Santa Catalina School Bulletin Summer 2022

santa catalina

Reunion 2022 in photos

A look inside Catalina's classrooms

A farewell to our Head of School

2022 SUMMER BULLETIN

Crystal Boyd ’89

Director of Marketing and Communications

Jeannie Evers

Writer

Kathryn Goodnow

Graphic Designer, Illustrator

Robin Kelly

Copy Editor

Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08

Director of Alumnae/i Relations

Contributors

Gretchen Mueller Burke ’83, Paul Elliott, Barry Panes, Heather Wilson

Contributing Photographers

Marc Howard ’93 LS; Nick Lovejoy; Larry Nordwick; Santa Catalina School archives; Santa Catalina School parents, faculty, and students; profile photos courtesy of the subject

On the cover: Liliana Pedroni ’23 is a force in the pool as the Catalina water polo team looks to score.

Above: First-grader Neo Ballesteros proudly shares the grass he grew as part of the class’s science lesson.

Inside back cover: Lingering Lines by Audrey Morrison ’23, which won a National Silver Medal for photography in the Scholastic Art Awards.

Santa Catalina’s Bulletin is published twice a year. We welcome suggestions for topics and news, as well as comments about our publication. Email us at communications@santacatalina.org.

Santa Catalina School, located on the Monterey Peninsula, is an independent, Catholic school. The Upper School is a college-preparatory high school for young women, with boarding and day students in grades 9–12. The Lower and Middle School is coeducational, with day students in PreK–grade 8. A summer camp for girls 8–14 years serves resident and day campers. Santa Catalina School is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools and Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Santa Catalina School admits students of any race, creed, color, and national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, disability, and national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship programs, athletic, or other school-administered programs.

FEATURES

22 Meg Bradley Takes a Bow

Santa Catalina's fourth Head of School—and first lay head—looks back on memorable moments and favorite traditions as she heads into retirement.

28 Faculty Profile: Henrique Monnerat

The Lower and Middle School’s technical arts teacher draws on his background in industrial design to create a truly synapse-firing makerspace.

30 Building Blocks of Literacy

Phonics, guided reading, and writing programs flow seamlessly across the grades in the Lower School, and Grade 1 is in the sweet spot.

32 Navigating the Path to Leadership

The Lower and Middle School's character education program actively prepares Grade 8 students to be confident, compassionate servant leaders.

34 Faculty Profile: Bo Covington

The Upper School’s Mandarin teacher pulls out all the stops to immerse students in her home country’s language and culture.

36 College Placement by Design

Go inside Catalina’s College Counseling program, a sophisticated system built on communication and care that’s devoted to helping students find the best fit school.

38

Preparing Global Citizens

Santa Catalina’s new Global Education Initiative aims to develop the attitudes, skills, and knowledge students need to tackle the world’s shared challenges.

Sharing Life’s Transitions

our closing faculty and staff meeting, I had the opportunity to talk with my colleagues on a slightly more personal level.

Dear Santa Catalina Community,

During my very first experience of Santa Catalina, I was profoundly impressed by the overarching goal to continually improve student learning and to enhance the whole-school experience. The stories included in this Bulletin bear witness to the ongoing pursuit of that goal. They showcase Santa Catalina’s thoughtful programs that are designed to reach all of our students. These include First Grade’s integrated approach to literacy; the Lower and Middle School’s character education program, Compass; and the Upper School’s best-fit college placement plan. Finally, enjoy your review of the school’s newest undertakings: the PreK-12 Global Education Initiative and the Upper School Global Leadership Certificate Program.

The conclusion of a school year gives us all a chance to look back, take stock, and be grateful. This time at

Over these last six years, I have attended classes, faculty meetings, and student activities campus-wide. I have observed joyful days and those times that were more challenging, the light and playful as well as the thoughtful and quiet. I have had a closeup view of the commitment required by every member of the faculty and staff, and I have observed the many ways teachers and staff have been stretched while showing care, patience, and enormous flexibility when faced with everchanging unknowns. I realize so clearly and appreciate with heartfelt gratitude that the courage displayed this year was made possible because we shared this experience together.

We also share life’s transitions and the growth and opportunities they present. There are those sweet recurring transitions … like the utter

joy of celebrating a Kindergarten class as they march into the Hacienda courtyard singing happily, or the satisfaction of observing the exuberance and pride of our Middle and Upper School graduates as they receive their diplomas. Many transitions, though, surround a departure, a time in which we say goodbye to people and places with history and meaning, those that have played a significant role in who we have become. As I complete my tenure here, I have come to understand that there is something so beautiful, real, and important about the people who are drawn to Santa Catalina and I have profound respect for those who founded and carry it forward day by day. There is simply no comparison to Santa Catalina’s mission and ability to prepare students to serve the world with courage, grace, and compassion.

I wish to take this moment to express how much I have loved being a part of this community. It is vibrant and kind and student-focused and it has been an honor and a privilege to be part of such a special place. I will be forever grateful to have called Santa Catalina home.

With all best wishes,

Meg Bradley Head of School

[Catalina] is vibrant and kind and student-focused and it has been an honor and a privilege to be part of such a special place.

Eighth-grader Thomas Huston guides fifth-grader Eric Johnston during a Pumpkin Olympics relay. Both students are members of the House of Service.

COUGAR FAN DAY BENEFITS ATHLETICS

The first annual Cougar Fan Day was held on October 12. Trustees, alumni, parents of current and previous students, grandparents, and even some Middle School students gathered at Pebble Beach Resorts for the day. Golf enthusiasts tried out the newly opened golf course, The Hay, while others participated in live ball tennis. Golfers and tennis players then joined additional guests for a luncheon at the new Fairway One patio. The event raised more than $20,000 and benefited Santa Catalina’s athletics program. Proceeds will support new team uniforms and technology that enables friends and family to view Catalina’s sporting events from afar.

CREATIVE PARTNER SHARES SCHOOL STORY, WINS AWARDS

In an effort to more successfully reach prospective families, Santa Catalina partnered with an outside marketing firm, Mindpower Inc., to develop new admissions material for both divisions. Working closely with the communications office, the Mindpower team created viewbooks to provide a general overview of each school, as well as smaller brochures specifically targeting day students, boarding students, prekindergarten, and Middle School. In addition to proving successful with recent applicants, the materials have garnered several industry awards.

In the 2021 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, the Upper School admissions package received a bronze medal. There were six winners in the category, and Santa Catalina was the only independent school among them; the others were colleges or universities.

In the 2021 InspirED Brilliance Awards, open only to private and independent schools, the Upper School admissions package won silver and the Lower and Middle School admissions package won gold.

Finally, in the 36th annual Educational Advertising Awards, the largest contest of its kind, the Upper School viewbook earned silver and the Lower and Middle School viewbook earned gold. In addition, the Middle School brochure received silver in the miscellaneous category and the prekindergarten brochure received a merit award.

The awards reflect the team’s success in authentically conveying the experience of attending Santa Catalina. The school motto, Veritas, or truth, is the guiding theme that links all of the materials together, in message and in voice.

Parents enjoyed the new addition of live ball tennis.

A golfer tees off at The Hay.

ART PROJECT GIVES STUDENTS WINGS

Fifth-grader Tony Cutino tries the wings on for size.

The 2021-22 school year took flight with a collaborative art project by K–8 students, who decorated paper feathers that were then fitted together to make a giant pair of rainbow-colored wings. The final piece, which filled the wall behind the stage in the Assembly Room, was titled “Together We Have Wings,” a reference to this year’s theme of togetherness.

Art teacher Frances Verga-Lagier Cook '99 was inspired by the work of interactive street artist Kelsey Montague, whose #WhatLiftsYou campaign encourages people to photograph themselves as part of her murals, many of which feature pairs of wings. Likewise, students were able to take photos in front of their own pair of wings.

A FARM TO FORK LESSON ON ACTIVITY DAY

Activity Day, which took place on October 1, inspired various excursions for Middle School students. Seventh-graders had been learning about food and hunger, including food insecurity and food waste, and how to read nutrition labels and shop for groceries. On Activity Day, they interviewed Santa Catalina’s dining manager, Bethany Wright, about how the school gets its ingredients (which are locally sourced), how she knows what to order, and what happens to the leftovers. Later, they visited Taylor Farms in Salinas to learn how lettuce is grown, packaged, and sent to restaurants and grocery stores. The lessons gave students a richer understanding of food, nutrition, and hunger as they prepared for the school’s annual food drive benefiting the Food Bank for Monterey County in November.

Elsewhere during Activity Day, sixth-graders went to Del Monte Beach to clean up litter and help with dune restoration, and eighthgraders navigated the treetop ropes course at Mount Hermon in Santa Cruz.

Seventh-graders learn about agriculture at Taylor Farms.

OCEAN GUARDIAN SCHOOL RECOGNITION

Santa Catalina was named an Ocean Guardian School Year 4 at the beginning of the school year. The recognition from NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries reflects the school’s efforts to improve the health and safety of our local watershed.

Lower and Middle School students have written many environmentally themed articles for the parent newsletter, planted native plants on campus, participated in beach cleanups, and encouraged students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 to pack lunches with reusable materials and to drink from reusable water bottles. And the work goes on: Catalina received a grant for a fifth year of green projects.

LIBRARY DONATES 1,000 BOOKS TO SCHOOLS IN PHILIPPINES

FLAG-RAISING CEREMONY CELEBRATES TOGETHERNESS

The flag-raising ceremony and family picnic is the first event of the year that brings together students and their families in one setting. On September 6, everyone gathered in the E.L. Wiegand Amphitheatre as new students were introduced, the eighth-grade Student Senate officers were sworn in, and three flags—representing the United States, California, and Santa Catalina—were hoisted up the flagpole.

The Sister Mary Kieran Library, used by Middle School students, contains more than 22,000 unique works of fiction and nonfiction. Library assistant AnaCena Zander sifted through the collection and pulled books that are outdated or slightly damaged—a regular process for libraries. Any books that were still in good condition and that would continue to enhance student knowledge and educational growth were earmarked for donation.

Board of Trustees member Dito Borromeo, a past Catalina parent who is from the Philippines and who works closely with schools there, helped facilitate the donation to those schools of nearly 1,000 library books. Head of School Meg Bradley worked with Mr. Borromeo on the project, which took place over the summer of 2021.

The books will become the start of a library collection for schools that currently have no reading materials. They include a mix of fiction, literature, encyclopedias, and nonfiction focusing on world religions, language, emotional and physical health, and environmental science. “We hope to continue this great partnership as our library collection becomes more up to date,” says Ms. Zander.

Head of Lower and Middle School Christy Pollacci gave a speech reflecting on the theme of the year: “Together has always been an implicit and underlying theme for our community. It lines right up with one of our core values, relationships. There is nothing we do here that doesn’t involve the spirit of togetherness. And though we may have been physically apart these past 18 months, we were very much together in spirit and in mind.” After the ceremony, families filled the front lawn to enjoy a picnic lunch under sunny skies.

A full crowd was in attendance for the flag-raising ceremony.

Maintenance staff members Bill Ragsdale-Cronin and John Hazdovac load dozens of boxes of books for donation.

Grade 8 students Delphinia Hayward and Olivia Vasquez pose next to Catalina’s fourth Ocean Guardian banner.

STUDENTS ENGAGE IN CREATIVE PROJECTS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Lower and Middle School students engaged in a variety of interesting projects for Black History Month that introduced them to dozens of inspiring and important figures throughout American history. Here are a few highlights:

In eighth grade, each student chose an important Black American to research and then presented a biography in an Adobe Spark video. Students explored interesting facts and quotes, why we celebrate these individuals, and key takeaways from their lives. Some students chose to study well-known figures from the world of sports, the arts, science, politics, and civil rights, including Louis Armstrong, Rosa Parks, Michael Jordan, and Langston Hughes. Others presented biographies of lesser-known individuals, including 19th-century Shakespearean actor Ira Frederick Aldridge, early 20th-century entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker, and Mary McLeod Bethune, who helped lay the foundation for the modern civil rights movement.

Third-graders went on a “gallery walk” of the classroom, looking at cards with photos and short biographies of famous Black Americans. Some of the cards came with collaborative questions, such as, “If Person A and Person B met, what do you think they would talk about?” The following week, after listening to the book I Am Enough by Grace Byers, the students studied Google Doodle drawings of Black Americans and then created their own drawings based on the biography cards.

After reading and listening to part of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, fifth-graders wrote speeches of their own and presented them to the class. Their speeches expressed dreams of a world without COVID-19, a world in which people refrain from littering and polluting, where there is no body shaming, where animals are not abused, and where all people are treated equally. The class also made a collaborative poster of Dr. King, which was displayed in the hallway.

Through these projects and more, students gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the many amazing Black Americans who paved the way for a better world.

STUDENTS SHOW OFF SPELLING SKILLS

Students from Grades 4-8 got to show off their spelling skills at two bees in February, one for Middle School and one for Grades 4-5. The winners, sixth-grader Erika Small and fifth-grader Laia Davis-Santos, went on to represent Catalina at county-wide spelling bees.

Twelve students participated in the Middle School bee, spelling words such as dingoes, mantlepiece, and floe. The talent level was so high that the championship round carried over to a second day, where

Erika faced off with eighth-grader Cyprien Detrait. She won with the word tippet.

In Grades 4-5, students spelled words they had studied as well as words from “the unseen list,” such as ravenous, inevitable, and fugitive. Laia won with the word bracelet. The runner-up was Grade 5 classmate David Ahn.

A fifth-grader puts the final touches on a collaborative mural of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

DRAWING HISTORY ON CAMPUS

> As part of social studies, fourth-graders learn about Mexican architecture. They spent time drawing our beautiful, historic Hacienda as a model, noting details such as the red tile roof, the veranda, and the archways.

WORKING WITH ANCIENT TOOLS

> During Mr. Dillon’s history class, sixthgraders learning about the Paleolithic Age got a taste of what it was like to make stone tools. By working with stone, the students could see that our ancestors had quite a task making objects for their use.

PREK ‘ PAWSITIVELY ’ LOVES THE SPCA

> In October, PreK students took an annual field trip to SPCA Monterey County for their Project of Passion. They met horses, rabbits, ducks, cats, and dogs. The main purpose of the trip, however, was to deliver donations of blankets and learn how the shelter takes care of animals in need.

COUGARS REACH OUT TO COLORADO WILDFIRE VICTIMS

When a wildfire tore through the Northern California town of Paradise in 2018, Lower and Middle School students were quick to send needed supplies and letters of support to the children affected by the disaster. This year, the students reached out to victims of another fire—this time in Boulder County, Colorado, where hundreds of homes were burned and thousands of people were displaced in December.

Relatives of a Catalina family were among those who lost their homes. The family put Catalina in touch with an elementary school where 52 families lost homes. From there, the Cougars’ next service project quickly took shape.

Fourth-grade teacher Michele Morton suggested sending blankets to the families. Two years ago, her students made blankets to donate, but because of the pandemic those gifts never reached their destination. The school decided to send those blankets to Colorado along with another batch that Ms. Morton’s current students made. In addition, all Catalina students met in their Compass circles to make Valentine’s Day cards to deliver with the blankets.

Meanwhile, third-graders made birthday cards for the Boulder County schoolchildren and sent out cards each week. The students’ efforts offered much-needed care from far away—and they showed that Cougars are always ready to answer the call to service when it’s needed most.

Top: Fourth-graders pose with their blankets. Bottom: Third-graders made birthday cards for the Colorado children. The cards were delivered throughout the year.

FIFTH-GRADERS

‘ VISIT ’ COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG

With a variety of stations set up in the Assembly Room, Grade students got to tour different parts of Colonial Williamsburg without leaving campus. They visited a school, a tavern, a church, a shoemaker’s shop, and living quarters for enslaved people to learn about life in the colonies in the 1700s. At each station, students took part in an activity, such as games, music, or calligraphy.

“The girls were VERY disappointed that they did not get to write with quills, as many girls at the time did not attend school and instead learned about running a successful household,” said teacher Bri Slama ’07. The girls attended Dame School, where they learned about rules of civility such as not humming to themselves in the presence of others. As the students experienced, times sure were different!

COUGARS DONATE BACKPACKS, SUPPLIES

The Lower and Middle School started the school year with a service project to provide backpacks and school supplies to local homeless children. The project benefited families living in temporary housing provided by the Salvation Army.

The school raised nearly $600 through ice cream sales during the family picnic at the beginning of the year. The money was used to purchase more than 50 backpacks that were then filled with supplies. Key chains, water bottles, journals, and homemade bookmarks were donated, complementing practical items like pencils, pens, crayons, markers, erasers, glue, and notebooks. Grade 8 Compass leaders added the last touch by making a small card, signed by their circle members, to offer an uplifting message.

GRADE 3 STUDENTS GRAPH A FEW OF THEIR FAVORITE THINGS

Third-graders practiced their graphing skills to present the results of classroom surveys. Working in small groups, the students made tallies of their classmates’ favorite things: school subjects, candy, outside activities, books, and seasons. Then they created bar graphs to show comparisons. Let it be known that, collectively, this year’s third-graders prefer writing, Skittles, swimming, adventure books, and summer.

Religion teacher Ibi Janko Murphy ’83 helps kindergartners fill backpacks with school supplies.

Grade 5 Teacher Assistant Brenda Bhaskar walks students through an activity at one of the stations.

Third-graders show off the results of their survey.

FALL SPORTS WRAP-UP

The fall athletics season began with four volleyball teams competing in two separate leagues, the Independent Parochial Athletic League (IPAL) and the Mission Trail Junior Athletic League (MTJAL). Coaches Barry Panes, Paul Elliott, Lupita Cepeda, and Lauren Genasci shared coaching responsibilities for all four teams.

The young coed team competed in the IPAL, winning the majority of their sets. Coach Cepeda said, “I was proud of the players’ work ethic while on the court but even more proud of those rooting for their teammates while on the bench.” Sixth-grader Ben Bolger said, “I thought the season was really fun and I loved playing with my friends and learning a new sport.”

The remaining three teams competed in the MTJAL, in which a league championship is played at the end of the season. The girls’ Grade 7 team consisted of 20 players this year. Middle School Athletic Director Barry Panes pointed out: “It was a challenge to play all 20 players every match. Not only were we able to do it and be competitive, but we went all the way, winning the league championship title.” The team’s setter, Evelyn Kim, reflected, “This volleyball season was really fun. The whole team learned so much and we were all super excited to win the championship. We all improved and supported each other.”

The girls’ Grade 8 team included many first-time players, playing better with every match as the season progressed.

Unfortunately, the team was eliminated during the first round of the playoffs. Quinn Connolly, one of the team’s setters, noted, “This volleyball season was the first opportunity the girls in my class had to play a sport for school since March of 2020. It was so much fun to finally be playing as a team together. I got to know my classmates even better than before and now share experiences with them that I will cherish forever. Even though we only won one game points-wise, we truly won every game with our spirit.”

The boys’ team consisted of great players and had only one loss in the regular season. Unfortunately, the team lost in the semifinals in a close match. Team setter Nicholas Tonini reflected, “After missing a full season of volleyball due to COVID, it was great to be back on the court again. We used the strengths we had and developed new ones on the way, becoming a team. It was a very fun season.”

Both boys’ and girls’ soccer teams were very successful this year. Coached by Debra Burke and Joe Martis, teams competed in the IPAL. Both teams consisted of Grades 6, 7, and 8.

Eighth-grader Jayla Ballesteros said, “It was my last soccer season playing for Catalina, and it was the best season ever. During our season, I felt so connected with everyone. We had a really strong team. Everyone was happy to be there playing. We had some awesome coaches who helped us improve a lot. This season brought me

so much joy, it was unforgettable.” Coach Burke said, “Coaching this team was always fun. They were very spirited (whether we were winning or losing) and supportive of one another. They gave 110 percent effort the entire game. We are going to miss our eighth-graders!”

The boys’ team was low in numbers at first and struggled in the first game. As the numbers grew, so did the confidence and level of play. Coach Burke said, “This team was very talented and competitive. We had a solid group of eighth-grade leaders who helped support the sixth- and seventhgraders, and they helped the entire team play to their full potential. It was a joy to watch them improve every single game.”

Sixth-grader Kealani Sagin drives downfield.

Eighth-grade volleyball players pump each other up.

Seventh-grader Finn Reilly gets a dig.

The boys’ soccer team celebrates a goal.

WINTER SPORTS WRAP-UP

Winter sports included flag football and basketball. Both sports competed in the Independent Parochial Athletic League (IPAL).

There were two flag football teams. The girls’ team was coached by Middle School Athletic Director Barry Panes and Brian Denton, and the boys’ team was guided by returning coach Joseph Martis. “With very little time between our last volleyball game and our first football game, it was a challenge to get the teams ready,” noted Coach Panes.

The teams had a great season. Eighthgrader Marina Jaynes reflected, “This football season was a highlight of my year, and it was for many others, too. These girls worked together beautifully and we had so much fun. We connected and have a truly

unique bond. It was an honor to play with such amazing young women, even if we didn’t win all our games. We had a great year. Thank you to everyone: the coaches, players, and parents!”

Eighth-grader Tucker Green said, “This season of football was a joy to be a part of, throughout the ups and downs of the season. The sticking together of the team really showed on the offensive and defensive side. With an elite defense and an offense as exciting as ours, it was really fun to be on the field again.”

The Cougars had little time to prepare for their first basketball game. In addition, with a rise in COVID-19 cases, the school had to cancel the first three scheduled games. The Cougars salvaged the season by playing two “in-house”

scrimmages and their last three scheduled games. There were four basketball teams this season: a Grade 6 girls’ team coached by Lupita Cepeda, a Grades 7-8 girls’ team coached by Barry Panes, a Grades 6-7 boys’ team coached by Brian Denton, and a Grade 8 boys’ team coached by Joseph Martis. “All four teams played incredibly well and were very competitive,” said Coach Panes.

Eighth-grader Mary Zewert said, “I am grateful that we got to have a basketball season this year and learn new skills.” Sixthgrader Isla Harrington noted, “I had such a great time this season. I loved the teamwork and all the coaches’ support.” Carter Comolli reflected, “The basketball season through its ups and downs was exciting and a great learning experience during my eighth-grade year.”

Flag football players wrestle for the ball.

Annika Minami, Grade 6, looks to make a pass.

PARENTS' WEEKEND KEYNOTE SPEAKER SHARES ADVICE ON RESILIENCE

Psychologist and author Dr. Madeline Levine was the keynote speaker at Parents’ Weekend on October 23, offering important insights into how we can cultivate resilience in our children and support their personal development. Dr. Levine, an expert on child and adolescent psychology and parenting, is the author of Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World. She is also a co-founder of Challenge Success, a project at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education that provides families and schools with practical tools for raising healthy, motivated children.

In her speech, Dr. Levine focused on the impact that COVID-19 has had on children and the lessons learned along the way. If COVID made anything clear, it was that resilience really should be at the top of the list of things we’re trying to cultivate in our kids. "Resilience is a set of skills, and they’re as teachable as anything else,” she said. Dr. Levine offered parents some advice for helping their children build resilience:

• Provide the “four s’s.” An environment that is safe, secure, seen, and soothed.

• Be a supportive guide. Allow them to work through their day-to-day challenges, and try to avoid stepping in too soon.

• Share your struggles. “One of the things you need is flexibility, and one of the ways you teach flexibility is to let your kids know what’s been hard for you,” she said.

• Tackle your own anxiety first. Dr. Levine cautioned, “You don’t want to lead with your own anxiety. Kids borrow our state of mind.”

• Build out their toolbox. Just as we have our coping skills, kids have theirs. Through guidance and support, you can help them grow their list of tools to draw from.

For example, Dr. Levine found that children who maintained a sense of purpose and connection during the pandemic, such as by engaging in community service, fared better than those who didn’t. “Resilience varies. We can be resilient in some circumstances and not in others, and I think what makes a difference is how many tools you have at your disposal.”

Dr. Levine also talked about the ways parents and educators can help students overcome anxiety associated with grades and getting into the “best” college. She believes more emphasis should be placed on teaching soft skills—what she prefers to call foundational skills—than on grades. She pointed out, “The jobs of the future are not going to be reliant on the metrics” that we have always relied on. What matters to companies now are skills such as the ability to collaborate, to think quickly, and to be attuned to other people on the team.

SCHEDULE SHIFT BRINGS BENEFITS

A later start to the day, deeper learning opportunities, and dedicated community time were all benefits of a new class schedule for the Upper School during the 2021–22 school year.

In previous years, the school day started at 7:55 a.m. and included seven or eight 50-minute classes per day. Now the school day starts at 8:30 a.m. and includes four or five 70-minute classes per day. Classes are on a 10-day rotation, divided between A and B weeks. This means that, while the structure of the day stays the same, the classes that students take alternate from week to week.

There were many goals behind the schedule shift. The main motivation was students’ health and wellness. A later start time means more sleep, which is important for young teens. And with fewer classes per day, students are able to focus on a smaller number of classes each evening; the result is less homework and a more balanced life at a less frenzied pace. Built-in community time at the end of the day helps

strengthen relationships, as students gather for club meetings or meet with teachers during dedicated office hours. The time is also used for mission-aligned programs such as Journey, advisory, and health and wellness activities.

Benefits of the new schedule extend to the classroom, too. With longer class periods, teachers can devise more creative and engaging lessons that allow students to dive deeper into any given subject. Flex periods throughout the week also provide the option for classes to extend up to 90 minutes, creating opportunities for full lab experiences in science or off-campus field trips.

The new experiment went well, but there is still room for growth. Assistant Head of Upper School Peter Myers said, “We look forward to refining the schedule over the coming years in order to provide an even more balanced and effective learning experience for our students.”

Dr. Madeline Levine is an expert on child and adolescent psychology and parenting.

THEATRE STEPS OUTSIDE FOR FALL MUSICAL

In another first for Santa Catalina School’s theatre department, the cast and crew staged their fall musical, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, outdoors. After a year of virtual productions, the theatre was determined to bring back live performance for the school community. Holding the musical outside was the best way to ensure that audiences could safely enjoy the show amid COVID-19 concerns. The whimsical set was constructed in front of the library, and Sullivan Court was redubbed Sullivan Stage.

The play, based on the beloved Charles Schulz comic strip, explores life through the eyes of Charlie Brown (Audrey Avelino ’22)

and his friends in the Peanuts gang. The songs and vignettes find Charlie flying a kite, writing a book report, playing baseball, and learning that he has a lot to be happy about. Along the way, Snoopy (CC Shaw ’22) spends quality time on his doghouse, Woodstock (Elisabeth Gage ’22) enjoys some exploits, Lucy (Jenna Tarallo ’22) pines after Schroeder (Ashley Yang ’23), Linus (Alix Detrait ’22) clings to his blanket, and Sally (Charlotte Juge ’23) finds a new philosophy.

Congratulations to the cast and crew on a fun, unusual, and charming production!

(2) (1)

(3)

(4)

(1) Snoopy (CC Shaw ’22) in his favorite spot.

(2) Charlie Brown (Audrey Avelino ’22) surrounded by friends.

(3) Lucy (Jenna Tarallo ’22) sings while Schroeder (Ashley Yang ’23) plays the piano.

(4) Taking a ride to school.

RING WEEK CELEBRATES SISTERHOOD

POEM WINS SILVER KEY IN SCHOLASTIC WRITING AWARDS

Elena Oh ’23 won a Silver Key in the 2022 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her poem “Golden Girls.” Elena received the award as part of the Region-at-Large West Writing program, which draws entries from students throughout the western United States. Read her winning poem below.

Golden Girls

Don’t you wish you were made of honey and gold? Dancing in the rain ignoring the cold. No bone-sucking fire ravaging your soul, The judgment of blinkers not taking a toll.

The honey and gold taste like sugar and spice, like a warm pine fire breaking the ice. I would know, I used to be honey and gold! but now, I am just tasteless and cold.

I wish I was the girl who can dance through the night, Rain drenching her clothes, nobody bothered by her sight. She laughs and cries and cheers with us all and somehow, she’s the one who causes my fall.

Both thinkers and blinkers give her a standing ovation, “So pretty, so sweet, so bold!”

But I am left backstage, trapped in comparison wondering, “where can I get that sedation?”

Life always seems easy as the main character, But why is it so unfair as the side character? Everyday I breathe and choke on my flaws, While everyday they breathe and exhale applause.

My mirrored reflection once caught both my eyes, And somehow the fire inside of me died. And as flecks of shimmer rained again on my soul, I knew that I was still honey and gold.

But when the reflection caught my eyes twice, The subdued fire just reignites. As ash tears through my body and slashes my soul I cry out again,

drowning in honey and gold.

(1) Juniors started off Ring Week dressed as magicians.

(2) Isabelle Nagy and Olivia Gorum share a laugh with their junior ring sisters, Juliette Kosmont and Lani Penaloza.

(3) Juniors Savannah Nicholas and Nadia Aligawesa zoom around campus as Cars characters.

LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATED IN MANDARIN CLASSES

> Ms. Bo Covington is known for integrating Chinese culture into her Mandarin classes. To celebrate the Lunar New Year in February, her students decorated the classroom door and took part in many traditions surrounding the holiday, including making homemade dumplings.

CHEMISTRY FOOD FUN

> In December, Dr. Phil Wenzel’s chemistry students learned about the science behind peanut brittle (technical term: foamed saccharides with protein inclusions). Putting their baking skills to work, students were able to determine percent yield of a chemical reaction and balance an equation. They saw how chemistry is used in food production and enjoyed a tasty holiday snack to boot.

BREAKING BREAD FOR HANUKKAH

> To celebrate the last day of Hanukkah, Catalina's Bon Appétit staff prepared a delicious dinner for boarding students and resident faculty to enjoy at Community Dinner. Additionally, Charlotte Juge ’23 hosted a challah-making class. Coming together as a community was a great way to close the Festival of Lights.

MOCK TRIAL TEAM MAKES HISTORY

Santa Catalina’s mock trial team made history by advancing to the championship round of the Monterey County competition for the first time. In all, 17 students participated on the team. The case portrayed a woman charged with murdering her neighbor with a rattlesnake.

Finishing second to the team from Carmel High School, Catalina students received accolades from opposing teams and the judges. The team’s faculty coach, English teacher Beth Jones, said, “The members of the mock trial team worked incredibly hard this year, and continued to refine their roles as attorneys and witnesses even as the competition was taking place. I am intensely proud of their advancing to the championship final.”

The students participated in five trials over the course of four days, including a winning match against Pacific Grove High School on the morning of the finals. Yunese Amatya ’23 was voted one of two top bailiffs in the county by the scoring attorneys, and Francesca Postigo ’22 earned third place for her courtroom sketch of the judge. Three students were also singled out as MVPs by opposing teams: pre-trial attorney Nicole Muñoz ’22, lead prosecutor Cindy Dai ’23, and Yunese, who doubled as the lead defense attorney.

Nicole had a standout performance in the final, holding up under intense questioning by the judge for nearly an hour, an interaction that would normally take about 20 minutes. Nadia Aligawesa ’23 also made an impression. She was tapped at the last minute to substitute as an expert witness for the defense, and the judge cited her testimony as one of the key factors in her decision to acquit the defendant of all charges.

Members of the mock trial team prep for competition.

THREE SENIORS HONORED IN MERIT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Seniors Emily Harris, Caitlin Sullivan, and Helen Yenson were named Commended Students in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. The three were among the highest scorers on the 2020 PSAT, qualifying them for the honor. They were celebrated during Assembly on September 21 and presented with a Letter of Commendation.

SCIENTIFIC STUDY INCLUDES RESEARCH BY TWO ALUMNAE

Two Santa Catalina graduates are listed as contributors in a scientific paper published in the February 20 issue of Science of the Total Environment. Ava Owens ’20 and Candace Wong are listed alongside researchers from Stanford University, Duke University, and UC Santa Cruz as authors of the study titled, “Who wins or loses matters: Strongly interacting consumers drive seagrass resistance under ocean acidification.”

The young alumnae worked on the study while they were students in the Marine Ecology Research Program, which engages students in realworld science as they develop independent projects in and around Monterey Bay. Ava is currently a student in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Denver. Candace is a student in the Department of Engineering Science at UC Berkeley.

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING DAY FOCUSES ON A RETURN TO COMMUNITY

The annual Health and Well-being Day on February 10 featured a range of workshops and activities to educate students on advancing their overall wellness. The keynote speaker was Dr. Jessica Matthews, associate professor and program director in the College of Health Sciences at Point Loma Nazarene University. During her talk, she offered practical, science-based strategies to cultivate happiness and well-being in daily life. “The reality is it takes intentional cultivation," she said. "It takes a willingness to be an active, engaged participant in your life, and to have the desire to say, ‘Yes, I deserve, and in fact I can, flourish and thrive.’”

Dr. Matthews walked students through five building blocks of well-being as outlined in a theory known as PERMA: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. With each building block, she gave the students a small homework assignment. For example, she challenged students to take a photo of something meaningful to them, to reflect on its significance, and to post the photo and reflection to social media for others to read. “While knowledge is power, it’s really knowledge translated into action that’s the true secret sauce,” she said.

In morning and afternoon workshops, students created collages of their “perfect day,” got their hands dirty in the school garden, learned how to be more conscious food consumers, and explored the human-animal bond. Workshop presenters encouraged students to find new ways to serve their communities; showed them simple lifestyle tweaks that can lead to longer, better lives; and inspired them to make choices from a foundation of hope and happiness. Speakers came from within the Catalina community and from Monterey and beyond, representing organizations including the SPCA Monterey County, Blue Zones Project, and Street Soccer USA. After the workshops, students took part in movement activities including a beach run/walk, cardio-boxing, and street soccer drills, then wrapped up the day with casual festivities on the front lawn.

’20

Health and Well-being Day was the result of careful planning and hard work by the eight-member Student Health and Wellness Committee under the direction of Health and Wellness Director Sofia Chandler.

Students take off during a street soccer drill on the front lawn.

STUDENTS WIN SCHOLASTIC ART AWARDS

Eight Santa Catalina students claimed a total of 14 awards in the 2022 Scholastic Art Awards competition, including three Gold Keys in photography. Students were also recognized in the categories of painting, design, art portfolio, and drawing and illustration. They won in three levels: Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention. Artwork that is awarded Gold Keys automatically advance to national judging.

GOLD KEY

Holly Liu ’22—Photography, Leak (1) Audrey Morrison ’23—Photography, Lingering Lines

Miriam Riley ’23—Photography, Under the Sky (2)

SILVER KEY

Holly Liu ’22—Painting, Red Flower (3) Miriam Riley ’23—Photography, The Space Between Space

Anna Yeh ’23—Drawing & Illustration, Wispies

HONORABLE MENTION

Holly Liu ’22—Painting, Tea Break; Photography, What Is Pretty? and Light

Milan Coleman ’22—Design, Brightway Studios

Logo; Photography, Street Skating

Francesca Postigo ’22—Painting, CVS Trip

Cailin Templeman ’22—Art Portfolio, An Echoing Introspection

Riley Yates ’23—Photography, Liza

(1)

A photo by Audrey Morrison ’23 went on to win a National Silver Medal (see inside back cover).

TEDXSCS PRESENTS ‘GENERATION NEXT ’

The eighth annual TEDxSantaCatalinaSchool celebrated ideas and work that have an impact in our communities and within ourselves. The student-produced event, which expressed the theme “Generation Next,” was presented virtually on February 17. The TEDxSCS Club, under the leadership of Harriet Meyer ’23 and Ashley Yang ’23, started planning the event at the beginning of the year. About 30 students contributed, organized in teams for human resources, PR, speaker curation, technology, venue, and website. Five speakers shared personal stories and insights on topics as diverse as volunteerism, mental health, water, intuition, and persistence.

Betsy Biern, CEO of Make-a-Wish Greater Bay Area, talked about what volunteering means to her, both as a leader and as a volunteer. She recalled how she first got roped into volunteering at age 10, when, in response to her expressing boredom, her parents

asked her to help organize a walk-a-thon for the American Heart Association. She didn’t realize how much of an impact she was making until she was flooded with thanks at the end of the event. “Volunteering helps us recognize that we’re part of something bigger,” she said.

Catalina student CC Shaw ’23 spoke about her experience living with obsessive-compulsive disorder: how OCD is triggered, how it manifests, and how she manages it. She provided clinical details of OCD and how it’s more than just keeping the shirts in your closet organized. “There are so many mental illnesses that cause people suffering, so the best way that we can help is to educate ourselves and then teach others about these diseases,” she said.

Chris Cook , director of operations at American Water, outlined the history of the water supply in Monterey, with challenges dating back more than a century. He then shared three forward-thinking projects in use locally: aquifer storage and recovery; desalination; and the recycling of wastewater, stormwater, and other sources of water.

Santa Catalina alumna Courtney Moore ’02 is an intuitive healer who talked about the power of intuition in making decisions. “Intuition is your connection to your truth,” she said. Good decisions often require intellect and intuition to work together. Intuition is neutral, with no emotional charge. Listening to your intuition requires you to be in control of your attention. She encouraged viewers to start small as they practice intuition, like the next time they decide on an ice cream flavor.

Art Berlanga , an educator, football coach, and motivational speaker, spoke about the winner’s mindset and explored why we talk ourselves out of our own dreams. “There are no substitutions for persistence. Persistence is necessary to achieve your goals and dreams,” he said.

SEVEN STUDENTS WIN AWARDS AT MODEL U.N. CONFERENCE

On October 23, seven students received awards in the Lyceum of Monterey County’s Ninth Annual High School Model United Nations Conference. The conference, held online, focused on sustainable development and consumption throughout the world. Student-led committees met to address issues related to agriculture, electronic waste, and extreme economic inequality.

Team co-chairs Elena Oh ’23, Cindy Dai ’23, and Gabriela Herrera ’23 earned special recognition for outstanding position papers, which must concisely identify the problem being discussed and present reasonable solutions. Elena and

Cindy addressed e-waste on behalf of India in the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA). Gabriela represented Sweden in the International Fund for Agriculture Development.

Ava Kruger ’24, Giselle Rubio ’24, Isabella Jimenez ’23, and Katie Hui ’23 were recognized for outstanding representation. They were judged on their ability to communicate effectively, to build consensus among other delegates, and to assert the interests of the countries they represented. Ava and Giselle represented Switzerland in the UNEA. For the Commission on Population and Development, which addressed economic

inequality, Isabella represented China and Katie represented India.

Ava described her experience during a Chapel service on November 10, saying, “Not only did I feel so much more connected to world issues, but it was a really great experience to brainstorm with other people my age on how our next generation would tackle [such] issues.”

In all, 15 Santa Catalina students participated in the conference, along with students from five other local high schools. Performances were evaluated by graduate students from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

Members of the technology team at their station during the virtual TEDxSCS.

LIVE THEATRE RETURNS TO PAC WITH POWERFUL RADIUM GIRLS

For the first time in two years, students brought live theatre back to Santa Catalina School’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) with the powerful production of Radium Girls. Set in 1920s New Jersey, the play tells the true story of young female factory workers who were poisoned by painting luminous watch dials with radium-based paint. Among the stricken workers is Grace Fryer (Charlotte Juge ’23), who fights for her day in court even as her friends (Ava Kruger ’24 and Yunese Amatya ’23) succumb to illness. In seeking justice, Grace faces the doubts of her family, including her mother (Jenna Tarallo ’22) and fiancé (CC Shaw ’23); the U.S. Radium Corporation, which covers up the illnesses and repeatedly delays court dates; and factory owner Arthur Roeder (Alix Detrait ’22), an idealistic man who cannot believe that the same element touted as a

cure for cancer could make his workers sick.

The historical context of the moment was never far from the story. Reporters (CC Shaw and Elisabeth Gage ’22) conveyed the media frenzy that surrounded radium—including the element’s chief proponent, Marie Curie (Marissa Schimpf ’22). The production incorporated advertisements proclaiming health benefits of radium-laced products, and a large watch dial loomed over the stage.

The real-life stories of the Radium Girls were further brought to life for the cast and crew. Each of the paper documents used as props were copies of the actual letters and reports of the time. In addition, theatergoers could linger over a display in the lobby featuring photos, articles, and video of the historical figures.

(2) (3) (4)

(1)

(1) The Radium Girls paint watch dials in the factory.

(2) Radium Girl Grace Fryer (Charlotte Juge ’23) spends time with fiancé Tom (CC Shaw ’23).

(3) U.S. Radium Corporation president Arthur Roeder (Alix Detrait ’22) shares his vision with vice president C.B. Lee (Audrey Avelino ’22).

(4) Morally corrupt dentist Dr. Joseph Knef (Anaezi Nwokeji ’22) addresses the company board.

FALL SPORTS WRAP-UP

It had been two years since Santa Catalina School’s fall sports teams met, but you wouldn’t know it by the strength of their seasons. Three teams finished toward the top of their divisions, and cross country, tennis, and volleyball teams also made appearances in the Central Coast Section (CCS) championships.

Runners steadily improved throughout the season, culminating in a tenth-place finish in the Pacific Coast Athletic League (PCAL) championships for cross country Their placement was the fastest of Division 5 schools, qualifying them for the CCS D5 championships. The Cougars finished fifth at CCS, and senior Caitlin Kostka’s time of 21:25.3 was fast enough to see her advance to the State D5 championships. (Unfortunately, Caitlin was unable to make it to the meet.)

Coach John Nardone said, “I am very proud of what the cross country team did this season. We started with only two returnees and developed into a team that competed in the CCS championships and had one qualifier to the state meet. It was a good season.”

Field hockey finished second in the PCAL Mission Division with a record of 6–2–2, just missing out on an at-large bid to the CCS championships. The Cougars had an especially strong back half of the season, with five wins and a tie, including an overtime win against Carmel High School, and Sofia McHugh ’25 allowed just four goals all season. Demonstrating the strength of the team, seven players received all-league honors, the most of any Cougar sport this fall. Angie Leissner ’22 was named Defensive Player of the Year, in addition to making First Team All-League. Megan Barry-Schoen ’24 and Selma Ruiz ’23 were also named to the First Team; Elle Leatherberry ’23, Tarn Reilly ’23, and Bianca Fritz ’24 made Second Team. Anna Gorman ’23 was named to the Sportsmanship Team. Coach Daisy

Villegas ’14 reflected, “This year’s field hockey [players] worked well together and offered each other support. I am so excited for the next season with a great group of athletes.”

For golf, the Cougars placed fifth in the PCAL Gabilan Division with a record of 4–8. At the PCAL championships, the team finished in fourth place and Grace Huang ’24 placed sixth overall. Grace was a consistent leader for Catalina, medaling six times throughout the season. Nicole Munoz ’22, Reena Dail ’23, and Haily Wang ’24 were also reliable golfers. Coach Cheryl Wecker is optimistic for next season. “Santa Catalina’s golf future looks extremely bright,” she said.

Tennis’ 9–3 record saw the Cougars finish in second place in the PCAL Gabilan Division. Six players participated in the PCAL individual championships: Lara Yuan ’23 and Kaly De La Vega ’22 at singles, and Lexi Blond ’23–Amparo Alcaraz ’23 and Bella Pierre ’22–Ally Yoshiyama ’24 at doubles. Lara and Lexi–Amparo kept advancing to make a play for third place but ultimately came up short. As a team, the Cougars won a CCS play-in match against Watsonville High School, the No. 1 team in the PCAL Cypress Division, but lost in the first round of the team tournament to Gunn High School of Palo Alto. Lexi was a singles winner during that tournament. Expressing her pride, Coach Tina Romeka commented, “We began as a bunch of individual girls and finished as dedicated, committed, selfless young women that became a winning team.”

Volleyball took second place in the PCAL Mission Division, as the Cougars finished with a record of 10–2 in league and 12–3 overall. The players came out swinging, going undefeated for the first seven games of the season. They made it to the first round of the CCS championships but lost a close four-set match to Nueva School of San Mateo. Anna Yeh ’23 set a new school record with 14 aces in a match against Monterey High School, breaking the previous record of 12 aces held by McKinley Fox ’18. Anna was also named First Team All-League and First Team All-County; Helen Yenson ’22 made Second Team All-League, and Ellesia Corona ’24 was named to the Sportsmanship Team. Coach Paul Elliott noted: “There were 30 students in the volleyball program, and each one of them was a big part of our success on the court, both JV and varsity. After two years of no volleyball, the culture of our program came back quickly. We are all excited about the next season.”

In water polo, The Cougars went 5–3 in the PCAL Mission Division and 5–5 overall. Coach Jim Morton said, “We started the season with only a few experienced players. We ended the season as a solid team and had a winning record. I was very pleased with our progress.” Maddy Foletta ’22 led the team with 50 goals, and Amalie Hansch ’22 led the team in steals with 54; both players made First Team All-League. Liliana Pedroni ’23 and Riley Barringer ’24, both reliable scorers, were named Second Team All-League. Jacquie Palshaw ’22 was named to the Sportsmanship Team.

(2) (1)

WINTER SPORTS WRAP-UP

Catalina’s winter sports teams closed out strong seasons with winning records. Both teams competed in the Santa Lucia Division of the PCAL.

Santa Catalina finished in third place with an 8–4 record in league and an 11–1–4 record overall in soccer. “What made this season so fun was that we were playing for a league title all the way to the last two matches of the season,” said Coach Julian Salas.

The Cougars went on a hot streak in the first half of the regular season, with five wins in six games, but suffered three losses in the back half. The team saw great play from seniors as well as freshmen, signaling a bright future. Angie Leissner ’22 and Mary Watson ’25 led the team in goals scored. Sofia McHugh ’25 was a solid defender, and Caroline Maguire ’22 recorded four shutouts in goal. Five players received PCAL All-League honors: Angie and Liliana Pedroni ’23 were named First Team, Caroline and Kaly De La Vega ’22 were named Second Team, and Elle Leatherberry ’22 was named to the Sportsmanship Team.

Coach Salas said, “Without a 2020–21 season due to COVID, it was difficult to picture how this season would turn out. Our six returning seniors and all our new faces worked very hard and worked

together from start to finish this season. With 10 returners for 2023, we have a solid group and I can’t wait to start next year.”

In basketball’s roller-coaster season, the Cougars finished with a 6–5 record in league and 8–5 record overall. The team started with a full squad on varsity but ended the season down three players due to injuries and a transfer. “The girls were still able to put up good numbers and solid wins to come out third in the league,” said Coach Peter Cofresi.

Maddy Foletta ’22 led the team with more than 160 points scored, clocking a season high of 27 against Rancho San Juan High School. Margaret Spencer ’23, who was named to the league’s Sportsmanship Team, recorded nearly 100 rebounds. As in soccer, young players turned in strong performances. Savannah Hardy ’25 is another threat at the hoop and came in just behind Sofia Luna ’24 in steals. Maddy and Savannah earned honorable mention in All-League placements.

“Although COVID-19 delays made it difficult to play and gain momentum, we are happy with our results and look forward to the continued success of the Catalina basketball program,” said Coach Cofresi.

(1) Amalie Hansch ’22 blocks a shot.

(2) Anya Siu ’25 crests a hill at Toro Park.

(3) The volleyball team huddles up.

(4) Angie Leissner ’22 led the soccer team with goals scored.

(5) Lucia Gutiérrez Coppel ’24 goes up for a shot.

Meg Bradley Takes a Bow

Meg Bradley made history when she was appointed as Santa Catalina’s first lay head of school in 2016. Fittingly, she guided the school through truly historic times. In her six years at the helm, the world around Catalina experienced political, social, and economic upheaval, not to mention a global pandemic. Through it all, Meg ensured that Catalina remained a safe and welcoming place where students could thrive and become the people they are meant to be.

During her tenure, she oversaw the completion of Catalina’s largestever capital campaign and the creation of a strategic plan that will carry the school into the future. She helped usher in improvements to learning spaces, expansion of academic programs, and a strengthening of efforts to center students’ health and wellness. Now, as she heads into retirement, Meg looks back on the moments that meant the most to her and the aspects of Catalina she will hold on to long after she leaves the Hacienda.

HOW HAS YOUR LEADERSHIP EVOLVED DURING YOUR TENURE?

I have learned how essential it is to listen, which when combined with informed action, creates worthy outcomes. The lived experience of leading a school is what I imagine it is like to direct an orchestra. Incredibly wonderful outcomes manifest when an individual or team is identified, listened to, and guided and supported. Creating occasions for open, spontaneous exchanges of ideas has made possible the many unique academic and co-curricular programs offered by Catalina. I have especially enjoyed collaborating with individuals to find just the right role for their developing career and to support their aspirations.

It has been a treasure and a challenge to have served as the first lay head of school. Catalina is distinguished by a rich and vibrant academic program and culture where we celebrate our diversity, where we teach and model for our students the value of service to others, and where we put great value on teaching young people the importance of relationships. The treasure: I was invited to lead a school with a deeply ingrained welcoming culture that promotes learning, which is the Sisters’ legacy. The challenge, of course, has been to live up to the promise of the position and to follow such truly exceptional women.

AS YOU REFLECT ON THE PAST FEW YEARS, WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE TO LEAD CATALINA DURING THE PANDEMIC?

To lead this outstanding school, after a lifelong career in education, has been the most rewarding, exhilarating, challenging, and joyful source of fulfillment for me. Every day, I am surrounded by teachers, staff, and volunteers on a mission to provide the very best education to Catalina students. So when the pandemic changed our lives, it naturally followed that the Catalina community rallied around two key goals: the effective delivery of our academic program and how best to safely return to school. I am reminded of this quote:

A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.

–Franklin D. Roosevelt

Meg poses with students for a fundraising campaign centered around one word you would choose to describe Catalina.

There were few smooth seas over the past few years. At the same time, there has been so much learning. The upside to leading Catalina during a pandemic is that it fostered and deepened our reliance on each other. There were many questions and so few ready answers; it was vitally important to work together to seek answers, to nimbly adjust and revise, and, most important, to communicate our plans. We have adapted and learned new ways to live and to learn. It has been a daily exercise in collaboration, grace, and leadership by every division and grade and across all programs.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE CATALINA TRADITIONS?

Our head and hearts are the most important real estate we have, and Catalina traditions and events put both into action. I particularly like the traditions that are distinctive to Catalina—some with humor, some filled with beauty, and some filled with learning. If you have not attended a Lower and Middle School Pumpkin Olympics, I suggest you do; with great dignity, the students parade onto the field with their Compass houses, then enjoy a fun-filled afternoon engaging in creative relay games. Chapel services and, in particular, the Candlelight Mass and Christmas caroling led by our talented

choirs and musicians, are profoundly moving. The opening night of any play or performance is a must, as is gathering at the entrance to the Hacienda for a photograph. I particularly love Catalina’s tradition of sportsmanship shown by our athletes and in the daily ways that Catalina students show pride in the accomplishments of their peers.

A tradition that took on very special meaning for me was the presentation of the 2021 Sister Carlotta Distinguished Service Award to all faculty and staff. It was given in the spirit of the Santa Catalina way of community, camaraderie, and collegiality, and to honor outstanding dedication and perseverance under the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic. There is a lovely curved bench on the front lawn inscribed with these words:

In honor of Sister Carlotta, this will be the highest Santa Catalina recognition to which our faculty and staff will aspire. The Board of Trustees presented the 2021 Sister Carlotta Distinguished Service Award to all Faculty and Staff members for their outstanding perseverance under extraordinary circumstances in 2021.

WHAT ARE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES FACING STUDENTS TODAY?

Veritas —truth—is the motto of Santa Catalina School. Equipping students with the skills and knowledge to identify accurate sources of information is key, along with training students to effectively communicate with those who have differing beliefs. These habits of mind are powerful tools in the search for truth and in finding thoughtful answers to complex questions. This is critically important today with knowledge of the world spread virally and from an infinite number of sources.

Today’s students are facing a world filled with the potential to enhance daily life from scientific breakthroughs along with the challenge of finding

solutions to the devastating prospect of climate change. I am profoundly hopeful about the promise shown by this generation of students. If COVID-19 demonstrated anything, it showed us that these young people have the ability to work through challenges and to hold themselves accountable for their work, even at the youngest age.

Catalina students elect to serve in response to today’s challenges. A favorite part of my day is attending morning assemblies. Students share the vast array of ways they are learning as they serve each other and the community and gain “a sense of responsible purpose and a determination to serve the world with courage, grace, and compassion.” It is another example of our mission in action as students demonstrate their contagious and inspiring love of

PreK students give Meg a hug for her birthday.

others. Imagine a world led by these future leaders, one filled with grace, and you cannot be anything but filled with optimism for our future.

WHAT HAVE YOU ENJOYED THE MOST DURING YOUR TIME AS HEAD OF SCHOOL?

It’s the people. I’ll start with the students. Walk the campus and you will always encounter students with a ready smile and a warm hello. There is a joy for learning and self-discovery supported by teachers who know their strengths, challenges, and interests. From their earliest moments on campus, students are invited to be present; it is the Catalina way, and it is truly welcoming.

I could not imagine working with a more capable, devoted group of teachers and staff. Favorite moments include informal

gatherings and meals. I so enjoyed the opportunity to share in rich, varied conversations about big ideas, educational trends, books, travel, and of course about PreKindergarten to grade 12 education. Add to this the many volunteers who give so generously of their wisdom and time. The time shared by volunteers of all stripes—from trustees to parents to alums—helps create the secret sauce that distinguishes Santa Catalina.

A few more cherished memories: The daily random acts of kindness extended by members of our community.

Living on campus with the plentiful and varied opportunities to connect with students and adults, including my favorite opportunity: spontaneous conversations.

Early morning walks around school, where the striking beauty reveals the

Meg often hosted Upper School students at her house for pizza or dessert.

extraordinary efforts made by our grounds and maintenance staff to care for and preserve the campus. The bookend experiences of attending graduations, starting with kindergarten, where students are bursting with pride to the great joy and satisfaction of their teachers and families.

TELL US ABOUT SOME OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS.

I had the honor of working with the Board of Trustees and faculty to craft the 2020 Strategic Plan. It is designed with a concentration on four main areas: Academic and Co-curricular Programs, People and Community, Physical Environment and Place, and Santa Catalina’s Enduring Legacy. The foundation of this plan is built around Catalina’s core values, including our

particular academic approach, our belief in a responsibility to serve others, and our welcoming spirit toward all students, who we believe learn best in a loving, supportive community.

Our strategic goals related to the people and community of Catalina include our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Members of the Board and school leaders rallied around the goal of becoming educated about what it means—today—to be an inclusive community. We recognized that to meet our strategic goals and be intentional about our work to attract and retain a diverse community of trustees, faculty, staff, and students, we would need to listen and learn. In 2021, we identified several consultants to help guide trustees, faculty, and staff in meeting our governance, curricular, and community goals. Board Chair

Laura Lyon Gaon ’81 established a Board DEI committee chaired by Kate Brinks Lathen ’96. The Board’s focus has been to create a long-term strategy to recruit a representative and diverse group of individuals to serve on the Board.

Board members and then all employees attended a workshop presented by educator Dr. Derrick Gay about ways to further advance justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion at Santa Catalina, and how to translate our insights into action. Members of the Board as well as school leaders were grateful to attend a workshop led by educator Dr. Liza Talusan, who designed a session around creating an inclusive school community as we work to attract and retain a diverse student population for the benefit of all. This compels our division heads and school leaders to maintain a continual process of reviewing and updating our curricular offerings. Finally, another important priority that we are working on is to recruit, develop, and retain a diverse community of faculty and staff. Santa Catalina is indeed fortunate that Dr. Barbara Ostos will be leading this effort going forward.

WHAT

IS YOUR ONE WISH FOR CATALINA’S FUTURE?

That every Catalina student is well-prepared to become the person he or she is meant to be.

WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO AFTER YOU LEAVE CATALINA?

We lived most of our adult lives in New Orleans and California, which we have loved. As I retire, we plan to move to Asheville, North Carolina, to be closer to our East Coast family, with a milder winter. We look forward to spending lots of time with our children and with our very large, connected family, and especially with our grandson, Isaac. We plan to travel, learn, and discover ways to be of service. George and I wish to express our heartfelt gratitude for the remarkable opportunity to be a part of the Santa Catalina community as we look forward to welcoming Dr. Barbara Ostos as the fifth Head of School.

Meg and her husband, George, enjoying seafood and friends at Lobster Fest.

A Fond Farewell

From Laura Lyon Gaon ’81, Chair, Santa Catalina Board of Trustees

They say ignorance is bliss. I prefer something like, the unknown is courageous, and an adventure! Imagine, for a moment, what it would have been like to follow in the footsteps of the sisters of Santa Catalina School. These extraordinary pioneers literally had a calling, the highest calling, to educate children—the calling of a Dominican Sister. Well, Meg Bradley had a dream, a vision for herself to be the head of a school, to align her training and passion for leadership with a school that spoke to her values and vision. In her six years at Santa Catalina, Meg proved herself a worthy successor.

I love this quote by Pope John XXlll: “Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” This reminds me of Meg: always willing to learn, to listen, to be bold, and to compromise when needed.

Saying farewell and thank you is no small task, and one I do not take lightly. We are not always lucky enough to be able to plan our goodbyes, so I am grateful for this opportunity to reflect on this amazing journey of working with Ms. Meg Bradley.

These past three years for me as board chair have been a journey of epic proportions. Meg and I began a routine of meeting weekly, our Google agenda at hand, and more frequently if needed. We only had two in-person board meetings before COVID-19 sent us into our Zoom world of remote everything.

In those first six months, I managed to stick my foot in my mouth a few times, and I learned early on that Meg was going to call

me on it. I so appreciated her candor when it came to our communication. We have the ability to share and listen and consider each other’s viewpoints and suggestions with respect and sincerity. I know that a strong working relationship can be hard to come by, and when it’s great, it makes the tasks at hand seem more manageable.

Once we got into the groove of Zoom, it was back to high productivity in all things Catalina. It was always astounding to me how Meg could remain calm and determined under the craziest of circumstances. The eternal optimist. I saw this saying recently, “Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” This could be Meg’s motto.

Meg was a great reflection for me. We both had the chance to really see who we are under pressure, and together, we thoughtfully and carefully chose our outcomes as best we could. Of course, Meg surrounded herself with a great team, as did I with the board of trustees. I never felt like I was alone in this journey; Meg has been steadfast and true.

As I looked back over our agendas and notes of these past three years, I was both overwhelmed and inspired. I have the utmost respect for Meg: She does not have short-timer syndrome, nor is she a lame duck. She is giving 100 percent to the end, guiding us all to our next chapter with grace and style.

Meg leaves an extraordinary legacy in the story of Santa Catalina. She moved us forward, stewarded us through many trials and tribulations, and came out with her sunny and breezy disposition intact. As Maya Angelou once said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

I thank Meg for her leadership, her friendship, her counseling services, and her eternal optimism. She made me a stronger, more confident leader.

In the immortal words of Winnie the Pooh, “How lucky I am to have someone that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Current Board chair Laura Lyon Gaon ’81 with Meg Bradley and Nonie B. Ramsay ’71, the previous Board chair.

Faculty Profile

Technical Arts Teacher Henrique Monnerat

Drawing on his background as an industrial designer, Henrique Monnerat transforms Santa Catalina Lower and Middle School’s makerspace into a truly synapsefiring idea lab. “Designers are trained to be relentless in their pursuit of generating ideas,” says the Technical Arts teacher, who started at Catalina in the 2021-22 school year. “We’re trained to not be satisfied with the first idea. That allows creativity to flow. This is something that young kids are really good at.”

Henrique was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His father, who worked for IBM, lived in the United States for a few years, and Henrique joined him for his seventh-grade year. He recalls being fascinated with a workshop class where they built Lego robots and wooden cars. (Coincidentally, he would later establish a makerspace at a school in the same town, Greenwich Country Day School in Connecticut.)

Henrique studied design at a university in Brazil before earning the equivalent of a master’s degree in Germany, where he also studied biomimicry in a post-graduate program. He then found a job in Holland designing a wide range of industrial products, from power tools to food packaging to electronic devices. After spending about eight years in Europe, he returned to Brazil and began teaching at a university and working as a design consultant. At the same time, he volunteered with a friend who brought fabrication machines, such as 3D printers, to public schools; Henrique designed lessons and taught the young students how to use the machines. “I discovered that I’m having much more fun teaching kids design technology than I was designing new products for my clients,” he says.

There are many concepts from the design world that Henrique brings to his classes, and one of the overarching ideas is that of meaning. He explains, “When engineers think about whether a table is sturdy enough or easy to fabricate, designers are busy thinking, ‘What kind of table do people want? How will it feel to use it? What functions should this table have?’ Learning about people’s needs is something we are trained to do. Now, in a makerspace, you want kids to do more than just learn how to build things—you want them to build meaningful things. Before they build, they are challenged to reflect about who it is for, what people need, and then practice skills of learning how to find that information.”

Designers are also creators, and Henrique helps students through the process of bringing ideas to life: sketching on paper, building prototypes, and learning to refine, refine, refine. “Kids have high expectations for their ideas and dreams, and we would be doing them a disservice if we did not teach them how they can put them into the world, and those skills are practiced and nurtured in our makerspace,” he says.

The makerspace is a highly collaborative place, and Henrique tries to work closely with teachers so his projects can enhance students’ learning in other subjects, such as having students design a game around a topic they’re studying in history. Sometimes the conversations are organic, and sometimes they come from a teacher looking for hands-on opportunities for their students. For example, he worked with math teacher Jessica Bangham on an affordable housing project for sixth-graders who were learning about scale and area. “The school is hoping that teachers find in this space the support to experiment and try new curriculum ideas, which will ultimately benefit learning,” he says.

Favorite design

The neptuno submarine, which I designed for my master’s thesis. It moves like a fish.

Languages spoken

Portuguese, English, and German

Cycling enthusiast

I’ve crossed the Alps and the Pyrenees on biking trips with my friends. Our first trip across the Alps between France and Italy was eight days, and we didn’t take tents.

Finding his calling

When I was six or seven years old, I got in trouble for taking apart the telephone. But I think my dad realized I wanted to learn more about technology.

Anything with wheels

I still like to race remote control cars. I’ve also built my own skateboards.

Look sharp, feel sharp

I like bow ties. They’re friendly. Plus, I think I’m pretty formal, so they help me break down that formality.

Building Blocks of Literacy

Santa Catalina’s integrated approach to literacy introduces students to increasingly complex phonics concepts, builds their reading fluency and comprehension, and inspires expression through writing. Shared methods, tools, and programs across the grades ensure that students never miss a beat from year to year. And first grade is in the sweet spot.

From PreKindergarten to Grade 1, teachers present phonics using the multisensory Orton-Gillingham approach. Toward the end of kindergarten, teachers introduce an additional phonics program, Words Their Way. First grade uses this program extensively, and it follows students through fifth grade. Another program, the Lucy Calkins Writing Workshop, is also used in first grade and continues through fifth. Catalina’s guided reading program is used throughout.

“There’s a nice flow through the grades and it just keeps rolling with the students as their skills progress,” says Maddy Farr, who teaches Grade 1 with Valerie Humenik. “There’s consistent growth.” All of the programs weave together: Phonics lessons are put into

practice during guided reading, and both help inform the writing process.

Through Words Their Way, first-graders engage in phonics exercises four days a week, with each day following a set routine. “In first grade, they thrive on routines,” Valerie says. On Mondays, students are introduced to a new pattern, such as the sounds of “ch” and “sh” (found in chop and shop) and how to differentiate them. The teachers read a poem that showcases words with those spelling-sound patterns and help students identify them. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, students engage in various activities to sort words that follow the pattern. And on Thursdays, they practice applying those skills by brainstorming and writing words that follow the pattern.

As Valerie and Maddy teach these sound and spelling patterns, they can draw on Orton-Gillingham strategies, which they are specially trained to teach. Strategies include having the students trace words in sand or on a textured screen, bend wax sticks to shape letters, and tap sounds down their arms. These tactile approaches are designed to help the patterns stick in students’ brains. The teachers also teach

Mason Paquin sorts a word by its "u" sound.

so-called non-negotiable words, or words that don’t follow the rules and just require memorization to spell—for example, “the,” because the letter “e” makes a short “u” vowel sound.

Although all students from PreK through Grade 1 use Orton-Gillingham methods, the focus shifts as students advance in grade level. As Valerie explains, “We simply build upon all that they learned before coming into first grade by beginning to shift the focus into other areas of literacy as well, like being able to produce those same sound patterns into their writing.”

All of this phonics work ties into the guided reading program. In guided reading, the students meet in small, teacher-led groups four times a week. Typically, teachers will preview a new book and talk about vocabulary or unfamiliar words. Sometimes students take turns reading out loud, and sometimes the teachers listen in to an individual student while their peers whisperread independently. Whatever they read in class, they reread at home, while also using a guided reading journal to reflect on what they read.

Students are grouped by reading level so the teachers can meet them where they are and provide additional phonics practice as needed. The goal in these groups is to work on fluency and comprehension. Fluency includes skills such as decoding (sounding out words), phrasing, expression, and intonation. Maddy says, “Sometimes a student will just read through the whole page, or even book without taking a breath. So we talk about phrasing—we call it scooping up words—and noticing punctuation and other parts of the text.” Valerie adds, “We always tell them, don’t read like a robot.” Pointing out that parents are key to the process, Valerie says, “We encourage parents to read to their kids no matter what age, because hearing a fluent reader is so helpful. We pick up those habits: the pausing, the phrasing.”

The comprehension piece of guided reading goes beyond fluency skills like identifying words with particular vowel sounds to bigger conversations related to setting, problems,

solutions, and character development. Valerie explains the difference between fluency and comprehension this way: “When a child is working on their fluency, they’re learning to read. When they are moving into comprehension, they’re reading to learn.”

individualized, where they can take that pressure off of themselves. It’s not, ‘I need to have this done,’ but, ‘How can I make it better?’” The year ends with a publishing party where first-graders share chapter books they wrote about a particular topic, such as Malayan tigers, being a big sister, or riding a bike.

On Fridays, the teachers review and assess what students have been learning during the week. Through a process called “reading for meaning,” they read a book together as a class, with the teachers pausing now and then to model how to sound out a word or to ask a few comprehension questions. The teachers also do phonics assessments related to the pattern of the week. At the beginning of the year, it matters more that the pattern is correct than that the whole word is spelled correctly. Toward the end of the year, the emphasis shifts, after the students have mastered several patterns.

The final piece of the literacy puzzle is the Lucy Calkins Writing Workshop, in which students are guided through each step of the writing process: drafting, editing, and publishing. They practice different styles of writing throughout the year, including personal narratives (called “small moments”), reviews, and nonfiction. This is a more independent process for students, and each of them is paired with a writing partner that they can turn to for feedback. “It’s one of the parts of our day that doesn’t have an end point,” Valerie says. “That’s different from math, where we want them to finish a problem set, or phonics where they need to glue their sorted words down. It’s very open-ended. … Writing Workshop is where they get to be more independent, more

With skills that flow smoothly through the grades and lessons that continually build on one another, there’s one particular saying from the Lucy Calkins Writing Workshop that can easily apply to Catalina’s entire literacy program: As Valerie puts it, “When you’re done, you’ve only just begun!”

Georgina Middleton looks over Kai Burke's shoulder as he reads during free time.

“We encourage parents to read to their kids no matter what age, because hearing a fluent reader is so helpful."

Navigating the Path to Leadership

Each fall, the Lower and Middle School community gathers on the Lower Terrace for a much-anticipated rite of passage: Compass Sorting. In this tradition, new students and teachers are assigned to the houses that will be their home within a home for the rest of their time at Catalina. The ceremony is the first time eighth-graders perform their role as Compass leaders, greeting the new members of their circles and welcoming them through getting-toknow-you games.

Leadership is a core component of Compass, the Lower and Middle School’s character education program. The four houses within Compass are named for the four key words of Catalina’s mission: Excellence, Spirituality, Responsibility, and Service. Within these houses are Compass circles, small groups of a mix of students from kindergarten through Grade 7, each overseen by an eighth-grader. The eighth-graders prepare for their roles as leaders in a weekly class, then put what they learn into action during all-school activities such as pep rallies, Pumpkin Olympics, and service projects. By the time they graduate, students are confident in their strengths and ready to lead with compassion.

As Head of Lower and Middle School Christy Pollacci says, “All eighth-graders deserve the opportunity to lead

and to see what kind of leader they are, to identify it in themselves, so that is in place before they go to high school. The students flourish and find their way and passion through Compass.”

The particular focus for Grade 8 is servant leadership, which is about wanting to help others. The term most easily applies to eighth-graders’ role in leading service projects that benefit the wider community, but it’s also reflected in the way they interact with their circle members. When the leaders are engaged in their circles, their attention naturally falls to the younger students in their care. They make sure each member of their circle is noticed, included, and appreciated. Compass Program Coordinator Ibi Janko Murphy ’83, ’79 LS notes, “When you are together, joined in something that’s already larger than yourself—even if that’s playing a game—you’re collaborating. It’s not about you.” Chris Haupt, Director of Student Life, points out that servant leadership is perfectly aligned with Catalina’s mission: “You can’t help but draw on the values of service, openness, and relationships, those core values of the Catholic identity of the school.”

Perhaps the single greatest task that Compass leaders have is building relationships. As the year goes on, they form bonds with each member of their group, no matter

Carter Camolli welcomes a new member to his circle during Compass Sorting.

the grade. Carter Camolli, a Compass leader in the House of Responsibility, was happy to see that a second-grader in his circle had written “Carter is the best” on the sidewalk in front of his locker one day. “In my Compass group, I see lots of people forming connections with each other and forming connections with me, which is exciting,” Carter says. “At the start of the year, I was really nervous and I felt it was kind of hard to manage my group. I didn’t have a particularly quiet group. Throughout the year, we’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with each other, and that has made me feel more confident as a leader.” Hope Sallee, a Compass leader in the House of Excellence, has seen similar benefits. “I think building those connections, those bonds, with the younger students really helped me believe in my own ability to connect with people,” she says.

Chris Haupt believes these crossgrade relationships extend leadership opportunities to everyday exchanges, as when Compass leaders pass younger students in the hallway. The eighthgraders are “much more self-aware that other kids are looking at them or seeing them,” giving the students a chance to lead by example she says, adding: “They realize that it matters what they do.”

Eighth-graders’ leadership is expressed in ways big and small. It comes through when they’re organizing the relays for a pep rally, engaging the group in creating cards for a service project, or making sure their circle is sitting in the right place for a performance. The eighth-graders aren’t completely alone in these endeavors. Each circle has an adult facilitator, but these adults are “the beige,” as Christy describes them. They step in when necessary—for example, in the case of a young student’s meltdown—but generally they sit back and take the lead from the eighth-grader. As the students run through activities and confront personality challenges, they start to recognize their strengths and determine which qualities serve them best as a leader. Compass helps them realize that there are many ways to lead, from working behind the scenes to shouting out in front.

The students explore these qualities in class, taking part in exercises that highlight different leadership traits, such as listening, trust-building, and flexibility. The class is also a time to prepare students for upcoming events. Ibi and Christy Pollacci, who teach the class, make sure students are comfortable with the nuts and bolts of each event and provide them with the necessary tools to set them up for success. Gradually, the students assume more responsibility themselves. Hope sums it up when she says, “As the year progresses, you become more confident in your leadership capabilities because you’ve been entrusted with this group of kids—they’re your responsibility—and we’re trained and prepared for that.”

After each activity, the students reflect on what went well and what didn’t. Christy says that at the beginning of the year, only the students you would expect to raise their hands do so. But it doesn’t take long before everyone

starts to contribute. “One of the most important things about Compass is that the eighth-graders have a voice and they learn how to use it,” she says. “That’s just huge going into high school because then they’re able to advocate for themselves.”

Being a Compass leader gives students a chance to reinvent themselves. Not everyone is a born leader, but everyone can find some way to lead. The fact that Mrs. Pollaci teaches the class shows the students just how much the school believes in the importance of leadership. In the end, the students believe in it, too.

Hope Sallee explains the rules of a relay game to one of her circle members during a pep rally.

“I think building those connections, those bonds, with the younger students really helped me believe in my own ability to connect with people.”

Faculty Profile

Bo Covington

Mandarin Teacher

When Bo Covington applied to college in her native China, she was hoping to be an English major. During an oral exam, the proctor posed questions about how she liked particular things—maybe a type of food or a city or the weather. Her response to each question: “Yes.”

Even though she had been learning English since sixth grade, she hadn’t really been taught how to speak the language. “I don’t want my students to be like that,” says Bo, Santa Catalina’s Mandarin teacher. “I want my students to be able to communicate with native speakers. That’s the most important thing.”

With a little extra help from language tapes that her dad bought her, she went on to earn a B.A. in foreign language education from Sichuan International Studies University, and she taught English in China before moving to California. She has been at Santa Catalina since 2010.

Bo is serious about making sure her Mandarin students speak the language. “I encourage them to talk to me only in Chinese on campus, even after class,” she says. And she involves boarding students from China as much as she can. In one assignment, for example, she asks her language students to take videos of themselves conversing with Chinese students. The extra exposure to native speakers proves beneficial to language learners. In fact, it’s not uncommon for Catalina students to earn awards at a statewide Mandarin speech contest.

For Bo, who is also the international student advisor, those exchanges serve an additional purpose: to welcome Chinese students into the community. One year, an international student from China came to her, confused because an American student had told her that she drives to school (which is not something that happens in China). Bo assured her that was true. She recalls, “She said, ‘Oh, I thought I heard it wrong.’ So these conversations are a good chance for Chinese students to learn about [American] culture and also for them to just meet one new friend.”

If Bo’s first priority is to encourage her students to speak Chinese, imparting her own country’s culture is a close

second. Students make moon cakes and dumplings, participate in local festivals, learn calligraphy and dances, drink tea and tie Chinese knots. She often involves international students in these activities to help keep them tethered to home. Her favorite tradition is Chinese New Year Community Dinner, which is hosted by language students along with international students. The event features songs, Chinese cuisine, and dragon and lion dances. This year, because students were unable to return to China during winter break, she invited their parents to record special new year messages, which were edited together and shared at dinner.

Bo is the kind of teacher who loves to connect with her students, and you can tell they feel the same. She still sees the students from her first year of teaching when she visits China every summer. In her office at Catalina, she has a wall of photos neatly hanging from scoops of string. Most of the photos are of her previous students participating in the cultural activities they enjoy so much. There’s one item that stands out: a flyer for a Catalina theatre production of Meet Me in St. Louis from a decade ago. On the back is an invitation to attend the show. The invitation, written in Mandarin by a first-year student, still brings a smile to Bo’s face all these years later—pure pride in a student’s demonstration of the language.

Favorite movie

To Live. You can see lots of Chinese culture— from the civil war to the Cultural Revolution. I always recommend it to my students.

Birthplace

Sanhui, Sichuan, China, a small town with three rivers and green mountains, several hours’ train ride from Chengdu

Favorite hobby

My garden is very therapeutic for me, and I’m starting to grow my first lotus flower in my greenhouse.

New hobby

I started to learn how to paint Chinese fine brush paintings before we moved to remote classes.

Favorite word

Star. It’s beautiful and it also means hope in the darkness.

Cultural differences

We don’t say hello. For my mom and her neighbors, they say, “Did you eat?” For young people, we often say, “Where are you going?”

Past jobs

English language teacher. Textbook editor. Interpreter at LanguageLine Solutions in Monterey.

College Placement by Design

Fred White, Santa Catalina’s director of college counseling, sits on a large, U-shaped sofa in the College Counseling Resource Center. On this crisp spring morning, he has the room to himself, but soon a junior will join him for a one-on-one meeting. In a normal, non-pandemic year, students would also be sitting where he is now, listening to one of roughly 100 college representatives who visit campus throughout the year. Colorful college pennants and posters cover every inch of available wall space, and student doodles dot a pair of whiteboards. Outside the office, a bulletin board is smothered in paper stars on which students have written the names of their college acceptances: Princeton, Rhode Island School of Design, Wellesley, UCLA.

Fred is discussing Catalina’s college counseling program, a sophisticated system built on communication and care. The program’s stated philosophy: “We want each graduate to go on to achieve great personal and professional success, and that begins with making the best college choice—her ‘best fit’ financially, academically, and personally.”

College counseling at Catalina goes hand-in-hand with Journey, our four-year advising program. Students first encounter the college admissions process as freshmen when

they are introduced to the POINTS Portfolio in Journey. (POINTS stands for Personal Objectives in Navigating Toward Success.) Over the next four years, students use this tool to map out and reflect on their journey to college and beyond. They record their academic plans, save important self-reflections, log their activities and achievements, and archive examples of their best work. A well-developed POINTS Portfolio keeps students organized and focused as they begin the college search.

As sophomores, students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities to familiarize themselves with colleges and career paths. Typically, they take part in a college tour during Journey Day, a full day of activities that also includes a college and career panel for juniors and seniors featuring Catalina alumnae. This year, sophomores visited Santa Clara University and UC Santa Cruz to compare a small, private university with a large, public one. Catalina has also offered college tours in Southern California.

Each fall, all Upper School students, but especially juniors, are encouraged to attend sessions with college representatives. In the spring semester of junior year through the fall semester of senior year, college counseling kicks into high gear. Through one-on-one meetings and Journey classes, Fred helps students

shape their college lists, finesse their essays, gather teacher recommendations, schedule test prep, meet deadlines, and understand the nature of the college admissions landscape. Senior advisors provide an extra layer of support to ensure that the process is as worry-free as possible.

college experience they are looking for: large or small school, urban or rural environment, Division I sports or vibrant arts scene, and so on. Taking in all of this information, he draws up an initial list of 20 to 30 colleges for students to consider. As he continues to meet with the students through the fall of senior

From their first one-on-one meeting with Fred, students zero in on what “best fit” means for them. The first factor in that decision is financial. “It is absolutely essential that parents have a frank discussion about family finances, and what they are and are not willing to do for their daughter, before she sits down with me for the first time to start building her college list,” he advises. The next factor is academic fit based on GPAs and test scores. Fred’s goal is for each student to have an even mix of reach, target, and likely schools on her college list, determined by data. “Reach” schools are those for which admission is a long shot but still achievable if the student is a strong fit for the college; “target” schools are ones at which students’ GPAs and test scores are in the middle 50 percent of the most recent class admitted; and “likely” schools are ones where a rejection would be quite surprising. Finally, the third factor in fit is personal. Fred works with students to get a sense of what kind of

year, he helps them winnow their list down to 8 to 12 applications. “We want all of our students to be ambitious and aim high, but we also want to be really confident that they’re going to be happily situated in college,” he says. He offers one caveat: “Even if a school is a tremendous fit in every respect, students are still going to have to make the right choices once there to make the most of it.”

There are many aspects of the job that Fred enjoys, but he particularly loves that it plays to his natural strengths as a writer. That talent proves useful as he works with students on their college essays and personal statements, often guiding them through several drafts. And it is especially beneficial when he sits down to craft that “all-important college counselor letter” in which he hopes to shape a “very vivid, threedimensional, and highly complimentary portrait of each student” for college

admissions officers. To accomplish this, he sends out questionnaires, solicits peer recommendations, and draws on his own personal knowledge of the students. “I conceive of my primary job as this: to get colleges to fall in love with our applicants, each and every one of them.” With assistance from Registrar Julia Dubiel, Fred also writes a weekly newsletter for parents and students full of reminders, upcoming events, scholarship opportunities, enrichment experiences, and news from the wider college landscape. The newsletter is central to his efforts to communicate clearly and often with parents and to demystify the application process. He also hosts events on campus to give families an overview of college admissions and how to navigate financial aid. This year, Fred partnered with other local private schools to establish a Monterey edition of Bay Area Case Studies, a popular event designed to help students and parents understand the application process from the admission officer’s perspective. Santa Catalina hosted the inaugural Monterey event, which drew nearly 40 colleges and universities, in April.

“We do a very good job of making sure that all of our parents and students feel beyond fully informed about what college admissions is like these days,” Fred says. “Information is power, and the more that every aspect of the admissions process can be made transparent, the more you will be able to relax.”

Student Success Story

Applying to college, especially international programs, seemed like a big feat to overcome, but I was instantly reassured once I met with Mr. White. He was very flexible in recommending schools specially catered to what interested me and was very helpful when I applied to a relatively new bachelor's program at the French school École Polytechnique. I'm so thankful for the guidance.

—Alix Detrait ’22

"We want all of our students to be ambitious and aim high, but we also want to be really confident that they’re going to be happily situated in college."

Preparing Global Citizens

Santa Catalina students have long been globally minded, whether through academics, service projects, or their own personal experience. Now the school is formalizing what has been true for decades. Under the direction of Dr. Kassandra Thompson Brenot ’87, the new PreK-Grade 12 Global Education Initiative aims to develop the knowledge, skills, and empathy that students need to understand multiple perspectives and to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world. Upper School students will have the opportunity—through academics, experiential education, service, and reflection—to graduate with a Certificate in Global Leadership starting in the 2022–23 school year.

The launch of the initiative follows two years of dedicated planning and research. Kassandra is an action research fellow with two organizations: the Global Education Benchmark Group (GEBG) and the National (soon to be International) Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS). Her research in both groups is on how to develop a global mindset among members of the Catalina community. With GEBG she is focused on faculty, and with NCGS she is focused on students, specifically in the language classroom. Kassandra explains, “It’s imperative that Santa Catalina adopt this approach to education in a very methodical, well-informed, thoughtful

way, and the first step is assessing where we are and what we’re already doing. It’s been so affirming because we are doing so much already.”

The initiative’s goal is to tie together the many global-minded threads running throughout Catalina. Those threads are embedded in the curriculum across all grades. For example, prekindergartners learn to sing in Arabic and French, English students at all levels read books by diverse authors, Upper School science students study changes to the world’s oceans, and seniors delve into international relations. Long-existing clubs like the Environmental Club in the Middle School and the Peace and Justice Clubs in the Upper School are by nature outwardly focused. Service projects often have a global bent, especially this year, with efforts to support Ukrainians. Kassandra would argue that Santa Catalina has been global since its inception in 1850, when the new bishop of Monterey recruited a Belgian nun in Paris to found Santa Catalina, the first Catholic school in California. The first classes were taught in Spanish.

As a boarding school, Catalina is blessed with a global student body. “When I myself was a student, being here at Catalina completely opened me up to the world at large,” Kassandra reflects. “I was a day student in a public school

from kindergarten through grade 8, and then suddenly coming to Santa Catalina I was with students from all over the world: Mexico, South Africa, American students who had lived in Saudi Arabia. It was amazing.”

Likewise, faculty and staff bring a global perspective to campus. Kassandra hadn’t realized just how much until she interviewed her colleagues as part of her research for GEBG. “I’ve been astounded to see how many faculty and staff members have lived abroad for extended periods of time, or grew up abroad and then moved to the United States, or speak languages fluently other than English. All of that shapes an educator’s mind and approach to education,” says Kassandra, a French and Spanish teacher who has worked and studied in Paris and Lima.

The first step in formalizing global education within Catalina is to give faculty and administration a common language to discuss it. “Then we can begin collaborating across divisions and disciplines and really lift up what we’re already doing,” Kassandra says. She hopes to work closely with faculty and staff in defining what global education means. “There are many different ways to define ‘global education.’ What’s important for us at Santa Catalina is to create the definition of it for our unique school based on our mission, our culture, our values.”

As the language around global education is solidified, the Upper School is launching the Certificate in Global Leadership this fall, with 24 students enrolled. The certificate is intended for students who want to dig deeper into global matters and to develop even stronger leadership skills. To earn the certificate, students must go above and beyond basic graduation requirements. Academically, students need to take a Level 4 or AP language class, a Senior History Research Seminar course such as International Relations or Dictatorships, and new specialty microcourses on topics such as global citizenship and

diplomacy. On the experiential side, students must participate in relevant activities such as Model U.N. or TEDxSantaCatalinaSchool for at least

In addition, students in the program are required to take part in a schoolorganized trip abroad. The inaugural trip will take students to Italy in April 2023.

two years, and must attend four lectures or presentations on global topics. Students are also required to engage in 15 hours of community service devoted to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 goals to achieve (at least in part) by 2030, including quality education for all, the reduction of poverty, and access to clean water. Finally, students are required to reflect on and share their experiences with the community, whether through presentations or articles for the school newspaper. Kassandra envisions the first year of the program focusing on teaching students what it means to be a global citizen and what it takes to communicate effectively and appropriately with diverse audiences.

As part of the journey, students will take part in pre-trip learning and post-trip reflection to maximize their travel experience.

All told, the program aims to cultivate students’ global competency—the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and behaviors that students learn through intentional global education. With this set of tools, students can become ethical leaders and change-makers who promote the common good locally, nationally, and internationally. As Kassandra points out, “This generation is inheriting a lot of global challenges. We have to ask ourselves, What are we doing right now to prepare our students in the best way possible to confront these challenges?”

"We have to ask ourselves, What are we doing right now to prepare our students in the best way possible to confront [the world's] challenges?"

Spanish students discuss global citizenship.

Library Due

Renewal for

Heartfelt and significant investments in the reimagined Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library are making the project a reality.

The Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library, named for Santa Catalina’s beloved first Head of School, sits at the center of our beautiful Upper School teaching and learning area. It is a space used by all members of the school community and one that is at the heart of the Santa Catalina experience. Upper School students pass through its doors on their very first day at the school, and it provides the backdrop for commencement on their final day as Santa Catalina students. Although the library remains a central cornerstone of campus, it has not been updated since it was built in 1967.

Supported by Prioress General Mother Mary Margaret, O.P., an astute businesswoman, Sister Kieran had a vision and a plan for implementing the growth of Santa Catalina School. She acquired the funds needed to begin a variety of construction projects on campus. Twelve of her 15 years at Santa Catalina saw the completion of Rosary Chapel, two dormitories, Upper and Lower classrooms, Convent, a swimming pool, the kitchen and dining room, health center, and faculty and staff offices. This development of the campus enabled the significant growth of our Upper and Lower School programs. In addition to her fundraising and building skills, Sister Kieran also applied her considerable charm and flair for public relations to the important task of recruiting students.

Fast forward to the present. Through Sister Kieran’s vision for growth, Santa Catalina continued to evolve. In the decades since the library was built, the function of libraries has changed dramatically. Such spaces are no longer solely for quiet, solitary study.

Rather, they are dynamic and collaborative spaces that enhance the entire learning experience. Santa Catalina School is incredibly fortunate to have individuals and foundations that appreciate Sister Kieran’s vision, and have stepped forward to make the reimagined Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library a reality.

Santa Catalina wishes to thank the Edwin L. Wiegand Trust and the E. L. Wiegand Foundation for their long-standing support of Santa Catalina School and for their significant investment in the library project, including all interior furnishings, fixtures, and technology. They have been instrumental in transforming the Santa Catalina campus over the years and adding to the life of the school. Students and faculty alike are thriving in the new spaces that the trust and foundation have helped make possible. Santa Catalina remains incredibly grateful for all that the Edwin L. Wiegand Trust and the E. L. Wiegand Foundation have done on behalf of education at Santa Catalina School.

Among the other early donors were Julia Anderson Frankel ’65 and her husband, Russell Frankel. Julia came to Santa Catalina as a boarding student from Houston, Texas, in 1963. As Julia recalls, her mother had heard via the “mother’s underground” about the excellent Catholic educator, Sister Mary Kieran Hannifan, who headed a boarding school in California. That was all she needed to hear to enroll her daughter. Julia shares that she has many fond memories of her Santa Catalina teachers: “General Earnshaw, for one, who taught chemistry and stepped in when I needed a ‘stand-in father’ for Father-

Daughter Weekend my junior year.” Sister Kieran died unexpectedly in 1965. Julia adds, “It was truly traumatic when Sister Kieran died shortly before my graduation in 1965.”

Today, Julia and her husband live in Houston, where they were born and raised. However, they spend part of each year in Pebble Beach. While on the Monterey Peninsula, Julia enjoys her trips to campus and visits with Catalina alumnae.

The Frankels carefully considered investing in Santa Catalina School with a gift

"It is a space used by all members of the school community and one that is at the heart of the Santa Catalina experience."

that matched their philanthropic goals and with Julia’s personal experience. Their donation to the Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library project was a lead gift. Santa Catalina School is honored to have received the Frankels’s investment in the Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library project, which will name the Frankel Conference Room on the mezzanine floor of the library.

Another supporter shared:

The Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library project represents an opportunity to expand the horizons of Catalina students in so many different and exciting ways. As a repository of knowledge, the library has always represented an important place of study. The introduction of various technologies and an updated infrastructure will transform the library into a fantastic platform intersecting physical, informational, and social networks that are key to the total development of the Catalina student.

We are very excited to support this important endeavor, as Catalina prepares to celebrate its 75th Anniversary. The new library will serve as a hub not only to bring the world to Catalina, but to bring Catalina to the world—linking students from all over, places, ideas, and relevant events in real time—in vivid and creative ways, fulfilling elements that enhance the students’ journey through Catalina.

The momentum that was started by the initial investors paved the way for additional investments to be made. The Nancy Eccles and Homer M. Hayward Family Foundation, whose passion for healthy building led to the naming of the Hayward Innovation Zone. Santa Catalina is grateful to the foundation for its support by creating that space.

This exciting renewal project has also received support from the Board of Trustees, parents, and alumnae. All donors to the Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library renewal project will be gratefully acknowledged in a future Bulletin

Thanks to Sister Kieran’s incredible impact on Santa Catalina School in those beginning years and to the impact she had on students, faculty, and alumnae in the years following her passing, the school continues to honor her vision by implementing thoughtful and impactful growth on campus. With these significant investments in the reimagined Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library, the project will break ground this summer and will be completed by the end of the year.

If you are interested in learning more about opportunities to invest in the Sister Mary Kieran Memorial Library, please contact Director of Leadership and Legacy Giving Gretchen Mueller Burke ’83, ’79 LS at 831.655.9392 or gretchen.muellerburke@santacatalina.org.

THE CONTINUES Journey

A Q&A WITH TARA MANN ’18

WHAT COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY ARE YOU CURRENTLY ATTENDING, AND WHAT YEAR ARE YOU?

I am a senior at Chapman University in Orange County.

WHAT MAJOR AND MINOR WILL YOU GRADUATE WITH?

I am majoring in creative writing with a minor in computer science.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO STUDY AND PURSUE THESE AREAS OF INTEREST?

I started by writing one-page stories, but it wasn’t until middle school that I started thinking about novel-length fiction. My passion for the written word only grew. There is something thrilling about exploring new characters and worlds and letting my imagination run free. As for computer science, I have always been fascinated by technology, but it was the computer science class I took in my sophomore year at Catalina that made me want to study it more in depth.

WHAT EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES HAVE YOU ENJOYED IN COLLEGE?

I have performed in many cabarets produced by the Chapman On Broadway (COB) club and have even operated the soundboard for a few productions. I have

also performed a few times in the annual two-hour tap dance performance by students and guest artists. In addition, I have been an Orientation Leader, helping welcome new first-year and transfer students to Chapman. I also interned for two years with the 60 Seconds Online Magazine, writing short articles for the Lifestyle and Entertainment tabs.

WHAT DO YOU SEE YOURSELF DOING AFTER GRADUATION?

Ultimately, I hope to write and publish my own novels, most likely young adult fantasy/science-fiction. Since it will take some time to get there, I plan to work [first] in the publishing industry. After graduation in May 2022, I [will begin] a summer publishing course in New York at Columbia University.

WHAT DOES A “DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOU” LOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW?

Lately, I’ve been trying to write for a few hours in the morning (provided I don’t have class or work). I’ll go to class or exercise (unless I have tap dance class that day) and do my homework. After that, I usually have a work shift at the Student Union, where I am the Lead Student Union Assistant for Event Support. Then I’ll go to club meetings or performances. Finally, I’ll head back to my apartment, play a little piano, and watch a movie with my roommates.

THERE IS SOMETHING THRILLING ABOUT EXPLORING NEW CHARACTERS AND WORLDS AND LETTING MY IMAGINATION RUN FREE. "

HOW DID CATALINA COCURRICULAR INTERESTS CARRY OVER TO YOUR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE?

One of the biggest things I was involved in was Catalina’s literary magazine, Mosaic. I helped select written works for publication and promoted our launch party, and I was Senior Editor in my last year at Catalina. I am happy to say that I’ve done the same at Chapman with its literary magazine, Calliope. For a year and a half, I was on the Editorial Board, where I voted on which pieces to publish, worked with authors to refine their works, and wrote blog posts. Then I was the Publicity Manager, in charge of social media accounts and the management of our website. In Fall 2021, I was the Editor-in-Chief.

WHAT BROADER LIFE LESSONS DID YOU LEARN AT CATALINA THAT HAVE SERVED YOU WELL IN COLLEGE?

One of the best lessons I learned at Catalina was to prioritize experiences over material things. I have many fond memories of hanging out with my friends

in Study Hall, the lunchroom, or the dorms. I had so much fun working tech, performing, and even playing golf, which I’d never done before. I’ve tried to continue that in college by attending improv shows, singing in the COB cabarets, choreographing duets, meeting new people through Orientation, having movie nights with my friends, baking together, and trying new restaurants. I have never regretted trying something new with people I love spending time with.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU OFFER TO NEW STUDENTS AT SANTA CATALINA?

Everyone tells you to try new things. I agree, but don’t feel like you have to try everything and stick with all of [those activities]. Focus on the things you really enjoy. Now is the time to start figuring out what makes you happy.

IF YOU HAD TO DESCRIBE CATALINA IN THREE WORDS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

Tight-knit, unique, exciting.

"

FOCUS ON THE THINGS YOU REALLY ENJOY. NOW IS THE TIME TO START FIGURING OUT WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.

"

Tara, right, performing in the 2019 Happy Chappy Tappy Show.

Tara with one of her fellow 2021 Orientation leaders.

2022 Alumnae Reunion

REUNION GIVING 2022 BY THE NUMBERS

$79,643 total Reunion giving dollars raised

148 total Reunion giving donors out of 693

5 CLASSES won the Catalina Award for reaching or exceeding their fundraising goal (1987, 1972, 1967, 1997, 1977)

5 CLASSES

won the Top Class Award for reaching or exceeding their participation goal (1972, 2002, 1987, 1982, 1997)

21% total Reunion giving participation

celebrated their 65th reunion

celebrated their 50th reunion

9

150 alumnae in attendance

alums who attended Reunion 2022 with daughters or relatives who are current students

Cristina Manuguerra Gage ’87, Ala Milani ’87

Stephanie Melo DaSilva ’97, Gaby Zaied ’97

Cristina Coppel ’02, Lara Wheeler Devlin ’02 Amy Azevedo Mulgrew ’02, Natalia Kocekian ’07, Lucy Yu ’17

26 members of the Class of 2002 were registered attendees, the most of any class

9,419 miles traveled from Kapala, Uganda by Dana Turner Witmer ’72 to attend Reunion

Distinguished Alumna Awards

The 2022 recipients of the Distinguished Alumna Awards, Clare O’Leary ’72 and Queena Sook Kim ’87, are recognized for their extraordinary achievements as role models to alumnae and students, and for their dedication and service to their professional endeavors.

Clare O’Leary ’72

Clare O’Leary ’72 has spent her entire career as an international advocate for disadvantaged minority ethnic communities around the world, supporting efforts to use their own languages to improve their quality of life.

Clare has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and has both a master’s degree and a doctorate in linguistics from Georgetown University. In 1989, she began her extensive professional alliance with SIL International, a global, faith-based nonprofit organization that develops language solutions for a better life. She was first based in Peshawar, Pakistan, researching the languages spoken among 26 minority communities in the Northwest Frontier Province. Clare later relocated to Kathmandu, Nepal, which became her home for most of the next 13 years. Clare became a valued trainer for SIL, conducting language research, managing programs, and training newer colleagues in South Asia and Singapore. She also taught at the SIL International training center in Dallas, Texas, and its training school near Oxford, England.

Clare served for 10 years on the SIL executive leadership team, supervising and directing SIL’s global regional directors based in Singapore. This role gave her the primary operational responsibility for overseeing fieldwork and partnerships for language-related work in more than 1,500 language communities around the world. In 2011, she established a related nonprofit organization, SIL LEAD, that brings together people and institutions around shared goals through internationally funded projects aimed at multilingual education, health localization, and technical innovation. From 2016 to 2020, Clare worked with SIL LEAD as director of its Community-Based Language Development Initiative, helping ethnic minority communities develop small-scale projects to promote the use of their own languages.

In 2020, Clare returned to work at SIL International in a new department called Growing Resource Opportunities (GRO). She is currently the associate executive director of GRO, where she oversees a team that trains and builds capacity among SIL staff in 51 country units, linking them with innovative solutions and potential funding for language-related work.

Clare graduated from Santa Catalina in 1972. Her sisters and nieces are also alumnae of Santa Catalina: Anne O’Leary Kate O’Leary Breuil ’78, Lucy O’Leary ’08, and Rachel O’Leary ’10.

Queena Sook Kim ’87

Queena Sook Kim ’87 is a journalist who has spent most of her career in public radio. She is currently a senior editor for Reveal and is the head of audio at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Queena graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in politics from New York University and received her master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. In 1991, she was selected to be a Teach for America corps member and taught elementary school in the Inglewood Unified School District in Southern California. In 1994, Queena won a Fulbright grant to teach and study in Seoul, South Korea.

Before joining Reveal, Queena was the senior editor of the Weekend Desk at public broadcast service KQED, a post that she helped launch in 2019. She also held the position of senior editor of KQED’s Silicon Valley desk, where she covered the intersection of culture and technology and was the host of The California Report, a daily statewide news show. Queena has also served as a senior reporter covering technology for American Public Media’s daily Marketplace business program.

Queena started her career as a business journalist at The Wall Street Journal , where she spent four years covering the paper, homebuilding, and toy industries. She has spent much of her career helping startup editorial projects, and was on the founding editorial team of The Bay Citizen, an online news site in San Francisco.

Queena’s stories have aired on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition, WNYC’s Studio 360, WBUR’s Here and Now, BBC’s Global Perspectives, and The New York Times website. Queena is a frequent public speaker and has given talks at UC Berkeley, Stanford, San Francisco State, the Public Media Journalists Association conference, and the Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp.

Clare O’Leary

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA

WHAT OR WHO INSPIRED YOU TO PURSUE A CAREER IN THE NONPROFIT HUMANITARIAN SECTOR? I work for SIL International, which is a large, international nongovernment organization (INGO) that serves local communities around the world to help overcome language barriers. Initially, I was inspired to work in this [field] through volunteering with refugee and immigrant communities in the United States. This inspiration was deepened as I became aware of diverse ethnic communities during my travels in Asia after undergraduate studies. I observed the living conditions among speakers of some of the 7,000+ minority languages around the world, and my heart was moved to help them.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? I am motivated by the social impact of my work. I rejoice when there are new contributions of materials in local languages or software to make local languages accessible in diverse scripts or educational programs that succeed in increasing literacy rates among marginalized communities. It is also intellectually interesting; as a researcher and teacher at various universities, I like the mix of academics, teaching, and research, applied to real social problems.

WHAT CHALLENGES, IF ANY, HAVE YOU FACED AS A WOMAN IN YOUR CAREER FIELD? Not many in my career field, but some challenges because of the restrictive cultures and constraints on women in places where I have worked. Most of these cultural restrictions have impacted my life in relatively minor ways, compared to the impacts on local women (e.g., working among minority communities in Pakistan, where women lead very restricted lives).

WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT? I am proud of establishing a new but related INGO called SIL Language Education & Development, or SIL LEAD, which has a creative business model and has been able to increase financial resources to support education for minority peoples around the world.

WHAT SKILLS, VALUES, OR LESSONS DID YOU LEARN AT SANTA CATALINA THAT HAVE HELPED YOU IN YOUR CAREER OR IN LIFE? Three values connect my personal life journey with my Catalina years.

1. Importance of education—especially opportunities for women and girls. In most places where I have worked, the opportunities to access basic education are severely limited. My colleagues and I would help women and girls take steps to learn, helping community members to produce simple reading materials in the languages they speak, and encouraging them to form community learning groups, like reading clubs.

2. Power of community—a diverse group of people (students in those days) bonding together as a community with a common cause.

3. Faith integrated into and motivating my life purpose. As a Christian, I began to take steps to deepen my faith through things I learned while at

’72

Catalina. I was encouraged to read the Bible and reflect on its meaning, particularly about the life of Christ and His compassion. Scriptures became foundational for my life during those years.

WHAT DOES RECEIVING THE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA AWARD MEAN TO YOU? I’m honored. I appreciate the opportunity to link with my classmates and other alumna and learn more about their lives, being able to share about my life since Catalina opened doors for many interesting conversations and connections.

WHAT WORDS OF WISDOM DO YOU HAVE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS OR YOUNG ALUMNAE?

Use your education to make a difference for those who don’t have the privilege of such educational opportunities as you have received. Use that gift to make the world a better place.

WHAT IS ON YOUR BUCKET LIST, AND WHY? I want to spend more time doing creative pursuits in the arts. One of my most refreshing and soul-nourishing classes at Santa Catalina was Art Lab, when I could escape the strains and struggles of academic pursuits and spend a few hours painting or doing sculpture or learning how to make textiles or woven pieces of beauty. In my retirement years, I long to create plenty of space for such creative pursuits once again.

Queena Sook Kim

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA

’87

Jerry Brown for a documentary series I edited and learned so much about California political history from the person making that history. I’ve also met Exene Cervenka of the iconic L.A. punk band X and got to interview Yoko Ono.

WHAT CHALLENGES, IF ANY, HAVE YOU FACED AS A WOMAN IN YOUR CAREER FIELD? I think the biggest challenge I’ve faced is “imposter syndrome.” For so many years, I didn’t put my name in the hat for jobs because I felt like I wasn’t “qualified.” Then I’d find that someone who was less qualified than me got the job!

WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT? I was given a commendation from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for a documentary I co-produced on what was, at the time, the most destructive wildfire in L.A. history. Being a native Angeleno, I was especially proud to be recognized for producing work that county officials believed gave them a better understanding of the issues and problems in my hometown.

WHAT OR WHO INSPIRED YOU TO PURSUE A CAREER IN JOURNALISM? I’ve always been interested in current events, and I’ve been a news junky for as long as I can remember. But I hadn’t thought of becoming a journalist, I think, because I hadn’t known any. That changed when I went on a Fulbright scholarship to South Korea. There, I spent a lot of time with a distant relative and close family friend of my maternal grandmother. In keeping with Korean culture, I called her “grandmother” too. She was one of the first female columnists at a major paper in Korea, and she was part of a historic protest among journalists in Korea to fight for press freedom. We used to spend hours talking about current events. One day, she turned to me and said, “We sit here and talk about the news for hours. Have you ever thought of becoming a journalist?” And that put me on the path to this career.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? As a journalist, I get to be a lifelong learner about the most varied and random subjects—from blacksmithing to goat farming. I get to talk to all kinds of people. I spent 40 hours interviewing former Governor

WHAT SKILLS, VALUES, OR LESSONS DID YOU LEARN AT SANTA CATALINA THAT HAVE HELPED YOU IN YOUR CAREER OR IN LIFE? Catalina taught me to pursue a life of meaning. My parents immigrated from Korea, and they wanted me and my brother to become doctors—or, if we couldn’t make the cut, lawyers. That’s understandable because they wanted us to have stable, respectable careers so we wouldn’t have to struggle like they did. And while my mom has always been very supportive of my endeavors, even if she didn’t understand them, pursuing a career that gives you some meaning—or even pleasure—wasn’t even an intellectual exercise in my family. I learned that at Catalina.

WHAT DOES RECEIVING THE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA AWARD MEAN TO YOU? I was not a good student at Santa Catalina. I didn’t get on honor roll once; nor did I receive one honor while in high school. So getting this honor feels like a big accomplishment to me!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE OR MOST MEMORABLE CATALINA TRADITION? Study Hall and the morning Assembly.

WHAT WORDS OF WISDOM DO YOU HAVE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS OR YOUNG ALUMNAE? Life is long. Many of us are lucky to have so many blessings and privileges in life. Don’t spend time stressing about what didn’t happen. Keep moving forward to make things happen.

WHAT IS ON YOUR BUCKET LIST? To spend a year living on a warm beach, surfing without a wetsuit, gardening, and doing nothing else!

ALUMNAE CLASS NOTES

56

Beezie Leyden Moore beeziem3@aol.com

Writing updates brings back memories. In reading the notes about class members in our 1953 yearbook, it was interesting but not surprising to see the handwriting was already on the wall. Who we were and who we would continue to be was predestined. With Gray Burnham Hynes, in her bio it stated she was an avid reader, and now that is still one of her passions, along with solving crossword puzzles and sudokus. However, the light of her life is spending time with her twin granddaughters, who turned one year old in February. Since she has retired from her design business, it has enabled her to spend more time in her home in Carmel with family and friends. Fleana Giglio Snapp has had many challenges this past year. She has had some health issues, and her husband, John, had a series of strokes in November resulting in a lengthy hospital stay. Fleana says having John home is her biggest blessing. Fleana has been an amazing mother and now all the girls are there to help. Fleana sends good wishes and good health to all. I (Beezie) am slowing down somewhat. I still design remodels, but am not actively involved with the construction. I am enjoying my little historic house in Cambria and continue with projects to make it mine. I have two very special little companions, my rescue cats Walter and Hannah. Next year will be our class’s 70th reunion. Our hope is that we can have a special plan to get together with the “juniors.” 54

Gloria Felice gloriafelice@cox.net

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

55

Mary Nevin Henderson

Pat Kelly Phillips

plwa2@sbcglobal.net

The Class of 1956 is without a class correspondent. Please contact Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08, Director of Alumnae/i Engagement, to volunteer to serve your class in this meaningful way. We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

57

Bobbie Erro Marsella barbjerro@gmail.com

Carole Lusignan Buttner lives in Essex, CT, in a retirement home where she and Murray had lived together before he passed away in March 2020. She is very grateful to live in such a beautiful place near three of her children and grandchildren, who often visit her. Her daughter and family who live in Alaska visit her on a regular basis as well. Margaret McCann Grant is in Salem, OR. Her daughter Abby, who lives nearby, helps with her medical issues. Her pleasures are her grandchildren and working in her garden. Margaret walks 30 minutes daily and visits with friends. Sally Smith Rhodes is still in Salinas and is living in a memory facility. She has two daughters who live nearby. Her dear husband, Richard, has passed away. Dianne Dickerson continues to live in Santa Barbara. She is in her mother’s home, which consists of a main house with four bedrooms that are retained to very compatible people, and a cottage in the back where Dianne lives. They are all surrounded by a wonderful garden. She says they live like a family and are very happy. Nancy Gregg Hatch lives in Leucadia, CA, with her husband, Chip. They have a beautiful garden which they enjoy. She has had some health issues with various skin cancers over the years, which she says is the price to pay for a fairskinned blonde who spent years on the beach.

Jane de Benedetti McInnis still lives in Atherton, CA. Her husband of 40 years, Mac, passed away in November 2021 after a six-year battle with pancreatic cancer. A few days later, Jane contracted COVID-19 and is trying to get back into her active life. She has three children and six grandchildren. Maribeth Conway Steiner ’s husband, Griff, is 88 and in good health. They have five married children and eight grandchildren. Maribeth belongs to a book club and a carol club and pursues the hobbies of crochet and knitting. Camille Annotti Stevens is fine after having a heart procedure shortly before Christmas. She was supposed to have hip surgery and will now have to wait. She is still working with a few clients doing bookkeeping and payroll accounting—always loved those numbers Sister Jeremy taught so well! She is also looking to contact the following classmates whom we have lost touch with:

ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION COUNCIL

Executive Committee

Jalynne Tobias Redman ’72

President

Pat Allen Sparacino ’65

Kathy Trafton ’74

Priya Kumar Raju ’00

Katie Carnazzo Larsen ’02

Anna Lopez Mourlam ’06 Vice Presidents

Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08

Director of Alumnae/i Engagement

Members

Sandy Schnieder Hollenbeck ’62

Sally Fay ’74

Lindsay Heller ’95

Kai Romero ’01

Kristina Flathers Ferraro ’11

Student Representatives

Georgia Meyer ’22

Sutton Pinkus ’22

Chapter Chairs

Boston Position Available

Chicago & Midwest Rachel Davison ’14

Dallas Joanne Van der Plas Viola ’84

Hope Morgan ’90

Denver Position Available

Fresno Cece Fourchy Quinn ’05

Houston Diana Kendrick Untermeyer ’80

Los Angeles Position Available

Monterey Ilse Riebe Colby ’02

New York Priya Kumar Raju ’00*

Paisley Piasecki ’13

Phoenix Gloria Felice ’54

Becky Hays-Rovey ’92

Portland, OR Virginia Sewell ’69

Ann Carter ’71

Brigid Flanigan ’73

Sacramento Position Available

San Diego Yolanda Orrantia ’91

San Francisco Maddie Callander ’05

Seattle Position Available

South Bay Marita Quint Bruni ’91

Washington, D.C. Devon Walter ’11

International Chapters

Asia Angelina Yao ’99

Diana Mak ’01

Europe Lara Brehmer ’98

Latin America Annie Coppel ’90

Tere Gonzalez ’94

*Designates Alumnae Association Council member

Patty Crombe Doran, Sue Clowes Mayhugh, Mary Carole Chapple Peterson, Madeline Nagel, and Denise LeBlanc Hellier. I, Bobbie Erro Marsella , am living in a retirement home in Fresno. My husband of 57 years, Gary, died in 2018, leaving behind his dog, who is my constant companion. My three daughters are all in different places. Mary lives in the San Francisco Bay region, Anne in Paris, and Lisa in Fresno. I am grateful for a very good life and family. My love to all at Santa Catalina.

Editors Note: Mimi Desmond Mathews had submitted an update in January 2022. Sadly, she passed away from cancer in February 2022.

58

Anne McCullough Griffin

frankanneg@aol.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

59

Bobbie O’Connell Munson

bobbiemunson@sbcglobal.net

Mary Kay Denman: Just want to say hello to everyone. Hope all are staying healthy and safe in our precarious world. Our adult spiritual formation

team continues to offer a few programs at the parish, dependent on the virus level. My consistent offerings have been the two book groups I lead. They are such lovely people. I am not excited about the number for my birthday! Isn’t it really the body declining, while the inner spirit delights in life? Kathleen Mailliard Rende: We’ve been staying close to home, with one special exception. My husband, Gian, and I went down to Carmel Valley and had great fun visiting with Marilyn Brown Wykoff and her husband, Vic. They joined us for a scrumptious dinner together. We wanted to see their new home in the Valley, so we planned to visit them first, but we didn’t have the correct vaccination papers, so they came to us, with champagne and goodies in tow. Lots of fun! Irene May Lawler: I am happy to report that I am enjoying life with my three children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren! I am also serving on the Ventura County Civil Grand Jury. It is a one-year commitment from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022. Serving on the grand jury is like taking a graduate course in county government. We are the overseers of the county government agencies. My trip to Tunisia in September was a wonderful experience. We visited many archeological sites, without a lot of other tourists. I am hoping that my trip to the Black Sea in May will not be canceled. My love of travel continues. Julie Hutcheson: Thankfully, all is well here. I returned to the Central Coast to celebrate Christmas and my 80th birthday, on the same day. I was with my daughter Katherine and her husband, Rob. It was quiet and restful up in the forest of Pebble Beach. Had two great telephone visits with Christy Belvail Baguio, and we were hoping to get together but decided not to because of the risk of COVID-19 jeopardizing her chances for a new clinical trial at UCSF. She is plucky, determined, and capable as ever. A real joy to visit with her. Christy Belvail Baguio: I am recovering from my nightmare hospital stay for acute pericarditis and subsequent cataract surgery. I can now read the final Jeopardy! clue without struggling to get up off the couch and running to the TV. I was so excited to see it for the first time. I am on a waiting list for a drug that targets my unusual gene. I’m feeling pretty well, and I am walking around like a normal person, probably due to receiving two units of blood. My children and grandchildren have been the greatest support team imaginable for me. Isabel (19) attends Hartnell College remotely, and Tyler (16) is a sophomore. He received a commendation from the California State Senate and Assembly for his

scholarship. We lost my husband Alfreds’ sister, Gertrude, recently, and it was a big loss for our family. I hope everyone is coping as well as possible with the challenges of COVID and our advancing age. France de Sugny Bark : Dennis and I are very happy at The Sequoias in Portola Valley. We have many marvelous friends here, and spectacular landscaping surrounding us, giving us space to enjoy the outdoors in various ways. I keep in touch with Lila Desmond French by phone, as she is in Palm Desert, but she comes up here several times a year to see family and friends, and the doctors. I see Crissy McCormick Merrill regularly. We get together often either in San Francisco or here on the peninsula. She is doing well, and we spend our time talking about what a marvelous time we had together at Santa Catalina, and since. Dennis and I were able to get back to France this past fall of 2021. We made it between the two COVID spikes, and we were so glad to see family and friends whom we had not seen in two years. We had a lot of work to do at the family property and lumber business. While there, I was able to talk with MarieThérèse Poniatowska de Maigret and Pam Fairbanks de Villaine. They are both well. Debby McCann: COVID-19 and all its variations have made life a lot less fun. Both our grandchildren (5 and 8) who live in D.C. caught Omicron. The youngest was not vaccinated, but the older one was vaccinated. They both had light cases. We do not have get-togethers or airplane flights. So far, we’ve managed through the fires and drought to stay in the bee business. Our problems come more from loss of the California habitat and wildflowers that the bees need to survive. We’ve found relief in Montana and the Dakotas, but they’ve also been hit with climate change, which has reduced their rainfall or created other problems like wind increases. It’s a strange world, full of surprises, but Tim loves to work, so we’re still part of the farming scene. Marie-Thérèse Poniatowska de Maigret: No sign of liberation from this ghastly virus. Children and grandchildren are vaccinated, and are healthy. We were all together (12 of us, plus dog and black rabbit) during their Christmas holidays. Most complicated was not trying to escape the virus, but what to cook for 10 days! Now we are barely getting over that experience, only to discover that they are all coming back for their February holidays (with the dog and black rabbit). Do you remember in 1957 or 1958 when our school was closed because of the Asian flu? I ended up in Monterey Hospital. It reminds me of what we are experiencing with the virus now. Didi Dwyer Schreiber: I have been able to resume my ministry (in spite of the virus) within the church, as well as with those who are sick, dying, or homebound. My encounters with each one of these dear people is a gift, difficult to describe, but for certain my life is blessed as a result of my relationship with them. My grandchildren are grown. Taylor (26) lives in San Francisco and is a CPA, working now for a startup company. Trevor (28) is on leave from his real estate company in Fort Worth, dealing with some medical

The Class of 1957 at Reunion 2022

issues. I was able to see each of my grandchildren over the holidays. My oldest daughter, Lisa, started her own college counseling consulting business and loves the work. Dana, my youngest daughter, has lost almost all of her central and peripheral vision. She is now legally blind. Fortunately, the Center for the Blind has been a wonderful resource and has provided mobility training on a white cane and provided assistance with accommodations in her home, and with the technology available. This fall she had to resign her teaching position of 27 years. I marvel at her resistance. Like most of us, I too am dealing with several health issues. In the meantime, I am grateful for the gifts of my family, faith, and friends, especially each one of you. I think of all of you often. May the new year bring each of you and your families much happiness, good health, peace, and love. Marilyn Brown Wykoff: Vic and I made the big move last year to a life care facility in Carmel Valley. We have a home with a big patio and views of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. We do miss our home in the country, on a pristine clear river, but this is pretty good. You all know how special Carmel is, but this is even better! We are up the valley a bit, enough to be clear of the fog and wet droopy days in Carmel. It is beautiful here with flowers all year round. Outside of going to Houston to see our son and his family, our traveling has slowed way down. When we see our six grandchildren, it is very special. My best to each of you, and we hope to host you at our next reunion. Barclay Braden: After almost two years of sanctuary at our “Rancho Sacramento” home in Florida, it now feels like I have entered into a timeless reality. Somehow this sheltering mode of being has unexpectedly offered a far greater appreciation of the present moment with all its gifts and wonders. Still devoted to my near-daily pool laps. I was enchanted recently to find this quote from Rumi: “Today, let us swim wildly, joyously in gratitude.” Lynne Wildman Chapman: I am sure many may be facing choosing a retirement home for our coming years. I am, and am finding it hard to give up my menagerie of foxes, deer, rabbits, a muskrat, and a peacock. They are all so content on my back lawn and woods, claiming this property over my ownership. Delightful! I love traveling as much as possible. I spent Christmas in Seattle with my daughter and her family. Now, I am excited about my two children whisking me away with their families for a mystery trip for my 80th. Mills, in passing, said, “Make sure your passport is up to date.” Stay well and love to all of you. Hansi de Petra Rigney: This past year has been difficult for everyone. My family of four children has mostly stayed away from Carmel, for fear of causing illness among their young children. Only one of my sons, who lives in Berlin, decided to spend the entire school year with us here in Carmel. My grandson (15) is a sophomore at Carmel High School. My favorite hobby of running has been somewhat curtailed. Almost all of my favorite marathons were canceled due to COVID. I did manage to run the CIM Marathon in Sacramento on December 5 and

won my age division in a very good time of 4 hours, 51 minutes. This marathon was the 112th in my running career, and I do intend to continue competing as much as possible. Training on our beautiful coastline is a pleasure beyond belief, not something I will easily give up. It’s amazing how many of life’s problems you can solve, or think you can solve, by running along our very special coast and taking in the God-given beauty. Hope we can come together again soon without any fears and worries. Bernadette “Dits” Requiro Peavey: All is well with me and my family. My daughter came up from Santa Barbara, where she owns a garden center. Happily, my son lives in Carmel Valley, so I get to see my grandchildren often. He has two boys and a girl. My daughters’ daughter lives in New York studying stage management. I play bridge occasionally, but have hung up my tennis racquet. Walking my dog is my exercise, and I do get together with friends for an afternoon wine! Margaret Rosenberg Duflock : I am still on the ranch, in the house in which I was raised. I am in good health. Two of my granddaughters are engaged and getting married this year. I hope all is well with all of my classmates. Lila Desmond French: I am one of the fortunate people that, so far, can still play tennis and golf. I am really, at age 80, becoming a nut about the game of golf. I am playing tennis and pickleball several times a week. I credit all this activity to my genes, and feel fortunate that I can still participate. In 2019, I took my two granddaughters on a Tauck Family Cruise. Their mother, Kimberly, came along. We started in Amsterdam and ended up in Basel, Switzerland. Of course, you can’t go to Europe without going to Paris, so we hopped on a train and spent four days there. Last year I was going to take my two grandsons to Europe, but COVID hit so now the oldest, Ollie, is at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and the youngest, Sam, is at Taft School in Connecticut. I have my Yorkshire/cairn terrier, the love of my life, Zoey, with me. I look forward to another reunion when the world is back to normal. Love to all. Betty Blak Okie: We are chugging along with our health here in Marin. Had a wonderful 80th birthday in Hawaii on a girls’ trip with my daughters. Christmas was in Minnesota with my older daughter and her family, complicated by my grandsons’ positive test, quarantine, and lots of rapid testing, but merry nonetheless. Lots of good wishes for the coming year. Wendy Burnham Kuhn: I am still kicking, not going anywhere, but reading poetry, philosophy, and as always, novels. Love to all of you. Louise Grant Garland: Just to let you know I am OK. My son and his family caught COVID, in spite of being vaccinated and boosted. They are fine now. We have to remain vigilant! I am sending love to my classmates. Shelley LaBlanc Duke: I am in my 10th year following my stroke. In spite of all of the normal challenges, I stay active by trading my horse riding, physical activity, and bridge for a slightly more cerebral life continuing activities at Virginia Tech. I am a board member and past chairman of the

Virginia Maryland Equine Center, board member of the VT Biomedical Research Institute, and one of the nine counselors to the president of VT. Thank goodness for travel requirements minimized by Zoom. My husband, Phil, and I are enjoying our life on our large property in Middleburg. Kristan Jacobson O’Neill: Ed and I are loving our home in Shaver Lake, and not missing Fresno a bit. We have had some close calls with the fires this season, but were fortunate to miss any destruction. All the family has stayed healthy, and both of us are enjoying life. Blake Anderson: I have stayed busy but safe during the COVID threat. I had a great holiday and am hoping to see Julie Hutcheson soon. Bobbie O’Connell Munson: How wonderful it has been to speak to, or hear from, almost 100% of our very special Class of ’59! Everyone sounds great, in spite of changing all of our lifestyles in order to survive COVID. My family has stayed healthy. All of the grandchildren are still in school finishing their master’s degrees, with the exception of one, who just graduated from physicians assistant school and is at Marin General at the trauma center. All of them have gone into medicine, with the exception of my grandson who is finishing his CPA and may continue with law school. Like everyone else in our class, I look forward to our next reunion and the great thought of being able to see all of you soon. Love to all of you. 60

Marilyn Ramos Ospina

maospina305@hotmail.com

Karen Swanson Crummey

kcrum1@sbcglobal.net

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

61

Judy Nagel Cox

jcox12rcox@aol.com

Leigh Curran: After 30 years making theater in L.A., I picked myself up and moved to Salisbury, CT, at the foot of the Berkshire Mountains. I spent every summer of my childhood here and as much time as humanly possible as an adult. It was time to be near family again, childhood friends, and my NYC community. I am loving life in a small town surrounded by nature and peace and quiet … and fixing up my new home! Have no idea what I’ll do

once I’m settled. So grateful to be sharing the changes that come with pushing 80 (yikes!) with so many of my classmates via Zoom! We told it like it was when we were teenagers—especially after lights out—and now we’re doing it again, with the lights on! Judi Musto Hachman: Since January is such a bummer month, I’ll fastbackwards to a great trip Tim and I took to London in October to see our daughter Carter’s new house. The Jackson family moved eight blocks away into a whole new world in southwest London—a fabulous 3,500-square-foot house with a lovely, large garden. We stayed for two weeks and annoyed the kids and kiddies. Teenyboppers are hilarious and such a payback for all the torture we’ve put up with. Kathy Ryan Foy: Many thank yous and gracias to Penelope Corey Arango for all the years of keeping us updated! It has been a great, successful undertaking and a labor of love. You ladies are such an inspiration to me. I admire you for being so open about the challenges you have been through with endurance and true courage. We are truly amazing women and I am so proud to know you! Judy, welcome to being our class correspondent. Aloha and hugs. Penelope Corey Arango: I am involved with many activities: Mass, walking my lake and exercising, doing a support group on Zoom and mindful meditation, taking University of Miami classes, and going to bed early! I am self-isolated due to my two strokes and fifth pacemaker, but I feel awesome and 40 years young! Maria Hart McNichol: As I write this note I am anxiously following the news of the fire near Big Sur. I feel so sad for the troubles that have plagued California in recent years. Here in Philadelphia it has been a very cold winter. Between the cold, COVID-19 and caring for my husband, I haven’t been out much but, surprisingly, am busy. Until March 2020, I volunteered in the public high school (Overbrook, Will Smith’s alma mater!) where I had taught. The pandemic changed all that when

schools closed. So “one day at a time” has taken on new meaning and not in a bad way. My daughter and her wife live in Philly and are more than generous with their time and care. My son is in Atlanta married to every mom’s dream daughterin-law. I’m humbled by my privilege and blessings. As always, I invite anyone passing through Philly to stay in our large old house. Lissa Gahagan Nicolaus: It’s been 41 years in the same home in Ross, CA! My husband grows almonds and pistachios in the Central Valley and wine grapes up in Mendocino County. I am a plein air and studio painter of landscapes in oil and am totally challenged and invigorated by it. I also belong to a group called the BayWood Artists, a nonprofit organization which two women and myself founded in 1997. This year we are celebrating our 25th anniversary of being together. We are a group of professional landscape painters who are dedicated to preserving the land for future generations. Each year we partner with an environmental organization in Northern California to produce a fine art show. Over the past 50 years, my husband and I have devoted a lot of our free time to travel. We are lucky enough to have visited many parts of the world and hope to resume travel in the future. We are both avid fly fishermen and part of our travel has been devoted to this passion. I have really enjoyed our Zoom meetings with our class and feel so lucky to have those Santa Catalina friends and classmates in my life. Nini Richardson Hart: My life has been tops. I have a fabulous family and great life. People laugh about South Dakota, but we have traveled all over the world, met fascinating people, been involved in politics, raised funds for major foundations, and sat on many boards (Catholic colleges, South Dakota community, foundations, fraternities, sororities, and many more). Also, the Class of ’61 scholarship. Because of my husband’s business we worked and created so much for our town (tennis courts, museums, daycare, school activities, church, Relay for Life). Our children both became lawyers and have accomplished so much. Both are married to wonderful spouses, all very successful, and we have wonderful grandchildren. We live in Sioux Falls from May to November and then head south to Surprise, AZ, from November to May. Health is not perfect, but complaining is not on our list! Such fun to Zoom with everyone! Terry Lowe Hall: Our Hall family continues to be blessed; our two oldest sons and their families

live within 10 minutes and make sure we don’t climb on ladders or try to carry 50-pound sacks of potting soil. Our youngest lives in Northern CA and visits as often as possible. Rob is doing his best to keep his Parkinson’s under control, attending physical therapy, walking, and playing bridge every week. My goal is to stay as healthy as possible, so swimming, paddle tennis, and exercise classes are part of my daily routine. Staying in touch with my Santa Catalina classmates has been a highlight of my life this past year, an unexpected bonus to our time together lo these many years ago. Susie Munhall Frey: My dear husband, Walter, has been fighting cancer for about five years, and a few months ago another tumor emerged and was caught very early. He just finished a course of radiation and the prognosis is very good. We still play golf, but it has been very cold here in Grants Pass, OR, this winter, so a trip on Oceania’s beautiful Marina to the Panama Canal was a very good break. We just returned and had a wonderful time. We have been here for 19 years now, longest I have ever lived anywhere. I just finished writing my life story via Storyworth, which was a gift from my daughter-in-law at Christmas last year. What a great time to have done this with the COVID lockup. I tried to cover my life and a bit of family history, as I often wish I had asked my mom questions that will never be answered. It was fun, and I spent the better part of 2021 working on it off and on. Just received the final hard-bound books and I’m pleased with it, albeit an unprofessional attempt. Love to you all and very best wishes for 2022. Caroline Harris Henderson: I still live in Jacksonville, OR, and have lived here for almost 17 years now, the longest I have lived in any one place in my whole life! Even though I am retired like the rest of us, the calendar seems to fill up. Some travel is starting up again, and I am looking forward to resuming biannual reunions with my siblings, and one with three friends with whom I traveled in Europe when we were studying overseas in college in 1963-64. My two sons live close by with their families, and a grandson is getting married this August. My two “step” granddaughters are both married now, and the youngest just had her second child. I am blessed with family and friends, pretty good health, a wonderful place to live (except for the annual summer wildfires), an uplifting faith community, and things to look forward to. I have really enjoyed the recent re-connection with classmates. If any of you travel to or through Southern Oregon, please let me know. Fyfe Irvine Lavin: All is fantastic here. I am still working four days a week in our son’s showroom in the Pacific Design Center. We just finished a huge remodel in both showrooms, West Hollywood and Laguna Beach. We moved from Pacific Palisades to Sherman Oaks two years ago. We are so lucky to be so near our daughter Mary, Johnny, and grandchildren. Since Mary and I work together she picks me up every morning for work. We are listening to Sharon Gless’ book and loving it.

Members of the Class of 1961 enjoy a Zoom call together

Anne Irving: Later this year I will be moving back to the coast at South Beach, OR. Trading snow for rain! Will keep a foothold in the Sunriver area, so will be able to enjoy both beautiful spots. My email will remain the same. Greetings to all classmates. Mary-Allen “Maln” Macneil: I continue to be the guiding teacher of a small Zen sangha, Bodhi Oak Zen Sangha, in Oakhurst, CA, where I live. We went hybrid last summer. Most of our participants still join our weekly meditation program online. A few of us meet in person, fully vaccinated, boosted, and masked, and the rest Zoom in locally or from afar. Zen practice has been a wonderful support in the pandemic, and has helped mitigate the isolation. I and several members of my family, who had blithely met for a mini-reunion in San Francisco, had COVID in October. It is a scary and debilitating infection. I spent two nights in the hospital with a secondary bacterial lung infection. I’m lucky that I never needed oxygen, and I feel great compassion for what people who are more seriously sick than I was must go through, fighting to breathe, away from the people who love them. Our class is delighted to be reunited in celebration of our dear classmate, Sharon Gless, whose recent memoir has been published! Sara Fargo: Well, it is that time in life when downsizing and clutter clearing takes priority—for me anyway. I moved, after 28 years in the same apartment, to a cozy cottage. I am spending my time, in chronological order, with a meditation, inspiring reading, walking, gym for yoga and workout, sorting photos/diaries/inherited genealogical information, writing family stories, Zooming with family, friends, and different organizations, shuffling papers, Netflixing/ Amazon Priming wonderful movies/series, offering Reiki, lunches and dinners with good friends, and going to more doctor appointments than I have ever experienced in my whole life up to this point: arthritis and low back issues, gym for strength training (argh). Every day surprises me, filling me with gratitude for not only my current life but for all I have learned—some good, some very tough! This last chapter is by far the richest in my life, and I am so grateful. The Class of ’61 is starting an every-six-weeks Zoom call, bringing us much closer than ever before. What a gift. Judy Nagel Cox: First, on behalf of all of our classmates, I want to thank Penelope Corey Arango for her years of service as our class correspondent. It must be at least 20, so thank you for all your dedication. Secondly, I want to thank you all for your kind support and encouraging words after Ralph passed last February. I can hardly believe it has almost been a year. It’s been hard. I miss him terribly—we did everything together—but I am managing. My stepdaughter moved in for 10 months and it was nice to have her here, but she bought a condo and will be moving out in February. Making room for her kept me busy for a while and now I’ll be busy reclaiming space after she moves! I visited my sister, Madeline Nagel ’57, in Boca Raton, FL, three times last year and am going again in March.

She had a stroke last April so I’m trying to help her out and stock her freezer with home cooking. My daughter, Sandi, will be 60 in February (unbelievable!) so I am going to her home in Santa Rosa to help celebrate. My granddaughter, Melanie (28), and her significant other are buying a condo in Seattle, so Sandi and hubby Jim may move to Seattle for part of the year and keep the Santa Rosa house, too. Now the question is where should I go, or should I stay put? I love my home and memories here, but I don’t have strong ties here now so I’m not sure what the future holds! It’s been fun reconnecting with the past through our Zoom calls. Thank you all for contributing class notes!

62

Mary Foley Bitterman

mbitterman@osherfoundation.org

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

63

DiDi Ditz Stauffer

dditzs45@gmail.com

Sally Rorick-Orlando

rolando@cox.net

Kathleen Hynes: It has been another tough year with a wrist fracture, and I spend a lot of time in a rehab facility. Frances Frawley Swanson: I am still living in Maryland and am enjoying life here. I have gone back to school to get a master’s in social work, focusing on aging baby boomers like myself. I am grateful that my whole family is remaining healthy. A great blessing! Christine Chambers: I started a women’s group to talk about aging issues, loss, all that kind of gloomy stuff. But for some reason we spend half our time laughing hysterically. Getting old may not be fun, but it’s funny at times. I have a new close friend, who went to Castilleja, a school name I remember from Play Day. We haven’t been bold enough to take any trips farther away than Half Moon Bay. At first I was bored, but I’ve learned to live a different way. Since it seems we’ll be in pandemic mode for years to come, it’s good to know I don’t need live opera or theater to survive. Though I do miss all that stuff. Even though older people are more vulnerable to viruses, they are perhaps less vulnerable to social disappointment. Kathleen Brown: I have traveled to NYC to see my Australian-based grandson launch his college career at Columbia, and was pleased to organize two COVID-friendly outdoor activities: an

NYAIA architectural boat tour of Manhattan and a visit to the New York Botanical Garden. Both were firsts for me even though I lived in NYC for six years and travel there all the time. I highly recommend both. In other news, I have adapted well to working from home, and while I look forward to getting back to the office, I’m not so sure I want to work there the way I did before. My law practice continues to keep me busy and engaged; my public company board work is interesting, particularly with the challenges in the world today; and my nonprofit service as chair of the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles is rewarding, again particularly when we can make a big difference in people’s lives in a COVID-challenged world. My husband is full of opinions and continues to amaze me with the vitality of his mind and reach of his curiosity. Kids and grandkids are the joy of my life. All are generally doing well, so I’m doing well. Donna Hollenbeck Ramos: Still happily living in Santa Cruz and enjoying the beautiful outdoors as much as I can. I’m recovering from a holiday weekend with 17 of my 19 kids, stepkids, and grandkids, and am full of gratitude that we can all be together. Our traveling has been curtailed—I’m sure you can relate. So Doug bought a boat and had it shipped to a marina in Olympia, WA, so we can go sailing and island hopping up there. We hope to take our first trip this spring/summer when the weather gets better up there. Our idea is to gradually move north up the Inside Passage toward Alaska. Not being a sailor, I’m a bit intimidated but excited at the same time. This boat is a motor/sailer, so capable of sailing and/or motoring, and has a pilot house for protection in the chilly Northwest. Golf remains a hobby that I enjoy a couple of days a week at the local public course near my house. And I continue to work with Citizens’ Climate Lobby to pass carbon fee and dividend legislation. What amazing learning it has been to try to understand the climate issues and to influence elected officials. Sewing, knitting, walking, hiking, reading, and schlepping grandkids home from school keep me busy the rest of the time. Sally Rorick-Orlando: The past two years have not been my favorite but, in between the surges, we did manage to get to Montana for our favorite dude ranch adventure at Flathead Lake Lodge.  And we made our annual pilgrimage to Catalina Island for snorkeling and boating. Other than that, lockdown. But I am still doing spiritual direction via phone or Zoom and doing small groups on Zoom too. I have been in Zoom contact with some classmates also, which has been delightful. Matthew is still making wine, and Julia has intense cabin fever and wants to travel. In other news, has anyone heard from Mary Malcolm Ford? Jansie Stephens Farris: The most exciting news from this last year was the arrival of Jaxon Farris, my 11th grandchild! His big sister (2) just loves him, as do the rest of his cousins! I was also lucky to spend a good time with my son Steve and his family in Seattle last November. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving

with my daughter-in-law’s family. I also was able to celebrate the 11th birthday of my grandson Luke! Life at Atria is good and fulfilling since I am involved in several good programs here. The one that is most rewarding is being an ambassador, which means I welcome new residents and try to make them feel as comfortable as possible in their transition. The pandemic is still front and center in our lives here and many precautions are in place. I am getting very tired of wearing masks, but we do what we can to help and protect ourselves and our neighbors.

Mary-Ellen Bowlin Briel

: I was traveling with my Hong Kong-based eldest daughter in January 2020 when, as we left Barcelona for our own cities, Elizabeth decided it was time to start a family Zoom. She has hosted it since February, every Sunday morning. It’s not everybody’s coping method, but for my five children, nine grandchildren, and me, it’s been good, at times salvific. My Melissa Network ESL classes for migrant women in Athens went to Zoom in early February, and I will again say, for them and for me: salvific! For me personally, frequent visits on the phone or FaceTime with Jansie Farris Stephens have replaced our in-person visits. She continues to amaze with her changes and her—of course!—laughter. Jansie and I have had a few four-way WhatsApp calls with Ghislaine de Give and Pat Daugherty Shallenberger as well. If anybody reading this wants to join, and/or could use a few how-to tech lessons, I’m free. Judy Haig Hansen: 2021 was a good year, though I feel a bit guilty because of the loss others have experienced. We have avoided COVID-19. Everyone in our family is vaccinated and well (including grandchildren). We had many opportunities to see our children and grandchildren: husband’s 80th birthday, high school graduation, college visit, summer at our cabin, holidays, playing golf. Those moments are so precious during the pandemic. We belong to a home exchange and took advantage of it this year. We did multiple exchanges in California, Colorado, and Hawaii. DiDi Ditz Stauffer: In August 2021, my daughter Anne married Brad Bowery in Graeagle, CA. Beautiful day, event, and setting in spite of being 20 miles from Quincy, CA, where the Dixie Fire was raging! Looking forward to our 60th reunion in 2023! Lynn Gates: My children and grandchildren are in Southern California and I am still working in Buffalo, where we had almost two feet of snow in one day in January. I visited my children in California last April and had a wonderful time. Other trips that were scheduled were canceled due to the pandemic. I am vaccinated and boosted, as are my children. I hope the variants will disappear soon. Mary Ford: All is well with me in Sun Valley, ID. Nothing eventful to report, no travel unless you can count a journey to Boise. Health remains great, surprisingly so. This little resort town is dealing with a crush of out-of-towners, mostly from WA and CA. They are buying up everything they can get their hands on, often

sight unseen. So, the social climate is frazzled and services a bit stretched. Bonnie McWhorter Bertelsen: I went to Denver in June for my granddaughter’s eighth-grade graduation, and I went to Hawaii with my daughter and grandson for their fall school break. Jeff and I are hoping to go on a cruise from London in June—fingers crossed! Ghislaine de Give: Most of my time has been devoted to painting—my avocation for two years now. The first flush of enthusiasm has given way to sober acceptance of slow progress. I had a happy Christmas in Sussex with my eldest son and family, despite the English tolerance for chilled houses. This followed a summer visit to my brother in Santa Fe. All signs that travel may be returning as a possible activity. Kathy Reiter Imwalle: I have been well. I have a boyfriend of four years. We both love traveling and have a group of friends to be with. COVID, of course, changed that, but we have managed to see various friends in smaller gatherings. We have taken up tennis, which is a little late at 76 and 78, but we are having fun. We thoroughly enjoy snorkeling and look forward to traveling to warm water places again. The event of 2021 was Christmas in Hawaii with my four children, spouses, and nine grandchildren. It was an ordeal to find a house, get multiple tests for all of us, arrange airline tickets and car rentals, etc. But we did it, no one got sick, and we all loved it. My sister, Glovie Reiter Lynn ’66, continues to struggle with stage four lung cancer for nine years. With a very positive attitude, she is back in chemo after surgery, trial chemo, and radiation. Robin Hatcher: I have retired from private practice in psychiatry as of July 2021. My dear sister Jo died in her sleep in February. Trish Scott Williams: A high point has been the wonderful care and support of my family and dear friends in St. Louis and all over this past year since husband Bruce’s passing at Christmas 2020. I’m moving on, though he is and always will be with me. I’m looking forward to more world travel; managed to visit Portugal and Spain, an NYC theater tour, and CA a few times before putting travel on hold until next year. Stay well and be safe so we can celebrate in March 2023 for our 60th! Mary Ann McClay Smith: There are now seven people living in our large home in Redlands. My husband is a retired biology professor at U of Redlands. I still cook for the family and sew; I’ve made quilts for five friends’ babies. My youngest granddaughter is in her first year of college at CSU Long Beach. I teach RCIA and adult confirmation at my parish on Zoom and sing in the choir when it’s allowed. Hoping to attend our 60th reunion. Pat Daugherty Shallenberger: I’m happy to have avoided COVID so far. I volunteer at an animal shelter, play pickleball, hike, visit my children, and participate in some political activism. My daughter Jill is working in Sacramento for the California Civil Rights division. My son Jeff is in Portland, OR, remodeling the building that will house him and his woodworking business. My granddaughter,

Ruby, is in her second year at University of Washington. Maria Remenyi Cantrell: My mother’s health had been declining drastically the last few years and we managed to celebrate her 101st birthday in early November, but just three weeks later she passed to her eternal home. We held her memorial service in January and I’ve been dealing with settling her estate—mostly by myself—ever since. Her possessions are now gone, either sold or donated, and her house is in escrow, so hopefully by the end of March this very sad period of my life and trying ordeal will be over. I am comforted by the knowledge that she is pain free and happily with the Lord, whom she loved with her whole heart and soul all her life, but there is still such a void and ache in my heart. On a happier note, the orchestra in which I play the violin has begun rehearsals again and has a few concerts coming up in the next couple of months. So I have resumed practicing, which takes away my cares for a few hours each day. And I am beginning to make plans for a trip to Oregon this summer to visit family. 64

Antoinette Ziegler Hubbard

joyfuleclectic@icloud.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

Sister Bonaventure and Carol Carnazzo Brown ’65

Pat Allen Sparacino

pat.sparacino@gmail.com

Wendy Wilson Snell

wendywsnell@gmail.com

Bonnie Bray: As 2021 began, I was involved in community activities, primarily collecting food and supplies for a local food bank and making lunches for homeless folks. Zoom calls with classmates MF Flynn, Ann Seamster, Bettie Carrell, Kathy Mac, Evie Lindemann, Mallory Vail Weymann, and telephone calls with Cathy Clancy Wells and Molly Helm Lynch brightened the days of COVID-19 isolation. The advent of spring drew me out into the garden, and I planted our vegetables, along with pots and hanging baskets filled with annual flowers. My active gardening for the year ended in May when I was diagnosed with a mass which turned out to be metastatic colon cancer. After two surgeries to remove two tumors, I started chemotherapy in late September, a process that’s now three-quarters of the way finished. My prognosis is excellent and scans haven’t found any remaining cancer. I look forward to this year’s spring when I’ll be able to be out and about, and to garden again. May we all enjoy the very best of health and vitality in 2022! Carolyn Cain: I’ve been successful in staying healthy so far, and relatively sane through these trying times. Early in the shutdown, I sewed hundreds of face masks for family, friends, and Community Hospital since PPE were in such short supply. When masks eventually became widely available, I went back to quilting. Then, when vaccines started to roll out, I reactivated my nursing license (retired in 2010) so I could help vaccinate as many people as possible. It felt good to get out of the house (and sweatpants) and actually talk to people face-to-face and do something positive. My son, Aaron, his lovely wife and three kids (teens) have been able to visit a couple of times this year from Grass Valley, and FaceTime has been a welcome alternative when distance is safer. I’m glad to still be on the Monterey Peninsula, where fresh air is abundant and people have respect for COVID-19, with all that entails. The Omicron variant still adds uncertainty to the equation, but so far life goes on. Carol Carnazzo Brown: Ron and I downsized from our home in Granite Bay, CA, to our current home in Sun City, Lincoln Hills, CA. Having lived in the same house for 30 years, minimizing our stuff was quite a challenge! We are the proud grandparents of Bella (15 months), a good-natured, beautiful little girl. I babysit Bella twice a week and love taking on the role of Nana. Meredith, our daughter, and her husband, Logan, live nearby so we feel very blessed! I am very active in our Catholic Church, and I also try to maintain a daily exercise regime. (At my age, being a nana means I must keep my bones and body healthy!) Ron still practices labor and employment

law, but is considering semi-retirement in the near future. He and his partner have practiced law for 40 years! Lastly, I attended a wedding shower recently and met a 92-year-old nun who is going to officiate at the ceremony … It was Sr. Bonaventure! Wow! What a reunion! She is as feisty as ever and shared many memories of her days at Santa Catalina. We could not stop hugging each other! Bettie Hutcheson Carrell: I had a nice visit with MF Flynn and Kathy McEnerney Harper in Carmel at the end of the summer, and then MF again for Thanksgiving on our ranch in Texas. I saw Julia Anderson Frankel for a pre-Christmas lunch. I have six darling grandchildren and spent Christmas in Dallas with three of them. I stay in touch with Ann Seamster, who lives in Assisi, Italy. Leanne Marsh Cervelli: I hope I’ll be able to see everyone at next year’s reunion. Michele Clark: This year we celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and special events as a family after our lockdown in 2021. I am still teaching two graduate courses a year and volunteering for a couple of community agencies and teaching organizations. My family, siblings, and their children are well Tammy Dougherty: I continue to work remotely designing curriculum materials for organizations and districts and enjoying after-school fun with the grandsons, Alex and Peter. My hope is to travel in 2022 and get away from my computer! Barbara Hately Du Pont: I moved to Vero Beach, FL, in May of 2020 and really am enjoying this lovely part of Florida. We celebrated my mother’s 95th birthday in June at her house, the one in Pebble Beach where Pam and I grew up, with four generations present. Mom was the star of the show and is just incredible and a delight to see in action. I again visited PB for Christmas and my 75th birthday with my children, grandchildren, and mom. I tested positive for COVID in early January, but am happy to say that it was basically a non-event except for a sinus headache and lack of energy. Thank goodness I am triple vaccinated! MF Flynn: Very little has changed since last year at this time. In the lull before Omicron’s appearance, I went to Cabo San Lucas for a weeklong writing retreat, and to Bettie Hutcheson Carrell’s for Thanksgiving (so good to be there after missing last year). I’m in a weekly writing group and a weekly improv class (both on Zoom). I also do hospice volunteering, and I’m about to start mentoring a teenage writer in a program called Write Girl. For fun I play mah jongg as often as I can find a foursome.

Julia Anderson

Frankel: “Attempting to age well” is my motto of the moment! Diana Drummond Frizzelle: The last several years have seen major changes in our lives. We have moved on from being nomadic sailors who traveled up and down the Pacific Coast of California and Mexico. Our home port was in Puerto Vallarta, but we could be found as far south as Zihuatanejo and north to the top of the Sea of Cortez. But alas, the boat is gone and we have moved to Southern California to be closer to five of our grandsons. Being closer to LAX allows us easier access to our other two grandsons, who live in the Cayman Islands. Life consists of Little League Baseball games, Friday night flag football, and Sunday morning basketball. There is both golf and tennis time in the schedule somehow. Don’t know how we could fit work into this picture. Retirement is wonderful. Letitia Gascoin-Ruffie: I work full time as a certified nurse assistant (CNA) and have to reach 10 years of work (October 2022) to have U.S. retirement. After high school, I got a work scholarship in an international college in Switzerland and then moved to Paris to become a technical translator. I finally came back to the U.S. in 2012, started taking CNA classes, and got work right away. Luckily, I enjoy my work, and the nine years have passed quickly. I have just passed my CNA renewal so I am good to go for another two years if necessary. Last year, Lola Hogan contacted Caroline Lord Mackenzie and me and we had dinner at the yacht club in Monterey. It reminded me of the sailing we used to do on the Mediterranean with my family and co-workers. We had a really nice evening together. Every now and again, I run into Carolyn Cain, who lives in Pacific Grove. Kathy Toy Grandemange: My family and I are well. We stay home a lot, read, walk, watch movies, etc. Our daughters are teachers, so they have more challenges, but so far they are doing well. We are looking forward to more normal times in

Molly Helm Lynch ’65 with her daughter Kate Lynch Jerkens ’97 and family

the future. Sally Leonard Harris: Wishing everyone health and happiness in our “elder years.” Amazing how life continues to change. I have sold my house and all in Pasadena and moved permanently to Carmel Valley. Quite a change, but closer to family. Got a dog; bought a truck; made many new friends, and life is good. Visitors always welcome. Peggy Hudson: I am doing well and have not caught COVID yet. I’m taking all the precautions, had all the vaccinations, and hope for the best. I had my third major back surgery last February, and I feel very fortunate that my recovery went well. I had to stop riding for six months but am now back at it with hopes of showing later this year. I keep busy being president of my homeowners association, riding, and of course the ever-present doctors’ appointments. I am very fortunate to be healthy and able to do long walks with my dog. Molly Helm Lynch (from Kate Lynch Jerkens ’97, Molly’s daughter): Molly is currently living in a memory care center in Santa Monica, CA, near me, my husband, and our three children. She enjoys her visits and outings with the family, and recently participated in an Alzheimer’s fundraiser that raised over $5K for Alzheimer’s research. Though her Alzheimer’s is quite advanced, Molly is truly happy in her new home (and lots of smiles). Lola Hogan: Not much new here. Expert witness business doing well, kids and grandkids happy and healthy. Miss seeing family and friends in person. Zooming has become a way of life that I suspect will stay with us. So far we have canceled three different trips since March 2020 due to COVID, but we are hopeful that the July trip to Alaska will go!

Evie Lindemann: Whew, what a time for wrestling with cultural, political, healthcare related, and personal issues. I hope that each of you has remained safe through these storms we are living through. I am well and appreciative that I moved to North

Carolina two years ago, where the Blue Ridge Mountains offer both beauty and protection. I continue to be involved in my profession as an art therapist and recently got my Marriage and Family Therapy license in NC just to be legitimate. I make art regularly, show my studio work, and am writing my memoir, a project I have put off for the last decades. My grandchildren (three darling ones) live in Charlotte, NC, and I am grateful for that. Love to each one of you! Caroline Lord Mackenzie: All is well in Hawaii. I volunteer for the City-County as a citizen forester counting city trees and as president for the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Hawai’i, and still play golf. Vaccinated visitors are welcome! Aloha. Kathy McCann: I am active in St. John the Baptist Parish here in Healdsburg, CA, as well as volunteering at grandkids’ schools. I am also in the process of rebuilding after being burned out in the Kincade Fire. I feel very blessed. Happy 2022 to the Class of 1965! Susan Durney Mickelson: We are out of Oregon and are full time in California, splitting our time between Palm Desert and Carlsbad. Leslie Baldwin Power: Life centers now in Santa Barbara, back where husband Dennis and I started decades ago. The major charitable work that has kept me busy the last few years is being on the board of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. It’s been good given that I grew up near the ocean and enjoyed being on the water, as both my father and husband were sailors. For fun, I’ve stayed active in the Garden Club of America and used my interest in photography by serving as a clerk for judging at national flower shows. The big focus at this stage of life is on the now independent and successful children, three between us: two boys on Dennis’ side, one married with three girls; and a daughter on mine, married with two boys. Even better is following the trajectories of our five grandchildren ranging from granddaughters at

Celebrating Thanksgiving together are Libby Budge D’Hemery ’66, Donna Miller Casey ’66, Megan Deming Escher ’94, Paula Sullivan

66

Lorri Ditz McCarthy

lorditz@yahoo.com

virus!

UCLA, Claremont McKenna College, and junior high to younger grandsons at Windward School and Village School, all in Southern California. We look forward to traveling post pandemic. Kathleen Ramos Sharp: This was the year of vaccinations. I took advantage of becoming fully vaccinated and boosted as soon as I was able. That allowed me to travel to see family in Michigan as well as to Southern California to visit family in San Diego and Riverside. With campuses opening to in-person learning, my grandson from Quincy, CA, again moved into “his dorm room” in my home to continue his junior year at a local university. We are very fortunate that my daughter’s home in Quincy was not impacted by the Dixie Fire (which threatened the entire Quincy/Feather River area, wiping out nearby Greenville). Singing at Mass and in the San Jose Symphonic Choir with masks has been challenging, but at least we are now able to do so in person instead of virtually. Our first returning concert was held in November where we performed Mozart’s Requiem, with masks. Pat Allen Sparacino: Bob and I remain well in mind (most of the time), body, and spirit. We stimulate our gray cells with professional involvement (at a distance); we care for our bodies with regular walks and by being fully vaccinated and boosted; and our spirits are buoyed by living on a cul-de-sac with incredibly supportive neighbors who care for each other in a variety of ways. We have rescheduled, for the second time, our trip to Tanzania later this year and hope that it materializes. We have seen our son and his family only once since October 2019; we feel we are missing so much of our granddaughter’s development. Nonetheless, carpe diem Ann Hodges Strickland: Jim and I and our family remain healthy and have avoided the Granddaughters are growing and doing well. Let’s pray 2022 will be uplifting!

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

67

Ann Kuchins

kuchinsa@yahoo.com

Anne Neill

anneneill@yahoo.com

Carolyn Layton Garner-Reagan: Our lives continue to be much the same as last year. My

Escher ’66, Erica Sullivan Fuller ’71, and Hilary Escher Foster ’94

husband, Michael, and I mostly stay home, have fun with our two grandsons, and consume way too much news. I still have not made bread or decluttered! Instead, I am recovering from radiation treatment for early stage breast cancer. The very tiny tumor was discovered through a routine screening mammogram, so I only had to have a lumpectomy followed by radiation. So ladies, please, please get those annual mammograms! Laurie Bechtel Dachs: Getting my head out of moving boxes enough to say greetings to all. Not much to report other than our move to Marin, CA, is right around the corner. We recently sold our house of 30 years (filled with that many years of stuff), so cleaning out and packing are my focus. Three of our four kids and eight of our 11 grandkids live in Marin, and therefore the move as well as down-sizing is good, but it is so painful! I closed down the big foundation as planned and now will work on my own philanthropy and enjoy life a bit more with family. Already have an office set up in Larkspur; just need enough time to work there! Melinda Bowman Manlin: My life remains full of blessings. I still work for the Tor House Foundation in Carmel and take care of my grandson, Lucas (3). We’re awaiting his little sister, Audrey, any day now. My daughter, Kathryn, and son, David (in Bend, OR), are both healthy and happy. My fiancé, John Ferreira, continues to bring joy into my life. We’ve started dancing again at Chautauqua Hall, in Pacific Grove, after a two-year hiatus. Mo Ragan Rafael: I’m trying my best to come up with something “newsworthy” to say for our Class Notes, but I’m stumped as (1) I really have little communication with our classmates outside of a few phone contacts and an occasional surprise email; (2) I have avidly and contentedly kept my head down and “crafted”

my way through COVID, while meditating, cooking and baking up a storm, revamping my front and back yards, resuscitating the exterior of my house that’s been at the immediate effect of the devilish ocean air for 21 years, producing a legion of large floral wreaths for front doors, sewing baby blankets for the newest generation, hand-painting furniture, making jewelry, and creating minisucculent gardens atop pumpkins of all shapes and sizes; and (3) I adopted two Maltipoo puppies that—as adorable as they are—will never beat out grandchildren or multi-generational family in Class

Notes-worthy photos! Almost forgot to add that I’ve been taking an intermediate ukulele class and that I have started to teach hula. (I’m hoping to get my puppies to replace some of their wrestling and wrastling with dancing!) Ann Kuchins: Andy Kuchins, Lucy Kuchins Pantoskey ’78, and I said a virtual goodbye to our third sibling, Jane Kuchins ’70, who died after a 15-month battle with cancer diagnosed in February 2020 as COVID set in. Her classmates will remember her as she was throughout her life: fun-loving, generous, sweet, funny, athletic (never smoked anything like some of her other

The Class of 1967 at Reunion 2022

Yolanda Scaccia Manuel ’67 with her husband and granddaughter

Susan Lloyd ’67, Lyn Wyman ’67 and Anne Neill ’67 are all smiles

siblings), and most importantly, an exceptional woman of faith. She made Australia her home in the seventies and had created an incredibly strong family of friends; mostly friends in her faith-based community but also friends from all other aspects of her life who cared for her in her last year. She battled her cancer to the very end and in the final moments was at peace as she knew she was going to be with her savior. I had one year at Santa Catalina with her, and a treasured time we had together was when the two of us were in a scene in the spring play where she was so funny that I would just crack up laughing in rehearsal, much to the chagrin of Miss Perry. Lucy and I would like to thank her classmates for their thoughtful notes they sent to us and the comments in the last Santa Catalina Bulletin. I continue volunteering with the Red Cross and deployed to the Oregon fires, California fires, and virtually deployed to help Kentucky tornado victims in their recovery. When you see on the news or read that the Red Cross was on the scene at a local disaster, such as a home/apartment fire, flooding, gas main break, mass shooting, etc., that’s the Disaster Action Team (DAT). I do that too.

Yolanda Scaccia Manuel: I’m still working at St. Catherine of Siena School in Burlingame, CA, in charge of the School Lunch and Extended Care programs. It’s rewarding to see the children mature and grow as they learn to become young adults. Who knew, after the Santa Catalina experience, I’d still be under the guidance of St. Catherine of Siena. My family (husband, Chris; daughter, Noel; and son, Nicholas, and his family) are managing through this COVID time; no one has caught the virus, although some of us have been exposed. Many COVID tests for all, including the grandchildren. Twins Andrew and Christian (14) are in eighth grade, preparing for high school; hopefully Tom Brady’s alma mater, Serra. Jenna (16) is a sophomore at Mercy High School in Burlingame; she loves volleyball and plays high school varsity and club volleyball. Last summer, I took Jenna to Disneyland, celebrating a postponed eighth-grade graduation present. We had a marvelous time, just the two of us. When the twins graduate this June, I plan to take them too. I’m also looking forward to chaperoning their postponed eighth-grade Explore America trip to D.C., Boston, and New York. The trip is scheduled for the second week in June, and we hope with this new COVID surge it won’t be canceled. Not much else to say except I miss you all and think kindly of our dearly departed classmates who were too young to leave us; they had so much more life to share. Patty Frates Paganucci: I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Surgery was in early February, followed by chemo and radiation. This is my second bout with this pesky thing. I continue to be optimistic, though! I beat it once. My best to all. Chris Von Drachenfels: I do have some grand news: I have a new grandbaby, Evelynn Maria. Evi is gorgeous, with a head of curly dark hair like her grandmother had at birth. It has been a rough year for my health, so Evi’s birth lifted my spirits. I wish everyone a lovely reunion. Hoping 2022 is a healthy

and happy year for you all. Mary Sweetland Laver: Like so many of us, the primary hardship of these COVID times for me is not being able to see far-away family as often as I’d like, especially my mother (95) who still lives in Oakland, and my son and daughter-in-law in L.A. Fortunately, our daughter and her family live nearby in another Philadelphia suburb. Her children (6 and 2) are a total joy to be with. My work remains focused on engaging Catholics in social justice issues, but I changed fields. Following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, I moved on from five years of community organizing on public policy with Faith in Action to online anti-racism workshops, with a dedicated and diverse team of young adults and seniors. I would love to see Santa Catalina develop something like this for faculty and students, since we know (looking in the mirror!) that SCS prepares so many strong leaders to shape the world we live in! Hoping 2022 brings hope, health, and blessings to us all. Katharine “Katy” Lewis: My heart goes out to all those who have experienced devastating losses (family members, livelihoods, businesses) during COVID. Given this backdrop, I feel very fortunate that my family seems to have managed to weather the past year and a half without any major setbacks. My youngest daughter’s April 2020 wedding plans were shelved, but she and her now-husband went ahead with a Zoom wedding at Georgetown Chapel, bought a house in D.C., and just had their first daughter in December—with the wedding party now planned for May 2022, a full two years later! My middle daughter also gave birth to her second son last May, so now I have three grandchildren under four! My oldest daughter’s event lighting design business was a casualty of the lockdown, but fortunately, it seems to be coming back, so all seems to be looking up. As for me, I am still working full-time, helping people all over the world get into top MBA, law, and policy programs. I remain continually inspired by the incredible social impact that many of them are now having or plan to have in the future. One silver lining of COVID is that much of my work (which has always been virtual) has moved to Zoom, which has made my job much more fun—I enjoy talking personally with clients wherever they are. While I love what I do, I must admit that I now want more time with family and friends, so I’m thinking about cutting back. Most of all, I am looking forward to the return of “normalcy”—hopefully starting with our reunion! Kif Brown: I still live in the same place I inherited in 1984, and one lucky girl for it. My days are simple: read, take the hound to the park, yard work. This weird, warm winter I’ve been able to spend time in the yard straight through except for snow in December. I had planned to spend March

in the Bahamas but opted out of that until next year. I’m still wary to travel and mingle in groups, so shall miss the reunion. I am ever intrigued and impressed with all of you amazing people and your accomplishments. I was intimidated in 1967 and, by all rights, should never have been admitted, especially in honors classes! Thank you, Ann and Anne, for devoting the time and energy to keep us connected. I appreciate all the updates and celebrate the lives lost recently. With gratitude to you and for good health, I share great memories and happy times. Joan Dubrasich Anspach: Like Kif, I have lived in my house in Piedmont since the early 80s. My three grown children and six grandchildren live nearby. My husband, Bill, and I are looking forward to a Mediterranean cruise in April, our first big trip since the COVID lockdown. We are healthy, safe and hope all of you are as well. I will miss seeing you at reunion but really enjoy hearing your stories. I continue fighting for equal rights for women, particularly reproductive rights. I inherited a passion for growing roses, a challenge in the midst of almost constant drought. I love knitting and I am thoroughly enjoying retirement. My best to you all. Lyn Wyman: Honestly, where did 2021 go? From a fine holiday season to a much anticipated presidential inauguration to dealing with unexpected health issues in the spring (now mostly resolved) to celebrating my May birthday with both daughters—what a treat given their work schedules—to moving my younger to an apartment in Monterey, then moving my elder to a new place in San Francisco. On to autumn and the Monterey Jazz Festival (live music!) and then my 50th college reunion—both events masked, distanced, limited capacity, and such fun. Drove to La Quinta (elder daughter as co-pilot) to celebrate Thanksgiving with my nephew and his family, and then there I was, back around to another fine holiday season. Sprinkled along the way were visits to Carmel, always good for the soul, and a trip to the Laguna Beach area and San Diego to see friends, also very therapeutic. I continue to adjust to my double whammy of “new normals”—being a widow and

Renata Engler ’67 and husband in Mexico

living through a pandemic. Needless to say, as I’m sure is true for all of us, I’ve had my ups and downs. The process takes time, patience, lots of deep breaths, and it certainly takes the support of family and friends, particularly my terrific daughters. I’m so grateful. Happy 55th Reunion, Class of ’67. Aren’t we amazing? Trina Smith Overlock : Reading your updates brings me much gladness.  I marvel at what a group of wonderful women our class is and how privileged we were to share our high school experience together. There is sadness in all our lives, and Ann’s loss of her sister Jane is a particularly poignant example. But the harsh and sometimes cruel losses we suffer don’t seem to stamp out our resilience or ability to find good and purpose in the world we inhabit. The accounts so many of you give of your lives provide ample proof of that. I have been fortunate to be blessed with a rewarding family life and great opportunities for engagement with community and not-for-profit organizations focused mostly on education and the environment. And perhaps like some of you, I now find I selfishly would like to spend more time just with family. But I want you to know I feel privileged to have my (admittedly) tenuous and distant connection to all of you. And I wish I could join you at reunion in March. Sadly, I cannot due to numerous conflicts on the East Coast that week.  But I will smile to think of many of you together. My best wishes to you all. Mary Whitney Kenney: I am serving as a commissioner on the County of Los Angeles Citizens Redistricting Commission. The commission is an independent 14-member commission with final authority to create the supervisorial district maps for the County of Los Angeles that will be in effect for the next 10 years. The commission adopted the final map for 2021-2031. Los Angeles County has the largest population of any county in the United States, with a population larger than 41 states. Anne Neill: A little light at the end (hopefully end) of the tunnel. After the long lockdown, there were a few windows of travel time and I was fortunate to take some wonderful trips (with SC gal pals)! Shows our long history of connections to our friends from school days. Cabo (Mexico) with Wynn Woodward and a tour with Liz Moffitt ’68 to her old family vacation town of Poipu, Kauai. Although not insurmountable, the travel restrictions and rules for going to a foreign country and getting oneself onto an island in our own country were quite intense. I thought about where to go that didn’t need forms, passports, COVID bracelets, etc. Ah ha, Lake Tahoe! I found a little condo and bought it. I can drive there in several hours, no paperwork, no mask in car. Other than those lovely trip highlights, regular life is mundane. Both my daughters no longer live in the Bay Area; one is in grad school in Boulder, CO, the other working in Berlin, Germany. Life goes on much as it has during the past two years. I am grateful to have health and grateful to have my dear classmates and our continued connections. My hope is that 2022 finds the world in a better place.

At our reunion we remembered our classmates who have departed this existence, and we extend our condolences to the families of Katy Bates Kreitler, Mimi Cleary, Gael Donovan, and Debbie Simpson on their recent losses.

68

Eugenie Schlueter

emschl@sbcglobal.net

Daphne Macneil

daphnemacneil@yahoo.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

69

The Class of 1969 is without a class correspondent. Please contact Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08, Director of Alumnae/i Engagement, to volunteer to serve your class in this meaningful way.

Victoria Ames Bernstorff-Gyldensteen: It is hard to believe how old we are getting. I am in good health, as is my family. I hope the school has been able to weather the onslaught of coronavirus variants without too much disruption, though I think living with disruption is going to be vital to surviving the next quarter of a century. Perhaps there is a skill set/curriculum for it that one can learn at an early age? I think of my grandchildren when I write that. I send my best wishes from Denmark to all of you at school as well as other members of the Class of ’69. Marna Sweeney Haley: Nothing new. Six months Durango, CO; six months Sun City, AZ. Walking, weights, gardening, reading, and bible studies on Zoom. Happy to be healthy! Grace McLaughlin: This has been a year of change for me. I retired from UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business after 21 years. I went out on a high note too—I was named Lecturer of the Year for 2020-2021 for the entire UCI campus for excellence in undergraduate teaching. This was an incredible honor as it is given to only one instructor each year. I love retirement! I’m spending time making jewelry, crocheting, and generally paying attention to myself. I’ve lost 70 pounds in the last year, am working out with a personal trainer two to three times per week, and am looking forward to the first of two total knee replacements at the end of February. The second knee replacement will be at the end of May hopefully.

70

Marie Cantin rapideye1@aol.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

71

The Class of 1971 is without a class correspondent. Please contact Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08, Director of Alumnae/i Engagement, to volunteer to serve your class in this meaningful way.

Erica Sullivan Fuller: Lots of changes in our family. Our son Marc and daughter-in-law, Ali, moved to Idaho in 2020, and we now are grandparents to an adorable boy, Charlie. Our son Ian loves living and working in London. Kathleen Charles: I have the fortunate opportunity to continue to work on projects in Africa pertaining to SME finance (small- and medium-sized enterprises), trade, and women/youth empowerment initiatives. I have been doing this work for over 30 years in tandem with members of the development community, including donors, NGOs, private investors, and national governments. To that end, I have decided to establish my home base in Paris, where I am well-situated geographically to travel to the U.S. and Africa. This work experience has enabled me to learn a lot about the human condition and how African entrepreneurs use all their resources to make ends meet, feed their families, and actually get ahead. There are a lot of success stories to document, and I am in the process of recording these in a future publication to be presented next year. All of you are welcome to visit, and please feel free to contact me by email, telephone, or whichever means suit, and I would be happy to greet you. Here is to a brighter future.

Ariane Berthoin Antal: Since my professional shift from full-time researcher to emerita of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center in February 2020, my husband and I have been nomadic grandparents between Seattle and Darmstadt, a great privilege in pandemic times. I gained experience in homeschooling very young grandchildren in both locations and greatly enjoyed cooking again for my grown-up children. Thanks to Zoom I was able to continue serving as ombudsperson for good scientific practice in Berlin and to coach doctoral students in Nantes. Life has certainly felt meaningful in very different ways. Julie Garcia: As with most people, life has thrown me some curveballs during the past two years. I’ve really

missed traveling. Tried to schedule two trips to Europe but didn’t make either one. This year, hopefully, a few shorter trips will work out. At least the Giants were back in action, which made for some great weekends. Playoffs! I am working on my new career, building 51 homes in Redding. The project is taking a bit longer than expected, but I’m learning a lot!

72

Suzanne Scoville

suzanne.scoville@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

73

Barbara Smith O’Brien

beob2110@gmail.com

Teresa Barger: I don’t have any great kudos for 2021, except that everyone in my family bought a house. Daughter Medora bought a very nice brick house—a six minute walk from us in the Palisades neighborhood of D.C. She works in spirit in Kenya but in body in D.C. Our other daughter, Amelia, and her husband bought a house in SF. She has had a tumultuous year with two bouts of COVID-19, lots of business changes, etc. And my husband, Travis, finally got a tractor after 18 years of low-level mourning for tractors lost. So the tractor and the

little farm that goes with it is our new toy. We are hoping for peace and healing in what promises to be a tough 2022. Take care, everyone! Tracy McDonald: I have a grand baby! My daughter Sarah and her husband brought Maeve to the world on December 31. Never thought I would see the day. I have been out twice to Oklahoma and will be going again at the end of April. I’m trying for every quarter. Truth be known I would move there to be able to take care of her during the day. I’m freaked out that she is in daycare. I am keeping my mouth zipped. They are very good parents. I know already where Maeve gets her kind heart. Love you all. You all have become more and more precious. Sue Weyerhaeuser Messina: I have five wonderful grandchildren. Spent a week together in Hawaii and spent Christmas as well with them. But we got snowed out of our return to Seattle and had to stay an extra week! Returned exhausted and happy to be

home. My dad (95) and still doing very well. We haven’t been able to “snow bird” in Palm Springs this winter so he is still up here with my sister, Phyllis Weyerhaeuser Griggs ’76, and me.

74

Sally Fay

calgal75@aol.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

75

The Class of 1975 is without a class correspondent. Please contact Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08, Director of Alumnae/i Engagement, to volunteer to serve your class in this meaningful way.

76

Margaret Ganz

itstartsat50@hotmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

The Class of 1972 at Reunion 2022

Ann Drendel-Haas ’73 with her 98-year-old dad

77

Julie Power Pantiskas

juliepantiskas@gmail.com

78

Elizabeth Stelow

liz@dinunzio.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

79

Deirdre Smith

dsmith7123@ sbcglobal.net

Deirdre Smith: I queried my Catalina classmates as to what hobbies or activities are keeping them afloat during these unusual times. Our new normal isn’t so new anymore, and creature comforts and simple pleasures that bring us joy are more important now than ever before. I confessed my indulgences, like mac and cheese and delighting in nostalgic Andy Williams performances of “Moon River” and “Happy Heart” on PBS, as well as a win by Girl Named Tom on the television show The Voice. Perhaps we can all reach out to a classmate in the coming months to form new bonds. I shared a road trip several years ago with a classmate as we made the pilgrimage to the Catalina reunion. Back in 1979, no one would have placed us as friends, yet because of that reunion trip I consider her a lifelong friend. During this not-so-new normal, let’s all make some fresh, lasting friendships, starting at home—in our respective classes. Julie Jones Breitfuss: My husband, Curt, and I are now in Palm Desert taking care of my mom. We are both still working and are grateful to be able to see our kids and spend time with my mom, as they all live in California as well, except Kellie ’11, who is living in Hawaii and is to be married to the most wonderful man in June. Moira Hoyne Conlon: How is it that we are 60 years old? I celebrated the big birthday with my family and friends at the Beach Club in Santa Monica when we had a reprieve from COVID-19 in July. All is good with us. My daughter, Claire (25) is at Humboldt

State and we’re hoping she graduates one of these years. James (22) is at Boulder but pretty much only knows college as a remote student. I continue to be very busy building my business, which, in its 14th year, is finally off to the races. If anyone has industrious kids who want a job in IR or financial PR, please send them my way. Jim continues to help me with the business and looks forward to spending his days at the beach someday soon. I’m off to Paris with my sisters and my mom in April and can’t wait. I have loved seeing Melina Eversole Montoya and Grace Bruns over the past year and look forward to seeing more of you sometime soon. Hope you are all healthy and happy. Call if you get to L.A.! As you might imagine, our favorite show during COVID was Schitt’s Creek, where finally my name came of age—Moira. Seriously this has been too funny. Everyone asks me, “Should we call you MOIRA?” I love Catherine O’Hara. Melina Eversole Montoya: I held a yacht-themed 60th birthday party in my home in Pasadena for Grace Bruns in August of 2021. Grace and I had the pleasure of attending the wonderful, intimate wedding of Deborah Thomason in October in Arizona. Deborah Thomason: I married Charles Erickson and am visiting my daughter in Portland who just had a baby boy.

Dana DePuy Morgan danamorgan@mac.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

Moira Hoyne Conlon ’79 celebrates her birthday with sisters Peachy Hoyne Dominé ’88, Ruth Hoyne Muse ’85, and family

Julie Jones Breitfuss ’79 with her mom, husband, daughters Kellie Breitfuss ’11, Kirstie Breitfuss ’09, Courtnie Breitfuss ’16, and son Erik Breitfuss ’11 LS

Melina Eversole Montoya ’79 (left) with Grace Bruns ’79 (right) and Patti, sister of CeCe Rosendin Robinson ’79, at the wedding of Deborah Thomason ’79

81

Lil McDonald Manthoulis maria.manthoulis@gmail.com

Monica Stewart Baker moniker1963@aol.com

82

Mindy Malisoff Baggett mbaggett@cox.net

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

83

Kellen Flanigan kellen@kellenflanigan.com

84

Victoria Manassero Maat junebugjump@icloud.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

85

Krysia Belza

86

Katharine Folger Yeager yeagerkbf@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

The Class of 1982 at Reunion 2022

Clockwise from left: Yvette Chamlian Richmond ’84, Louise Hunt Sandy ’84, Kate Hunt Smith ’87, and Monique Chamlian Wright ’87

Susan Smith Nixon ’87 snowboarding with daughter Audrey Nixon ’19

87

Susan Smith Nixon

snixon@starbucks.com

Susan Smith Nixon: I am thriving in Austin, TX! My work with the downtown Austin Starbucks team fills my cup. Personal highlight in 2021 was qualifying and competing in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship Triathlon. Daughter Audrey Nixon ’19 is loving Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL. She won ADDY awards; the mission of the American Advertising Awards competition is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising. China Flanigan: I’m now living in Colorado. So happy to be out of Nebraska, even though I really am just one state over. It feels like a whole new glorious world, filled with organic produce, hemp clothing, and high altitude. Empty nest is a little lonesome though. From here on out, it’s going to be about small fluffy dogs. Stay tuned.

88

Jennifer Pratt

curgie615@earthlink.net

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

89

Kim Meek kmeekfi@gmail.com

90

The Class of 1990 is without a class correspondent. Please contact Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08, Director of Alumnae/i Engagement, to volunteer to serve your class in this meaningful way. We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

91

Amy Bacon Clausing

amyclausing@me.com

Kirsten Silvey: I live in Corrales, NM, on the outskirts of Albuquerque, with my spouse. We are raising chickens for eggs and enjoying a more agricultural life in a small village. We are both in healthcare and have been on the front lines of COVID-19, suffering from moral outrage and

compassion fatigue. Recently, we visited Maui to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. The trip was a much needed break from the stresses of our job. Yolanda Orrantia: I have been living in La Jolla, CA, since 2016. I got remarried in 2017 to Silverio Tessada from Tijuana. We recently celebrated his 50th birthday over a long weekend in Aspen. Together, we have four children: Raquel (14), Victor (16), Paulina (18), and Emilio (12). I am currently a docent at the San Diego Museum of Art. And I still sing—I joined the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus in 2018. Alison Morey Garrett: My husband, Mark, and I live in Mill Valley, CA, but spent a lot of time this past fall on Cape Cod to be closer to my mom and to see our two daughters, who are in boarding school in Massachusetts. Langan attends Andover and Phoebe

The Class of 1987 at Reunion 2022

Bridget Callaghan Zaro ’89 and family

attends Northfield Mount Hermon. We enjoyed watching their field hockey teams play one another in October. We are happy to be back in California for the spring. Amanda Hennigan Mansour: My husband, Anthony, and I are officially empty nesters, with both of our children, Alice and Eli, in college in Texas. I recently celebrated my third work anniversary with Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the world, which both keeps me busy and fills my soul. Monica Duflock: My three boys, Carter, Colby, and Conrad, are doing well. Conrad and I are living in Ross, CA. Carter, a junior, and Colby, a sophomore, are at boarding school on the East Coast, experiencing their first real “winter” outside of California. Conrad is in eighth grade and recently completed his high school applications. I am now starting the college touring process with Carter. A mother’s work is never done! I continue to ride and compete in the reined cow horse world. I would love to ride more, but am busy with home life, Conrad’s sports, and spending time with my mom at the ranch. Speaking of the ranch, this past September the Duflock family celebrated the ranch’s 150 year history and the 80th birthday of my mom, Margaret Rosenberg Duflock ’59. Sister Claire sent a beautiful blessing for the occasion and Tom O’Neill (who took our senior portraits) took photos to memorialize the event. It was a wonderful celebration. Cammie Calcagno Newell: I live in Santa Barbara with my husband, Chad; son, Colin (a sophmore); and daughter, Emerson (an eighth-grader). I am a real estate agent with Calcagno-Hamilton Real Estate Partners in Montecito and the greater Santa Barbara area. My mother, Kathe, passed away in November 2021. She loved all of my friends, though she would never admit to it, and treated you like her own.

(Note from Amy: To those of us who were blessed to know Kathe, we will miss her forever. We send our deepest condolences to Cammie; her father, Tim; brother, Michael; and their entire family.) Amy Bacon Clausing: I continue to live in San Mateo, CA, with my husband, Paul; son, P.J. (13); and two dogs, Toby (12) and Winston (9). P.J. is in seventh grade and enjoys all sports but spends most of his time on golf and basketball. Last spring, I started a new job leading events at Qualified. While I am loving my new role, the last two years in events

haven’t been that great, so I’m really hoping for a return to in-person events this spring. In November 2021, I got together with Alison Morey Garrett, Cammie Calcagno Newell, and Amanda Hennigan Mansour in Los Angeles for a long weekend at Amanda’s house. As usual, we dined well and laughed a lot. It was so wonderful to see each other after so much time. Old friends are the best! We all hope to see each other and other Catalina friends more often in 2022!

92

Amy Paulsen

apindc@yahoo.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

93

Galen Johnson

galen.a.johnson@gmail.com

The Class of 1993 would like to extend our deepest condolences to Lyssa Lord Ellis and her family for the loss of her husband, Jason. Anyone wishing to help Lyssa and her children in this difficult time is welcome to donate at https://gofund.me/c376ca13. Corinne Quinn: I am still in Vallejo, CA, and am anticipating graduation from Life Chiropractic

The Class of 1992 at Reunion 2022

Members of the Class of 1991: Amy Bacon Clausing, Alison Morey Garrett, Amanda Hennigan Mansour, and Cammie Calcagno Newell

Christina Hu Ho ’91 and Vanessa Lam Ng ’91 pose with the Class of 1991 graduation photo

College West in June 2023. Janene Ashford

Ward: Hello from Long Beach, CA! My husband, Ian, and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in March. Our daughter, Olivia, is in her first year at the University of Chicago and loving it. Our son, Ian James, is in the middle of his senior year of high school and we are deep in the frenzy of college applications. I started my Ph.D. in urban schooling at UCLA this past fall—so excited to deepen my understanding around the teaching and learning of children’s mathematics. Sarah Brown Goforth: I spent the summer in Virginia with all the kids while their dad went to Afghanistan to help with the closure of the embassy. Events were tense, which made for a stressful, unpredictable summer. After the summer, I returned to San Luis Obispo, where I am teaching fifth grade, navigating yet another year of teaching during COVID-19. I’m happy to be teaching back in person this year after more than a year of distance learning and hybrid instruction. If you find yourself on the 101 going through San Luis Obispo, let me know! Would love to see you. Amy Allina-Chambers: I cannot believe it will be 30 years next year. Oh, how the time flies and crows feet don’t lie. I am still an administrator for LAUSD but in a new capacity, heading up a program for education equity through a racial and cultural lens. I agree with Sarah: being in education during COVID is a unique and stressful experience. I am happy that kids, including my 15-year-old, are back in person with friends; they really need the human connection. The rest of the family is fine,

although we are all licking our COVID bruises hoping for more “normalcy.” Everyone, stay safe and healthy. If you find yourselves in Hollywood for any reason, drop me a line; I would love to see you! Meg Pope Anderson: My life is happily busy and everyone is doing well. Quin and his girlfriend live in Tuscon. Got to visit them over Christmas, which was fun. Aeryn just started college at Carnegie Mellon doing engineering, so basically, she is always studying. Iggy is in seventh grade, annoyed at me 99% of the time, likes eyeliner and horror movies. (Eye roll.) David is still the perfect person for me, thank goodness. In the last year I have had several job adjustments and promotions and new

CLASS NOTES INFORMATION

PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

We welcome your photos for inclusion in Class Notes. Due to space restrictions, we are unable to publish all of the photos we receive. Photos meeting the requirements listed below will take priority.

Please note the technical requirements for photos:

• Images need to be 3” x 5” or larger

• Images need to be a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (or at least 800KB)

Priority is given to the following types of photos:

• Photos with groups of alumnae

• Photos with one alumna

• Photos without an alumna will only be included if space allows.

Please provide the names of all alumnae in the photo, including class year, and the location of the occasion.

SPACE LIMITATIONS

We do our best to include all of the updates that are sent in. Due to space limitations, the Communications and Alumnae Engagement offices of Santa Catalina School may edit content in order to fit the space allotted. Thank you for your submissions.

To submit photos electronically, please send them as attachments to: shannon.dillon@santacatalina.org.

Please do not include photos in the body of the email or in Word files. If

adventures that are all shaping up to be exactly what I want, which is cool! I teach full-time at University of Pittsburgh in the School of Nursing and am the director of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program. I also work part-time as an NP in the ICUs and part-time as a flight nurse. Turns out I cannot get enough of flying around in helicopters to do my job. I will be joining our regional Disaster Medical Assistance Team once my background check is done, and I am looking forward to that. Andy Riegel Smith: I am still working as the chemistry lab technician at College of the Sequoias. During COVID, I was able to convert most of our student labs to video so the students could still get credit during remote learning. I also spent a good portion of 2021 volunteering at a local vaccination clinic in the hopes that could play a small role in bringing an end to these interesting times. Steve took advantage of working from home and received his master’s of music degree. Teaching music remotely was very difficult for him, as you can imagine, so he is happy to be back in a classroom. Story wouldn’t let something like a pandemic get in the way of her theatre work and participated in multiple virtual performances with actors from around the country. She was, however, elated to perform for a live audience again this fall. She is a sixth-grader who continually amazes me with her confidence and charm. Just like those before me, I extend my hospitality to anyone passing through the Central Valley. I hope you are all healthy and happy. Cedra Ginsburg Goldman: Things here

you email a photo from your phone, please choose the largest file size possible. To submit a hard copy photo, please mail to:

Santa Catalina School

Office of Alumnae Engagement 1500 Mark Thomas Drive Monterey, CA 93940

SCHEDULE

We publish notes for each class once a year—odd-numbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter.

Mia James ’93 with classmates Kim Roberts Gnagy and Gini Bennett Russo

are going as well as can be expected in this crazy world that we are now living in. My boys, Bryce (10) and Collin (14), are definitely playing the roles of teenagers with eye rolls and exasperation at my husband and I no matter what we do, or don’t do. Collin had his bar mitzvah last summer during a low point in the COVID pandemic, so we were actually able to gather outdoors with family and friends to celebrate, which was wonderful. Prior to COVID, I was already transitioning professionally from doing architecture and sustainability consulting to focusing on how buildings impact public health. I had already received my MPH and was applying for a DrPH program. With COVID, the importance of the built environment (buildings) in the health of occupants has been a heightened concern so I have found myself in a very interesting position. In addition to my studies, I am working with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on a COVID team that provides guidance for various industries (education, long-term care, etc.). If anyone is in Denver, please let me know. Madeline Daniels: I’m still living in Monterey and running the family home as an Airbnb. I’m teaching indoor cycle classes every day at Gold’s Gym Monterey. I’m also managing the instructors and doing some of the bookkeeping at the gym. My son, David, is going to be 21 in March (wow) and my daughter, Della, just turned 13 (fun times). My husband, Erich, still works at MBARI, where he has worked for over 20 years! I would love to see some of your smiling faces at my classes if you are in town! Gini Bennett Russo: My family and I live locally. I work for American Water as an employee relations business partner. My son is going to Palma and is in seventh grade. I have been married for 17 years. I recently met up with Kim Roberts Gnagy and Mia James and it was great to reconnect. Galen Johnson: I am still in Olympia, WA, managing the Fisheries Services Program for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and working on computer models

of West Coast salmon populations and fisheries. My partner, Austin, recently took a new job on the other side of the Cascades as pastor of the Ellensburg United Methodist Church. It’s hard to do the long-distance thing, but we are both really happy in our jobs and are enjoying the chance to explore the other half of Washington. We are happy to host visitors in either location, both of which are a great jumping off point for exploring many of the national parks, monuments, and forests Washington has to offer. As hard as the last two years have been, it has given a lot of us time to reconnect via phone and Zoom with friends from afar, and I know people have enjoyed the Zoom reunions Sarah organizes. However, fingers crossed that we can all reunite in person next March (2023) for our 30th reunion!

94

The Class of 1994 is without a class correspondent. Please contact Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08, Assistant Director of Alumnae/i Engagement, to volunteer to serve your class in this meaningful way. We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

95

Catie Ryan Balagtas

catieryan@gmail.com

Catie Ryan Balagtas: It’s been an interesting year for us all, no doubt. I use the word “interesting” quite loosely, as we likely each have a different take

on year two of the pandemic. With all the moving I’ve been doing over the past two years, I’ve been trying to live by the William Morris quote, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” With the help of Marie Kondo, I’m getting there, slowly. In between this chaos that is life (I recall that “Chaos” was my chosen name in Latin class at Catalina), I’ve had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with Nicole Neary Hasheminejad, Elizabeth Lloyd Rovetta, Danielle Huthart, and Leah Kinsella, who moved to New Jersey in September. It was wonderful to connect in person with old friends. Word has it Elizabeth Lloyd Rovetta has also seen Annie Carrillo and Teal Bates Taylor in Mexico, and Michelle Bachand-Gill in Belize; Danielle Huthart ran into Meg Heister at an art fair in NYC; Nicole Neary Hasheminejad has been spending lots of time on hiking trips with her family in Washington; and Jenn Cryan-Ulgalde has been busy fighting forest fires in South Lake Tahoe. This past winter, I had the great joy of being on the same continent (and in the same house) as my husband, Charlie, for the first time in nearly two years due to the pandemic. We were grateful to do ordinary married couple things like laundry, grocery shopping, remote working, hiking, shoveling snow, cozying up by the fire, and playing soccer with our niblings. In 2022, I wish you all good health and well-being, and lots of joy. Chelsea Shofner Dow: I’m still living in Northern Colorado and raising four teenagers. They definitely keep life both busy and entertaining! I’m also able to create art and sell my work through my small business, which is awesome. Hope everyone is happy and healthy! Christina Lee: I’m still based in Hong Kong, and have been here since returning in 1999. Our sons Nathan and Ian are now studying in England (enjoying the boarding school experience), and our daughter Megan is studying locally in grade 6. I’m still working with and for my father, and focused on supporting educational and social service projects

Danielle Huthart ’95 catching up with classmates Nicole Neary Hasheminejad, Catie Ryan Balagtas, and Leah Kinsella

Samantha Lewis Rohwer ’97 working on a Rose Bowl parade float

and entities. In the past few years, I have spent quite a lot of time also with a local NGO that is the school-sponsoring body of several kindergartens and primary schools. Hope everyone is keeping well during this pandemic. Dian Krishna Elias: I’m hoping to muster the courage to travel again. I have managed to be on a Cruise-to-Nowhere four times around Singapore and the South China Seas. Here’s to finally traveling again and seeing our loved ones, be it a person, a place, or a memory. Gretchen Carter Christensen: This past year has flown by and we are enjoying life as a family of six. We are still living in Washington, where I stay home with our children. I hope everyone is doing well and I hope to be able to attend the next reunion. Lourdes Cadena: I live between Mexicali, my hometown, and San Diego. I have been very happily divorced for more than three years. I send all my love to everyone. If you come to San Diego or near, we could meet! Nicole Nasser Nichols: As a healthcare worker, the last two and a half years have been extremely difficult. I moved to North Texas in 2020 and my job disappeared when COVID hit, so my now husband and I moved back to Sacramento. I got married to one of my best friends of 15 years in September 2020—and my name is now Nicole Nichols, but y’all can still call me Nasser forever and always. We eloped in Tahoe and it was perfect. I’ve had some other great things happen. I’m now recognized as a “clinical expert” in the UC system as one of the few “NP3s” or “Expert NPs,” and I also accepted another promotion, so I am now the Trauma NP Supervisor for UC Davis, a level one trauma center. I am also enrolled in a doctoral program at University of Nevada Reno, and should have my doctorate by 2023 if all goes well. I’m working on a harm reduction model for

patients who screen positive for any substance on admission. I hope everyone is healthy and happy.

Olivia Wright Darzell-Karp: Our family continues to balance hunkering down for the pandemic and stretching ourselves outside our four walls as best we can. I have recently joined a private group practice as a marriage and family therapist and am loving this second career that should have always been. My husband and I are navigating the shock of having a daughter entering high school in the fall, but I relish her labeling me “cool” when I show her photos of my ’90s teen self. We’re hoping to do more traveling this year as the world permits!

96

Jenny Noble

jnoble78@hotmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

97

Morgan Rogers McMillan

morganrogersmcmillan@gmail.com

Rebecca Lohse: After 15 years in NYC, I moved to Atlanta to pursue a new job in 2016. Life in Atlanta moves at a different pace, and in this new city I was introduced to my wonderful fiancé,

Brandon, in 2017, and his—now our—dog Ari. We were engaged in November 2020 on a magical night at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Within a month we closed on a new house, and in May 2021, we welcomed our daughter, Avery, into our family. If you ever find yourself in the A, give a shout. Camellia Rodriguez-SackByrne Latta: I’ve felt blessed to be living close to nature here in the Presidio in San Francisco with my husband, Lutz, and our sweet cat, Lavender, who we adopted right before the pandemic. I’m working at the Global Brain Health Institute at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, where I manage a network of senior fellows across disciplines—musicians to neurologists—from around the world who address dementia and also work to promote healthy and creative aging. Our work band that I co-lead, the Swingin’ Synapses, has a good time putting our creative spin on songs … yes, even “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I continue to play flute at our church and at a synagogue in the city (often online these days). Some special delights in recent months: having a wonderful ladies’ weekend with Katie Rigney Dietrich and Jennifer Muhawi with a hike and plenty of laughs, and before that, seeing Jen sing beautifully in a concert. During the holidays, Lutz and I had a lovely visit with Sister Claire and Sister Christine and their pups. I hope everyone is staying safe, happy, and healthy! Katie Rigney Dietrich: I live in Davis with my husband and two boys (5 and 8). There were a few Catalina-related bright spots in my year. I was lucky enough to have a birthday getaway weekend in Marin with Camellia Rodriguez-SackByrne Latta and Jennifer Muhawi. The redwoods, views of the ocean, unhurried meals, and laughs with friends were so restorative! This year, I also went on

The Class of 1997 at Reunion 2022

a walkabout through Carmel with Mike Raggett and reminisced about Catalina track and learned about the program’s recent accomplishments. And just last week, I made the surprise discovery that Sarah McClendon is living in Davis and our kids are in karate together! Looking forward to more Catalina connections at reunion this year! And just to brag about another Catalina alum, my mom, Hansi de Petra Rigney ’59, ran the Sacramento marathon at age 80—her 100th+ marathon. I’ve stopped counting. #goals. Alexandra Fay Baker: I’m a fifth-grade homeroom/English/history teacher as well as the dean at the Rippowam Cisqua School in Bedford, NY. I have three kids: Charlie, who

is in sixth grade, and twins Scarlett and Lucy, who are in fourth grade. My hubby, Carson, works for his family’s business. And we have a golden named Gusty and a bunny named Willow. I see Charlotte Richardson Snyder and used to see Stacey Robbins Jordan more, but the COVID stuff has really messed up our social lives. Life feels really busy and at the same time monotonous. Can’t wait for the masks to go away and be able to go out to a restaurant. Jasmin Reate: COVID-19 has some silver linings and I may have found the best of them. Kirstin Keresey Ducommum ’96 and I worked from home in Healdsburg where Jennifer McClendon Schaible and Jessica Farr Fisher ’96 would come to visit. In March, I finally made the move back home to Carmel! I’m still with The Hollywood Reporter as the executive director of events and conferences. It has never looked more different than in the past two years, producing 75 virtual events versus the IRL ones that Ring Dinners and Father-Daughter Weekends trained me for! I ran into Angel Cabral Osborn at an in-person Emmy’s event in September—always love a Catalina sister sighting! I get a lot of those now that I’m back on the Peninsula, including traditional walks

Members of the Class of 1999 celebrating their 40th birthdays: Sarah Gallagher Parker, Amy McCormick Vokey, Emma Hinsdale Pickering, Justine Carroll Campbell, Laura Stenovec, Julie Rathman Fenton, Marissa Anshutz Hermer, Victoria Richardson Gray, and Whitney MacDonald Gough

with Stephanie Masica Brawley when she is back to visit, pet blessings with Sister Claire and Sister Christine, and summertime fun with Sally Botts Drescher, whose daughter, Lola, went to camp at Catalina last summer! Thalia Kyriakis: Very grateful with life at the moment! Ricardo, my husband, received his kidney transplant in December 2018 and I’m happy to report he is healthy and enjoying life at its fullest! Professionally, real estate has been booming and business growth has been tremendous. After 15 years of being part of the largest locally owned real estate company, I joined Sotheby’s International Realty and have been extremely happy with this amazing career move. Grateful and blessed, enjoying life with my husband and our two dogs, Lola and Mila.

98

Natalia Woodhall Chappelow

nataliawoodhall@yahoo.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

99

Laura Stenovec

laurastenovec@gmail.com

Laura Stenovec: The Class of ’99 celebrated our 40th birthdays in 2021. While COVID-19 has kept many of us apart, I was fortunate to see Mieke Fuchs Smith over New Year’s at her home in New Jersey. I also had a lovely 40th celebration with Sarah Gallagher Parker, Amy McCormick Vokey, Emma Hinsdale Pickering, Justine Carroll Campbell, Julie Rathman Fenton, Marissa Anshutz Hermer, Victoria Richardson Gray, and Whitney MacDonald Gough. I’m heading back to Sun Valley in March to spend the month with Damaris Colhoun and family. Grateful every day for my Catalina sisters. Beth Fruzynski Beam: I moved back to D.C. in March 2021 after four and a half years in San Jose. I’m still with Silicon Valley Bank heading up their economic sanctions compliance program. With my husband, Steve, and two boys, Matt (7) and Andrew (5), I am delighted to be back in the district on Capitol Hill and close enough to Dena Kolb and Seba for fun play dates. Looking forward to some domestic and international travel in 2022 (finally) thanks to vaccinated kids. Damaris Colhoun: After 16 years in Brooklyn, NY, I recently moved to Ketchum, ID, with my family. I have a son named Rudy (3) and a daughter named Rose, who was born last July. I write for a weekly newsletter, published by 13D Research, covering geopolitics, climate change, and

Anne White ’99 with classmates Gina Anderson and Ariana Ebrahimian

social movements. I still ride horses and hang out all the time with Laura Stenovec, who has been escaping to Sun Valley frequently over the course of the pandemic. Ariana Ebrahimian: It was a lovely summer reconnecting with friends separated by this pandemic. I was spoiled having Gina Anderson in town for several months. We had a chance to see Frances Verga-Lagier Cook and a special visit with Anne White Dena Kolb: My sister Leah Kinsella ’02 moved to D.C. in March 2021 and we are so happy to have the entire Kolb family (parents included) in the same city and neighborhood. Seba (4) is especially loving making up for lost time with Auntie Leah! Kitty Lyons: Dylan, Henry, and I are doing great! Loving life in sunny Cardiff by the Sea. Henry (2) is super funny and just an awesome human being. He’s in preschool in our neighborhood and the community is great. I just had a small art show at a Small Business Saturday here in Cardiff and am looking for an art studio so I can start making art again. We love surfing, hiking, zipping around on our e-bikes, and skiing. Life is such a wild adventure with Henry and we’re grateful for our life together. Sending love and good vibes to you all. Elizabeth Poett-Campbell: I’m enjoying life on the ranch! I just finished filming season two of my cooking show on Magnolia Network called Ranch To Table and am also writing a cookbook that should be coming out in the fall of 2023. I was lucky to visit with Sarah Gallagher Parker and family over the holidays and hope to visit with more Catalina girls this summer! Lauren Larken Spees Scuderi: I am the mama of Bella (4) and happily married to my musical partner, Stephen. In 2021, I opened an aerial healing arts studio in Burlington, VT, where I offer floating songbaths. I have begun collaborating with ecco! members past and present toward a “Change in My Life” virtual singalong.

00

Kate Fagan katepfagan@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

Kai Romero kai.romero@gmail.com

Astri Rahardja: I gave birth in December to a baby boy, Michael. He was a tad early (34 weeks) but he’s healthy. He’s the source of our joy but also at this point, the only reason why I’m not getting enough sleep and panda eyes. Kai Romero: Laying low, intermittently getting together with people and then immediately wondering if I am being too glib about public health measures. Really feel like Pfizer did me dirty by not having a vaccine for the under-five set by now, as everyone else is done at this point and it’s just my daughter Leo (3) who remains unprotected. Hoping for a more chill … I don’t know … remainder of my life? And 2022.

02

Sasha Irving sasha.irving@gmail.com

Olivia Nilsson

olivianilsson@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

Kelsey Hodgins Diver hodginskelsey301@gmail.com

Alexandria Sutty alex.sutty@gmail.com

Gwendolyn Roberts Bright: I’m still living in Charlottesville with my husband, Austin, and kiddos, Matilde (5) and Gideon (2). We’re busy with planning our first food and flower garden, homeschool kindergarten, daisies, and kung fu, and I’m working on my second poetry collection. The Catalina on Broadway Zoom panel was a highlight of nostalgia and connection—it was delightful to see Antonette Balestreri Cohen ’02, Maryl McNally ’00, and Lara Wheeler Devlin ’02 on that call discussing their intersecting passion and work. Rosie Brabeck Commons: I live on the Monterey Peninsula with my husband, Ryan, and our two boys, Luke (7) and George (4). I work as an occupational therapist in our local school district. I enjoy seeing Catalina friends Amy Swanson Spano and Ashley

The Class of 2002 at Reunion 2022

Hightower Tower anytime we visit the Central Valley. We always look forward to family get-togethers with Katie Tugend Lehner. Elisabeth Wilkie: I live in Berlin with my new husband, Dirk, and dog, Teddy. I started working as a marketing executive at a fast-paced, exciting new German transportation company. I frequently travel throughout Europe and hope to transform the industry from the wheels up. I recently got married in Denmark and was so excited to have Alex Ames Kornman as my matron of dishonor. I enjoyed seeing Megan Mulloy, Gaby Asmus Raila, and Alex Sutty in San Francisco on a recent visit home this summer. I look forward to fewer shutdowns this year! Lesley Vittetoe Tepper: I live in San Francisco with my husband, Mark, and kids, Lucy (6) and Ben (4). I work at Seven Post Investment Office LP as their CCO/General Counsel. I recently enjoyed meeting Sarah Russell Ceglar, Julia Holmes West, and Simone Villalobos at the Beach Club in Pebble Beach to watch all seven (!) of our kids swimming together. Gabriella Asmus Raila: I recently moved to Larkspur, CA, with my husband, son Ethan (3) and daughter Maya, who joined us last May. I lead corporate communications at Twitch and have spent far too much time with Alex Sutty, Megan Mulloy, Liz Wilkie, and Stephanie Wai over the past year. I look forward to more reunions in 2022! Alex Sutty: I live in Newport Beach, CA, with my husband and boys, Christopher (3) and

Ashley

Alexander (1). I am a product architect at Zuora and have enjoyed working from home for the past seven years. I’ve been lucky enough to visit with Gaby Asmus Raila, Megan Mulloy, Liz Wilkie, and Andrea Munson recently. I look forward to visiting with more Catalina friends this spring and hopefully making it back to Sydney to visit my husband’s family if COVID doesn’t hit the fan again. Priscilla McCarthy Barolo: I moved to Carmel in 2020 and am loving life here with my husband, Joe, and sons, Owen (5) and Aidan (2). We spend a lot of our weekends hiking, going to the beach, and trying to find the best Mexican food spots. I’m still running communications at Zoom and have started angel investing too. Justine Sterling: I recently relocated from New York City to Los Angeles with my husband, Mike; son, Calvin

(18 months); and three cats. I started a new job as editor-in-chief of an upcoming food publication from Mythical Entertainment. I can’t tell you the name of it yet. Sabine Korting Carl: I live in Bonn, Germany, with my husband and two sons. These lockdown-times helped me to really (re-) appreciate any minute spent communicating with friends. A big thank you goes out to Bryna Lieberman and Lucrezia Scarampi for staying in touch—no matter what. You are fabulous! Corinne Thompson: I live in L.A. with my husband and work at Jasper Showroom as senior sales executive. I last visited with Claire Mason Mayer in December 2019 in Carmel. I’m looking forward to a lot of travel in 2022! Jessica Wasserman Turney: I live in Chicago with my husband, John, and two children: daughter Logan (5) and son Ben (3). I run a health and wellness blog (kaleifornian.com) and integrative health coaching business (all soon to be rebranded jessicaturney.com). I enjoyed seeing Catalina friends Lauren Darnell Gillette and Stacy Jordan Quinkert ’04 while we were living in L.A. last winter. I got to meet Lauren’s darling new baby this past December and also spent time with Lesley Vittetoe Tepper, Loren Vittetoe Straub ’05, and Megan Pollacci ’05 at the baby shower for my sister, Ali Wasserman ’05! The most significant life event these past few years was stepping away from my corporate career in media/tech to follow my decade-plus-long passion for health and wellness. This pivot has also allowed me more flexibility and time with my little ones. Beth Hylle Schaal: I live in Sacramento, CA, with my husband, Tom, daughter Henrietta (8), and son Robbie (5). I work at Electronic Arts doing people relations. One of my highlights for 2021 was a surprise birthday visit in July from fellow Catalina alum Jasmine Wibbens and her daughter Marilla (4)! Otherwise, I stay busy exploring my sustainability and creativity by sewing

Calvin, son of Justine Sterling ’03

Kelsey Hodgins Diver ’03 with her family

Hightower Tower ’03 and family

Coral Taylor Ajayi ’03 with her husband and son

and knitting my own wardrobe. Ashley Hightower Tower: I’m living in Clovis, CA, with my husband, Sean, and enjoying being a mom to four amazing little people. Our pandemic baby, Parker (1), was born in August 2020. His older siblings Hailey (10), Jackson (8), and Hannah (4) adore him. Spent a week with my sisters Jessica Hightower Joshi ’05, Kelsey Hightower ’08, and Tierney Hightower ’13 as we celebrated Kelsey’s wedding in Carmel this past July. And I got to catch up with Kristin Frick in San Diego in October!

Soli Romero: In September, I moved to the Atwater Village area of Los Angeles into my new home. I’ve been having fun decorating it, and also having the occasional solo dance party in the living room when the mood strikes. I currently work on the Netflix show Dead to Me, which has been impacted by the ongoing pandemic through a series of shutdowns and shifting schedules, but I’m just rolling with it. Last spring, alongside a talented group of friends, I wrote a few episodes and executive produced a short form series, Looking For Me, that is currently making its way through the festival circuit. I’ve been able to meet up with Catherine Nicora and Andrea Munson in between surges, and have also had a few Zoom-based cocktail hours with Catalina friends during early quarantine. We’re all just doing our best. Stay safe everyone!

Casey Severance

McDevitt: I live in Marin County, CA, with my husband, John, and three young children, Eloise, Johnny, and Tucker. I work at a private wine club in St. Helena on their membership team. Due to COVID, I only stay in touch with Catalina friends virtually but get to see Sydney Weinger ’05, who happens to live right down the street! I am looking forward to resuming some sort of a normal life with the ability to travel and see family and friends.

Hayley Bloomingdale: I live in London with my husband and two daughters. We recently went home to California for Thanksgiving and got to meet Finn, the son of Lauren Darnell Gillette! Sara Mohsin: I recently moved back to Monterey

County in late 2021, as I had been living and working in Vancouver, BC, since 2014. Since moving back home, I am happy that I am able to work at our family business with my parents and my brother. Over the past few years I have been able to see a few Catalina friends, like Katy Bozzo, Andrea Munson, and Tracy Hobbs Jones ’75. Andrea Munson: One of our classmates recently reminded me that our 20th reunion is coming up. How can that be?! And the amazing thing is that nearly 20 years after our days at Catalina, I am exploring San Diego with Kristin Frick, building blocks with Alex Sutty’s sweet sons, and catching up on life over dinner and wine with Soli Romero in Los Feliz. I’m so grateful that we have the kind of connection where we can pick up right where we left off. There is something really beautiful and “homey” in the comfort that is felt within these moments with friends. I very much hope to catch up with you all in person next year. Lastly, let it be known that Annijke Wade is the most inspiring human coming out of 2021. I’m in complete awe of you, Anni, and I can’t wait to visit you in Denver with Kaitlyn Lynch and Kristin Frick. Red Rocks, here we come. Erin Bauer: I have been in Seattle for the last five years working as a rheumatologist and living with my daughters, Margo (4) and Josie (2), and husband, Damin. We try to get back to Monterey to visit my parents a couple of times a year and it’s certainly as beautiful as ever.

Kelsey Hodgins

Diver: I am still living in Massachusetts and working as a teacher at a learning center. My husband, Dennis, and I

welcomed our son, Robert (Bobby), in April 2021. Maggie (2) seems to like her brother. I don’t get out to Monterey as often as I would like; however, I see the lives you all are living via Facebook and could not be more proud of being a part of such an eclectic class. You all are amazing women doing wonderful and important things. Coral Taylor Ajayi: At the end of 2020, my husband, Akinyemi “Yemi,” and I welcomed our firstborn, Akintayo “Tayo.” His name means Joy Warrior or Joy Brave in Yoruba. Everyone feels very accomplished that we all survived the first year and Tayo is a bubbly, healthy little guy. We managed to take our first family vacation and family photos in Honolulu. I celebrated my five-year anniversary as a partner at Starbucks Coffee in Seattle, WA, and took on a role as strategy manager in operations services last April after four years in product and brand management.

Katie Fruzynski

katie.fruzynski@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

05

Madeline Callander

madeline.callander@gmail.com

Casey Sedlack: I have grown my family to a total of five humans. As of January I have a daughter, Tillie (1), and two boys, Charlie (3) and Levi (4). My husband and I are still ranching in Wyoming, and I have been working as a life coach helping

Cece Fourchy Quinn ’05, Olivia Hussman Ramsey ’05 and Eliza Hussman Gaines ’05 at the baptism of Olivia’s daughter

Charlotte, daughter of Lyndsay Peden ’05

Alex Sutty ’03 and family

people learn to thrive in the midst of transition or times of struggle. Despite the chaos in our world, life is good for the Sedlack-Sorch family. As always, come visit! Olivia Hussman Ramsey: This past May, we welcomed our third child, Elizabeth Hussman “Liddy” Ramsey. Cece Fourchy Quinn and Eliza Hussman Gaines are her godmothers. I have spent the last year serving on the board of ACCESS, our local school for children with special needs, and have enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom to our son, Wright (5), and our daughter, Annie (3). We’ve been lucky enough to visit Monterey several times this year and I’ve loved showing them where I went to high school! Lyndsay Peden: I’ve been a bit busy the last month. My partner, Timothy Hodson, and I have been celebrating the birth of our daughter! Charlotte Meadow Hodson was born in January 2022. Cece Fourchy Quinn: In November I was delighted to visit Olivia Hussman Ramsey and Eliza Hussman Gaines in Little Rock, AR, for the baptism of my goddaughter, Elizabeth “Liddy” Ramsey. A future Catalina girl, no doubt! I am also looking forward to seeing more of my fellow alums now that COVID-19 restrictions are loosening, and am excited to serve as the Fresno Chapter Chair. Eliza Hussman Gaines: I was promoted to executive editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. My husband and I had our fourth child in March.

The Class of 1994 is without a class correspondent. Please contact Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08, Assistant Director of Alumnae/i Engagement, to volunteer to serve your class in this meaningful way. We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

Natalie Kocekian nkocek@gmail.com

In the last year, I (Natalie Kocekian) moved back to Los Angeles to begin working at YouTube TV and purchased my first home and dog, Theo. Also living in Los Angeles, Kelley Trapp and her husband, Andre Gary, welcomed their first child, a son, Koda, in April 2021. She says, “He can’t wait to meet fellow Catalina quarantine babies!” Speaking of quarantine babies, there were many newborns in 2021 and planned for 2022! We can’t wait to meet them. Ashley Anderson Avilla is having her third child this year, a baby girl. Alexandra Tadduecci Baynes welcomed a baby boy named Colin in June 2021 with her husband, Ronan.

Anna Martielli and her husband, Janson, recently moved to Aptos, CA, to put down some roots closer to family—and they will be welcoming a baby boy in February 2022. Anna still works for Pinterest, leading the Global Sales HR Business Partner team. Kate Carrubba also has an exciting update: she and her husband, Mike, welcomed baby girl Charlotte Melissa Carrubba Best last May. They still live in San Francisco, near Oracle Park, and would love to see anyone from our class at a Giants game. Katie Schoebel Robbins welcomed baby Julia, got married, and is working for Facebook. And Alex Corning welcomed another little boy to

her growing family and looks forward to moving back to Pacific Grove in August 2022. Lexi Dauernheim Lynch is working for PayPal and living in Sunnyvale, where she just gave birth to her daughter, Louella Marliss Lynch, in July 2021. Congrats to all the new mamas! Elle Cahalan started her own personal training business, Ecstatic Motion Training in Denver. Jenny Williams has been working as a therapist with Grateful Heart Holistic Therapy Center and is based in Oakland. In her free time, she has been helping her partner restore a 1974 Toyota Chinook RV and recording songs for an album titled Mountain Misery

Lexi Dauernheim Lynch ’07 with daughter, Louella

Courtney Smith Greene ’07 with her new husband on their wedding day

Alex Taddeucci Baynes ’07 and Kelley Trapp ’07 with their sons

Julia, daughter of Katie Schoebel Robbins ’07

Courtney Smith Greene got married in October 2021, and just graduated with a master’s degree in science and nursing and a family nurse practitioner license, so she is officially a nurse practitioner!

Samantha Marrah is an occupational therapist at Monterey Spine and Joint Physical Therapy working in hand therapy. Shanae Fuentes was recently the course operations lead for the 50th running of the TCS New York City Marathon. Along with this role, she was recognized as the first Hispanic woman to lead that operation for any of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors, which include Boston, Chicago, London, Berlin, and Tokyo. 08

Shannon Gaughf

slgaughf@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue! 09

Mary Bolt

mar.e.bolt@gmail.com

Megan McCaffrey

mccaffrey.mf@gmail.com

10

Maeko Bradshaw

maeko.bradshaw@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue! 11

Kelsey Player

kelsey.player93@gmail.com

Kelsey Riordan

kelseyriordan11@aol.com

Kristina Flathers Ferraro: I graduated from business school, moved to South Bend, IN, and got married last year to Alex Ferraro. Allison Fithian: I married Jake Schwarzbaum in an intimate ceremony at the Santa Catalina Rosary Chapel in November 2021, followed by a larger outdoor ceremony and reception in Carmel Valley the next day. Father Ron led the ceremony and several close friends and Catalina families participated in readings and prayers. In attendance was my sister and Maid of Honor Madeline Fithian ’14, as well as Claire Giffen ’12, Tamsen Forrest ’13, Catherine Armanasco ’10, Cathleen Bettiga ’10, Clementine

Yost, Lauren Bishop, Hana Mohsin, Alexis Davi ’14, René Kausin ’14, Hannah Clevenger ’14, Jessica Nicholas Price ’03, Julie Yurkovich Forrest ’78, and Perla Armanasco Grey ’72. Taylor Griffon: After six long years in San Diego, I relocated to Washington, D.C.! After receiving an offer from my current company to move to headquarters for a new position, I packed up my apartment and

Jessica Hightower Joshi ’05, Kelsey Hightower ’08, Ashley Hightower Tower ’03, and Tierney Hightower ’13 at Kelsey’s wedding

Members of the Class of 2011 catch up: Kelsey Player, Rae Gregory, Taylor Griffon, and Kyra Morrissey

The Class of 2007 at Reunion 2022

moved across the country. I work for NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command), and I am the presidential budget justification and project development systems senior program manager. Please reach out if you are in the D.C. area. I’d love to catch up! Last year when our reunion went virtual, Kyra Morrissey, Kelsey Player, Rae Gregory, and I took matters into our own hands and spent our 10-year reunion in Monterey enjoying many, many glasses of wine and reminiscing on our Catalina experiences. Christina Quisno: 2021 was an exciting year in Switzerland,

where I continued to grow in my financial career and travel throughout Europe. I was able to pursue one of my favorite passions: skiing! I look forward to another year and to returning to the USA in the summer.

12

Katharine Garcia

katharine.garcia8@yahoo.com

Chloe Dott

aquabubble87@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

13

Caitlin Dullanty

caitlindullanty@gmail.com

Annie Haueter

anniehaueter@gmail.com

Abbey Austin: 2021 was full of excitement for me! I got offered a new role at SF-based apparel company Marine Layer managing their production operations, and so far I’ve been loving it. The biggest highlight was getting engaged in Italy to my fiancé, Jason, in November. We are planning on getting married in 2023. Annie Haueter: I am excited to announce that Mike D’Amato and I were

married in a small family-only ceremony in August 2021. Our micro-wedding was incredibly special, and we look forward to a larger reception in the coming year to celebrate again with our friends and family. Mike and I live in Sunnyvale, CA.

14

Kylie Moses kyliemoses14@gmail.com

Emma Russell emmarussell@yahoo.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

15

Julia Clark

julicclark09@gmail.com

Mackenzie Fisher kenzieayn7@gmail.com

Daniela Avalos Garcia: I am currently living in Guadalajara, Mexico, and working for a tequila company, Clase Azul, where I got promoted to HR business partner in August. I help my co-workers all over Mexico with various HR matters and help the U.S. team with the onboarding of their new team members. I also specialize in human resources strategic management. Julia Clark: I am

Abbey Austin ’13 with her fiancé

The Class of 2012 at Reunion 2022

currently living and working in San Francisco. My sister, Madeline Clark ’13, and I started a cooking Instagram/blog (@kitchen_bythesea) to welcome you into our kitchen! The focus is on creating community through elevated, family-style cooking. We share tips and recipes on all components of entertaining, from table settings, charcuterie, dinner, and, most importantly, dessert. Maddy Fisher: I am excited to have completed my training to become a volunteer tour guide at the beautiful Point Sur Lightstation in Big Sur. It’s closed to the public most of the time, but contact me for a private tour! Leslie Gobel: I am currently pursuing a master’s of education at the University of Washington in Seattle, specializing in environmental education and nonprofit administration. While taking courses, I work through a practicum teaching science and

community building to all ages of students in the outdoors. Outside of school, I am either working at a rock climbing gym or exploring the national parks close by.

18

Sylvan Free sylvanfree@gmail.com

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

The Class of 2016 is without a class correspondent. Please contact Shannon Gaughf Dillon ’08, Director of Alumnae/i Engagement, to volunteer to serve your class in this meaningful way. We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue! 17

Annarose Hunt

annarosyrosy@gmail.com

Giselle Espinola-Jimenez: I graduated from Saint Mary’s College of California, cum laude with a BA in philosophy and a minor in law and society, and moved across the country and began my JD candidacy as an honors student at New England Law in Boston. Audrey Bennett: Since 2020, a fellow Stanford student and I have been building out a 36-foot sailboat for marine conservation research. We are sailing down the Pacific coast of Baja in March, and then hope to continue down the coast of Central America. You can follow our journey at lokahioceanscience.com. This spring, I will be working on a tall ship with my little sister, Mia Bennett ’19, on a research cruise from Hawaii to Kiritimati Island.

19

Kacey Konya

konya@usc.edu

Kacey Konya: I am loving every moment as a USC Trojan, and am tremendously grateful to finally be back on campus. As a business administration student, I have developed a passion for risk management and have added a minor in applied analytics through USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering. These interests led me to my upcoming summer position with Deloitte Risk and Financial Advisory as a cyber risk intern in Los Angeles. Every step of my college journey has made me increasingly grateful for my Santa Catalina foundation. Fight on.

20

Taylor Ford tnford@usc.edu

We publish notes for each class once a year—oddnumbered class years in the summer and even-numbered in the winter. Look for your class notes in the winter issue!

21

Dylan Barry-Schoen

dbschoen25@gmail.com

The Class of 2017 at Reunion 2022

Illana Hagen ’17 celebrating with classmate Giselle Espinola-Jimenez

Emily Hayes ’19 and Julia Airada ’19 enjoying time in Cabo San Lucas

COMMUNITY TRANSITIONS

Alumnae

Marriages

Deborah Thomason ’79 to Charles Erickson

Emily Lauerman ’06 to Joseph Hennessee-Bresett

Sarah Rudolph ’09 to Scott Levine

Heather Souza ’09 to Cory Logan

Allison Fithian ’11 to Jake Schwarzbaum

Annie Haueter ’13 to Mike D’Amato

Births and Adoptions

Rebecca Lohse ’97, daughter Avery

Adrienne Harris ’98, son Avi

Damaris Colhoun ’99, daughter Rose

Brogiin Keeton ’01, son Ellington

Gaby Asmus Raila ’03, daughter Maya

Kelsey Hodgins Diver ’03, son Bobby

Coral Taylor Ajayi ’03, son Tayo

Cassie Bettancourt Peters ’04, son Tyson

Eliza Hussman Gaines ’05, son Walter

Lyndsay Peden ’05, daughter Charlotte

Olivia Hussman Ramsey ’05, daughter Liddy

Katie Campbell ’06, daughter Cleo

Lindsey Sedlack Berkowitz ’06, son Archer

Niki Ranchod ’09, daughter Bella

Jessica Gutshall Hugo ’16, daughter Rachel

In Memory

The family of Eileen Schultz English ’56

Jane de Benedetti McInnis ’57 on the death of her husband

The family of Mimi Desmond Mathews ’57

Lila Desmond French ’59 on the death of her sister

The family of Jane Barry Graham ’60

Susie Blair Riley ’62 on the death of her husband

Maria Remenyi Cantrell ’63 on the death of her mother

Robin Hatcher ’63 on the death of her sister

The family of Susana Washburn ’65

Barbara Hately du Pont ’65, Pamela Hately Williams ’65, and Sheila Hately Thornley ’69 on the death of their mother

The family of Debbie Simpson ’67

Katie Finnegan Darnell ’72, Ann Finnegan ’73, and Stacey Finnegan Foster ’79 on the death of their mother

Page Wedlake Drummond ’72 on the death of her mother

Kathy Fay ’66 and Sally Fay ’74 on the death of their mother

Ann Wilson Nelson ’79 and Ina Wilson ’80 on the death of their father

Cecilia Marihart ’89 on the death of her mother

Cammie Calcagno Newell ’91 on the death of her mother

Katie Riley Legarza ’92 on the death of her father

Chelsea Shofner Dow ’95 on the death of her brother

Gina Felice Taber ’98 on the death of her father

The family of Morgan Barker ’02

Lower and Middle School Alumni

Marriages

Isaac Nikssarian ’06 LS to Sofi Virabyan

In Memory

The family of Lou Ann Bowersox Harney ’55 LS

Former Faculty

In Memory

The family of Ella Nicklas

Faculty & Staff

Births

Debra Burke, daughter Noa

Items in Transitions reflect communications received between October 23, 2021 and March 31, 2022.

Astri Rahardja ’01 with her family

Charlotte, daughter of Kate Carrubba ’07

Board of Trustees

Laura K. Lyon ’81

Chair

Paul J. Felton

Vice-Chair

Matthew T. Gibbs II

Vice-Chair

Carolyn Hartwell O’Brien ’74

Vice-Chair

Michael Roffler

Treasurer

Tracy Miller Hass ’75

Secretary

Margaret K. Bradley

Head of School

Louise Diepenbrock Baker ’81

Sister Claire Barone

Gerardo A. Borromeo

Brett Davis Collins ’93

Herm Edwards

Jon Giffen

Tracy A. Huebner Brogiin Keeton ’01

Edward King

Charles I. Kosmont

Kate Brinks Lathen ’96

Tina Hansen McEnroe ’70, ’66 LS

Judith McDonald Moses ’86, ’82 LS

Mary Khasigian Nikssarian

Kenneth Peyton

Victor Ramirez

Jalynne Tobias Redman ’72

President, Alumnae Association

Honorary Trustee Brooks Walker, Jr.

School Administration

Margaret K. Bradley

Head of School

John Aimé

Assistant Head of School

John Murphy, Ph.D.

Assistant Head of School for Mission and Identity

Crystal Boyd ’89

Director of Marketing and Communications

Kevin Wasbauer

Senior Director of Development

Ron Kellermann

Business Manager

Lower & Middle School

Christy Pollacci

Head of Lower and Middle School

Janet Luksik

Director of External Affairs, PreK-8

Director of Tuition Assistance, PreK-12

Maria Canteli

Director of Middle School

Amy McAfee

Director of Curriculum and Learning

Chris Haupt

Director of Student Life

Lydia Mansour

Director of PreK and Kindergarten

Upper School

Julie Lenherr Edson ’88

Head of Upper School

Peter Myers

Assistant Head of Upper School

Katherine Busch

Dean of Students

Sofia Chandler

Director of Health and Wellness

Jamie Buffington Browne ’85

Director of Admission