Faculty Spotlight: Gulliver LaValle

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Wait, what?! Gulliver LaValle’s fans came up with this list to describe him. “He’s helpful and gets us the things we need to succeed,” says Genaro Flores ‘20. Michelle Taffe believes, “he’s extremely empathic to the students and their parents.” “He gets along with people and has a good heart,” adds Brian Schlaak. “He is able to hold the kids to a high standard,” points out Dorothy Kowal, “but students respond because they know how much he cares.” So where does “annoying” fi t in? Derek Abarca ‘18 explains. “He’ll bother you till you get something done. He really wants to see you succeed.” Gulliver LaValle holds the offi cial title of Community Engagement Director, which includes organizing Priory’s community service opportunities and running the Access program, which recruits students from underserved populations to apply to Priory and helps them to thrive here once accepted. He also heads the Peninsula Bridge program that provides summer academic growth opportunities. After graduating with honors from the University of Utah with degrees in anthropology and Spanish, Gulliver stayed on to earn a Masters degree in Teaching and Learning. His fi rst teaching position took him to an alter-

native high school, teaching history to students who had previously been expelled. “The whole reason I got into education,” says Gulliver, “was to help the underrepresented and underserved to have equity and a positive experience with their education.” In 2007, Gulliver LaValle arrived on the Priory campus, making it his home in the classroom as well as in faculty housing. But it’s not only his home. “I’m the type of person whose house is open to people who are in need of support,” he explains. And open his doors he has, whether it’s for students to stay late studying or even to having students live with his family. “That’s a defi ning level of commitment,” says Brian Schlaak. Over and over, students describe Mr. LaValle as a father fi gure in their lives. “He’s always in the lives of the kids he’s working with,” says Keyshawn Ashford ‘18. “He knows their grades, cares for them all, just making sure we’re okay and at the top level.” Katy Oseguera ‘17 adds, “He treats us exactly the same as his children. He’s a father fi gure to us Access kids.” Gulliver’s own son Adrian LaValle ‘18 has grown up experiencing this open-house policy. “He shows his leadership through encouragement and by example,” Adrian states. Gulliver explains how his goal is “keeping kids focused on the ultimate goal without getting discouraged and allowing the little bumps in the road to seem bigger

than they are.” But sometimes achieving this goal can feel like an obstacle course. The biggest challenge, he continues, can be “getting adults to understand the perspective of our students and to adjust their interactions accordingly.” As the person who organizes the community service week in January as well as the other service opportunities, Gulliver has an excellent sense of how Priory can serve its greater community. Keenly interested in helping students connect with meaningful activities, he puts countless hours into working with such organizations as 49ers Academy, Acterra, Ecumenical Hunger Project, and The Sequoias assisted living. “It’s been great to learn about and fi nd organizations that are interested in connecting with our kids and watch our kids develop their own relationships with these outside organizations that help them express their passion, and thus hopefully develop a lifelong desire to give of themselves,” he states. “If I can help every kid I come in contact with to more clearly see a path that resonates with who they are, whether it be through exposure to outside learning opportunities or individual growth through their school experience,” he continues, “then I would feel happy knowing that it somehow helped propel them to follow their hearts and to live compassionately.” Gulliver also coordinates Priory’s efforts to understand the broad range of diverse backgrounds represented here. He heads the faculty Diversity Committee, which meets monthly and tackles issues such as how to interrupt prejudicial statements, to developing Priory’s mission statement and increasing the diversity of students and staff. The students have also organized the proactive Dedicated 2 Diversity (D2D) club, which Gulliver LaValle advises. “He’s very passionate about diversity as a construct,” states Brian Schlaak. Gulliver has built this program over six years, and because of it, staff and students have felt increasingly welcomed and heard. Anysa Gray ‘20 believes, “He understands people’s backgrounds and takes them into consideration.” Gulliver’s own goal? “I hope to accomplish being a guide for kids to discover their passion and feel empowered to turn that passion into action for the purpose of making their lives better,” he says. Katy Oseguera ‘17 adds her own favorite anecdote. “At the year-end Access dinner, he has something nice to say about every senior who’s there.” Gulliver LaValle truly lives the Benedictine belief that every student is known and loved.

DEVELOPMENT

On Track with Building Ingenuity M HAPPY NEW YEAR ONE AND ALL! Momentous milestones are ahead for the Woodside Priory School community this year! I hope this issue finds you well rested and ready to take on the challenges and opportunities of 2017! This month, we dedicate our glorious “Field of Dreams,” the largest landscaping project in the history of the school. Our new front yard is a luscious,

verdant green and a beautiful contrast to the regulation red all weather track encircling it. Student involvement in the performing arts increased by ten-fold with the opening of the Performing Arts Center, so we can only imagine how this spectacular setting will impact student participation and Athletics Programs! The STREAM Center is set in concrete–literally. At the end of the drive, on top of the hill away from the daily operation of school life, Butler Construction is on track to make Father Maurus’ STREAM Dream a reality. The historic Art Building, which over time has housed the school library, a Barber Shop for the monks, history classes, and the student center, was demolished in September. Trees were removed, the site was graded, the foundation was prepared and, in December, the concrete was poured. Scheduled to open in November, this 12,000 square foot Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Art and Math Center will provide three new science labs with attached classrooms, a Robotics Lab with an open test space, and four new art classrooms with tool and equipment storage areas. We are Building Ingenuity, creating dynamic, flexible spaces for our students to expand their minds and explore possibilities, to prepare them–yes–for a world in need of their gifts and whatever the future requires of them.

Father Martin, Jennifer and Chris Skarakis, Tim Molak, Eileen DiGiorgio, Stephen and Jami Nachtsheim, and Dave Brett witness the Art Building demolition.

Father Martin strikes the fi rst blow on the campus demolition.

These two magnificent facilities will complete Phase III of our Building Ingenuity Campaign just in time to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Woodside Priory School. Generous contributions from committed Stakeholder families have funded 75% of this campaign. Our enthusiastic Campaign Leadership Team, chaired by parent Eric Harrison is working on the remaining 25% to get us to the finish line in time for our 60th anniversary celebration. Although we are a small school by design, our culture of philanthropy is vibrant. We are immensely grateful to those families who are supporting these necessary and impactful improvements. While today’s students benefit from the philanthropic support of the parents who have come before us…tomorrow’s students benefit from the philanthropic support of parents today! With gratitude for your belief in our mission and your remarkable support, we move forward with the hope and the promise of bringing the founding monks’ vision into the 21st century and beyond. Know we include you when we count our blessings.

Always we begin again,

The Priory campus deserves these stateof-the-art facilities to complete the core campus, providing a physical counterpart for our exquisite educational program and timeless Benedictine values.

Suzanne Couch Director of Development

The foundation of the STREAM Center.

See a live video feed of the STREAM building construction at: http://techcam.net/priory/#home

Priory Awarded Prestigious Edward E. Ford Grant

In June, the Advisory Board of the Edward E. Ford Foundation awarded Woodside Priory School a grant in the amount of $50,000 on a matching basis of $1 from the Foundation for every $1 raised by the school within one year. The purpose of this grant is: • To analyze the impact of steps the school has taken to provide balance as a core orienting principle • For educational programs • To support a summer colloquium for other schools to discuss these findings • To underwrite professional development

So as not to cannibalize our annual giving program, the parameters of the Foundation’s match required all gifts be made over and above historic annual fund gifts. To maintain focus on the crucial third, and final phase of our Building Ingenuity Campaign, Priory’s Board of Trustees required the $50,000 match be raised internally.

Generous gifts from our Board of Directors, Trustees, Faculty and Staff exceeded the $50,000 match within 7 weeks!