A Kennedy Catholic Lancer Publication
COMMUNI-K October 2017
JO
HN
F. K E
E NN
DY
LEARNING, FAITH, LEADERSHIP
This past month, the consultant to our international program, Mariko Fujiwara, arranged for a trip to Korea with the sole purpose of reengaging with a country that at one time was strongly represented at Kennedy Catholic. The goals for our trip to Korea were to connect with our past Korean Alums and their parents, to expose Kennedy Catholic to the Korean market to reacquaint them to our amazing school, to engage with agents that are interested in promoting our mission, to engage the perfect Lancer families to the extent we recruit our domestic families and finally to establish partnerships.
Mike Prato - President
“
A spiritual conscience is what ultimately underpins the Lancer Family.
”
Stella Lee ‘07, Sehee Song ‘17, and Justin Ahn ‘11 were on hand to assist in the recruiting of families. The first two days, we connected with 25 families with serious inquiries. Homestay Director Teri Crosswhite and I would have been lost without them. They truly told our story and later that first Sunday night at dinner, alums, their parents and siblings joined us to further share their memories, personal encounters and how helping us was about giving back. I loved hearing that. We engaged agents of many kinds. I did have one heated exchange with an agent only interested in volume not relationships. Yes, contrary to who we are, but we were able to meet with a couple that we have had experience with in the past, who may be our best lead for future Lancers. Unexpected, but most important were the spiritual encounters our parents and alumni shared and how those events shape them today. “I was faced with an ethics question,” one alumnus told me. “As a graduate assistant, I was ‘required’ to cover my department head’s teaching assignment, grade his papers and submit my research under his name. I gathered several of my fellows and I wrote a petition which we all signed. It actually did change that department. I never would have seen this as injustice had I not been taught ethics and morals at Kennedy Catholic.” A spiritual conscience is what ultimately underpins the Lancer Family. The seeds were planted and connections reestablished and confidently, we honored the words of our Advisory Board president, “Seek only those families and students that exhibit what it means to be a Lancer. Your faculty, parent community and student body expect that.” That was delivered by our amazing alums.
Kennedy Catholic High School
140S 140th Street, Burien WA 98168
www.kennedyhs.org