Bishop's Magazine Fall/Winter 2017

BISHOP’S A MAGAZINE FOR THE BISHOP’S SCHOOL FAMILY AND FRIENDS FALL/WINTER 2017

Banner Years Keep Coming for Knights Athletics A New Day, with a Focus on Student Wellness

table of contents

BISHOP’S A magazine for The Bishop’s School family and friends

FEATURES

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Planting STEM Across the Bishop’s Curriculum New initiative focuses on integrating science, technology, engineering and math in interdisciplinary collaboration.

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A New Day

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Reunion Weekend Fun

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Fall/Winter 2017 • Vol. 15, No. 1

Student wellness is the focus of Bishop’s new schedule.

Credits Editor Keri Peckham

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A photo montage from Reunion Weekend

Alumni Lead with Compassion

Managing Editor Cathy Morrison

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Three Bishop’s alumni offer their perspective on 21st century citizenship.

Illustration Amy Dang

Jam-Packed Agenda for New Board President

Contributing Photographers Pablo Mason Cathy Morrison Keri Peckham Dave Siccardi Doug Sooley Kyra Spengler ’16 Michael Spengler

14 Page to Stage in 24 Hours

Annual daylong drama marathon involves alumni, faculty and students.

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Teaching, Learning and Living Beyond the Textbook Faculty Focus: World Languages Department Chair Julieta Torres-Worstell

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Banner Years Keep Coming at Bishop’s Coaching continuity and a steady stream of talent factor into Knights athletic success.

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The Bishop’s School

Bringing Collaborative Learning to the Table In partnership with Phillips Exeter Academy, Bishop’s hosts a workshop on the Harkness Method.

Where in the World Are Bishop’s Teachers?

Jacobs Prize recipients and Bishop’s founding editor travel the globe.

25 family matters: class notes,

reunion recaps and transitions

HONOR ROLL OF DONORS 2016-2017

Honor Roll Staff Jayne Atkinson Gale Hill Lisa Johnston Cathy Morrison Graphic Design Design Perspective

Bishop’s Profile: Board of Trustees President Annette Bradbury

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Contributing Writers Zach Jones ’01 Melissa Kenyon Cathy Morrison Keri Peckham Trisha J. Ratledge Joe Tash Jared Scott Tesler

Head of School Aimeclaire Roche

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Assistant Head of School and Chief Advancement Officer John A. Trifiletti Director of Alumni Relations Sarah Garro

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Bishop’s is published two times a year

by The Bishop’s School.

We welcome your feedback. Please send story ideas to keri.peckham@bishops.com or contact us at (858) 875-0790.

The Bishop’s School 7607 La Jolla Boulevard La Jolla, CA 92037-4799 Phone: (858) 459-4021 Fax: (858) 459-3914 www.bishops.com Mission Statement The Bishop’s School is an academic community pursuing intellectual, artistic and athletic excellence in the context of the Episcopal tradition. We are dedicated to offering the highest quality education to a diverse student body and to fostering integrity, imagination, moral responsibility and commitment to serving the larger community.

Cover Photo: Several players from the 2017 football team, photo by Doug Sooley.

on the quad with AC

Enjoying this edition of Bishop’s magazine, I cannot help but think of the ancient figure Janus, the god of beginnings and endings, gates and transitions, time and its passing. Janus is usually depicted as having two faces—one which looks backwards, and one which looks forwards. So much about which you will read on these pages is about Bishop’s great past and its incredibly promising future, two equally important faces of an amazing institution.

Alumni events have flourished on campus this fall, from the excitement of the 24-Hour Play Festival to Reunion Weekend. It is a pleasure, too, to highlight on these pages the compassionate leadership of Bishop’s alumni. We are proud that the School’s commitment to service extends far beyond graduation day.

And new initiatives abound. Bishop’s partnership with Phillips Exeter Academy allows us to work with teachers from around the globe on what makes a great student-centered classroom. The launch of the Wu Tsai Center for Creative Sciences has allowed us to think carefully about interdisciplinary work, meaningful priority on adolescent sleep; the schedule was created in concert with and in response to contemporary research on what makes for the healthiest pace of an adolescent’s day.

I hope you share my pride that Bishop’s cherishes and respects its venerable history yet embraces modern technologies, keeps abreast of data-driven research on student health and well-being and is always striving to be a part of a vibrant, wide and modern dialogue on educational excellence. This is the hallmark of a Bishop’s education: the ability both to be guided by perspective honed over years and to be forward-looking.

Thank you for all of your support of this grand school, its past, present and future.

Sincerely,

Aimeclaire Roche Head of School

1 on the quad with AC

particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our new daily schedule puts a

Planting STEM Across the Bishop’s Curriculum 2

STEM

Planting Across the Bishop’s Curriculum

By Joe Tash

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new initiative at The Bishop’s School aims to raise the profile of science and technology across the entire School curriculum, fostering an emphasis on interdisciplinary learning to prepare students for the working world of the future.

The new focus on STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math, was made possible by a major endowment from a Bishop’s family, as well as additional funding from the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation and Henry and Carol Hunte, which will pay for new technology equipment.

Leading the effort to build a shared vision for incorporating more technology and science learning into the Bishop’s curriculum are two newly hired teachers—Alex Cabral, who holds the Wu Tsai Endowed Chair in Computer Science, and Lani Keller, who holds the Wu Tsai Endowed Chair in

Science. The endowment is named for the donors, Bishop’s parents Clara Wu and her husband, Joe Tsai.

“Head of School Aimeclaire Roche expressed a need, and they responded, with exceptional generosity,” says John Trifiletti, assistant head of school and chief advancement officer. “The Wu Tsai family has a deep commitment to STEM education.”

Both Alex and Lani are teaching this year, as well as launching the new STEM initiative. First on their to-do list: working with the School community to reach a consensus on what the new focus will look like, and how it will be designed to fit with The Bishop’s School’s existing culture and values.

Alex and Lani plan a series of visits to other schools and universities to learn about their STEM programs.

They’re also looking for a place on

campus to house a “maker space,” a sort of incubator equipped with a variety of gear, such as a 3D printer, computer-aided design software, laser cutters, sewing machines, arts and crafts supplies and woodworking tools.

“We’re excited to design the space, build it and get people in there,” Lani shares.

Another piece of the puzzle is establishing relationships with outside organizations, such as tech firms and universities, to allow collaboration between Bishop’s students and those organizations.

Taken together, the pieces of the STEM initiative will represent a “profound change,” says Alex, who taught at the Windward School, an independent school in Los Angeles, before coming to Bishop’s this fall. “This will change the way students learn, and the way they see the world.”

the School community; rather, they are seeking input from faculty and administrators, and plan also to reach out to students and families. To that end, they recently conducted a survey of faculty members. The survey showed that teachers see a need for resources such as time and space, as well as equipment, software and training to help them achieve the desired interdisciplinary approach.

A big part of the new teachers’ job is to help make those resources available. “I see my role as someone helping to create opportunities for the interdisciplinary experience to happen,” Alex says. “We want this to come from the community as a whole.”

“We don’t want to come from the outside and say, ‘This is how things should be done here,’” says Lani.

“I think it’s important to come together as a community and campus to determine what we’re going to do.”

Alex Cabral

Lani Keller

Bishop’s won’t be alone in moving toward an interdisciplinary approach to teach science and technology, especially when it comes to schools adding maker spaces to their campuses. Becky LeBret, communications officer for the San Diego Maker’s Guild, says she’s visited more than half a dozen schools in San Diego County with their own maker labs, where students can go to put their creative ideas into action. “It’s popping up more and more now. It’s starting to gain steam from a bunch of different avenues.”

The maker movement has what are essentially two branches that co-exist.

On one hand are technologists interested in building robots, writing code and using equipment like 3D printers to bring their ideas to fruition.

On the other end of the spectrum are those interested in arts and crafts, sewing, cooking, gardening or home brewing.

All of those endeavors fall under the maker movement, LeBret says.

At Cal State San Marcos, educators have formed a group, Maker Ed North County San Diego, where teachers and others interested in the intersection of the maker movement and

3 Planting STEM Across the Bishop’s Curriculum

One of the keys to providing students with the skills they need to succeed in a technology-driven world is an interdisciplinary approach through which students can enhance their problem solving and critical thinking skills, breaking down the traditional barriers between different disciplines.

In turn, the School is launching the Wu Tsai Center for Creative Sciences, a think tank for interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Creative sciences implies a larger umbrella of different disciplines—such as math, English, art and science—brought together to solve problems, with students encouraged to use their technical skills and creativity. As Aimeclaire shared, “Our teachers are eager to build bridges between traditional disciplinary silos, and harness our students’ blossoming interest in robotics, engineering, computer science and design thinking.”

“The challenges of the 21st century demand interdisciplinary approaches,” says Lani, who came to Bishop’s this year from Connecticut, where she taught at Quinnipiac University.

“It’s important to break those silos down and have students exposed to all of this at once.”

Both Lani and Alex stress that they are not trying to impose their ideas on

Planting STEM Across the Bishop’s Curriculum 4

Alex works with sixth-graders, researching and developing interactive computer presentations.

the classroom can share ideas and collaborate. The group currently has more than 20 members, and it’s growing.

The interdisciplinary approach, along with the creation of a maker space on campus, offers more flexibility to students than the traditional approach of courses that are very specific to a certain discipline, whether it be math, art, reading or science, says Bishop’s Academic Dean Janice Murabayashi, who is working with Alex and Lani on the STEM initiative. “There’s a lot of opportunity for students to find something that speaks to them and affords them a lot of skills. It is so applicable to the real world. It’s a different way of experiencing education than traditional subjects.”

The maker space will foster creative thinking and encourage students to try out new ideas and pursue their own projects. “It could be something that ends up changing the world. It’s the

attitude that anything is possible,” says Janice.

As Bishop’s STEM initiative begins to take shape, a growing student interest in computers and technology should provide additional momentum.

Two new technology clubs have been launched over the past year by students on campus, and each one has ambitious plans to combine the pursuit of knowledge with having fun.

Natalie Slosar ’19 started a STEM club last year with a friend.

Their focus was making circuits and learning to use robotics kits. This year, Natalie set her sights higher— as high as 23 miles above the Earth’s surface, to be exact. “This year I want to do a weather balloon, and I’ve asked club members for other ideas as well,” Natalie says.

Natalie has most of the parts needed for the weather balloon left over from a family project that didn’t make it off the ground. The brain of the device is a “Raspberry Pi,” a small, lightweight computer that can be adapted to many different types of projects. In this case, sensors, video and still cameras and a tracking device will be added to the computer’s circuitry.

Natalie is supportive of the School’s STEM initiative and thinks it will benefit students. “I’d like to see more focus on how to apply STEM technology to everyday life.” For example, she would like to see a class on “how things work” added to the Bishop’s lineup. The class could focus on the inner workings of

different types of technology, from software and circuit boards to airplanes and cars. Natalie also loves the idea of a maker lab on campus, where students can test-drive their knowledge and ideas.

This year, another student, Kira Tran ’20, along with a friend, launched a new technology club, called “Behind the Screen,” which focuses on computer engineering, the hardware side of computing. This group will focus on learning the ins and outs of such gear as “bread boards,” which are used to assemble circuits that can perform a variety of tasks, to a device called a “Makey Makey,” which allows the user to connect household items such as a banana, plants, coins or silverware to their computers.

The device fools the computer into thinking that when the user taps on the item, he or she is actually pressing a button on a keyboard.

One example, just for fun, is using software to create a virtual piano on the screen, which can be played by tapping on several bananas hooked up to the Makey Makey device with alligator clips.

A “banana piano” may sound silly, but it can help students understand how the technology they use every day actually works. And it’s the type of equipment that may be found in Bishop’s maker space once it’s up and running.

“I think it’s really cool STEM is being more widespread, it’s such a big part of our lives,” Kira says.

Bishop’s new focus on technology is coming at the right time for students, agrees Alex. “The world is changing so quickly.

Technology is a huge part of everything we do, and it’s only going to get bigger.”

Lani’s students model meiosis, a type of cell division.

A NEW DAY

The Bishop’s School introduces a new academic schedule with student wellness in mind.

By Trisha J. Ratledge

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“That extra 10 minutes makes a huge difference in the amount of content we can get through now.” mostly in terms of students, and how they grow and change over time.

A school itself needs to grow and change, too, in response to research, new perspectives and the world at large.

It is paramount that we are willing to examine our own practices, which may have been applicable in a different time, and to make change that ensures, always, that we are working toward the best for our students.”

Chaired by mathematics teacher Dana Pierce, a 16-member committee took on the task of dismantling and reconstructing both the school day and the academic year. Over the course of two semesters, faculty members from

across campus assessed the myriad needs of Bishop’s students and developed a number of test models for feedback from students, parents, faculty and administrators. All models shared the mandate of a later start time, based on current adolescent sleep research.

“It’s absolutely our responsibility to pay attention to those studies that indicate a student is not as effective due to sleep exhaustion,” says Head of Upper School Brian Ogden, who worked closely with the scheduling committee.

“When we examine our own survey data and see that students aren’t getting the recommended amount of sleep, we then have to ask ourselves, ‘What is our role in that?’ The wonderful thing about independent schools is that we can be leaders when it comes to being a laboratory for different approaches and methods.”

Among the key modifications: The school start time shifted 50 minutes later, from 7:25 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. every day.

Ultimately, the committee tasked itself with understanding not only the Bishop’s experience from a student’s perspective but also the capacity—and limits—of adolescent learning as part of a rigorous academic setting.

“The schedule isn’t just about the start and stop times,” says scheduling committee member and science teacher

5 A New Day

t all started with a single question: Do our students get enough sleep?

Seems simple enough. Pretty quickly, however, that query drew the entire Bishop’s community into a two year quest to better understand student needs, examine the School’s values, and determine how the information gained could lead to improved student wellness and optimal academic success.

With the formation of the Bishop’s Balance of Life Committee in the 2015-2016 academic year, faculty, administrators, parents and students began to explore the current state of health and wellness among students, and the committee’s findings confirmed what campus leaders already suspected: Sleep deprivation was a real issue.

Widely respected research on the subject points out that natural sleep wake cycles among adolescents trend later by up to two hours and identifies early school starts as a contributing factor to sleep loss. Adolescents who get less than the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep are at risk for depression, obesity, athletic injuries, reduced academic performance and more.

A solution called for by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Sleep Foundation and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, among others, is for schools to adopt later start times, aligning their daily schedules more closely with the sleep

biorhythms of the adolescents they serve. How that solution played out at The Bishop’s School was next in the hands of the calendar and scheduling committees.

“Schools are all about growth and evolution,” Head of School Aimeclaire Roche says of Bishop’s decision to address the issue of sleep and wellness among its students. “We think of that

A New Day 6

and that emphasized predictability and consistency,” Brian notes.

“Time is probably the most valuable Rachel Ching. “It’s really about how resource we have at Bishop’s because of much time students can effectively be how limited it is in supply,” adds Matt engaged between transitions. There Valji, history and social sciences teacher was a lot of valuing everything the and scheduling committee member.

School asked the students to do and “With fewer classes per day, the students giving them time, so they can have are literally running around less. This the mental capacity to process it all.” helps slow down the pace of the day When the committee culled the test models down to a single recommendation to accommodate a healthier and more balanced student experience.” for the administration, the changes Well into the were far-reaching. current academic Among the key year, Brian sees a modifications: The difference in his school start time senior advisees, shifted 50 minutes who he says are later, from 7:25 a.m. “happier, healthier, to 8:15 a.m. every less stressed and day; the six-day more engaged in the rotation changed to morning.” Students a seven-day rotation; themselves are also seeing the benefits varied class lengths were replaced by of the new schedule, from getting more standardized 70-minute class periods; sleep and having a more balanced the number of regular class periods homework load to enjoying breaks was reduced to a maximum of four during the academic day for more per day; three of the rotation days now feature two enrichments; the lunch break flexible enrichments and activities.

“If I have a test, I think it’s beneficial is extended by up to 10 minutes on three to go to bed early and then study for rotation days for club lunch meetings an hour before I leave for school,” says and activities; and the academic year Nathan Wu ’19. “The late start gives me was extended slightly. time to review material in the morning.

“The theme that dominated our I find that more effective.” discussions was having a schedule that “With four classes, my preparation at put students first, that featured a late start,

“Time is probably the most valuable resource we have at Bishop’s because of how limited it is in supply.”

night has been cut down dramatically,” adds Isaiah Dawson ’18. “That’s definitely helped with getting a good amount of sleep. Last year, it was harder to go to sleep at the time I do now.”

“The new class length works in every classroom setting,” says Emma Oliver ’18.

“You’re not struggling to stay focused through an hour-and-a-half class and you are not in a scramble to get the material done for the day. I really like the way the schedule works.”

Built in to the new schedule are expanded opportunities for students to personalize how they enrich their day by connecting with each other in meaningful ways outside of the classroom. “We wanted to give greater space and recognition to student clubs and activities, which are a growing presence on campus,” Matt explains.

“Club lunches allow our students to have more substantive meetings and discussions.”

“Last year, we would spend weeks planning our club meetings and trying to make them fun and interactive, then we had to rush to get our club finished,” says Sayeh Kohani ’18. “That extra 10 minutes makes a huge difference in the amount of content we can get through now.”

For The Bishop’s School, the question posed two years ago about student sleep was the catalyst for a new schedule that not only embraces the School’s values and traditions but welcomes the changing needs of today’s 21st century student.

“One of the amazing things about Bishop’s is that the students are at the heart of what we’re doing,” says Regina

Varied class lengths were replaced by standardized 70-minute class periods.

Ballard, religion and ethics department chair and scheduling committee member. “For any committee that I’m involved in, the questions are always, ‘What’s best for the students? What’s going to make them most successful?

The lunch break is extended by up to 10 minutes on three rotation days for club lunch meetings and activities.

over what we’re doing here than we had before.

“It’s fascinating because the Earth still turns on its axis every 24 hours and so many things are the same. All we did was move the furniture around and yet we’ve ended up unlocking so much human potential by having done that.”

For their part, not only do students appreciate the work that goes into

7 A New Day

How can we best serve them?’ Adults on campus overwhelmingly feel that way.”

Independent schools enjoy an autonomy and flexibility that makes them uniquely poised to take a leadership role in addressing such issues as later start times and student wellness.

At the same time that Bishop’s studied its own community in depth and made sweeping changes across campus, the California legislature considered and ultimately rejected Senate Bill 328, which proposed mandated start times no earlier than 8:30 a.m. for all of California’s public middle and high schools.

While Bishop’s is still in the midst of the first year of the new schedule and calendar, campus leaders are assessing the changes for their intended effect and gathering feedback from the constituent groups. Early returns are promising that a balance of life’s bounties as well as a calmer pace is more easily achieved among the students.

“We’re still in the same 2,500-square foot house but somehow it feels like a bigger house,” says Ian Hayden, world languages teacher and scheduling committee member. “We have more space. We have time to breathe, and we have time to think about what we’re doing. People are settling in and there’s a greater sense of presence and a greater ability to reflect, connect and relate

initiatives such as the revamped schedule, they also recognize how these efforts contribute to their future success.

“I’m taking the most rigorous academic course load yet, but I feel like I can take it on, not only because of the schedule change, but because of this community that I’m surrounded by every day,” says Emma.

“The teachers and administrators want to see us prosper in a genuine way.

That doesn’t just mean getting accolades and grades, but it means to have the Bishop’s experience, which they are defining as a well-rounded, supportive experience that cultivates not only scholars but fascinating, interested, caring human beings. They are helping us in our quest to develop our own identities.”

Reunion Weekend Fun 8

Reunion Weekend Fun: Oct. 13-15, 2017

Alumni Lead with Compassion

By Melissa Kenyon

Dylan de Waart ’15

When Dylan isn’t in the classroom pursuing his economics degree at Harvard University, he is busy representing more than 90 campus affinity groups as president of the Student Advisory Committee or serving as senior editor of the Harvard International Review. His passion for service to the community started at Bishop’s. As a high school student, in 2013 he founded his own non governmental organization, Global Buddy, which he led for three years, connecting high school students and promoting cultural understanding and global friendship. Since 2015, Dylan has interned at the Harvard Foundation, facilitating intercultural and interracial campus dialogue. Dylan also worked as a summer business analyst at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, and plans to join full time after graduation.

Dusie Hoagland ’01

Jen Jackson ’92

After graduating from Brown University, where she studied international relations, French civilization and dance, Dusie moved to Paris to teach English in the city’s immigrant neighborhoods. Soon, with riots breaking out, she grew familiar with the constant tensions and grievances between the Muslim youth and French society. This lit a fire in Dusie, who wanted to expose this tragic disparity. She equipped herself with a master’s in human rights from University College London’s School of Public Policy. Before returning to the U.S., she served as a junior policy officer at 4Children, a British children’s charity. Since 2010, she has worked for Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, a national nonprofit that convenes leaders with diverse or conflicting views to build trust, identify solutions and form alliances for action on critical national issues.

Jen has taken her love for nature and turned it into a career. She studied economics and foreign service at Georgetown University, but it was through volunteering as a backpacking guide for University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) outdoor program that she realized her true calling. Jen earned her master’s degree in resource management and environmental planning, and after working in outreach at the Sierra Club, she worked for Save the Bay, East Bay Municipal Utility District and the City of San Pablo. Now, Jen works at the San Francisco Department of the Environment as the toxics reduction and healthy ecosystems program manager. With her team, she leads a variety of campaigns and programs, and implements policies that reduce toxic pollution and improve environmental and public health.

Director of Finance and Development, Convergence Center for Policy Resolution

Toxics Reduction and Healthy Ecosystems Program Manager, San Francisco Department of the Environment

9 Alumni Lead with Compassion

Class of 2019 Harvard University

Integral to The Bishop’s School’s 21st Century Citizenship Curriculum are four pillars: service learning, global education, diversity and community life and sustainability. This academic foundation helps to nurture and inspire individuals to lead with compassion and collaborate with others to work toward a more service-oriented and accepting world. Three alumni who exemplify 21st century citizenship, engaging in their communities and changing them for the better are Dylan de Waart ’15, Dusie Hoagland ’01 and Jen Jackson ’92.

Q&A Q: What causes were important

to you during your time at Bishop’s?

Alumni Lead with Compassion 10

Dusie: I was really into French and Performing Dance Group (PDG)!

But a quality education has always been a cause near and dear to me because I knew I was lucky to be getting the education I did at Bishop’s, and that most people don’t have that opportunity.

Dylan: The two causes closest to my heart were global development work and the Bishop’s community.

In addition to founding Global Buddy, I interned at Project Concern International and helped raise more than $150,000 for water-stressed communities in East Africa as president of the Walk For Water. I also worked as president of Model United Nations and the Green Campus Initiative and as chief-of-staff of the Associated Student Body Council.

Jen: To help my classmates complete their service hours, I organized volunteer opportunities through Beyond Bishop’s Campus. For example, along with classmate Rita Trainer ’92, I organized a “Crop Walk” to raise funds for and bring awareness to famine-stricken parts of the world.

Q: Which causes are important to you today?

Dusie: So many! Human rights, especially the rights of women, minority and immigrant populations.

At the same time, there are so many worthy causes and critical challenges that deserve attention. What’s really my cause right now is promoting a more effective way of addressing these challenges, of solving problems.

Dylan: I am passionate about race relations. For the past two and a half years, I’ve helped promote intercultural and race relations on campus and abroad with the Harvard Foundation.

Jen: I care about reducing pollution, improving water quality and reducing the use of toxic consumer products.

Q: Looking back at your time at

Bishop’s, were there teachers who inspired you to take this particular career path?

Dusie: Gary Hendrickson’s Art of Protest class was particularly influential. It opened my eyes to a lot of social and human rights issues, and it got me thinking how I could make a positive contribution to society.

Dylan: Karri Woods inspired me to join United Nations. David Moseley also had a major impact on my life, as he introduced me to global citizenship and humanitarian work through service trips and the global education program.

Matt Valji and Jeff Geoghegan were other influential mentors.

Jen: Jean Lindsley took me on my first camping trip as part of the science club, which opened my eyes to the beauty of the outdoors.

Q: What pinnacle life experiences

Q:

Q:

Dusie: Helping to grow Convergence from a startup into the organization it is today. I am proud of the work we did to build relationships and catalyze partnerships between the U.S. and Pakistan, of the work that our Education Reimagined initiative is doing to transform education in this country and the influence we are currently having to promote bipartisan options in the health reform debate on Capitol Hill.

Dylan: My biggest accomplishments are ahead of me. I feel confident that my service commitments, and education at Bishop’s and Harvard, are preparing me for a role in which I can make a meaningful contribution to American society and beyond.

Q: How do you stay hopeful and determined in your work?

Dusie: I know people are working for the common good. We are in a difficult time, but I have hope that there are good people. If we could just listen, we would realize that we have more in common than we think we do.

Dylan: Seeing students from different backgrounds and political persuasions engage in meaningful dialogue during Harvard Foundation events. Even during my recent internship at McKinsey & Company, I saw groups in the corporate world dedicated to creating real change in the workplace as well as in their local communities.

Jen: I stay hopeful because I see strong leadership on the West Coast. There is motivation in this region, in particular, to protect our natural resources and meet energy demand with clean, renewable energy sources.

Q: What steps do you think we need to take to work toward a more collaborative society?

Dusie: We need to listen to one another!

Dylan: My mantra is to champion our similarities and celebrate differences.

It’s important to have small group conversations and assume that others have the best of intentions.

Jen: We need to get involved on the local level because that is where change is happening. We can become more knowledgeable about the ingredients in the products we are using in our homes. We also need to continue to find common ground to form alliances and work together.

11 Alumni Lead with Compassion

Jen: This year, we passed landmark legislation to completely ban flame shaped you into the person you are today? retardant chemicals from upholstered furniture and 18 children’s products from being sold in San Francisco.

Dusie: Teaching English in the suburbs We also passed legislation requiring of Paris during the riots exposed me disclosure of antibiotics used in the to discrimination. My students felt like production of meat and poultry to outsiders and that has stayed with me.

Also, my trip to Pakistan was influential. address the issue of antibiotic resistance.

We can move past our countries’ biases if we simply get to know one another.

Do you see progress occurring?

Dylan: That first trip to India with Dr. Moseley was a turning point for me.

Dusie: Convergence is trying to make an Volunteering at an orphanage outside impact by bringing together people who of New Delhi was an immensely don’t normally talk to one another and powerful experience. helping them form partnerships and alliances that can have a positive impact Jen: I will never forget my very first day on society. hike in an oasis in the Anza Borrego desert with Maya Wilson Chakko ’92 and Dylan: People aren’t sitting around on their hands. There is progress happening her family when I was in seventh grade. on the grassroots level.

It was UCSF’s outdoor program that helped me access wilderness adventure.

Jen: I see progress on the local and state My experiences guiding people on the river and hiking shaped who I am today. levels. In San Francisco, we are building unlikely alliances among groups like senior citizen organizations, those fighting To date, what do you perceive as opioid abuse and environmentalists who your biggest accomplishment? are concerned about water quality.

bishop’s profile

Annette Bradbury Jam-Packed Agenda for New Board President

bishop’s profile | Annette Bradbury 12

By Zach Jones ’01

Luke, Annette, Nadine and Daniel Bradbury at Nadine’s 2015 graduation

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s a rule, each president of The Bishop’s School Board of Trustees has a theme or major project to tackle during his or her two-year term. In some ways, Annette Bradbury is no different.

The School’s new board president began her term just two months before the announcement that Head of School Aimeclaire Roche would make this her final academic year in La Jolla before relocating to be closer to family.

That fact alone would be more than enough to set the agenda for Annette’s next two years in office. She will help to oversee the School’s first search for a head of school since “AC” arrived on campus in the summer of 2009.

“It’s so bittersweet, because the fact that she’s starting on a new phase of her life is wonderful,” Annette says.

“The fact that it takes her away from Southern California is sad for us and for the School. We’re so grateful for what will have been nine years she’s been at Bishop’s, and she’s achieved so much in that time.”

That search alone, which she says will be international in scope (“We want to get the best of the best”), would be plenty to keep any board president busy for the foreseeable future.

But Annette, a native of Kent County just outside London, will see her term coincide with a pair of other major initiatives as well: the development of a new strategic plan for the School (the current edition was implemented in 2012), and the two-year CAIS/WASC accreditation process, which will produce a detailed self-study in December 2018 and a final report in May 2019.

While the burden of accreditation will fall largely on the School’s teachers and administrators, the strategic plan is a board-driven enterprise that will encompass fundraising, long-term goals and require input from stakeholders across campus and beyond.

“When the new (head of school) arrives, he or she will be in a great place, I believe,” she says.

In the meantime, Annette is in a place that should feel pretty familiar by now. She’s served on the board at Bishop’s since 2013, when her daughter Nadine ’15 arrived as a seventh-grader and where her son Luke later attended as well.

Before Bishop’s, they attended the nearby Gillispie School, where Annette also served as board president and oversaw—among other things— the search for a head of school that eventually led to the hiring of former Associate Head of School Alison Fleming ’80 away from Bishop’s.

“We were lucky in that we had a wonderful local candidate who was well known to the community, so it made it really easy,” she says.

She’s found a bit of a calling in this service to her children’s schools, but before Gillispie and Bishop’s, before Luke and Nadine were born, and before she’d ever set foot in San Diego, Annette was a trained pharmacist, serving as an assistant manager in a retail pharmacy in London.

It was there that she met her future husband, Daniel, also a qualified pharmacist, who was working as a pharmaceutical sales representative.

When the pharmacy needed to fill some night shifts, Annette asked Daniel if he’d be interested in picking up some side work.

The Bradburys together on the slopes

“You’re called a trustee because you’re holding the School in trust for future generations.” a junior at Caltech, building on a love of chemistry that was born during her sophomore year at Bishop’s.

Luke is a high school junior, who attended Bishop’s until January 2017, when he decided to commit to his passion for ski racing on a full-time basis. He now studies at Fusion Academy—a one-on-one teaching institution that can accommodate the unique scheduling demands required for ski racing.

“We realized it’s very hard to compete at that level against kids who are training full time,” Annette says.

Luke studies in San Diego until mid November (the school has a campus in University City) and when ski season begins, he moves to the family’s home in Lake Tahoe and trains five days a week on the slopes.

The only person busier than the kids may be their mom, who has taken on this new mantle of leadership at a pivotal time for the School. When her term ends, Bishop’s will have an accreditation that lasts seven years, a new strategic plan to govern the School’s direction for anywhere from three-to-five years, and a new head, whose tenure will hopefully stretch longer than either.

The work ahead is daunting, but she welcomes the responsibility as a way of giving back to a special community.

“I was asked to join the board in 2013 and that seems like the biggest gift you can give a school if you love it,” she says.

“You’re called a trustee because you’re holding the School in trust for future generations.”

13 bishop’s profile | Annette Bradbury

“Because we didn’t know him very well, I had to go back and lock up at the end of the shift—we didn’t trust him with keys,” she says. “And it was kind of like, ‘Would you like to go to the pub for a drink?’ and that’s how we went from a professional to a personal relationship.”

They married two years later, but they were still some seven years from moving to the United States. In between, they would make a stop in the United Arab Emirates, where Annette worked in a Dubai hospital pharmacy and provided a little comic relief for the locals.

“When I would go up to the counter and try to speak my Arabic to a female patient, all the women in the waiting room would laugh at me,” she recalls.

“I learned how to say the basic pharmacy directions in Arabic, and the only one I can still remember is, ‘Take two tablets three times a day.’”

It was Daniel’s move to San Diego based Amylin Pharmaceuticals that eventually brought the family to Southern California in 1995. Although Annette spent months recertifying as a pharmacist in the United States, she quickly realized her passions lay elsewhere as her children approached school age.

These days, those children are still in school, carving remarkably divergent paths through their educational careers. Nadine is

Luke Bradbury is an accomplished ski racer.

PAGE TO STAGE IN

24 Hours

By Melissa Kenyon

Page to Stage in 24 Hours 14

P

lays don’t typically evolve from the page to stage in a mere 24 hours. But at Bishop’s, we like a challenge.

Nearly every year since the summer of 2007, drama teacher Courtney Flanagan has invited Bishop’s students, alumni, faculty and friends of the School to join the 24-Hour Play Festival. In a day’s time, participants combine their creative talents to produce 10-minute plays inspired by a prompt.

You don’t have to be an actor to get involved. “There are small parts and big parts,” says Courtney. “You can act, write, direct or do tech.”

On Aug. 19—a mix of 42 new and seasoned participants—embarked on the daylong drama marathon. After catching up over breakfast, the troupe divided into four companies.

Faizan Jamil ’18 explains that it was his first time joining the festival.

“Flan always encourages students to get involved,” he says. “I saw this experience as a warm-up to my senior year in theater.”

The festival also drew a new faculty participant—David Thompson, director of diversity and community life. David says, “I encourage students to take risks, confront failure and learn to laugh at themselves. Going into my fifth year at Bishop’s, it was about time I lived with conviction.”

In addition to newcomers, present were veterans like Arnell Powell III ’94, who enjoys returning to work with Courtney.

“It’s such a gift to experience such a significant thing as one’s high school from a completely different perspective (i.e., a fully grown, self-possessed person),” says Arnell.

At the initial meetup, the prompt was delivered: The plays had to incorporate an established status quo, the occurrence of the solar eclipse and ultimately, a change in status quo. The groups also had to utilize two roaming actors, who played a role in changing the course of each plot.

For about an hour, the groups put their heads together in a buzz session. Some found it intimidating at first to work with individuals older than themselves. But they quickly realized everyone was there for the same reasons: because of their love for Bishop’s Performing Arts Program and their desire to have a good time.

“Our group sat together, thought about the prompt and started telling related stories,” says first-time participant Gabe Worstell ’20.

“We talked about past festivals and decided we wanted to aim for the same comedic value.”

After brainstorming and considering individual strengths and personalities, the writers went to work. With a midnight script deadline, the pressure was on.

English and yearbook teacher Chad Bishop has served as a writer in the festival for many years. “Flan knew I was

One amusing plot focused on a cult that believed the eclipse would initiate an apocalypse. Instead of the cult members being saved and ascending to exist in an ethereal world—as they predicted would happen—they despairingly entered years of therapy.

Their life’s purpose was amiss. However, there was a twist. The cult’s therapists turned out to be their supernatural idols.

The director of this play, Marina, described the cult members as “disillusioned.” The group had fun with the storyline, adding the element of music. “We had to memorize the lines and songs quickly, so we could be off book and really get into our characters.”

Arnell’s group crafted a story about a “spaceship crew of archetypal rude mechanicals.” “The crew had one opportunity to bring a person from the past to save the universe from eclipse destruction,” he says. “Unfortunately, not even Sir Isaac Newton could save those cats!”

Each performance filled the room with laughter. Everyone’s hard work paid off.

David remembers, “It felt bigger than me and my experience here. There’s something special about seeing how the arts keep students connected to this place.”

Other participants felt the same way.

Chad says, “Bishop’s is a special place, and it’s awesome to see alumni come back and momentarily recapture a little bit of the magic.”

It’s no surprise that year after year, new and returning participants look forward to the 24-Hour Play Festival.

It’s one of the rare events that gives current students, alumni and faculty the opportunity to connect, collaborate and create.

Everyone agreed. Whether or not you are an actor, get involved. The experience may be nerve-wracking, but as everything unfolds and comes together, it’s exhilarating.

15 Page to Stage in 24 Hours

interested in acting, writing and the arts in general, so she enlisted me,” Chad explains. “Even without her encouragement, I would want to participate, because it’s exciting putting together a script and seeing it performed just a few hours later.”

Chad ran into some writer’s block.

“It wasn’t until about 9 p.m. that I decided on a firm plot,” he says. “Then I had to rush to put together the script.”

Fortunately, as it always does, each group’s play came together in the nick of time.

Director and third-time participant Marina Aguerre ’13 says, “Putting together a show in hours instead of months challenges you artistically.”

Marina, who now lives in Los Angeles, always clears her schedule to be part of the festival. She was in theater at Bishop’s for many years and loves coming back to see faculty and friends.

“There is a solid group that returns every year. It’s like a family reunion,” she says.

Come Sunday morning, “It’s time to put the play on its feet,” Courtney explains. The groups rehearsed over and over throughout the day, continuously making adjustments along the way.

Around 2:30 p.m., the behind-thescenes crew orchestrated the set, lights and sound. Jean Moroney, the School’s resident costume designer, helped the companies find props and costumes in the performing arts basement.

“It was pretty wild,” describes Gabe.

“I wasn’t as stressed because I didn’t have very many lines, but I could tell the directors and actors with more lines were worried. We only had so much time to rehearse.”

At 7 p.m., it was showtime in the Taylor Performing Arts Center.

While each group built their play with the same prompt in mind, their approaches were distinct, incorporating a range of characters and curious situations.

Groups of alumni, current students and faculty gathered to brainstorm ideas, then write, direct, rehearse and perform original work, all in one 24-hour period.

Bringing Collaborative Learning to the Table

By Jared Scott Tesler

Bringing Collaborative Learning to the Table 16

I

t was a student-centered, discussion based method of teaching and learning that oil magnate and philanthropist Edward Stephen Harkness had in mind in 1930, when he presented Phillips Exeter Academy, an all-boys feeder school to Harvard University located in Exeter, New Hampshire, with a $5.8 million gift.

An alumnus of St. Paul’s School, Yale College and Columbia Law School, Harkness inspired a real revolution in secondary education: one teacher and 12 students seated around an oval table in English and history class, encouraged to openly share ideas and information, listening and learning from one another in a truly collaborative environment.

Today, this method, often associated with the Socratic method of cooperative argumentative dialogue, is used worldwide by private, parochial and public schools—even colleges and universities with small class sizes—in every discipline and subject.

For nearly two decades, Exeter, now a co-educational residential school, has hosted the Exeter Humanities Institute, a weeklong conference that introduces secondary school English and history teachers to Harkness pedagogy, philosophy and practice. This summer, however, saw the inaugural West Coast conference, which took place on The Bishop’s School campus.

Seven Bishop’s faculty members attended in addition to head of school and classics teacher Aimeclaire Roche, English teacher Amy Allen and English

Department Chair Gary Hendrickson, who previously taught at Exeter.

Convened at Cummins Hall, attendees read a variety of interdisciplinary works, including an excerpt from “Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families” by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author J. Anthony Lukas; played the role of moderator, participant, observer and note-taker; and learned how to teach poetry and assess participation.

“Bishop’s teachers have been and always will be intentional about their practice. What changes over time and from year to year is the area of focus or the lens through which a teacher might look at his or her work,” says Aimeclaire, who graduated from Exeter, where she once taught in the classical languages department. These experiences and perspectives ultimately informed the ways in which she views teaching and learning.

“At this juncture, if I had to choose one lens that many Bishop’s teachers are employing, it would be this: We are looking carefully at the way teachers make choices about content and the way in which content is delivered.

We are actively asking, what content is most important? Are there different ways to deliver that content? Are there ways that engage the student more in the actual making of meaning and are less dependent on the teacher as expert?”

There is plenty to learn from the Harkness method, which recognizes

students as co-creators of classroom knowledge, Gary says, citing empathy, respect and tolerance as well as active listening, ethical reasoning and intellectual agility.

“We’ve played and practiced, discussed and deconstructed, interrogated assumptions—our own and our neighbors’—and learned to appreciate rather than resolve differences. We’ve had to listen hard, measure our words and discipline ourselves. Harkness is all about accommodating, adjusting, adapting to the unpredictable,” Gary noted in his closing remarks, in which he credited Ralph Sneeden, founding leader of the Exeter Humanities Institute, for first introducing him to the method in 2001.

In fact, it was readings and discussions of Exeter’s 2015 collection of essays, “A Classroom Revolution: Reflections on Harkness Learning and Teaching,”

by Gary and other members of the Bishop’s community that led to the pilot conference in La Jolla.

The main takeaways, Amy says, were “to become a student again and understand my responsibility around the table, both in terms of the content and my fellow classmates; to learn how to remove—as best I can—my ego from teaching and let the students own the material and learn to exercise agency and goodwill; and to reconnect with the intrinsic joy of learning and the wonder of genuinely connecting with others.”

Immediately following the conference, over the course of three days, Amy,

former faculty sponsor of The Tower student newspaper, joined forces with English department colleagues Cresence Birder ’07, Clara Boyle, Rickey Fayne and Mark Radley to redesign the ninth grade curriculum to incorporate the discussion of literature—essays, novels, plays, poems and short stories—around the Harkness table. In class, students are expected to adhere to Harkness etiquette, which includes listening attentively, posing thoughtful questions, treating others with goodwill, speaking candidly but with focus and intent, thinking independently and setting goals for upcoming discussions.

“The most rewarding aspect of teaching Harkness is watching students exercise agency over their own learning.

I love the energy of a Harkness class that’s working. It feels alive, authentic and organic,” Amy says, noting that

those who appear bored or uninterested during discussions may actually be too anxious or self-conscious to speak up and voice their opinion without a little positive encouragement from their peers.

“The challenge of teaching the method is to reprogram students who are used to being talked at all day. They have to overcome considerable inertia, fear of exposure and a lack of intellectual curiosity to participate actively.”

Through small class sizes and ample opportunities for service and leadership, including academic teams, advisory sessions, affinity groups, Associated Student Body Council, chapel time and clubs, Bishop’s has long prioritized the student experience. With this commitment in mind, the School will once again host the Exeter Humanities Institute next summer.

“We, hopefully, send students the

message every day that we respect and value that they have something to say and something to offer, no matter what their age and no matter what their background. Every voice can be heard, and each student can be known personally by their teachers,” Aimeclaire says. “Exeter, like Bishop’s, values a student’s independent agency and his or her ability to be an autonomous learner.

I place a high premium on a student’s willingness to wrestle with ambiguity, to be comfortable with new ideas, and to take responsibility for one’s own actions—and the repercussions those actions have on others. I think a school has done a great job when its graduates go into the world as independent and self-aware citizens who are themselves arbiters of quality in one’s own lives.”

17 Bringing Collaborative Learning to the Table

faculty focus

Julieta Torres-Worstell Teaching, learning and living beyond the textbook

faculty focus | Julieta Torres-Worstell 18

By Cathy Morrison

The Worstell family enjoying Bryce Canyon in Utah

A

s a baby, Julieta Torres-Worstell was part of the Cuban diaspora.

The American mining company that employed her father as an accountant helped him emigrate to the U.S. in 1960.

Julieta, her mother and brother, Benjamín, joined him six months later, traveling with U.S. Embassy personnel on one of the last flights allowed out of the country. They left everything behind, bringing only what her mother could carry, besides Julieta.

New York winters were inhospitable to a family from the tropics. After three years in a basement apartment— imagine climbing out of your building in the snow and walking to work in the elements—the family found a more

congenial climate in Puerto Rico, where her father found a new job in Vega Baja.

Julieta says, “I really grew up in Puerto Rico. It was a natural transition for me; my brother, being five years older, had more of a process to acclimate to the new surroundings and school.”

Today, her link to Cuba is family memories; although living in Puerto Rico, they were “very much a Cuban household,” through food and traditions.

Her parents hoped to eventually return to Cuba, but that was not to be. She had a sense of having one foot in each of the two different cultures. Julieta says she still “has lots of friends in Puerto Rico; the last time I went back was in 2003, for my father’s memorial.” She notes,

“It’s hard to see what’s happening there right now, I still feel connected to that part of my life.”

The siblings attended Catholic schools, where she began learning English in third grade. Her parents “worked hard, rebuilt their lives. I’ve always admired them for that,” acknowledges Julieta, adding, “It was important to my parents that we get the best education possible—they knew it was the one thing that couldn’t be taken from us.”

Both Benjamín and Julieta came stateside for college. Washington University in St. Louis offered generous financial aid and great opportunity; it was also the place where she met fellow student and future husband,

Julieta and her family in Spain in 2012; her Jacobs Prize funds provided an immersive language and cultural experience.

Bishop’s students on a 2015 exchange trip to Barcelona with Julieta and Mary Jane Sutherland

19 faculty focus | Julieta Torres-Worstell

Timothy Worstell. Upon completing undergraduate work, she matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania.

Both brother and sister are academics: Benjamín is a professor at Western Michigan University. Perhaps it was a maternal influence, as their mother taught English at the Havana Business School.

Majoring in French and Spanish, Julieta pursued a passion for French initially discovered as a tenth-grader; she spent her entire junior year abroad at the University of Strasbourg. The U.S. Embassy, aware of her program and major, gave her a role as a translator, transcribing documents from French to Spanish. “It was scary to commit to a full year, but it enriched my life tremendously,” she affirms.

Julieta’s experience as a teaching fellow cinched her desire to teach. In recitation classes at Wash U, she was the instructor who let students practice, repeat, reflect and reinforce orally what they had learned with the professor. She explains, “I had so much fun. That was the turning point. I’d thought that’s what I wanted to do, but this confirmed it.”

In her first job, at a Catholic school, she had come “full-circle. I really appreciated the nuns and teachers so much more, working alongside them.”

Her next post was St. Andrew’s School, a boarding school in Middletown, Delaware teaching French and Spanish; she also became department chair.

At a K-12 day school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she again served as

department chair. Timothy joined her there, where they were married and had two children. The next stop for the young family was Spokane, Washington, near Timothy’s parents. Julieta taught at St. George’s School, where her role included teaching and chairing the department.

Her husband is a health care administrator; when hospitals began closing in Spokane in 2007, they were looking for new opportunities. Enter Mary Jane Sutherland, then-world languages department chair at Bishop’s, who convinced Julieta to join the faculty. They’ve been here ever since; she became the head of the world languages department in 2015. Eventually, both her children came to Bishop’s (classes of 2017 and 2020); the eldest is now a freshman at UC Santa Barbara. She says fondly, “It has been great to watch my children grow here. They are very different, but they’ve been able to find their way and discover passions for writing, acting, music, dancing and singing.” She continues, “I’ve really enjoyed my colleagues; I’m blessed that my children have learned from such great people.”

Julieta describes Bishop’s students as very motivated, hard-working and very appreciative of teachers who are there to not only teach them the subject matter, but are devoted to them as people. She sees herself as a partner in the classroom.

“Students want to learn from me, but I learn from them as well. I enjoy listening to them share their ideas.”

Her teaching philosophy? “Doing things beyond the textbook, those are the meaningful things. The textbook is a tool until you learn language well enough to function in the culture, learn content and read, so you’re no longer learning from books, but from the people, living and breathing the culture.”

She demonstrated that philosophy as a recipient of the Jacobs Prize in 2012.

She and her children, then ages 13 and 10, spent five weeks in Málaga, Spain.

Fully immersed in the local scene, they spoke to vendors at the local market, read the paper and watched TV, all in Spanish. Julieta herself hadn’t had that immersion since she left Puerto Rico for college. In 2015, she participated in Mary Jane’s exchange program; together, they took 11 students to Barcelona, where they saw many sights and found their host families to be most welcoming.

Julieta concludes, “I’ve had great opportunities; I’m lucky to have found these institutions that expanded my horizons as an educator. I am a better teacher as a result.”

Banner Years Keep Coming at Bishop’s 2015 CIF Championship girls’ water polo team

Banner Years Keep Coming at Bishop’s 20

By Zach Jones ’01

A

lmost as long as there have been students at The Bishop’s School, athletics have been an integral part of their educational experience.

Established in 1909, by 1913 the School had formalized competitive intramural teams, “Harvard” and “Yale,” and in 1917, they changed those names to “Army” and “Navy” in recognition of the country’s involvement in World War I. One hundred years later, the athletic program at Bishop’s has transformed beyond what those first graduating classes could have imagined, with a campus full of banners and trophies commemorating victories of teams and individuals alike.

The Knights broke through for their first team CIF championship, a baseball title over Army-Navy Academy in 1983.

They were led by coach John McCarthy, who would later serve as athletic director; in the intervening years, more than 100 additional team titles have followed.

Those championships have come in everything from girls’ basketball (which

those Army and Navy teams were playing back in 1917) to water polo (which they were certainly not playing in 1917).

“What we’re teaching students through sports is that competing with yourself—when someone’s watching or when no one’s watching—is important,” says Joel Allen, Bishop’s athletic director since 2007. “You’re going to compete your whole life, so we teach student athletes to embrace competition.”

The Knights have succeeded in that competition, even as the School’s programs have been challenged by more powerful competition in recent years. Head of School Aimeclaire Roche, who is preparing to leave the West Coast after the current academic year, has presided over 18 of those team championships, with two sports seasons left to be completed.

The formula for that success has been equal parts coaching continuity and a steady stream of talent, ready and willing to be molded.

“It has to start with your coaches,” says Joel, whose early priority as athletics director was to assess and build relationships with the coaching staff.

“If a team has all the talent in the world, but I don’t have the right leader for that group, we would be at a disadvantage right away. I realized what we had,

which was this core group of coaches who are pretty darn good at what they do. Not just in terms of coaching, but in terms of changing kids’ lives.”

One of those coaches is Tod Mattox, who entered his 23rd season as the girls’ volleyball coach this fall, and who won his first CIF title in that role in 1996, well before any of his current players were born.

He says it’s easy to draw the line directly from the School’s administration to the type of continuity that breeds success on the court. “If you have a revolving door of coaches, it’s hard to establish a culture and maintain that,” Tod says. “The School’s done a nice job of making it fun to coach here, so we have a lot of coaches who have been here for a long time.”

With their win in 2013, the girls’ volleyball team claimed the 10th section title in program history, the eighth under Tod—and have CIF crowns in three different decades.

But girls’ volleyball hardly has the monopoly on sustained success.

Doug Peabody enters his 21st season at the helm of the girls’ water polo program this winter, having never missed a CIF title game and having won 14 of those 20 title games and each of the last seven. That’s the longest streak of championships in section history,

2016 football champions—CIF SDS and Southern California Regional winners

piling up banners since before any of the current student body was born, beginning with the original Bishop’s dynasty, the boys’ soccer teams who wore “Decade of Dominance” sweatshirts around campus, thanks to a 10-year run of championships from 1989-1998 that would have been 13 in a row if not for a 3-2 overtime loss to Christian in 1999. That streak of 10 banners remains more than twice as long as any other of its kind in San Diego Section boys’ soccer.

All that, however, is not to say that things are the same as they’ve ever been.

Take the School’s first girls’ volleyball title in 1993 in Division V, the section’s smallest division at the time. After moving up to Division IV, the team reeled off six straight titles (1996-2001) and won its most recent championship (2013) at Division II. In the Knights’ most recent championship appearance (2015), they were competing in Division I and faced off against powerhouse La Costa Canyon, which boasts a student body of roughly 2,000.

Across all sports, Bishop’s is consistently punching above its weight these days, competing against larger schools, in larger tournaments—and doing it without a significantly larger population than it had 15 years ago.

That’s not to say that it’s been a

steady climb to the top of the mountain for every Bishop’s program. After winning back-to-back section titles on the football field in 1996 and 1997, the Knights found themselves with a shortage of interest in the sport just a few years later, even spending a couple seasons playing eight-man in 2003 and 2004.

But by 2007, the football program took a turn and has continued its climb in recent years. The Knights played in four consecutive CIF section championship games from 2007-2010, capturing the title twice, along with a Division IV state crown in 2010. With a 103-36 record since 2007, the Knights have had five undefeated regular seasons, including the 2017 season.

Current seniors played in the CIF championship game three times, winning in 2014 and 2016, and last year went on to become the Southern California Regional champions.

The School’s on-field accomplishments have made it a destination for tri-sport athletes as well as single-sport superstars. Earlier this year, Destiny Littleton ’17 became the School’s first McDonald’s All-American in basketball and finished her Bishop’s career with a California state-record 4,300 points, the first player in state history to eclipse 4,000 points.

21 Banner Years Keep Coming at Bishop’s

but the numbers don’t stop there.

Six times in section history, a team has reeled off a winning streak of 20 games or more—three of those belong to Bishop’s, including a 33-game streak from 2002-2003 that remains the standard.

All those wins create expectations, in the best sense of the word. “It’s kind of a legacy and something that passes down from team to team,” Doug says.

“Everybody feels the pressure—they don’t want to be the one who didn’t have a chance to win (a championship).”

He concedes that this year’s team will have to work hard to continue the streak —graduation has left his current players with big shoes to fill. But those are words he’s said many times before, when he was replacing his first captain, Brenna Fleener ’98, or two-time CIF Players of the Year Megan May ’04 and Erin Brown Bateman ’01 or Sarah Van Norman ’07, who left Bishop’s as the only player in section history to reach 500 career goals.

In each case, the team found its next hero and its next championship in short order. “It’s a dedication to the program and understanding that each year isn’t just a team, it’s a program,” Doug says.

And this kind of year-in-and-year-out success is by no means a recent Bishop’s phenomenon. Knights teams have been

Banner Years Keep Coming at Bishop’s 22

Above: Volleyball coach Tod Mattox in a celebratory moment with the 2017 girls’ volleyball team. Left: Destiny Littleton ’17. Below: The 1997 boys’ soccer team

As she prepares for her first season at the University of Texas, she remembers the attitude of the veteran Knights team she joined as a freshman—one that would make a deep run into the state playoffs.

“When I got there, it was us against everybody,” she says. “We didn’t care who we were playing, what time, where —we could have been playing outside, at 4 o’clock in the morning, we did not care.”

On the lacrosse field, senior Isaiah Dawson is ranked as the #1 recruit in the Class of 2018 by Inside Lacrosse and has committed to play for Harvard when he graduates.

In an era when private clubs play a growing role for the best high school

athletes, one of Joel’s goals is to keep Bishop’s athletes playing for their school and playing more than one sport.

“That’s been a priority of mine— making sure that our programs are something these kids want to be part of and maybe not because it’s their first sport,” he says. “You’re going to get something from that group of teammates, but you’re also going to get something from taking on a different role. There’s something to be learned from playing another sport and maybe not being ‘the guy.’”

Ultimately, the lessons that Joel and other Bishop’s coaches are looking to teach extend far beyond wins and losses, but he says

those wins are more critical to the teaching than it might seem.

“I tell the football team ‘this is not about winning,’ but they’re listening when you’re successful. There’s a part of winning that’s gaining trust from your players.”

The right coaches, coaching the right students—a simple formula more than 100 years in the making.

Where in the World Are Bishop’s Teachers?

Thanks to the Jacobs Prize, that answer could very well be “on opposite sides of the globe.” In fact, that was the case this year for a science teacher and the chair of the performing arts department.

Since its establishment in 2009, 31 Bishop’s faculty members have been able to pursue enrichment opportunities during school breaks, with the financial support of the Jacobs Prize.

23 Where in the World Are Bishop’s Teachers?

During spring break, science teacher Adam Weiner found himself taking the trip he’s thought about for many years, traveling to New Zealand. Adam spent most of his time on the South Island which is home to some of the world’s most spectacular scenery—from alpine mountains and glaciers, to rugged coastlines and temperate rainforests. His trip consisted of a combination of hiking, trail running, bird watching and wildlife viewing. A dream come true for a scientist and cross country coach!

Being an outdoorsman and an avid runner, Adam explored remote areas on foot—hiking and trail running. He worked his way through the Southern Alps, including Arthur’s Pass, Mt. Cook and Aspiring National Park, and spent a few days on Stewart Island, a small island south of the South Island full of indigenous and endemic bird species.

With a strong interest in birds, particularly parrots, Adam hoped to see the endemic parrots of New Zealand. On a hike above Arthur’s Pass he was thrilled to have a kea—the most well-known New Zealand parrot, noted for their intelligence and curiosity—land on a rock next to him. The kea proceeded to hang out with Adam for about 15 minutes before losing interest and taking flight again.

What a thrill!

Dr. Christine Micu, chair of Bishop’s Performing Arts Department, had a more urban adventure, spending her summer in England as part of the Oxford Choral Institute, a joint program between Westminster Choir College and Oxford University.

Christine shares, “To be a scholar at Oxford was transformative.

Wandering the streets and canal paths of the town, popping into pubs, and sitting in chairs where scholars like C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien had passed years before was inspiring. Visiting colleges and cathedrals that have stood since the 13th century gives one perspective as to your place in the history of the pursuit of knowledge.”

As part of Christine’s study, she conducted the Westminster Williamson Voices, a 70-voice, Grammy-nominated choral ensemble at St. Stephen’s House, a residence and theological school that is part of the university.

Having a space to study choral music that was separated from the “outside world” brought the conductors and singers closer together, enabling them to learn from each other, eating meals, studying, singing and exploring music together.

In addition to coaching and getting feedback from master conductors, Christine visited and sang at Christ

Church Cathedral, New College and Magdelene College.

When Christine began planning the 2017 Winter Choral Concert in May, she chose Part I of Handel’s “Messiah” because she “had to take advantage of the opportunity” of being in Oxford and London over the summer. While this music is not easy, students rose to the challenge. Christine showed them photographs and shared her experiences of seeing the original “Messiah” scores in the Bodleian and British Libraries, as well as her visits to Handel’s house—walking

Bon Voyage to Suzanne Weiner Current faculty members are not the only ones enjoying world travel. Suzanne Weiner, the director of marketing and public relations at Bishop’s for more than 30 years—and the founding editor of Bishop’s magazine—is doing exactly what she’d hoped for in retirement: traveling!

Suzanne and her husband, Ron, spent August in Europe, renting an apartment in Paris and enjoying all the city had to offer, with side trips in France and beyond.

More recently, they spent a month in Coastal South Carolina, with lots of golf, biking and walks on the beach.

Suzanne is greatly missed at the School, and we caught up with her to ask a few questions.

What was your favorite part of working at Bishop’s? There was always

the streets he walked to church and Covent Garden and standing in the study where he composed the entire work in just 24 days.

“The experience has been truly inspirational in my teaching this year.”

a new challenge. I loved being asked to take on a new project—publication, event, speaker—and appreciated the confidence the School showed in me.

What is your funniest memory? It has to be the April Fool’s joke the ENTIRE student body successfully pulled off in the early 1990s. I don’t want to inspire a repeat, so I won’t go into details, but I know many alumni readers will remember!

What do you miss the most? The people. What is your favorite Bishop’s tradition and why? There are many, but I think it has to be Baccalaureate at St. James the evening before Commencement. Watching the seniors in their graduation gowns walking down the aisle at the end of the service, that glow on their faces (and often tears) always filled me with pride and hope. I felt as though each one of them was my child. You live near campus. How do you feel when you walk past the School now? Happy when I run into a parent or member of the faculty and staff and get a hello or hug. That’s wonderful.

As Assistant Head of School John Trifiletti says, “Because of her extraordinary talent with the written word, Suzanne made a huge impact on Bishop’s for more than three decades. She left an indelible mark on the history of this school, and we’re thrilled she’s enjoying retirement.”

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parting shots

Then…and now.

Field hockey in the 1960s and in 2017

Parents of alumni: If your child no longer maintains an address at your home, please provide an updated address to the Bishop’s Alumni Office. (858) 875-0505 • Fax (858) 456-2681 • tbsalumni@bishops.com