re doing a musical. The next step is to read from the script with others and then cast the show. This type of audition is very similar to most professional auditions. However, in the “cattle call” auditions, you may not have a chance to read or dance. It is sometimes based on your “type,” called typecasting. If you happen to be auditioning to replace an actor in a professional show, you have to be able to fit into their costume, and as crazy as it sounds, you are cast with that in mind.
Evolution of a program Besides the arts buildings currently under construction (see page 38), how has the program evolved over time? Gordon answered, “I think we attract more students to the School because of our arts program. We have such dedicated teachers in the arts at Parker—I can’t tell you how many times on weekends I see our arts teachers working. Our audience base has grown. Our productions usually sell out. It would be nice to add a person in the Drama department [like] a technical director to handle the needs of the shows and the facility.”
ELLEN BURNS: This year was our first “official” audition time. In the drama classes of the previous years, auditions just involved the class, and were held in class, as young actors showed their stuff in a short scene, singers and dancers were given an option, and we were more informal. With a musical director and stage manager taking notes, and the director assisting the waiting auditioners, it was a great experience for kids to encourage each other and admire each other’s courage. And it still felt friendly. PM: What are you looking for when you audition students? EB: Spunk. That’s on stage. Off stage, I’m looking for empathy shown to their peers, a connection to the drama family. GC: I look to see if the student can be affected by what they are reading. If they can be moved by what is being said and if they can relate to the material being presented. PM: Where do our costumes come from? GC: It depends on the show, but we usually get our costumes from a place called The Costumer in Schenectady, NY, or Diane Lindsay (alumni parent volunteer), usually makes and gathers them from thrift stores and Kobey’s Swap Meet. You’d be surprised to know that most of the props for shows come from Kobey’s. It’s a great place to shop for shows.
parker
WINTER 2009
29
faculty
At the November Board Meeting, Dr. Blumenthal announced that Middle School Principal Mark Silver had accepted the position of Head of School at Hillbrook School, effective July 1, 2009.
Middle School Transition As Mark Silver prepares to leave Parker at the end of the school year in June, Patricia McKenna plans to join us as the new Middle School Head in July.
He said, “It is with an equal amount of excitement and sadness that I share the news of Mark’s promotion. Mark has led our Middle School admirably over the last four years and his leadership, his warmth, and his energy will be missed. For the remainder of this academic year, Mark is committed to continuing his effort to work on many important initiatives in the Middle School.” After a national search process for Mr. Silver’s successor, on February 3, 2009, Dr. Blumenthal wrote to the Parker community, saying, “I am extremely pleased to announce the appointment of Patricia McKenna as our new Head of Middle School, effective July 1, 2009.” Ms. McKenna is currently in her fourth year as the Head of Middle School at the Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey, a grade 6-12 boarding and day school of about 600 students. Before coming to Hun, she taught for twelve years at the Key School in Annapolis, MD, a pre-school through 12th grade day school with an enrollment of 720 students. At Key she served as chair of the Middle School Language Department and taught geography and French. Her prior experience also includes a tour of duty for the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa, as well as work in banking, financial planning and conflict resolution. She holds a B.S. in International Politics from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Ohio University. Dr. Blumenthal noted, “When she visited Parker in January, everyone was immediately impressed by Pat’s understanding of middle school students and their needs, as well as by her eloquence and command of educational issues. She emerged as a clear frontrunner in a very strong field of finalists, and I know she will be an outstanding successor to Mark Silver when he moves on to head his own school at the end of this academic year; Mark will work as closely as possible with Pat to ensure a smooth transition in the Middle School.”
Where’s Mark Going? Founded in 1935, Hillbrook School is an independent, co-educational day school nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Los Gatos, CA. Hillbrook School is home to 315 students in junior kindergarten through grade eight.
30
WINTER 2009
parker
faculty
GETTING TO KNOW PATRICIA MCKENNA We wanted to know what draws Ms. McKenna to Middle Schoolers in general and our school in particular, as well as where she’s coming from. In short, we asked her to tell you a little about herself. She writes: So many things attracted me to Francis Parker School, but what stands out the most for me is your wonderful heritage and philosophy. Focus on the individual child, progressive thinking in program, and emphasis on balance between the important areas of a student’s experience resonate strongly with my own beliefs about children and education. We truly do “educate for life”, and I am so excited to join such a vibrant community in which these values are front and center. When I came to campus for a visit last month, I had the privilege to meet with many members of the Middle School faculty and was so impressed with the enthusiasm and energy they feel about the direction of the School and the initiatives that are in place. What a privilege for me to become part of this team of professionals as we move forward and take on the next set of challenges.
in 1914, but has its origins as a boarding school. There are about 100 students in the middle school, in grades 6-8, and they are very curious about the students at Parker. Middle schoolers are my favorite group to teach! Their openness, curiosity and enthusiasm are contagious and they are so ready to take on new challenges. The middle school years are full of changes and growth and it is exciting as an educator to be part of this process.” Her first job after college graduation was in business — her career path took her into banking, investments and financial consulting. As she worked, she found herself “gravitating toward and taking responsibility for any elements involving training, guidance or instruction, whether for clients or colleagues.” Those experiences led her to change careers, and ultimately to teach middle school-age students. Ms. McKenna’s philosophy is about not only taking students out into the world, but bringing the real world into the classroom through a variety of hands-on activities, opportunities and service learning events, with both a national and international focus. Clearly, her philosophy and Parker’s vision are very much in-sync.
I have been lucky to live in a number of interesting places in my life, including Washington, DC, Chicago and Houston. Princeton is about halfway between Philadelphia and New York, and central New Jersey has much farmland and open space. Historically, many events of the Revolutionary War took place in this area, and many of the local towns are colonial. The Hun School is about the same age as Parker, established
With Thanks to the Search Advisory Committee There are many people who put in a great deal of time during the search, including Associate Head of School Kevin Yaley, who chaired the Search Advisory Committee, and the members of that committee, Director of Admission Judy Conner, Visual Arts Department Chair Barry Cheskaty, Learning Center Director Rona Dosick, Middle School Spanish teacher Monica Gallardo, Middle School math teacher John Hulsey, Parents’ Association President Julia Ingram, and Middle School history teacher Mary Ong-Dean. Dr. Blumenthal added, “I would also like to express my deep gratitude to Shelley Benoit and the other members of the parent advisory group, as well as to Jan Rogers, who worked tirelessly in helping to organize so many details of the process. I have been involved in a number of searches in my career, and I don’t think I have seen any that worked as well as this one.”
parker
WINTER 2009
31
faculty
Parker Pioneer BY CATHY MORRISON, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
We’ve become so accustomed to the athletic opportunities available for our daughters, it’s hard to imagine a time when girls’ teams didn’t exist at Parker. Fran Styles has a lot of Parker Firsts to her credit. The first track and field team, the first softball team, the first crosscountry team, the first golf team, the first girls’ soccer team.
She retired from Francis Parker School in 1994 after a 20-year career, and has spent the past 15 years balancing parttime substitute teaching, volunteering with Girl Scouts and YMCA organizations, playing basketball and competing in Senior Olympics track and field events. But when she started teaching and coaching at Parker in September 1974, there were no girls’ CIF athletic teams. According to Fran, “Girls were allowed to play on the tennis team, so a few had the opportunity for interscholastic competition. With encouragement, I began to develop the teams for the girls.” Like a mighty oak, it all started small. She spent her first two years teaching Lower School Physical Education in the morning, “working with David Glassey in his well-organized program.”
32
Afternoons, she taught 7th-12th grade girls’ PE. Once she became a full-time PE teacher in the Middle and Upper School, she changed the program to combine the boys’ and girls’ PE classes. “This was in part because of Title IX, which was still quite new, but I found it did apply to our school.” In fact, “Fran had a vision of what girls should be able to do,” said David Glassey, Varsity Baseball Head Coach, Director of the Middle School PE program, and Upper School Health & Fitness instructor. Coach Glassey adds, “Fran was very involved with CAHFR and AAHFR (California/American Association for Health, Fitness and Recreation).” She described her first “Girl Event” on campus, saying, “This was what other schools had, called ‘Girls’ Athletic Association,’ and I invited the small school girls to come for a track meet. The boys’ coach [Ted Summers] and some of the track team helped put that on with nice success, and we did it again the next
season. About the third year of this developing girls’ athletic program, Sister Mary from the Catholic school in Oceanside and I worked together so that we would have a planned schedule of games in each season. Sometimes we had to play at the opposite time, so we could have the Gym or the ball field when the boys’ teams were not using them.” Describing Fran’s resourcefulness and determination to create opportunities for the girls, Coach Glassey tells of how she proposed the previously unheard-of notion, “When a girls’ team was in season, the girls’ should have the Gym.” She began developing teams for the girls in the fall of 1976, starting with the fledging volleyball program; the team practiced outside with standards made from poles placed in concrete poured into old tires. Come spring, she added softball and the Lancers played their games at the Presidio field, a tradition that carried through until construction of the Kidd-Wohlford field was completed on
WINTER 2009
parker
faculty
the Linda Vista campus in 2005. (The Middle School softball teams continue to play nearly all of their home games at Presidio.) By fall 1982, she had hired a young volleyball coach who had played basketball at Parker and volleyball in college, John Cook ‘75. Coach Cook went on to win the Lancers’ first two CIF State Championships; currently, he’s the Head Coach for the NCAA women’s volleyball team at the University of Nebraska. The legendary Ed Strange took over the softball program, and Fran worked to keep basketball in the girls’ offerings. Fran notes, “The track and cross-country teams really got their start in the Middle School and then when they became Upper School students, they were interested in continuing those sports as well, not just the girls, but the boys who might have done track since it was established, but had not had the cross-country events.” She and David Glassey began the first Cross Country team as co-coaches.
She’s not afraid to try anything. Her motto was, “There is no ‘I can’t.’ When you say ‘I can’t,’ you’ve already given up. Students weren’t permitted to say, ‘I can’t.’ They could say, ‘This is hard,’ or ‘This is difficult, but I’ll try it,’ but no ‘I can’t.’
The first Lancers to participate in the League Cross Country Finals were two girls—Anna Palmer ‘83 and Viki Salazar ‘80. Fran adds, “The first Parker student to play golf and qualify for the area CIF was a girl.” A girls’ tennis team was added in 1986-87; the girls’ soccer team was born “when one girl was accepted on the boys’ soccer team [and] the coach then volunteered to form a girls’ soccer team.” Fran said, “I believe that was the last [team] we added while I was there.” In 1977, Fran became Parker’s first Physical Education Department Chair, and the department “continued to grow, including a new office [now the Middle School Coaches’ Office], where we could all be together as teachers and coaches.” She and Coach Glassey shared a philosophy about the importance of PE in the curriculum. According to David, “She’s not afraid to try anything. Her motto was, ‘There is no “I can’t.” When you say “I can’t,” you’ve already given up.’ Students weren’t permitted to say, ‘I can’t.’ They could say, ‘This is hard,’ or ‘This is difficult, but I’ll try it,’ but no ‘I can’t.” Fran was later named the School’s Athletic Director, a move she calls “A bit of a surprise! At that time, I knew of about three women who had been named AD for the girls’ sports at their schools, but none who were AD for both the boys’ and girls’.” Faculty and students alike found this former Marine (see sidebar, next page) tough, but fair. Coach Glassey said, “Fran made people accountable; she expected them to be responsible for their budget. She brought a great deal of fairness to the position, and represented the School well in the League. She was fearless.”
First Girls’ Softball team in 1977…the team made their first appearance in the CIF finals in 1979.
parker
WINTER 2009
Dave continued, “Both boys’ and girls’ programs owe her a great debt—she really organized the whole department. Not all the coaches were happy, because she was a woman, but she was a qualified person. She was the motivator for our girls’ volleyball program; she may not have coached a CIF team herself, but she put our programs on the path to those CIF championships. She set the foundation and hired the coaches.”
33
faculty
First all-girls’ soccer team 1988-89
The Spark that Started After her stint as Athletic Director, Fran wound down her full-time career at the Lower School, overseeing the PE program. She said, “It was a lovely final time, till one summer, I decided to retire, and was told, ‘If you find a good replacement.’ I got lucky and was told about Miss Z [current 9th grade Health and Fitness teacher, Middle School PE teacher and varsity boys’ and girls’ golf coach, Stacey Zoyiopoulos]. She was interviewed and selected and has been a fine replacement, both in classes and as a coach.” Since her retirement, she’s been a regular on the substituteteaching list, primarily at the Lower School. She’s “also had the fun of attending 6th grade camp, where I enjoy working with the children in the outdoors and with archery.” Archery is another area of expertise for Fran; she is the head trainer for archery instructors not only for the San Diego Girl Scouts
34
Council, but for all of the Southern California Girl Scouts. She comes back to the Linda Vista campus to teach a threeweek archery unit for Upper School PE classes each year. Her goal is for these students to gain “the confidence that they can do well, have fun, and maybe continue it as one of their sport activities.” Parker students today “have so much more available to them in education and other activities,” but the thing that she says remains constant over time: “The students are almost always respectful and put forth their best effort to meet the requirements of the activity in which they are involved.” The value of athletics in education, Fran believes, lies in “providing exercise for good health, confidence in what the students can learn and then execute successfully and to enjoy the companionship of being a member of a team that works together.”
Clearly, Fran is passionate about athletics. Where did that come from? PE in her elementary school through 8th grade experience primarily consisted of recess. But when she got to high school, she says, “We had a new Home Economics and PE teacher who said we were not just going to play volleyball, but also basketball. We were in a small school country league and did play in competition. It seemed with the proper instruction, I did learn how to play and made the teams and enjoyed it. That led me on to study it as my major in college and I have continued to enjoy it both when teaching and now playing with my fellow seniors!” FROM THE OREGON DUCKS TO THE MARINE CORPS Fran’s journey to Parker included her undergraduate days at the University of Oregon; upon graduation, she taught girls’ PE in Oregon. After that, she went to Teachers’ College at Columbia University for her graduate program. With a Master’s degree in hand, she taught for one year in Springfield, MA. The next stop for her was Women’s Officer Training; she was commissioned in the Marine Corps and sent to MCRD here in San Diego, where she says she was “assigned as the Depot Education Officer and given the responsibility of managing the women’s teams. The nice thing was that I got to play on the teams as well as being ‘in charge.’” “I met my [future] husband when he was referred to me as a possible coach for the women’s basketball team. We
WINTER 2009
parker
faculty
1977 Girls’ Volleyball team wins first CIF section title
it All also played softball, volleyball, badminton and had a few who did individual sports. From there I was assigned as the Officer Procurement position for the western area and traveled to college campuses, explaining the program for officer training. During the summer, I was then assigned on the staff at Quantico, VA, to train for the college women. I was then engaged to Michael Styles, [and] we had planned to be married at Quantico, but the Marine Corps said they would transfer me back to San Francisco, and since he was stationed there, we had six years [in San Francisco.]” She resigned from the Corps in 1959; at the time, women couldn’t be on active duty and have children. Her son was born in March, and she says, “For the next ten years, I played mother and rooted for the boys’ teams and my daughter in Girl Scouts.” IT’S A SMALL WORLD Retired Middle School Foreign Language Department Chair Marlene Fisher was Fran’s Parker connection. They knew one another through their church; when an opening became available, Marlene encouraged her to apply. Marlene’s daughter Lori ‘76 was Fran’s teen helper with her Sunday school class; once at Parker, Fran says, “It was great to be able to depend on her, as she was a Parker cheerleader.” What drew Fran to the Parker community? “It was a well-established small school with high academic
parker
WINTER 2009
standards.” Fran’s son Patrick Styles ’82 is a Lancer alumnus. I STILL WANT TO DO THE POLE VAULT Fran continues to be an active athlete; in addition to archery, she plays basketball with the “Splash” women’s basketball team. She said, “The Senior Women’s Basketball Association was started at the Mission Valley YMCA while I was on the Board, but I had not had time to participate; now I do. We have gone to four Nationals since I joined and brought home Gold, until the last one, which was Silver. For 2009, we will be playing at Stanford, and hope to reclaim our Gold!” But that’s not all, folks. If you’re a regular reader of the Sports section of the San Diego UnionTribune, maybe you saw the feature article last fall about the Senior Olympics, with a color photo of our very own Fran Styles competing in a Track & Field event. It all started because she was a volunteer, officiating a senior track meet held at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. She remembers, “While I was doing my assigned job, I realized that I could do the events that these ‘old folks’ were doing, so the next year, I participated as well as officiated. I am a short distance runner—sprints for 50, 100, and 200 meters, and the high jump, long jump and triple jump. I still want to do the pole vault!”
35
faculty
Faculty News & Notes WELCOMING NEW ARRIVALS, AKA THE CLASS OF 2026
September 7, 2008
August 24, 2008
SAYING “I DO” Middle School History teacher Jeremy Howard married Alexandra Alberts on October 18, 2008, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in San Diego.
Gabrielle Elizabeth Lee Ngo
Jasper Louis Bentz Cook
8 lbs., 2 oz., 20 in. long
Son of Middle & Upper School Pottery Teacher Steve Cook
Daughter of Middle School Science teacher Binh Ngo
December 3, 2008
Rebeccah Amori Camacho
Piper Crandall Silver
7lbs., 6.3oz., 20 in. long
5 lbs., 12 oz., 18 in. long
Daughter of Middle School Teachers’ Aide Perla Rivera
Daughter of Middle School Principal Mark Silver and his wife Carla
December 30, 2008 Leilani Louise Muzzy 3 lbs., 15-1/2 oz., 15-1/4 in. long (center left) Sophia Josephine Muzzy 3 lbs., 4 oz., 15-3/4 in. long (directly at left) Eadi Cecilia Muzzy 3 lbs., 1 oz., 16 in. long (lower left)
Triplets born to third grade teacher Michelle Muzzy (all pictured top left)
36
WINTER 2009
parker
faculty
PUBLISHED AUTHORS Death by Design by former Parker science teacher Bud Suiter was published in 2008.
might help other teachers come up with stories of their own in ways that can reduce complex ideas to a very understandable form.
Bud tells us, “This is a story about Parker science from the perspective of a Parker science teacher. My adult friends who have read it and reported back think its a good yarn. The scientists, car fans and boat friends like those aspects of the book. As I say, its written for teenagers and anyone who has ever been one! One book editor friend said he read the book intending to find errors: the one he found turned out to be correct! Check it out at www.budsuiter.com.”
Profits associated with sales of The Falconer will be donated to Francis Parker School to further the opportunities that the School provides to a diverse population of young students in the San Diego area. The Falconer is available (paperback only to keep costs down) on-line at iUniverse.com and Amazon.com.”
The Falconer by Chief Operating Officer Grant Lichtman was published in Summer
2008. Grant described the project, saying, “For about ten years I have been working on a book and it is finally in print. As many of you know, the first five years that I was here at Parker I taught a seminar called The Falconer. The goal of the course was to teach skills that help young people to take advantage of opportunities and overcome the inevitable obstacles that present themselves in life. The model points toward molding what we call creational thinkers: individuals who understand and appreciate the roles of creativity, invention, questioning, problem solving, and synthesis. We tried to bridge the gap between learning that which is already known and creating new knowledge. The book is the result of this teaching experiment, and I think it is relevant to all of us who are teachers, students, parents, employers, and employees.
Mr. Lichtman will speak at the April 16, 2009, Parker DADS networking event. This talk will offer an overview of this model of strategic design and thinking, as well as its applications to learning, parenting, the workplace, and attaining personal goals. LOWER SCHOOL FACULTY GO THE EXTRA MILE Lower School Principal Bob Gillingham completed his fourth Ironman in Tempe, AZ in November 2008. Senior Kindergarten teacher Kym Farkas and science teacher Roberta Imbimbo ran the California International Marathon in Sacramento in December, with Roberta setting a personal best and Kym qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Meanwhile, 4th grade teacher Stacey Faulk ran the New York marathon.
“I challenged the material to be understandable even to a third grader… sort of the Winnie the Pooh of creative thinking.”
I challenged the material to be understandable even to a third grader…sort of the Winnie the Pooh of creative thinking. A series of stories weaves through the book; I hope these stories
parker
WINTER 2009
37
grandparents
Grandparents’ Council News NEW COUNCIL CHAIR NAMED Sharon Considine was named Chair of the Grandparents’ Council in fall 2008. Sharon and her husband Tim ‘58 currently have six grandchildren at Parker. All three of their children also attended Parker in the 1980s. Sharon has extensive volunteer experience in San Diego, serving on boards such as Coronado Hospital Foundation, San Diego State University Alumni Association and Aztec Athletic Foundation, along with numerous other non-profits. She was named to Who’s Who in California, in the Western States and in the World of International Women. Francis Parker School welcomes her leadership and commitment to the School. For more information about the Grandparents’ Council, please call Kristina Starkey at 619-298-9110, ext. 257.
38
LOWER SCHOOL GRANDPARENTS’ DAY Grandparents’ Day was held on November 24, 2008, on the Mission Hills campus; the Parker community was excited to have more than 400 guests. Students performed musical arrangements led by faculty that showcased the band, strings, chorus and recorders. The traditional Hi-Ya, Hi-Ya by the Senior Kindergartners brought smiles to all. Grandparents’ Council members served as Ambassadors to welcome fellow grandparents. For photos of the day, please visit the Parker website: www.francisparker.org and click on the Grandparent link to the photo gallery.
Above, left: Letty Robinson ‘78 directs the Grandparents’ Day performance. Above right: Mary Moore, who continues the Hi-Ya Hi-Ya tradition, is joined by Thalia Considine ‘40, a Parker Great-Grandmother. Above: Sylvia Raban with grandson, “Red Cloud.”
SAVE THE DATE FOR UPCOMING GRANDPARENTS’ DAYS ON THE LINDA VISTA CAMPUS: Middle School—May 11, 2009
WINTER 2009
parker
gala
Break out your masks and wear your Cajun cocktail attire THE 2009 PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION GALA IS IN THE WORKS, AND THIS YEAR’S CELEBRATION WILL BE A
CAJUN CARNIVALE THIS IS A CAN’T- MISS EVENT THAT PROMISES TO BE ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY!
So mark your calendars NOW! SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2009. It will be an evening filled with friends, food and excitement, all for a cause important to everyone in the Parker community.
GALA COMMITTEE The gala committee is already hard at work organizing the evening’s festivities and welcomes your ideas and contributions.
Proceeds from the event will be allocated to endowment funds for Student Financial Aid (which assists 1 in 6 Parker students), Faculty Professional Development, and the Generations Capital Campaign.
Chair—Sheryl Scarano pa-galachair@pa-francisparker.org
pa-galaunderwritingchair@ pa-francisparker.org
Class Creations—Melinda Mahony and
VENUE—LINDA VISTA CAMPUS The silent auction will be happening in the Gym with the wine auction nestled in the Café Conference Room. Then you’ll meander over to the Field House for fiddles and fun.
Auction Pay Master Sarah White
Parkermania—Laura Thorsen and Clare
Invitations will mail in March; in the meantime, check the gala website for more details: http://fc.francisparker.org/ ~gala/index.html
parker
WINTER 2009
Advertising & Underwriting Chair— Shannon Bartlett
Live Auction—Soraya Bagheri pa-auctionchair@pa-francisparker.org
Home & Garden—Dee Anne Canepa and Suzanne Emge
Dining & Entertainment—Caroline Coats, Renee Linton and Alice Mo Vacations—Gail Hutcheson and Kathleen Kramer
Sports—Pam Winslow and Mary Rose Schwartz
Patsy Tomlin
Harrington
Wine Inventory—Janet Gothard
Silent Auction Co-Chairs— Nelly Dean and Cindy Zamost pa-auctionchair@pa-francisparker.org
COMMITTEE CHAIRS Decorations—June Osborne
SILENT AUCTION SECTION HEADS Beauty & Wellness—Annie Chambers and
Food & Beverage—Jessica Seltzer
Entertainment—Bob Scarano
Gayle Nuffer
39
capital campaign
Wood Chips, Clay and the Sound of Music BY JOHN THORSEN, CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER
The biggest wall weighs 36 tons, but that’s a fraction of the impact the new arts buildings are expected to have on Parker’s already award-winning arts program.
Smell freshly cut wood, feel wet clay in your hands, hear a pitch-perfect harmony come together—these are the kinds of things that impact the senses and, more important, our students’ Parker experience. They also influence our plans for Parker’s second century and our vision for excellence. We are very fortunate to have the likes of Steve Cook, Phil Lean, Barry Cheskaty, Michael Gonzales, Jim Witt, and others working with our children on a daily basis in the Fine Arts department. The good news for these terrific teachers and Parker students is they all will be moving out of the old dorms and into new purpose-built facilities come September 2009. The days of the old San Miguel School for Boys dormitories serving as Parker arts studios will soon be no more. These remnants will be torn down in the coming summer months to make way for more parking and multi-purpose space on the Linda Vista campus. At the same time, the finishing touches will be going into the new Music Building with six studios (including a dance studio) and five practice rooms, Lecture/Performance Hall (see page 40 for more information) with seating for 255, and a new Visual Arts Center with six art studios and a gallery. Yes, we have been very fortunate to see many Best in Class and Best in Show ribbons go to Parker arts students each summer at the San Diego County Fair, hear award-winning music performances, and flip through the pages of a nationally recognized yearbook. All of these programs have flourished in sub-standard spaces. No more. Soon, they can push the limits and excel as never before. The teachers are excited about these
40
WINTER 2009
parker
capital campaign
new spaces and the limitless possibilities that will come with a new home. Long before the Linda Vista Campus Library and the Middle School math and science buildings opened, a group sat down to articulate Parker’s vision and add some depth to the action items in the 2007 Strategic Plan. (Read the Vision Statement on page 3.) Our construction projects represent much, much more than new buildings and spaces. They are the physical embodiment of our program’s future. We’ve seen enhanced results time and time again when we opened the other spaces. Look at what has happened to drama since the doors of the Galli-Curci Performing Arts Center opened in 1998 (see page 24). Look at the impact of the new Library on the number of visits and book check-outs on a monthly basis since 2007. Look at the number of athletic banners hanging from the rafters of the Field House since we added that space in 1995. Facilities impact program in a very positive way. As our arts faculty and students prepare to move into the new buildings in September, we eagerly anticipate the next round of dramatic results.
parker
WINTER 2009
Million Dollar Challenge Your gift is the key to pulling a million-dollar trigger. We still need to raise an additional $1.15 million dollars to realize an anonymous donor’s generosity. You may recall, a generous family is willing to complete the fundraising effort, if we can raise $34 million of our $35 million total. At $32.85 million, we’re almost there; with your help, we will all celebrate a successful completion in Spring ‘09. If you have any questions and would like to learn more, please contact John Thorsen at jthorsen@francisparker.org.
I’m excited by the idea of teaching in a space built specifically for the Studio Arts, for 3D Arts, for Ceramics, for the exploration with my students of the potentials within our ever-evolving visual language, where we can explore ideas and create questions. This new facility will open doors for us technically as well as aesthetically; the work will be more advanced in every way. For the students, this means more excitement, challenge, and reward. —STEVE COOK, 3D ART
A huge thank you to the over 500 donors who have made these new arts and music spaces possible for our students and those who will follow in their footsteps. There is still time to participate in this historic effort and I hope that many parents, alumni, grandparents and friends will consider answering the call.
41
capital campaign
Name a Seat and the Campaign’s Complete ANNOUNCING J. CRIVELLO HALL, FRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL’S NEWEST ADDITION. PUT YOUR MARK ON ITS GRAND OPENING!
HELP COMPLETE THE VISION 100 CAPITAL CAMPAIGN WITH A ONE-OFA-KIND PLAQUE. You may honor or memorialize a child, grandchild, teacher, family member, or friend with a seat plaque in the dramatic new J. Crivello Hall. With 255 seats in eleven rows, the Hall is an intimate space for music, lectures and other performances. Designed by award-winning architects Lake/Flato, this space is sure to inspire all who enter when the doors open. We have $1.15 million to go until we complete our $35 million effort. With your help, we will finish the campaign and have cause to celebrate all that we have accomplished over the last five years. Please consider honoring someone with a chair and making a mark on Parker’s next century.
42
THREE LEVELS ARE AVAILABLE FOR SEATS IN J. CRIVELLO HALL. — $1,000 A limited number are available at this level and gifts must be paid before June 2009. —
$3,000 A limited number are available at this level and gifts must be paid before June 2010. (Gift to be paid in two $1,500 installments)
—
$5,000 Gifts for these
“Last June, a generous gift from the Crivello family helped make the completion of Phase VI a reality for the Parker community. Now, eight months later, it is exciting to see the stage literally being set as the Hall takes shape right outside my window. I look forward to celebrating this tremendous campus transformation with our students, alumni and their families this fall.” DR. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL
premium seats must be paid before June 2013. (Gift to be paid in five $1,000 installments) All campaign gifts are tax-deductible.
WINTER 2009
parker
board of trustees
Board of Trustees If you wish to see the reports from the 2008 Annual Meeting, they are posted on the Parker Website; click on “About Parker” on the top menu bar. Then click “Board of Trustees” on the menu bar at the left of the page. If you scroll to the bottom of the Trustees’ page, you’ll find the reports. 2008-2009 NEW TRUSTEES Dee Anne Traitel Canepa worked as a journalist for nearly 20 years, reporting for the Los Angeles Bureau of The New York Times and for the San Diego Tribune and The San Diego Union-Tribune. She attended UC Santa Barbara and USC, graduating with a degree in Journalism. As a community volunteer, she served on the board of the Unitarian Cooperative Preschool in San Diego and on the Nominating Committee of the San Diego-Imperial County chapter of the Girl Scouts. While at Parker, Dee Anne served on a Media/Marketing advisory committee established by the Board and is completing a second year as a Middle School Vice President for the Parents’ Association. Dee Anne and her husband Michael have a daughter Marisa ‘12. Lynn Gorguze is President and CEO of Cameron Holdings Corporation, which she founded in 1993. Cameron, with offices in San Diego and St. Louis, is a private equity group focused on acquiring privately held, middle market manufacturing and service companies. Lynn currently serves on the Parker Development Committee and is a Middle School Room Parent, and has also served as an Upper School Grade Level Rep. She is a member of the San Diego Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization, serving on the
parker
WINTER 2009
2008-2009 Board of Trustees Back Row, L-R: Valerie Jacobs-Hapke, Michael Thiemann, Janice Howard McElroy, Jimmy Anklesaria—Past Board Chair, Bob Buie, Richard Dicker, Hamilton Southworth, Cathy Sullivan, Bert Liang, Christine Hickman-Ragen, Lynne Gorguze, Julie Mebane. Front Row, L-R: DeeAnne Canepa, Ted Chang ’81, Kirsten Rindal, Bill Ingram—Board Chair, Richard Blumenthal—Head of School, Jon Lauer, Julia Ingram—Parents’ Association President, Gina Lew. Not pictured: Tom Bancroft, Terry Gooding, William Jones, Catherine Nicholas, Brent Woods, Juan Vargas
Membership Committee. She is also CoVice Chair of the Board of Visitors of the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment in Durham, NC. Lynn has been a Board Member and the Audit Committee Chair of the San Diego-based Burnham Institute for Medical Research. She was formerly a member of the National Council of the Olin Business School of Washington University in St. Louis, the San Diego Regional Cabinet of Washington University, and the Treasurer and a Board Member of Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties. Lynn has an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and a BS in Geology and Oceanography from Duke. Married to Scott Peters for over 20 years, they have a daughter, Ellie ‘09, and a son, Ben ‘12. Dr. Bertrand C. Liang is Vice Chairman, Paramount Biosciences, LLC, a private equity firm in San Diego. He serves on the Board of Directors for several biotech companies in the region. In addition, he serves on the Strategic Initiatives Committee at Parker. Bert and his wife Diane have a daughter, Kate ‘16, and a son, Chris ‘12. Hamilton Southworth was elected by
Board vote in 2007-2008 to complete a one-year term. Ham is Corporate Managing Director for Studley, Inc., an international commercial real estate advisory and brokerage firm based in New York. He represents corporations and professional service firms in real estate transactions in San Diego, Silicon Valley and around the world. Ham received a BA from Yale University and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. Ham and his wife, Mary Kathryn, have three children at Parker: Hamilton ‘14, William ‘17, and Luisa ‘19. Ham has been an active member of Parker’s Philanthropy Committee for six years. He is currently Annual Fund Chair and is a member of Parker’s Development Committee. Ham also serves on the Trustee’s Committee for Foothills United Methodist Church, volunteers for Common Ground, a collaborative non-profit that provides tutoring and other services to struggling East and South County schools, interviews Yale University applicants for the Alumni Schools’ Committee and has been a member of the board of directors of both AIDS Walk San Diego and the Yale Club of San Diego.
43
alumni
Laura Roppe ‘88 was able to attend the 2008 Homecoming lunch briefly to visit with classmates before traveling to San Juan Capistrano for a singing performance. Several of her peers were able to enjoy her performance as the opening act for Little Feat. All of us have enjoyed learning more about Laura’s journey in the last year.
As a runner training for marathons, Laura found herself writing songs in her head to keep herself focused. Her first song was appropriately titled, Fly Fly Fly. On a trip to Utah to ski (she tells us fondly that she has maintained the Parker “ski week” tradition with fellow classmates), she began to sing on the long car ride, to her husband Brad and her two daughters, Sophie, 9, and Chloe, 6. In February 2008, Brad encouraged her to pursue her singing and songwriting. So she worked with her cousin Matt Embree from the Rx Bandits to create a demo. In March, Laura contacted Grammy-nominated producer Steve Wetherbee of Golden Tracks Studio in Escondido, who agreed to help her to record her first album. As many of us at Parker heard on live radio, Laura shared her story of discovery by 94.1FM after she gave the show producer, Tommy Sablan, her CD in August. He loved it and played Float Away on the air. The “Jeff and Jer Show” listeners loved it too, and her singing career took off.
Sing Your Own Songs BY KRISTINA STARKEY, DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AND GRANDPARENT RELATIONS
The Parker stage was a great training ground for one alumna who is now poised to perform for an international audience. But first she has to take care of some serious business.
In October, the same week Laura signed with a record label in the United Kingdom to release her album and single, Float Away, she was also diagnosed with breast cancer. She has since begun chemotherapy and is waiting to complete the course of treatment before traveling to the UK to begin filming the music video. The director who will be working with her also has produced videos for Paul McCartney, Lenny Kravitz, the Eurythmics, and more. Laura is very open about her health challenges and encourages other women to self-exam and keep up with mammograms. She has a blog: www.caringbridge.org/visit/lauraroppe that is an inspiration to anyone who is or has friends fighting the same battle. In the meantime, Laura has experienced all of the unpleasant side effects of chemo, such as hair loss and nausea, but has maintained her spirit and looks forward to her future in songwriting. In fact, Laura was quick to mention that Francis Parker School played a big part in her success today by teaching her hard goals and self-discipline. She appeared in every musical theatre production while a student at Parker and credits thendrama teacher Mrs. North and Letty Rosado Robinson ’78, who was the choreographer, with her skills and training. Susan Marone Moerder once asked Laura what she wanted to be when she grew up and Laura replied she wanted to sing jingles on commercials. Mrs. Moerder advised, “Sing your own songs;” today, she is indeed sharing her own songs with the world.
To learn more about Laura’s career, visit: www.lauraroppe.com.
44
WINTER 2009
parker
alumni
Alumni News & Notes BY KRISTINA STARKEY, DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AND GRANDPARENT RELATIONS
IN MEMORIAM ALAN JOHNSON ‘32 Alan Winthrop Johnson, born in Coronado in 1914, the third of four children to noted architect William Templeton Johnson and Clara Sturges Johnson. Besides the many homes and public buildings, the family is also well known for founding the Francis Parker School in 1912. The family involvement in education lasted a lifetime for Alan. He was a life-long college administrator who held positions at San Francisco State University, University of Houston, University of Southern California and California State University Long Beach. His life was about helping students. After graduating from UCLA, he worked for the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, visiting Chapters throughout the United States as a Field Secretary. He then continued his educational path, receiving a Master’s Degree from the University of Cincinnati in Management and began work in the aircraft industry. While working for Republic Aviation during WW II, he also held several part-time positions at various New York schools including Columbia University, teaching labor relations. After the war, he returned to San Diego working at Solar Aviation, but a life in education beckoned. Returning to UCLA, he earned a Doctor of Education degree and began as Associate Dean of Students at San Francisco State University and then later moved on to other universities. Growing up in San Diego and racing Star Boats out of San Diego Yacht Club, sailing was a big part of his family life. As part of the U.S. sailing team, he attended the Olympics in 1936 at the venue in Kiel, Germany. Teaching his family to sail led to racing small boats all around Northern California. He also loved the open sea and enjoyed deliveries of boats with friends all along the west. At the 2007 reunion, Margaret Lieb ‘40, Alan Johnson ’32, and Ethel Lichtman ‘40
Dr. Johnson is survived by three children, Alan Lawrence (Larry) Johnson ’60; Terri Juntenan of Eugene, Oregon; Winthrop Templeton (Temp) Johnson of Silver Spring, Maryland; five grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. —information courtesy of Larry Johnson
parker
WINTER 2009
45
alumni
MATTHEW GEOFFREY WILKINSON ’88 Born October 16, 1970, Matthew passed away as a result of a swimming accident in Grosse Ile, MI, on July 23, 2008. Born in Vancouver, Canada, he moved to San Diego at age five, where he attended Rancho Santa Fe School. He also attended Dunn School in Los Olivos before graduating from Parker in 1988. He received a BA in history from University of San Francisco. Married to his high school sweetheart, Damian, he moved to Michigan to join the family business. He returned to Santa Barbara to work for Bardex and then as a pilot for KP Aviation of Reno. He was an avid sportsman and pilot and loved to travel. He is survived by his parents, Robyn and Michael of Rancho Santa Fe and Michigan; brother Mark Wilkinson ’91 of Grosse Ile, MI; wife, Damian and sons Matthew and Mitchell of Santa Barbara.
WE REGRET THE ERROR… These details got by us in our last issue, we want to make sure we get it right. • In the article about alumni in the arts, Jamie Bock ’08 should have been listed as
attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. We omitted NYU in the school’s name. • In the Alumni News & Notes section, we misidentified alumnus Paul McDonald ‘91. Paul married Kimberly Bibb in Charlottesville, VA, on October 6, 2007. His sister, Ann McDonald McGrath ‘88, was a bridesmaid. Her husband, Matthew, a groomsman, and their sons (Paul’s
CORIE ANNE JENSEN PERREGAUX ’91 Corie passed away on April 16, 2008. She was a lifer Parker student and was involved in ASB, Interact, Girls’ League, Excalibur, Amnesty International, Youth Volunteer Association, Foreign Language Club, Saferides, and tennis. As a senior, she received the ASB Leadership Award and the Interact Community Service Award. She was a member of MADCAPS and rowed on the ZLAC Junior Crew. Corie attended Middlebury College and worked in marketing and development in the education and health care fields. She also developed a hand lotion bar that became a boutique business, called Country Comfort Lotion Bars. She loved her family, traveling, and cooking. She had a special love for all animals and fostered several dogs including her beloved Jasper. Corie is survived by her brother, Michael ’94, father Harry Jensen and mother, Carol Jensen, Parker Director of Community Programs. Her family and friends have established the Corie Anne Jensen Perregaux Scholarship Endowment Fund at Parker in her memory.
nephews), Riggs, five, and Mac, three, were ring bearers. Chris Freeman ‘88 & his dad attended the wedding. Paul graduated from the University of Denver. The couple recently moved to Virginia, where Paul is now the Virginia state sales manager for Aramark and graduated from the University of Denver. Kim is a National Sales Representative for BBJ Linen, and is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University. • Carrie Gallagher Crompton ’95 and Randall Crompton were married in February 2008.
Randall and Carrie Crompton 46
WINTER 2009
parker
alumni
Class Notes 1960s Scott Silverman ’69 is Executive Director and Founder of Second Chance/Strive, an organization “creating opportunities for self-sufficiency by providing jobreadiness training, employment placement, affordable housing, and life skills education for unemployed and homeless men, women and youth.” The non-profit was founded in 1993 and has an annual income of $3 million.
Recently, Scott fulfilled a dream when his book Tell Me No, I Dare You was featured in the window at Warkwick’s bookstore in La Jolla, and he had the opportunity to speak at the bookstore and do a book signing. Anna Stump ‘82
1970s Jeff Cass ’79 has two children: Katrina, who is a junior and last year was the
varsity field goal kicker for her school; and Tyler, who plays club soccer. Jeff is a clinical psychologist in a pain clinic for Kaiser in South Sacramento. His wife, Beth, died of melanoma cancer three years ago. The entire family is active in working with other families who have lost loved ones to cancer. The Cass family lives in Elk Grove, CA. 1980s Anna Stump ’82, a successful artist and teacher in San Diego, spoke to Parker students in October 2008. Anna received her BA from Occidental College and her Master’s of Fine Arts from San Diego State University. She was a Senior Fulbright Scholar to Turkey in 2006-2007, and now teaches at San Diego City College, Grossmont College, and the Art Institute of California. She works with the figure and body issues across many media, including painting, public art, performance, video, and blogging. Neal Johnson ’85 and his wife Kathy and sons welcomed a daughter, Grace Katherine Johnson, on September 9, 2008. Jenifer Burkhard Rousseau ’88 is married to Alex Rousseau and has two young
children, Alexander and Aidan, and resides in Old Greenwich, CT. Matt Garrett ’88 is a Principal Partner at TGG Capital, is married to Ryan Garrett and has two daughters and one son. He enjoys surfing with his daughter and going to the beach with family.
Neal Johnson ‘85 and family
FOLLOW FRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL ON TWITTER.COM! HTTP://TWITTER.COM/ FRANCISPARKERSC
Kimberly Bibb and Paul McDonald ‘91
parker
WINTER 2009
47
alumni
Sean Harrison ‘90, Mariana Salerno ‘90, Mary Burt-Godwin ‘90, Amy Meier Foundos ‘91, Jennifer Channick Germain ‘90, and Jeff Von Behren ‘90.
Matthew Brady Marsh ’89 is a fifth grade teacher at Vista Grande in Rancho San Diego. Matthew and his wife Rachel have two young sons who he hopes will join the Parker family in the future.
1990s Mary Burt-Godwin ‘90 hosted a gathering of friends over the holidays. Jeff Von Behren ’90 (who was named incoming Alumni Council Chair) and his wife Alison Alpert welcomed a son, Isaac Ryan Von Behren, 8 lbs., 15 oz., on November 18, 2008. Ike joins big brother Zach. Jeff and fellow classmates enjoy taking their children to Balboa Park. Hillary Small Weiner ’92 lives in San Francisco with her husband Brett and daughters, Abigail, who is nearly four and Hazel, almost two years old. Hillary is expecting a baby in June 2009. She graduated from Emory University in 1996. Ryan Olson ’93 is in fellowship at Albany Medical Center in surgical pathology in Albany, NY. Ryan Reed ’93 and wife Bridgette and children Abby and Dylan reside in Kenmore, WA, have enjoyed time in Oregon this year and hope to travel abroad next year before he starts to work on his MBA. Ryan works for Paccar, manufacturer of Kenworth, Peterbilt,
48
and DAF trucks. Neel Satpute ’93 and his wife Monique welcomed their daughter Lila on August 5, 2008. They reside in Baltimore, MD. Eric Wood ’93 is married to Adia Cunningham; they have a child, Donovan, and reside in San Diego. Eric works for Illumina (Forbes #1 Biotech Company of 2008) Andy Zlotnik ’93 is married to Kristin and resides in San Diego. Andy works for Constellation Property, a property development corporation. Parker welcomed Andy back to crown the King and Queen at the 2008 Homecoming. Ashley Backman ’96 enjoys her job as a fourth grade teacher in the Vista Unified School District, teaching mostly underprivileged students. In addition, Ashley was selected to represent the United States in the half-marathon competition at the 2009 Maccabi Games, the Jewish Olympics. Representing the US in the Maccabi Games is a lifelong dream come true for her. She first started running competitively in the half-marathon in 2002. Her top three finishes in include 1:24:38 at the 2005 Fontana Days Half Marathon, 1:29:57 at the 2006 Orange County Half Marathon, and 1:31:09 at the 2007 City of Angels Half Marathon. In 2004, Ashley traveled to Kenya to run the Safaricom Half
Jeff Von Behren ‘90, Mary Burt-Godwin ‘90, and Jen Channick Germain ‘90
Marathon, where she finished as the sixth overall female and first nonKenyan female, behind world-class runners Joyce Chepchumba and Catherine Ndereba. In 2005, Ashley qualified for and competed in the USA Women’s 20K National Championships, running 1:24:50. Ashley’s marathon PR of 3:20:54 and 26th overall female finish at the 2007 Los Angeles Marathon qualified her for the Boston Marathon. In 2006-2007, she ran for the Snickers’ Marathon Team. Prior to her running career, Ashley was an accomplished soccer player. In 1996, she was part of the Olympic Development Program, making the California State Team and consequently earning a spot in the Regional Pool. In 1997, her club team, the Southern California Blues, was a National SemiFinalist in National Cup. Ashley was a member of Yale University’s Women’s Varsity Soccer Team in 1996. In her senior season of varsity soccer at Parker, Ashley was honored as the captain of The San Diego Union-Tribune’s AllAcademic First Team. After finishing at Yale with a B.A. in Psychology in 2000, Ashley earned her Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential at the University of San Diego in 2006. She currently teaches
WINTER 2009
parker
alumni
Lila Satpute, daughter of Neel ‘92
Andy ‘93 and Kristin Zlotnik
fourth grade in San Diego at Bobier Elementary School in the Vista Unified School District. Ashley is looking for help for her trip and invites you to visit the website: www.maccabiahusahalfmarathon.com/aboutteam/opente am.htm
people marching down Sixth Avenue to support same-sex marriage. Additional movements were planned for December and January to keep people involved.
Kenneth Ngo ’96 recently joined the Asian Merchant Banking team at Citadel in Hong Kong. He works in Wanchi, Hong Kong, but returned to California for a recent visit with Parker and Stanford graduate friends, including his former Parker advisor, Carol Jensen. Kenneth would love to hear from classmates at Kenneth.ngo@citadelgroup.com
Photography Mr. Mark Byrne in the Video/Photo area of Dorm 1 for probably the last time, since the old dorms are scheduled for demolition in June 2009. After dinner with Mr. Byrne, the two wanted to see the dorm before its demolition. A-Mi was in town for just one day working on a movie. Mr. Byrne writes, “These two spent many hours in the dorm during their years at Parker. A-Mi was in Art and Photo, Shlomo was an avid filmmaker and the founder of the Young Democrat Club. He
Marissa Piper-Younie ’96 was the San
Diego organizer one of the nation’s biggest protests with at least 20,000
In early January 2009, A-Mi Kim ‘98 and Shlomo Sher ‘97 visited Upper School
went on from Parker to Harvard for his BA and Princeton for his PhD. He’s now doing post doctoral work in the psychology department at UCSD, as well as teaching an upper division psychology class there: The Psychology of Consciousness. A-Mi went to Brown after Parker and then to Korea for an MFA. She was also a visiting artist for one year at Brown. Last fall she started in a PhD program in Media/Art theory at NYU.” After visiting the dorm, Mr. Byrne led them on an evening tour of the new campus construction by cell phone light. He reports the alumni “Were awestricken and vowed to return in daylight for a closer look.” Thiago Campos ’98 was an exchange student from Brazil who now resides in Vernon, TX. He would love to reconnect with classmates: thiagocampos@hotmail.com. Teofilo Hamui ’98 resides in San Diego with his wife Keren-Dee Hamui and reports that he rollerbladed the entire Great Wall of China. He works for Spathco Real Estate. Spencer Martin ’98 is married to Denise Buosi and has moved back to San Diego and enjoys surfing in his spare time.
Aaron Ling ’96, Hung Ngo ’96 and Michael Jensen ‘94
parker
WINTER 2009
A-Mi Kim ‘98, Shlomo Sher ‘97 and Mr. Mark Byrne
Max Spevack ’98 resides in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He works for Red Hat Company and is enjoying life abroad.
49
alumni
Katie and Christopher ‘99 Torres Rachel Bidegain Speir ’02
Richard Virgen ‘01 and Stephanie Slane
Christopher Torres ’99 married Katie Bergamino recently. Lt Torres is currently a student at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, where he is a candidate for a Masters of Arts in Strategic Communications and Leadership. In addition, Christopher is attending the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island where he is a Joint Professional Military Education student.
2000s Courtney Glavis-Bloom ’00, who attended Parker in Lower School and then graduated from La Jolla High, is working on her Ph.D. at Emory with graduation expected in May 2010. Courtney earned her BA in Cognitive Science from Yale in 2004 and MA in Psychology, Neuroscience and Animal Behavior from Emory in 2006. Her brother, Alex Glavis-Bloom ’06 also attended La Jolla High. Colin Jemmott ‘00 is attending Penn State, working on a Ph.D. in acoustics.
50
He has completed a Master’s in Electrical Engineering, and told us, “The best title I have been given is ‘undersea warfare fellow’. About two years ago, my partner Jamie and I bought a house out here. Lots of pictures at www.morningwoodestate.com. All in all, life is pretty good. I like gardening, riding the motorcycle, and the seasons. Three semesters or so left and I am starting to wonder about the next step. Hope it is something good.” Kate Morgan Chadwick ’01 has continued her singing and musical theatre career after college graduation from Fordham University. She performed as Ali in Mamma Mia! in Las Vegas for a year and can be seen currently touring with the Broadway production of Grease as Frenchy. The national tour will be at the Civic Theatre in San Diego from March 3-8, 2009; at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles from March 10-22, 2009, and at the Orange County Performing Arts Center from April 28-May 10, 2009.
You can learn more about Kate’s career at: www.sandiegoplaybill.com/actors/ kate_chadwick.html or on Facebook. Matthew Goldberg ‘01 is now a 3L at UC Hastings Law School in San Francisco. He wrote, “I graduate in May [2009] and then I have no idea what I will wind up doing. As if law school is not enough work, I started getting into running as a way to relieve stress a couple of years ago. Those 3- or 4-mile runs turned into marathoning. I ran the Rock N’ Roll Marathon in San Diego in June [2008] and I just finished my 2nd marathon.” Swarna Srinivas ’01 was highlighted in the San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s November issue in an article titled “EFinancial Lessons for a Shrinking Planet—Swarna Srinivas Shows Global Money Managers a Better Way to Train.” Swarna is President of Kesdee Inc., where she oversees a 75-person development team in Bangalore, India, and a new development office in Mexico City.
WINTER 2009
parker
alumni
Miko Heller ‘03 with her friends in Qili Village.
Miko hiking in Yunnan
At left: Aviva Goldstein ’05, Eva and Strul Goldstein, Allyson Minteer ’02, Oscar Burakoff (fiancée), Alex Goldstein ‘03 Above: Sarah Ziering ’02, Allyson Minteer ‘02, Stella Hernandez ‘02
Vera Trofimenko ‘01 is in her first year at UCSD School of Medicine. She writes, “The passions developed at Parker still prevail! I am proudly serving on our student government, and am a staff member of the literary magazine. As a last ‘hurrah’ before starting school this past August, I summitted Mt Whitney.“ She told COO Grant Lichtman, “I do very much value the taste for Socratic discussion that the Falconer [class] instilled in me, which drew me into the seminars at Columbia and is today making small group sessions—my favorite way of learning in med school.” For more about the Falconer course once taught by Mr. Lichtman, see page 35. Richard Virgen ’01 was engaged to Stephanie Slane on May 12, 2008. They are planning a fall/summer 2010 wedding. They met at San Diego State University. He tells us that the first time they talked was during an interview for an in-class assignment on expectations of modern day relationships. After the
parker
WINTER 2009
interview, he found out that she was single and the “the rest is history.” Richard is attending UC Irvine, working on a Ph.D. in Virology and Stephanie is getting her teaching credential at Cal State Fullerton. Rachel Bidegain Speir ’02 married Randall Speir in a small ceremony in Maui. Her maid of honor was her sister Danielle Bidegain ’07. Rachel is busy with her company, TopRoad Tutors, with tutors for all ages and in all subjects. They have currently relocated to San Diego. Allyson Minteer ’02 is engaged to Oscar Burakoff. An August 2009 wedding is planned. Several Parker friends attended the engagement party including former classmates Sarah Ziering ‘02, Stella Hernandez ‘02, Aviva Goldstein ’05, Alex Goldstein ’03, and Teofilo Hamui ’98. Bridesmaids Sarah, Stella, and Sarah Dawe ’02 (who was unable to make the party)
who have stayed close enough since Parker days to be a part of each other’s weddings.
Sean Robins ’02 Although Sean passed away at the age of 22 of Ewing’s sarcoma, he was part of the Hollywood Music Awards November 20, 2008. His parents, Mitch and Amy Robins established The Seany Foundation to fund pediatric cancer research in his memory. The Seany Records label was also created, with a portion of its profits going to the foundation. The Seany Robins Rock Award was presented to the Best Rock Artist, Starving for Gravity. Marika Heller ’03 graduated from Middlebury College and after taking four years of Mandarin Chinese, has traveled to China with a friend from college for the next year. She is working for Ecologia, a non-profit organizations tackling projects such as infrastructure repairs and small business methods in Chengdu (with a population of more than 11 million). She recently toured the Chengdu panda research facility, where she reports that “there were an obscene amount of pandas.” She has also visited
51
alumni
Yunnan and was hiking around Tiger Leaping Gorge. To follow her trip go to: www.whereisthemiko.com. Jacqueline Lopez ’03, a 2008 Los Angeles Music Award Winner, has recently debuted her solo album Jacqueline Grace, which includes her awardwinning “Dance Under The Moonlight” and new songs from her upcoming release “One Voice.” Visit her website: www.jacqueline-grace.com for performance schedule.
Several members of the Class of 2003 gathered over the holidays in Pacific Beach with friends. Stephen Black ’04, a senior at Tufts
University was highlighted in his school athletic department. To link to the article on Stephen go to tufts.edu/athle tics/menFootball/scheduleresults/2008. Mary Reichman ‘04 graduated from New York University College of Dentistry, where she was Valedictorian of the Baccalaureate Program in Dental Hygiene and spoke at the Graduation ceremony at Madison Square Garden. She was president of her professional organization, the Student American Dental Hygienists’ Association at NYU and was the Sponsorship Chair for the 2007 and 2008 NYU Oral Cancer Walks.
She also participated in research studies at the NYU Bluestone Center for Clinical Research for Colgate and taught as part of the clinical faculty at NYU. She is currently practicing dental hygiene in San Diego. Damien Robinson ‘04 completed an
internship at our Middle School last semester. Damien graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Howard University in May 2008 with a BS in Psychology. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Counseling from San Diego State University, and has already been accepted into Stanford’s Ph.D. program in Educational Psychology program starting fall 2009. Alexis Crusey ‘06 was named Ivy League Player of the Week in October 2008 for her performance on the Yale volleyball team, where she is a junior. In November, Alexis and her team played against the University of San Diego Torreros in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Clifton Dunn ’06 is a junior at Boston
University, majoring in Theatre/Acting. He was the lead—George W. Bush—in Stuff Happens, a political satire about the Bush Administration. For pictures from the play, visit www.bu.edu/cfa/.
Clifton is traveling to London for a semester to study at the London Academy of Music and Performing Arts. He recently played the part of Daniel in Edward Albee’s play, Finding the Sun. Emily Wier ’06 is a Biology major at Tufts University in Boston, with a focus on Ecology and/or Conservation Biology. During the summer she worked with a Biology professor on the effects of urbanization on bobolinks, a bird species in decline in the Northeastern U.S. She also plays the violin in the Tufts Symphony Orchestra, and also performs with chamber music ensembles. Tyler Bernardini ’07 received the Ivy League Player of the Week playing basketball for University of Pennsylvania. Tyler’s honor comes after his 26-point performance at No. 1 North Carolina early in the season. In addition, he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year and a five-time League Rookie of the Week last season.
In fact, Tyler is the subject of a feature article in the March 1, 2009, issue of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Read more at: http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ 2009/mar/01/mz1mc1quaker195057carlsbad-alum-shakes-it-quakers/?zIndex =60277
Tyler Bernardini ‘07 Vince Tornambe, Ashley Nicole Young, Dana Marie Schaefer, Kaitlin O’Keefe, Ravi Singh, Kim Partrick and Maggie Cass
Stephen Black ‘04
52
WINTER 2009
parker
alumni
Danielle Bidegain ’07 is a starter for the University of Miami women’s soccer team. She wears number 11 and they recently had a two-game Showman’s Classic at UCLA. Several Parker Alumni came to cheer on Danielle. Gino Gordon ’07, sophomore tailback for Harvard’s football team “played his role to perfection… as his touchdown run with 3:34 remaining gave 25th ranked Harvard a 24-20 victory at Princeton in Ivy League action…”—Harvard Athletic Communications. Gino was also key in the Crimson defeat of Yale this year, winding up featured in a color photo on the cover of the sports section of the New York Times the following morning.
her sophomore year) Chapters at both Yale and Cornell Universities. She is also a consultant with the non-profit consulting and marketing firm Maya at Yale and is in a group called Splatter, which organizes creative writing workshops for students at New Haven public schools. Nicole Thomas ’08 celebrated parents’ weekend with her mother, Inez Thomas, Parker’s Director of Community Outreach. She is a member of the Cheer squad at Penn, where she cheered before a packed crowd of 15,000 at University of Pennsylvania’s homecoming in October 2008.
Carolynn Roesser ’07 received a Student Spotlight Awards Honorable Mention from the University of Arizona. “Carolyn exemplifies SALT’s mission and has been recognized for her success because she is a devoted and committed student… she truly is an example of compassion, acceptance, and persistence!” The SALT award is given to students with learning disabilities or special needs. John Selby ’07 has continued with his cheerleading at Southern Methodist University. Christina Herron-Sweet ’08, a freshman at St. Olaf was recognized for her achievements on the soccer field by her team, the Oles. Alex McCarty ’08 is a freshman at Ohio Wesleyan University, majoring in Fine Arts. She is on the cheer squad as a flyer and was recently accepted on the dance team, and initiated as a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She is the daughter of Kristina Starkey, Director of Alumni and Grandparent Relations. Erica Schild ’08, a freshman at Yale, is busy establishing a Teen-Senior Connect (that she originally formed at Parker in
Kelly Faulk ‘07, Chelsea Robinson ‘07, Danielle Bidegain ‘07, Elise Crispen ’07, Dave Campbell ’07
CJ Grigoriadis ’07, Olivia Ching ‘07 Danielle Bidegain ’07, Stephanie Bidegain, and Parker Girls’ Varsity Head Coach, Marc Thiebach.
Inez and Nicole ‘08 Thomas
Alex McCarty ‘08
parker
WINTER 2009
53
alumni
Alumni Events CARE PACKAGES Class of 2008 parents gathered in October 2008 to assemble Care Packages sent from the Alumni Office to their children at college. Recent alumni particularly enjoyed personal notes from their Senior-Kinder Buddies in the class of 2021.
Front row (l to r): Cindy Condon, Inez Thomas, Lee Zucker, Cathy Asmann, Katy Philyaw, Nancy Schibanoff. Back row (l to r): Mary Rose Schwartz, Bill Carpenter, Debbie Tobin Mark Carpenter ‘80, Kami Olsson-Tapp, Jane Ahern, Megan Bryan, Joice Motamedi, Kelli Glover, Julio Hernandez HOMECOMING 2008 At the 2008 Homecoming, we welcomed more than 150 alumni on November 8 for a BBQ lunch, football game and festivities, and a reception in the evening for Reunion years. Classes of 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003 gathered in the Nicholas Commons on the Linda Vista campus for dinner and time with classmates. Several classes continued the evening with off-site class-specific gatherings, where the celebration continued until well after midnight. Many alumni enjoyed the opportunity to tour the Upper School campus and Phase 6 buildings currently under construction. For more homecoming photos, please visit the Parker website at www.francisparker.org and click on the Alumni photo gallery. McDermot Coutts ‘84, and Sarah Coutts Fahey ’88 and family Casey Marks ’98 with his parents Marguerite and Alvin Marks
Theresa Clowes, Morgan Clowes Andersen ’98, Claus Andersen and son, and Ted Clowes
54
WINTER 2009
parker
alumni
Class of 1983
Class of 1998
Class of 2003: Jackie Lopez, Nicole Price Fasig and Kim Partrick with Upper School Principal Patrick Mitchell Class of 1993
Ceri Slacum Keith ’87, Brent Drouin, David Duggan, Stewart Keith ‘86
parker
WINTER 2009
55
alumni
Sean Rogan ’81, Steve Harris ’83, Bert Wahlen ’81, Gabe Zatarain ’81, George Smith ’81, Matt Herrill ’81, Ted Davis ’81, Kent Jones ’82, Victor Pesqueira ’82, James Rogan ’83. Coach: David Glassey
L-R, Kali Lindsay ’08, Catherine McIntyre ’08, Kusuma Pokala ’08, Megan Swim ’08, Gia DeMichele ’08, Jill Thornton ’08 and Social Studies Department Chair Tom Crowley
2008 ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES ANNOUNCED 2008 and 2009 Inductees will be honored at a ceremony on Saturday, June 13, 2009, on the Linda Vista campus. More details coming soon. We hope that you will join your fellow alumni to honor this great group of athletes. INDIVIDUALS Scott Brown ’73—Football Garrett Muagututia ’06 —Basketball and Volleyball Kelsey Quist ’06—Softball
TEAM The 1981 Boys’ Basketball Team—CIF Class 1A Champions FOOTBALL REUNION More than 50 alumni gathered during the 2008 Thanksgiving holiday to cheer on the varsity football team in the CIF Quarterfinal playoff game against Calvin Christian High School. Parker was victorious, with a final score 76-3. To see all of the photos from the gathering, please visit the Parker website at www.francisparker.org, Alumni Photo Gallery. GIRLS’ AND BOYS’ SOCCER REUNION The annual soccer reunion was held on December 30, 2008, with both the boys’ and girls’ varsity teams enjoying a game against alumni. The events, held back to back, brought nearly 100 players, parents, students, and alumni to share in the rivalry. This year, the Varsity teams won both games, but alumni had a great time and it was full of spirited competition. Coaches Marc Thiebach and Seth Tunick and referees Jon Lauer and Gareth Walker are to be thanked for keeping the tradition going. As we go to press, both the boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer teams as well as the boys’ basketball team have advanced to the CIF Division IV Semi-Finals.
56
Back Row, L-R: Henock Snook ’08, Boys’ Soccer Varsity Head Coach Seth Tunick, Andrew Squier ’08, Eric Carpenter ’08, Nick Dutton ’09, Kevin Martin ’11, Michael Weil ’10, Michael Nock ‘09, Andrew Grigoriadis ’10, Need Name, Matthew Tannenbaum ’10, Willy Avery ‘11, Parker Athletic Trainer Jarrad Phillips, Referees and Parker Parents Jon Lauer and Gareth Walker. Middle Row, L-R: Joe Wexler ’09, Need Name, Jake Fisher ‘07, Gabe Tiano ‘10, Sean Gruen ‘11, Griffin Barra ’11, Jeff Lauer ’08, Alex DickGodfrey ’07, Nick Kramer ‘07. Front Row, L-R: Tyler Hughes ’09, CJ Grigoriadis ’07, Jonathan Broide ‘06, John Horton ‘06, Henry Thurman ’10, Manny Sardinha ‘08, Ian Yoder ’07, Kenny Bitar ‘10, Geoff Barnett ‘00.
LANCER SPORTS TEAM HOMEPAGES Follow your favorite Parker teams online. To get the links for all the team homepages, go to: http://www.francisparker.org/index.php?option=com_content& task=view&id=94&Itemid=222
WINTER 2009
parker
alumni
Lancers Win Two Football Titles in 2008
L-R: Phil Brody ’07, Andy Paul ’07, Paasha Motamedi ’08, Matt Rubin ’08, Nick Gonzales ’08
The #1 seeded 2008 Varsity Football team beat the defending champs from Bishop’s on Saturday, December 13, 2008, to claim their second CIF Division V title since 2005. Thanks to 21 unanswered points in the second half of the ball game, the Lancers earned a 51-22 victory. The team went undefeated in the Coastal League, clinching the League Championship with a 45-21 victory over Christian High School. Although the Lancers hoped to be selected by CIF as the Southern California team for the first-ever Back Row, L-R: Danielle Bidegain ’06, Girls’ Varsity Soccer Head Coach Marc Thiebach, Candace Thiem ’04, Lizzy Bendrick ’07, Kristen Koehrn ‘04, Rachel Bidegain Speir ‘02, Hana Rosen ‘04 Kara Koehrn ‘02, Natanya Maio ‘03, Alda Inveiss ’06. Front Row, L-R: Christina Herron-Sweet ’08, Alison Newton ’08, Madeleine Dick-Godfrey ’08, Katie Finley ’08, Erin Keitel ’08.
Small School State Championship, that honor went instead to St. Margaret’s from San Juan Capistrano. However, the Lancers will head up north to play at St. Margaret’s in their second game this fall. More info on the team’s homepage: http://fc.francisparker.org/~football/
L-R: Emily Prior ’07, Lizzy Bendrick ’07, Cassidy Lichtman ’07, Danielle Bidegain ’06, Kelly Faulk ’07
parker
WINTER 2009
57
alumni
RECENT GRADS ANNUAL LUNCHEON WITH JUNIORS, SENIORS AND UPPER SCHOOL PARENTS In January 2009, nearly 30 alumni returned to the Linda Vista campus to share their college experiences with the juniors and seniors. Many also joined Upper School parents to answer specific questions about dorm life, the application process, changing majors, and more. We are grateful to these students for sharing their time and experiences with both the student and parent audiences.
Our panel of alumni speakers, Back Row, L-R: Alex Schibanoff ’08, Megan Piacquadio ’08, Alexis Tarbet ’08, Nicole Thomas ’08, Leela Harpur ’07, Lexi Nicholas ’08, Fletcher Kelsey ’06, Michael Wong ’08. Front Row, L-R: Lindsay Schwartz ‘08, Julia Polese ’08, Kassy Lee ’08, Paasha Motamedi ’08, Louisa Goebel ’08, Lindsay Gross ’07, Carolynn Roesser ’07, David Weatherford ’07. Lexi Nicholas ’08, Senior Class Advisor and English teacher Carol Obermeier, Megan Piacquadio ’08.
Carolynn Roesser ’07, Lindsay Gross ’07, Louisa Goebel ‘08 Paasha Motamedi ’08, Michael Wong ’08, French teacher Irina Dorfman Carol Obermeier and David Weatherford ‘07
Cassidy Lichtman ’07, History teacher Chuck Wineholt, Josh Lichtman ‘05 Kassy Lee ’08, College Counselors Bob Hurley and Terri Devine
58
WINTER 2009
parker
from the archives
Calling Century Volunteers No, we are not looking for centenarians, even though they would be welcome to join us. We are looking for any alumni, parents, grandparents or parents of alumni who would be interested in working toward our 100 Years of Parker Celebration. It is fast approaching and we have begun thinking about a publication to commemorate our first 100 years, as well as events, lectures, art shows and other items to make it memorable, but more important, a great launch into our second century. If you are interested in serving on a committee now or later, please contact John Thorsen at jthorsen@francisparker.org or (858) 874-3383. It will take a village to pull this off the right way and it would be great to reconnect with Parker family members from yesteryear.
parker
WINTER 2009
57
NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 708
6501 Linda Vista Road San Diego, CA 92111 www.francisparker.org
found: the stuff you carry around Once in awhile, our FOUND PATROL might ask to see what you’re lugging around in that backpack, handbag or even your pockets these days. During Friday morning Advisory, Freshmen Joseph Bonebright and Clare Reedy, sophomores Max Lawrence and Kira Newton, juniors Vivi Mendez and Matt Winslow and senior Vincent Pasquill showed us what’s in their pockets…
calendar: what’s coming up
22 30
Parents of alumni: if you are receiving multiple copies of Parker for children whose
May 02 04-15 11 19 20 25 27-28 27-29 29 30 June 05 08-12 10 11
permanent address has changed, please contact the Alumni Office at (858) 569-7900,
22 23-25 24
Upper School Grandparents’ Day Middle School Theatre presents “The Music Man” Lower School Spring Music Program 6th grade Ikidarod Middle School Spring Concert 8th grade Discovery Week Spring Break, No School 8th grade Science Challenge Day Upper School Prom Middle & Upper School Science Olympiad teams to State competition 4th grade Drama presents “Oh California!“ Upper School Theatre Arts presents “A Piece of My Heart” 7th grade Renaissance Faire Upper School Environmental Science Fair Parents’ Association Annual Spring Gala—Cajun Carnivale Upper School AP Exams Middle School Grandparents’ Day Spring Arts Night Cum Laude Dinner Memorial Day Holiday, No School Lower School Science Fair Lower School Book Fair Upper School Spring Honors Program COMMENCEMENT 4:00pm, Linda Vista Campus Lower School Summer Music Program Upper School Final Exams Last Day of Classes, grades JK-8 8th grade Promotion 10:00am, Linda Vista Campus 5th grade Promotion 3:00pm, Mission Hills Campus Summer School Session I Begins End of 08-09 Fiscal Year, Last Day to Make 08-09 Annual Fund Gifts
or at alumni@francisparker.org—we’ll be happy to update their address.
March 09 12-14 13 20 25 30-April 04 April 04-12 17 18