Winter at a Glance

Students Find Benedictine Philosophy in the Andes

An amazing 11-day adventure that took a group of Priory students through Uruguay and Argentina, culminating in a three-day horseback trip to the site of a 1970s plane crash, was also an adventure in Benedictine values, said faculty sponsor Jeff Wise. The trip is organized around a study of the book, “Alive!” a survival story, and includes the opportunity to meet and talk with survivors as well as experience the cultures of South American metropolitan and rural life. The five tenets of the Benedictine tradition—spirituality, hospitality, community, individuality and integrity—permeated the experience, Mr. Wise said. Student/faculty trips to Japan and Spain are scheduled for later this spring.

Winter at a

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High Jinks Precede

Serious Studies

Freshman Ariel Zommer kicks off March

Madness activities with Irish dance on St. Patrick’s Day. The March Madness tradition of crazy dress and antics on Red Square lives on, and it still is a great way to unwind before the serious business of papers, exams and SATs take over in the last quarter of the academic year.

Priory Wins the Golden Apple

This is a community that shares! Students, faculty and staff collected and donated more than 75 pounds of food each for Second Harvest Food Bank in December. Students raised more than $15,000 during a week of “penny wars” for Tsunami victims. The list of causes that students support with time, brainpower and resources—by class, by club, in response to a tragic event—never ends. The food drive was a campuswide effort and it earned the Priory a Second Harvest Golden Apple Award, given to the school with the highest per-person rate of donation. Priory student body officers Quins Hobbs and Man On Li accepted the Second Harvest award on behalf of the school.

Glance

Kalman Field Is Even More Appreciated

Kalman Field, dedicated to the memory of former student Stephen Kalman, an outstanding scholar and athlete who died in 1970, has a new meaning for the school’s neighbors. For years, it has given sought-after play space to local youth athletic leagues when Priory teams are not using it. Soon it also may be a safety net for water runoff in severe weather. A berm would be added to retain water (much of it from the watershed area uphill from the Priory’s acreage), retain it briefly, and release it slowly into Corte Madera Creek. The plan is part of the school’s revised approved Conditional Use Permit (see the Headmaster’s letter). Stephen’s relatives joined the Priory community at a chapel meeting last fall for dedication of a plaque that is now mounted by the baseball field (see inset photo).

Missed the Lecture? Catch the Replay!

Computer Science teacher Kevin Wang spends a lot of class time in front of the board demonstrating and dissecting concepts that are confusing (or absent) in the book. It’s good teaching and now can be captured for students who must miss class—like the student in the photo inset. With a smartboard that links to his computer, his notes and lecture are captured digitally and can be replayed later at another location. It’s a special boon for students who must miss several days or students who just need to hear the explanation again to get it straight. Mr. Wang demonstrated the board to colleagues recently and 10 more have placed orders for digital smartboards next fall.

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