A LETTER FROM THE Board Chair
A LETTER FROM THE 2019-2020 Student Council President
of our parent community to help the school overcome challenges, and the determination of everyone to bring the boys back onto campus as soon as it was feasible. Through it all, despite the uncertainty and worry that this pandemic has brought, we have all managed to keep our most precious asset—our boys—first and foremost. Looking forward, we have much to be excited about as well. With the successful completion of the Fulfilling the Strategic Vision campaign, we will begin the exciting terrace addition project this summer, alongside major renovations to nearly every classroom on campus. This work will further enhance the CSB experience for our faculty, staff, and, most importantly, our students. This additional space will help inspire our teachers to do their greatest work, and ensure that we achieve our vision as the finest school for boys anywhere. On a personal note, the end of this school year also brings to a close my seven years of service as a Trustee and my three years as Board Chair. Looking back on all that we have accomplished, I am in awe of the commitment of our entire school community to create a school that practices what it preaches, and to insure that our boys are prepared for whatever future awaits them. We are so lucky to have the community we have, and we have so many reasons to feel optimistic about the future of our School.
AS I WRITE THIS LETTER, the world feels as if it’s finally starting to emerge from the surreal pandemic reality of the past year. Strict lockdowns have given way to mere capacity restrictions, travel bans are now advisories, and a fear of an invisible virus has shifted to excitement about vaccinations and the promise
charities such as Team Trees, a charity that plants one tree for every dollar given, and as a school we raised over $200 to support them. The Student Council also agreed that it would be great to raise money to help support Australia during the time of the fires, and we donated the proceeds of a donut sale to a cause that helped support firefighters that were working hard to fight these fires, and to help animals that were endangered from the fires. Another cause that we helped with was Project Cicero, a book drive that collects gently used or new books and donates it to students in need. Our school donated hundreds of books to be used in many schools and homes. Although we had no choice but to go to distance learning earlier this year because of COVID-19, the Student Council worked hard to bring different aspects of school life to students. For example, in the spring, and we had many great submissions from students, such as instrumental music, singing, skits, and more. This was a great opportunity for students to come together and to embrace our community. Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Wilkes hosted weekly Zoom trivia games on the weekends that helped the CSB community of students, parents, teachers and alumni stay connected and have fun. Field Day was certainly very different from other years, and despite not being on the field, the friendly competition between the Red and Gold teams carried on virtually. We had great participation by video from both teams Student Council is a very important part of student life and the Cathedral community. It helps to implement and to use ideas from the students to improve the school and to make life at school enjoyable, and I am positive that this tradition and council will be continued by the years to come. It was my honor and privilege to serve as President for the year 2019-2020.
DEAR CATHEDRAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY,
I am honored to be asked to write to the community on behalf of my fellow students. What a year we have had. Little did I know when I was elected as the student body president that we would have
a roller coaster year. Student Council at Cathedral is a group of
they hold for a return to a more normal life. Where one year ago we were locked down in our homes, this spring, the light at the end of the tunnel is rapidly approaching. When we made the decision last March to close our campus and shift to distance learning, we had no idea when we might be able to return to in-person classes. I suspect that many, if not all of you, shared the anxiety and worry that our family felt. In times like this, the true character of a community comes through—and I am proud to say that our community’s response to these recent travails have confirmed everything I’ve learned about our community over the last 10 years. It’s been quite a year from the pivot to distance learning last spring to the return to a heavily modified on-campus approach this past fall, and all the complications involved in both. I am thankful to every group within our community whose flexibility and steadfast contributions have enabled us not just to survive the past year, but to thrive in such a challenging environment. We’ve had to rely on the strength of administration to make difficult decisions, the dedication of our faculty and staff to meet the needs of their students, the resilience and generosity
students who are elected by their peers to represent both their class and the school as a whole. The community can tell us what change they want to see or ideas we can implement in student life, and we work to implement them. Although the year was cut short because of COVID-19, we got a lot done both in person and on distance learning. As Student Council president this past year, we helped to bring back an important and longstanding tradition of the Haunted Hallway. The Haunted Hallway was a tradition in which the Student Council representatives decorate a hallway to entertain the lower and upper school students on Halloween. I know that having this event especially meant a lot to both the Class of 2020 and the rest of the school. This was just one event we were allowed to have before we had to switch to distance learning. Student Council also organizes the different school wide spirit days. The purpose of the spirit days are to allow students to express school spirit and to have fun. The Student Council brainstormed ideas for spirit days, and this past year we had spirit days almost every month. Some spirit days included sports day, pajama day, spirit day, beach day, and red and gold day. We also continued this tradition throughout online learning. The Student Council had also made a commitment to raise and donate money to various charities and causes. We organized many successful bake sales in which we raised money for
All the Best, Greg Gretsch Board Chair
Yours Truly, Prem Patel ’20
4 | CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
2019-2020 ANNUAL REPORT & CAMPAIGN UPDATE | 5
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