Parker Magazine Summer 2012 by Francis Parker School

Looking Down the Road

Summer 2012

Learning to Drive Channelling Clara Detour in Vietnam IKIDAROD

Mark your calendar now for the following events:

October 20, 2012: Hosted Dinners Kickoff Event Early Winter, TBD: Community Service Event June 7-8, 2013: Centennial Celebration Weekend For additional information, visit

www.francisparker.org/centennial

THE ROAD TO DC

Snigdha Nandipati: A National Champion Snigdha Nandipati â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;16 was one of the millions of students from across the United States who participated in local and regional competitions, culminating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, featuring 278 contestants. Her route to victory? She trained like an athlete, studying and practicing as many as six hours a day.

CONTENTS AND CONTRIBUTOR S

When you have a window for your institutional logo, you must be all about VISION. SEEING. LOOKING. In this first issue of our re-imagined, re-invented Parker Magazine, we’re LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD...literally and figuratively, in all directions—forward to where we’re going, gauging where we stand now, and reflecting from whence we’ve come. As Far As The Mind Can See. Looking for Alumni Class Notes: www.francisparker.org/alumninews Looking for Faculty News: www.francisparker.org/facultynews

FEATURES 1

Take the same route as you would to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice.

Learning to Drive

Parents and teens switch seats and buckle up for the ride.

Farm-to-Table

A flat tire opens an unexpected opportunity.

Ikidarod

After 10 years, this event qualifies as a Parker tradition.

Alumni Profile: Sarah Goltz ‘92

Looking forward to a healthy future around the world.

Channeling Clara

Detour in Vietnam

Alumni Profile: Damon Lowney ‘06

Taking to the highway in what could be considered a dream job.

What would founder Clara Sturges Johnson say if she could see us now?

Where’s Kevin?

This issue, we sent him on the road with a 2nd grade field trip.

All roads lead to... home.

The Road to DC

DEPARTMENTS

Ms. O answers our questions.

100 Things to Love about Francis Parker School: 1-25 See if you agree.

Faculty Profile: Carol Obermeier

Overheard at Parker Morning Drop Off A light-hearted glimpse of the morning routine.

CONTRIBUTORS Jane Clifford Jane Clifford is the former Family Editor for The San Diego Union-Tribune. Author of our Learning to Drive feature, Jane is a mother of three daughters and a son, who are good drivers, and still prefer not to ride with her in the passenger seat.

Stephen P. Breen Stephen P. Breen became the editorial cartoonist for the Asbury Park Press (NJ) in 1996 and in 2001, became the cartoonist for The San Diego Union-Tribune. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize (1998 and 2009). Steve has also won the 2007 Berryman Award, the 2009 National Headliner Award, the 2009 Thomas Nast Award and the 2010 Fischetti Award. Steve also writes and illustrates children’s books and enjoys running, reading and playing the guitar. He lives in San Diego County with his wife and five children and contributed the Where’s Kevin illustration and the Overheard in the Parker Drop Off piece.

Stephanie Saad Thompson Stephanie Saad Thompson taught English electives at Francis Parker Upper School in the early 1990s, leading the Lancer Legend to its first national student journalism award. Stephanie wrote of the fortuitous detour Francis Parker students took on a trip to Vietnam. Her nurturing, thorough, firm but kind teaching style led her students to affectionately dub her “the Marquise de Saad.” She now wields her red pen of terror as the copy editor of San Diego Magazine and head of her own company, Stephanie Thompson Public Relations.

Logan Jenkins Logan Jenkins, a San Diego UnionTribune columnist, attended Francis Parker School from third- through eighth-grade. His wife, Renee, taught second-grade at Parker for 19 years. His son, Lee, attended Parker from preschool through sixth grade. For one of our feature articles, Logan channeled Clara Sturges Johnson from the past to provide a little perspective on the present. The School apologizes for misspelling his last name in the 1961 yearbook.

CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Front Cover: Photo: Marshall Williams / Getty Images Featuring Duncan Tomlin ‘12, 2012 State CIF Male Student Athlete of the Year. As a Lancer student-athlete, Duncan was on the Cross-Country, Track & Field and Surf teams. The Road to DC, p.1: Photo: Marshall Williams

Damon Lowney ‘06, p.16: Photo: Jason Buscema

Head of School: Kevin Yaley

Sarah Goltz ‘92, p.18: Photo: Meghan Hickey Sculpture: “Watertower” by Tom Fruin

Head of Institutional Advancement: Jim Zimmerman

Detour in Vietnam, p.20: Photos: John Morrison

Editor, Director of Communications: Cathy Morrison

Carol Obermeier, p.22: Photo: Marshall Williams

Layout and Design: Savacool Secviar Brand Communications

Learning to Drive, p.6: Photo: iStockphoto.com

100 Things to Love about Parker, p.24: Photos: Dave Ness, Laura Coburn, Lorenzo Gunn, Cathy Morrison, and David Wahlstrom

Farm-to-Table, p.9: Photo: Erin Aiston

Ikidarod, p.26: Photos: Mark Cooley

Printed on: Topkote Coated

Channeling Clara, p.10: Photos: Marshall Williams / Francis Parker School Archives

Overhead at Parker Morning Drop Off, p.29: Illustration: Stephen P. Breen

Where’s Kevin, p.4: Illustration: Stephen P. Breen

Back Cover: Photo: Erin Aiston

Printer: Almaden Press, Santa Clara, California

WHERE ’S KEVIN?

On the Road with the 2nd Grade

As part of their science Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They “Fair?” curriculum, each second grade didn’t know Mr. Yaley is a successful “Fair.”

class boarded a Parker bus this spring to spend the morning at an organic farm. We had Head of School Kevin Yaley accompany AnneMarie Behrens’ class to get a read on the state of the School. These are their stories.

It was as if someone hit the “on” button. Although they didn’t really know who the tall man who had joined them on their bus ride was, the students came to life with an immediate openness; they all wanted to talk at the same time, to share their excitement with great energy and friendliness. One boy chimed in, “I don’t think I need a nametag, my shirt says, ‘Hello, my name is trouble.’” Those seated nearest Kevin talked about Roberto Clemente, Lou Gehrig, and Buzz Aldrin, all individuals about whom they’d chosen to learn more to report back to their classmates. In addition to this science unit on where our food comes from, the students were working on a social studies unit that also incorporates reading and writing.

former high school soccer coach and ardent fan himself. They were simply and genuinely pleased to have an interested, knowledgeable and engaging guest on board.

Upon their arrival at the farm, the bus disgorged the enthusiastic passengers and the companionable vibe continued. The students and their guest marched happily through rows of kale, cautiously tasted a few leaves at the suggestion of their guide, and sampled some edible weeds. They discovered some flowers are good to eat and why all flowers are good for the farm. They talked about healthy eating habits. They held ladybugs in their hands and learned why their role in life on the farm is crucial. Even the farm dog joined the fun.

So why have 2nd graders leave the classroom and travel to an organic farm? When you literally bring a subject to life, the students become active explorers. They ask more questions, participate in the activity, take the opportunity to draw their own conclusions. The objective is to bring what they’ve heard in class into a “hands-on” experience. Now they can take what they’ve learned and apply this knowledge in a new or different

One boy chimed in, “I don’t think I need a nametag, my shirt says, ‘Hello, my name is trouble.”

Naturally, one can’t be organic farmbound and eight-years-old without They had recently selected a mention of poo. And manure. In the biography of a famous American to most positive of terms, of course; a read, process and then eventually “circle of life” dialog that was possibly share their new knowledge with their more biological than scatological. Hog classmates. With each child covering heaven in a sense. a different historic figure, collectively Meanwhile, the Head of School came the entire class gets to know a wider variety of impressive individuals to appreciate a teacher’s management whose feats and accomplishments are style. When the energy + excitement inspirational and impactful for a host = volume equation proved too much, of reasons. It was clear the students Mrs. Behrens cheerfully reminded the were interested by what they’d read, group that there were 25 of them, and only one guide. Could they hear her if and eager to tell those stories. they themselves were talking? Would it There was a surprising, vigorous be fair if they were to give her the floor discussion of international soccer and and listen to what she had to say? The which players are the best, coming students thoughtfully and amicably to a split decision between Lionel agreed with one voice.

situation. Rather than valuing the information primarily to correctly complete a test or quiz question, when they are in a grocery or market, they have a sense for where the items on display came from, what’s in them (or in the case of fresh, organic food, what’s not in them), how their bodies will process the ingredients, and why those ingredients are good for their bodies. And maybe, a child is more apt to try a new food or eat a new vegetable. The more of our senses we can engage in an experience, the more memories we build. For his part, Mr. Yaley said, “Being with the kids reminds me of what matters most at Parker.” He saw integration of curriculum, retention of subject matter, social grace and teamwork, excitement for learning, and community spirit. That was just in an hour-and-a-half. Now we know why kids are tired at the end of the day!

LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S Teaching your children to drive...

TAK E A An adventure by Jane Clifford

DR I V E . 6

For those of you with 16-year-olds, ready to rock in the driver’s seat, I offer my condolences. For those with older children, you know what I am talking about. This will not be easy. Just thinking about the subject sent me hurtling back in time to teaching four kids to drive. Surprisingly, my husband and I stayed married. More surprisingly, our kids eventually did learn and didn’t wreck our car or total our neighbor’s lawn ornaments. Funny how, no matter how much time passes, the anxiety never does. To this day, when I see a “Student Driver” sign on a car, my heart starts pounding, my eyes glaze over and, there I am, sitting in the passenger seat, gripping whatever I can and, alternately, nearly pushing my foot through the floorboard that has no brake pedal. And, of course, the yelling: “Slow down!” “Watch that car on the right, he’s trying to come over!” “You’re following too closely!” Followed by ... “Stay with the flow of traffic! Pick up the pace!!” It’s no wonder my kids wanted their even-keeled dad in the car with them. And he did come home, more than once however, more gray than when he left. I think we were both relieved when California passed the law that kids must take a behindthe-wheel course. No more leaving it completely up to moms and dads to teach their offspring the basics. We happily forked over the dough (“Only 270 bucks? No problem!!”) and waved at their instructors (and said a prayer) as they backed out of our driveway. But you still bear part of the burden. You have to get in the car with your kid. The human condition being what it is, we cope with the stress in our own way. Julie Korsmeyer vividly remembers teaching her son Austin Winner ‘05 to drive a decade ago. (As promised, the memory never goes away!) “I rode in the passenger seat with a bag of pistachios between my knees,” she recalls. “The bag kept my feet away from the imaginary brake pedal,

shelling the pistachios kept my hands busy, and eating them kept me from barking out suggestions and warnings every 30 seconds.” Current parent Shelley Benoit notes, “Joey and I reached a huge milestone in our parent/ child relationship when he was learning to drive. It was the first time I used profanity (frequently and wantonly) in front of my kid.”

“Slow down!” “Watch that car on the right, he’s trying to come over!” “You’re following too closely!” “Stay with the flow of traffic! Pick up the pace!!” And Chris Trepte McGregor ’79 knows that it comes full circle. “I remember being very anxious about learning to drive and there definitely were some tears involved. The unfamiliar feeling of controlling a vehicle was overwhelming to me, as was the realization that I could not master driving skills simply by reading the manual. I will never forget my driver’s training instructor sending me down the steepest hill in Point Loma and then telling me, ‘Your brakes just went out – now what do you do?’ I survived, did not crash, but once the instructor got out of the car, I burst into tears.” “Fast forward over 30 years and now my daughter is learning to drive. Once again, tears were involved. Whether her eyes welled up with tears after returning from a drive with my husband, aka the McGregor tough love driving school, or her breaking down

after a cranky DMV examiner informed her that she had failed her first driving test.” “Learning to drive can be a scary experience for some, but it is all part of growing up. It comes more naturally to some than to others (including my daughter and me), but I can honestly say for both my daughter and me, the day that each of us got our driver’s license was an empowering one that was well worth the tears.” So here’s the thing. If you really are overly anxious, your teenager will feel it and be even more over anxious. It’s very important for you to stay chill. The kids already are nervous. We don’t need to add to it by micro-managing the drive. Guide them with a calm voice as they merge into hyperspeed traffic on the freeway. Screaming, “Oh my God, we’re going to crash!” is not as effective a strategy as it may seem at the time. They have to learn how to do this on their own so they can. You will not always be with them in the car. Let them make decisions and gently correct them when necessary. I know all this is easier said than done. But try. Hard. They really will become better drivers with practice. And they will become good drivers with confidence. I remember, when our youngest was learning, and I apparently was talking so much that she pulled over to the side of the road and told me I was making her crazy and I should just drive. I really wanted to take her up on that offer but, instead, I heard the message and bit my tongue for the rest of the trip. Hard. Other than that, share in your teenager’s newfound freedom, protect him or her with appropriate rules and enjoy being able to send him or her to the store for the milk you forgot. They love doing that. For a while.

Recommended Resources…

In case you’re not sure how all this works and you have a teenager

who will be driving soon, you can find all the rules at the DMV

SCAN ME

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffdl19.htm

A word of advice: Make an appointment when you need to go to the DMV for testing or risk long lines. You can find training programs online with a simple search for “California teen driver training.”

Strongly consider creating a Parent-Teen Driving Contract.

Try the California Parent-Teen Training Guide (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl603/dl603.pdf) or write your own. My husband and I wrote one and discussed the details with the kids. It contained what would happen if they: • Weren’t home by curfew • Had car trouble • Had friends who pushed them to drive them before it was legal to do so • Should drink at a party when they had to drive home

SCAN ME

That was even before there was texting.

Despite some confusion over what the law states: Once your teen gets that license, for the first 12 months he or she is not allowed to chauffeur friends or younger siblings around. There are exceptions, not to make our lives convenient, but for the kids’ (and their passengers’) safety.

FARM -TO -TABLE

All Roads Lead to... Home Parker Reunions farm-to-table repast; the food and beverage took a shorter route back to Linda Vista Road than most of the 300+ alumni and guests in attendance.

CHANNELING

CLAR A. 100 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD. By Logan Jenkins

know what I must look like to you as you rush back and forth, consulting your miniature telephones.

How old-world I must seem. Clara Sturges Johnson, Victorian grande dame, gazing down on the lobby of the Upper Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new administration building. I confess, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m still getting used to this rebirth on the other side of Mission Valley, a few miles from the landmark school my strikingly handsome husband William and I founded a century ago.

I was no John Dewey, though I did subscribe passionately to his belief in experience as life’s greatest classroom teacher. Neither could I exert the influence of Francis W. Parker, the pioneer who, after serving in the Civil War, worked a kind of magic on schools in Quincy, Mass. I recall how thrilled I was when I read the tribute to Colonel Parker as he was leaving for the University of Chicago: “In five years,” the Quincy school board gushed, “he transformed our schools. He found them machines; he left them living organisms. Drill gave way to growth, and the weary prison became a pleasure house. He breathed life, growth and happiness into our school rooms.”

Lower School portico, looking south toward playground, circa 1920.

rom what I can see, the transformation of the new campus, which the School acquired in 1971 (two years after I died), is just about complete. I must say, William Templeton Johnson, one of San Diego’s greatest and most versatile architects, would have approved of the ultramodern Craftsman style, the graceful balance of glass, wood and stone, the four gorgeously landscaped courtyards, the generous windows that actually open, letting ocean breezes in.

I chose Mrs. O’Byrne not because she was a good teacher — what did I know of the art of pedagogy? — but because it occurred to me that voice training would be salutary for the lungs of Parker children. The formidable Adele Outcalt, our first principal, no doubt rolled her eyes, but she did not object. How could she? As Mrs. Outcalt recalled in her memoirs, “Mrs. Johnson was not used to being disappointed.”

You can’t imagine how much William fretted over the elegantly simple lines and the circulation of fresh air when he was designing the quadrangle that became what is now known as the Lower School.

It may sound immodest, but it’s not everyone who builds a school from scratch to educate her own children and serve as a futuristic model for a city, if not the country.

Each classroom had a huge sliding window that opened out to the patio. The covered portico allowed students, no matter what the weather, to breathe in the vital air, our first building block of learning.

Though you must think me dreadfully old-fashioned in dress and speech, I’d argue that, in some respects, we — my husband and I as well as the educational theorists who guided our thinking — were more radical than our more results-oriented counterparts today.

A true story. I took it upon myself to hire a music teacher in the school’s first year within a bungalow on Fort Stockton. (I understand it’s a nursery today.)

Granted, I did not teach in the classroom. I did not leave behind a shelf of books.

To Parker, the objective of education was to instill an irrepressible “zest for learning” in students, not pound in rote information that would be largely forgotten. In this liberal (not a pejorative word in my day, by the way) view, the teacher is, in fact, an artist whose “method is entirely personal, ever changing, ever improving.” The notion

1917 portrait of Adele Meyer Outcalt, Principal, 1913 - 1920.

that learning could be “standardized” would have been considered reactionary, a return to mind-numbing factories that produced marginally literate automatons, not resolutely resourceful and sympathetic citizens. hen my husband and I moved back from France — he studied architecture there for four years —we planned to live in Greenwich, Conneticut.

Montessori, the Italian visionary who once visited Parker. When we dedicated the first side of the campus in November 1913, San Diego’s superintendent of schools spoke glowingly of Parker’s future as a complement, not a privileged alternative, to public schools.

learn, not what to learn. From what I gather from snatches of conversations I overhear, those values have not been abandoned at Parker despite the frenetic pace. But what I do admire without reservation about today’s student body is Parker’s ever-

But as fate would have it, we visited my sister, Ethel Sturges Dummer, in Coronado in 1910. The summer air was like a siren’s call to lovesick sailors. We fell into San Diego’s open arms. We built a house on Coronado’s Ocean Avenue and searched for a school for our two active boys — Northrop and Del. (You can see them at my side in the Henry Salem Hubbell portrait. Eventually, we would have two more children — Alan and Katherine, Parker students all.) To be brutally frank, the public schools struck us as joyless dungeons where our children would languish. My sister’s four daughters, one of whom was destined to be a future Parker principal, had attended Francis Parker School in Chicago, the progressive school dedicated to Colonel Parker’s vision. We resolved to build a school that would, in Colonel Parker’s inspiring phrase, “offer the immediate use of knowledge acquired, that arouses in children the highest zest for learning.”

1913 photo of our first library, in what is now the Lower School Office.

ne of the things I can’t help but notice from my lofty perspective is the change in the pace of campus life. Students today have so many demands upon their time! They have accelerated classes, sports, community service, preps for collegeentrance exams. They live at a sprint, it seems. I hope it’s slower at the Lower School, but I wonder.

Our ambition was that Parker would serve as a practical model and be replicated in the public schools throughout San Diego. Once its raison d’être had been realized, it would cease to exist as a private enterprise.

In my children’s day, Parker kids rambled in the canyons and then drew pictures or wrote poetry. School assemblies encouraged courteous attention and debate. Singing, art, drama and wood shop were as fundamental as math and science.

To borrow a modern phrase, Francis Parker was to be San Diego’s first charter school, an experiment in the sort of individually centered learning advocated by Maria

Granted, some of our Parker students found the grind of college challenging in the first year but in general they quickly adjusted and excelled because they’d been taught how to

broadening of its family. Diversity, as it’s called now. I recall how proud Mrs. Outcalt was when she informed us that she was one of the founding board members of the local NAACP. She’d be proud of the strides Parker has made to reflect the human variety in the world. Though you might assume I always led a life of genteel ease and predictability, it wasn’t so.

After the sale papers were signed, my connection with Parker became somewhat tenuous. I was a woman of a certain age who would live to be an old lady. But I did have occasion to summon my school’s genius one last time. To honor the great Colonel Parker, I commissioned a plaque, which I donated to the meditation room of the United Nations in New York. It read: “That nation shall endure forever whose people have entered the paths of self-control and world-wide sympathy.” December 1912, first day of school ever at Francis Parker School, temporarily located at what is now the Mission Hills Nursery on Ft. Stockton.

As Parker’s enrollment grew from a paltry three (my two boys and another child) in 1912 to one hundred in 1919, the financial challenges were often sobering. Tuitions ranged between $70 and $140. One year we wrote a check for $28,000 to cover the budget deficit. My husband and I divorced around the time of the Crash of ‘29. I moved back East, my financial circumstances much reduced. I couldn’t continue to support the school as enrollment dwindled during the Depression, a period during which the high school was scuttled. Parker parents had to organize and assume the task of making up the difference between tuitions and expenses. My wonderful young niece, Ethel Mintzer, whom we called “Happy” for self-evident reasons, was by then leading the school and she struggled mightily to keep the school afloat, one time sitting without food on the front doorstep of a donor until she had a lifesaving check for $3,000 in her possession.

Demonstrating the self-reliance taught in the classroom, the school survived the lean pre-World War II years. “We economized on everything but education,” one board member wrote, a righteous marching order for any struggling school. n 1941, an emissary from the Catholic Diocese approached me with an offer to buy the school.

To all the students and teachers who pass by me, I trust you will live up to this worldly prayer. You have been given the freedom to learn and teach in the freshest of air. Take full advantage. To quote Henry James, my favorite novelist, be the sort of global citizens upon whom nothing is lost. And if you have any doubt how necessary that is, just look up at me and remember: I’m not used to being disappointed.

I admit, I was tempted. Remember, the idea had always been that Parker would someday cease to be. So I sent Winthrop, my attorney son, to San Diego to see if the school had outlived its purpose. Was it time to close the book on Francis Parker? Winthrop reported back that Parker continued to influence the evolution of San Diego’s public schools, but it was itself still growing as an academic experiment. He convinced me that San Diego still needed Parker. In my final gift to my school, I agreed to sell the land and buildings to Parker parents for $35,000, which is what they could afford. It was among my most satisfying financial decisions.

Inset, this page: Ethel Mintzer

Next page: 1. Prom in the now-Szekely Auditorium, circa 1956. 2.Upper School students work behind the scenes on a theatre production, 1939 - 40 school year. 3. From the 1989-90 Admission Viewbook, Lower School Courtyard. 4. Mary Moore with kindergartners, circa 1981. 5. Lettermen’s Club, 1970 (that’s faculty adviser Tony Ghironi in the back row on the left). 6. Science class, circa 1954. 7. Student production of The Merchant of Venice, circa 1938. 8 - 9. Class of 1986 Commencement. 10. Class of 1935 Commencement.

PARKER ALUMNI PROFILE

Damon Lowney Class of 2006

Current residence: San Rafael, CA. Current position: Associate Editor, Excellence: The Magazine About Porsche. Job description: I research, write, edit, photograph and produce stories about new and classic Porsches for both print and web. This often includes test driving cars from the press fleets. Most epic test drive: A new 911 Carerra GTS, with the engine in the rear. It was the first test drive where everything totally clicked for me. We were on a coastal road in Northern California and I was ‘in the zone.’

Worst test drive: Finally got to test a GT3RS. Heading up a windy road with my girlfriend in the car, I was behind slow cars in a no passing zone. Wanting to open it up, I stupidly passed the cars and there was a policeman just over the crest of the hill. It was a pretty steep ticket. Advice for aspiring test drivers: Protect your license, protect your job, be respectful of other drivers. Which came first, cars or journalism? Cars, absolutely. My uncle got me interested in Porsches at a young age. At first, I thought I wanted to become an engineer so I could build cars, but I wasn’t good at science so I decided I should write about cars instead.

Years at Parker: A hard-core lifer!

First car: Laser Red 1997 Ford Mustang V6

Favorite Parker memory: Sports, especially lacrosse and cross country.

Current car: That Mustang and a 1989 Porsche 944 S2 (“A work in progress”)

Least favorite memory: A Lower School incident involving a fire alarm best remembered only by Josh Hynson, David Castaños, Dr. Gillingham and me.

Dream car: Porsche GT3RS 4.0

Favorite Parker teachers: Mrs. Hughes in Fifth Grade for really caring about me. Mr. Wineholt in Upper School for making history fun.

Hero: My mother, Diana McGowan, a fighting soul if ever there was one. In the past couple of years I realized why she did a lot of the things she did (including making me go to Parker) when I was growing up. Quote: Before you point your fingers be sure your hands are clean. - Bob Marley

PARKER ALUMNI PROFILE

Sarah Goltz Class of 1992 Current residence: Brooklyn, New York. Current position: Principal, Sage Innovation; Adjunct Professor, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Job description: I design and implement global advocacy strategies and technical programs that aim to make new life-saving tools available in developing countries. My clients are mostly large international non-profits and foundations. Most significant achievement in global public health: The massive push that allowed huge numbers of people in Africa access to anti-viral drug regimens – it shows the scale of what can be accomplished when there is appropriate funding, political will, and of course, life-saving medicines. Greatest health threat in developing countries: Disease patterns have quickly shifted. Industrialized food, smoking, urbanization and aging populations have all contributed. In many countries, you’re as or more likely to suffer from cancer, diabetes, heart disease or depression, than malaria or HIV. We’re struggling to prevent, treat and manage these diseases with few resources.

Professional triumph: Being part of a group of people who pushed to make the HPV vaccine (cervical cancer) available and affordable in developing countries. When did you know you wanted to help change the world?: I had a friend at Parker, Nadine Barry ’92. Her family had been evacuated from Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo). They were amazing. Her father said he worked in international development. Although I had no idea at the time what that really meant, I decided that was what I was going to do. Luckily, I’ve found it interesting. Greatest challenge working in other countries: Myself. It took a long time to learn to step back and look to support the many things that are working in a country or community where I have been asked to work. In the vast majority of situations, people are managing their resources and opportunity well. They just need more of that. First global trip: The summer after 10th grade, I went on a seven-week trip to Asia with [then-Headmaster] Jerral Miles and nine other kids. Nothing like the back alleys of Bangkok to open one’s eyes.

Business travel: In my previous job, I made 13 international trips in 12 weeks. Now it’s mostly back and forth between Geneva, New York and Washington. Sometimes to Africa and Latin America. Travel recommendation: Cambodia. Angkor Wat is the most spectacular place I have ever seen. Always in my suitcase: I always carry dice. I figure they’re light and someday might come in handy. Favorite Parker memory: Adopting ‘egg babies’ in 6th grade. I had twins, Cadence and Woody. All went well until I was scootering home and dropped Cadence. Favorite Parker teachers: Mrs. Kunkel for ‘breaking me in’ and giving me a love for the Preamble. Mrs. Brown (Mama B) in the 6th grade, still one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. Mrs. Peckham in Middle School for her special wink and proving Shakespeare was something worth our attention. The Ramerts and Ms. O for being our stepping stones to the world. Quote: If you come to a fork in the road, take it. - Yogi Berra

TAKING A

DETOUR OFF A NARROW

ROAD

IN VIETNAM BY STEPHANIE SAAD THOMPSON

Making connections with the local schoolchildren was not at the top of the list of the 15 Parker students on the first day of their “South to North” Vietnam school trip in February 2012. Settling into their guesthouse in the Mekong Delta, in the town of Cai Be, they were more concerned with learning to navigate the narrow dirt roads on rickety bikes and to get to the local market to shop for and prepare their own meals. But it was thanks to one of those unreliable bikes that they stumbled into one of the most memorable experiences of their visit.

To date, due to the Vietnamese government’s restrictions, trip organizers have been unsuccessful in establishing an exchange with schools, where students and teachers might be able to spend time together in the classrooms. Serendipitously, this group of Parker students found themselves walking into a P.E. class in the schoolyard, where a game of volleyball was underway. Although the Americans spoke no Vietnamese and the locals spoke no English, they soon discovered they understood the common language of sports. “There was such a language barrier between us, but even so, joining in the game brought us together,” says James. “When they saw we knew how to play, right away we intermixed

“We wanted to go back to visit the school, and I thought, ‘What if we buy some nets for those soccer goals?’” Steven says. Tony adds, “Then we said, well, they could use a new volleyball. And the soccer goalkeeper didn’t have any gloves. Then Joe [Haack ‘13] decided to buy them a new soccer ball.” As a group, the Parker students bought soccer nets, basketballs, volleyballs, goalkeeping gloves, and other items to take back to their new friends. Although the student travelers said many things about Vietnam confounded their expectations, the people they met were the

“IT’S A VERY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE WHEN YOU’RE TRAVELING THROUGH THE COUNTRY ON BIKES INSTEAD OF A TOUR BUS OR VAN”

on different teams. They were in old clothes, many had no shoes, they had practically no equipment. But they were very athletic, “It’s a very different perspective when excellent players.” Adds Katie Plaxe ‘12, you’re traveling through the country on “Although we were much larger than them, bikes instead of a tour bus or van,” said James and they were shy at first, because of not Wamsley ‘13. “We were following our guide being able to speak English, once they got along tiny paths, across bridges—definitely going, they really gave us a great game.” out of our comfort zone.” Riding along narrow roadways in between fields The game quickly morphed from volleyball and canals was challenging, even for to soccer, on a dirt field with goalposts and experienced riders. no nets. Although the conversation between students didn’t get much past miming “My David Nussbaum ‘13, was having particular name is,” the game was fast-paced and trouble with his aged bicycle. The group was competitive, and the Parker students were making its way to the local floating market, talking about their chance encounter long the students strung out in a line behind their after their return to the guesthouse that guide like ducklings following their mother, evening. It was still on their minds the next when the chain of his bike fell off for the day when they made it to the market to buy final time. “I knew I wasn’t going to be able food and supplies. Steven Goicoechea ’12 to fix it, so I was walking the bike off the and Tony Gallanis ‘12 noticed a sporting road and turned into a school. Our guide goods store. thought they might be able to tell us where we could get the bike repaired.”

biggest surprise of all. “I didn’t know what to expect. I thought the Vietnamese might still hate Americans, because of the war,” said Steven Goicoechea. “But even the war veterans we met couldn’t have been nicer.” Riding their bikes back to the school, the Parker students found it closed, but the word quickly spread that the American visitors were back, and the local kids poured out to greet them. Together they hung the new soccer nets on the empty goalposts. “We weren’t sure at first that the nets would fit, but they were perfect,” says Max Lee ‘12. Thrilled with their new equipment, the local students again overcame their shyness and the language barrier to engage their visitors in spirited games of soccer and volleyball. “We played for hours that day,” recalls Zach Gleicher ‘12. “The girls must have played volleyball for two hours without stopping. We all ended up laughing, because sometimes we just couldn’t make sense of each other’s hand signals.”

Francis Parker School offers a multitude of Global Experiential Learning Opportunities for both Middle and Upper School students. Our trips are designed to engage students in authentic, experiential learning that takes students beyond the classroom and connects our students with people from around the world. 21

FACULT Y PROFILE

Carol Obermeier English, Upper School Better known as Ms. O, she’s been teaching literature to seniors at Parker since 1989. She’s also their confidant, advisor, has couches in her classroom instead of desks, and on Sunday afternoons from 4 – 6, makes herself available to seniors for college essay writing advice. Ms. O. humored us by answering our Parker Magazine theme questions, and then some. 01

All roads lead to…?

Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO, home of World Champs, St. Louis Cardinals, OR Francis Parker, baby!

Favorite road literature?

(Kerouac, McCarthy, Robert Frost?) Can’t read in a moving vehicle.

Best road trip you ever took? A solo camping trip across the US; what was I thinking? Still, that trip was breathtaking.

Worst road trip ever?

Hitch-hiking across the country and a roadie picked me up. Once again, as often occurs to me, what was I thinking?

Where do you see yourself

down the road? In my Adirondack, reading a book, and looking out over Lake Michigan.

What was your road to Parker?

The 163 to Friars and up the hill. Well, also, I was looking for a school for my children, fell in love with Parker, realized the only way I could afford Parker was to work here, applied, and got the job!

What is your idea of

perfect happiness? Traveling with my kids, Sam and Lucy.

What is your greatest fear? Meetings.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Not keeping promises.

What is the trait you most deplore in others? Leaving me every year after graduation.

Which living person do you most admire? I’d love to say, my son Sam, but he would kill me, so I’ll choose Penny Jennewein ‘11, who is an activist, a truth-teller, a lover of causes, and a very dear person, AND a Parker alumna.

What is your

greatest extravagance? Book stores.

What is your current

What do you consider the

On what occasion do you lie?

Whenever I can; I hate standing.

What do you most dislike about your appearance? That I resemble my dad rather than my mom.

Which living person do you most despise? I should be politically correct here, right? OK, then, me at my weakest.

What is the quality you most like in a man? Breath.

What or who is the greatest love of your life? Every single kid I teach.

were you happiest? Crossing the finish line of a full-on triathalon. I was dead last, but who cares.

Which talent would you

most like to have? I’d love to play an instrument; Jim Witt and I are working on that.

If you could change one thing

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Getting out of the way and watching Sam and Lucy blossom into their own beings.

Where would you most

like to live? On a farm outside Paris—France, not Texas.

What is your most

treasured possession? My soul.

Which historical figure do you most identify with? Helen Keller (Stop laughing, you doggone students).

Who are your heroes in real life? Mark Byrne, our photography teacher. He knows why.

What are your favorite names? Gorgeous and Perfect in Every Way.

What is it that you most dislike? Poverty of Spirit, actually, poverty at all.

If you were to die and come

back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A cow. A cow gets to chill outside.

Who is your hero of fiction? Odysseus.

37 25

Who are your favorite writers?

Ursula Hegi, Zora Neale Hurston, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Robertson Davies, and Jesmyn Ward, to start.

about yourself, what would it be? Oh, gosh, I love being me.

What do you most value

in your friends? Gifts.

36 24

What is your most

marked characteristic? Smile. I can’t seem to stop.

When and where

you most overuse? I am no man’s chattel.

most overrated virtue? Thrift.

Which words or phrases do

state of mind? Missouri.

you most like in a woman? Trust.

What is the quality

What is your greatest regret? Being mean to someone when I was in college.

40 How would you like to die? Ready. 41

What is your motto?

Create in me a clean heart and renew within me a steadfast spirit.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Papers to grade.

What is your favorite occupation? The one I have.

NOTHING BUT LOVE

100 Things to Love About Parker Here are the first 25, in no particular order. Stay tuned to our next three issues to see what makes 26 – 100. In fact, if you have something special to add to the list, let us know at parkermagazine@francisparker.org.

“Who are you calling

a quack?” 18

“I am programmed to be awesome!” 1

“Thou frothy

motley minded pigeon egg!”

Mary Moore: Teaching Kindergartners to sing “Land of the Silver Birch, home of the beaver...” since 1964.

Woodworking with Barry Cheskaty: Measure twice, cut once.

Alumni who are faculty: The ultimate in giving back to your alma mater. Thanks Judy, Mike, Letty, Christi, Jonah, Sasha, Kristy, Sam, and Matt!

Parker Gala: An army of parent volunteers transform the campus, entertain the community and provide opportunities for students, faculty and staff.

10 Concertwear:

Lower School boys in white shirts & ties on playground, pull the FLAG, not the tie!

Maypole: A tradition that’s older than Pet Day.

7th grade Renaissance Faire Shakespearan Insult Tree: ”Thou frothy motley-minded pigeon-egg!” Upper School class colors senior red: Red Rules the Roost.

Classrooms: Sliding doors: Let the sun shine, let the sun shine...

Francis & Parker the ducks: Back for a second year, we still don’t know how they got in without taking the ISEE.

19 Cooking

Club: 42 kids, 1 kitchen, 12 recipes, it’s all good!

Senior and Kindergarten Buddies: Let’s go fly a kite!

Championship Banners in the Field House: 215 and counting...

Lower School Language & Culture Week: Each classroom becomes expert on one particular place, people, and environment. The students then become the teachers.

8th grade Ellis Island Re-enactment: The only time “jail” could be considered fun.

23 Lower

Robotics: Bringing fame and trophies to Parker, one robot at a time.

24 Yearbooks:

17 Open

Powder Puff Football: Touchdown Takedown!

Shakespeare’s bust over door of Szekely Auditorium: This was one of two created by the same artist; after the March 1978 fire at the original San Diego Old Globe Theatre, this is the only surviving bust.

View of Mission Valley: Voted Best View at Twillight.

Backpacks on the walkway: ”They just leave them there? And they’re alright?”

21 Taking

classroom pets home for school holidays and summer break: Where is Ruby the Rat staying this summer?

Middle School Rock Projects: Woodstock on the MS Lawn. School Monday morning Flag Raising: Happy Birthday, Dear Birthday People… Annual Parker chronicles created by student and faculty teams that provide inspiration for future alumni reunions.

25 Chicken

crispitos: Yes, Please!

4 miles, 3 stops, 8 teams, 16 lead â&#x20AC;&#x153;dogs,â&#x20AC;? 64 harnesses, countless water bottles and an army of parent volunteers.

The Alex Szekely â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;75 Memorial Ikidarod.

It all adds up—the 10th annual Alex Szekely ‘75 Memorial Ikidarod. Begun in 2003 by now-retired Mrs. Mary Brown, this cross-curricular unit also incorporates real-life skills, such as completing log books, maintaining equipment, sportsmanship, teamwork, and perseverance.

You don’t need snow to pull a sled. See the video: http://youtu.be/6Q-N05jza1w 28

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID FRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL

6501 Linda Vista Road San Diego, CA 92111 www.francisparker.org

Parker Magazine

Looking Down the Road / Summer 2012

The class of 2012 Looking Down the Road toward a bright future.