Will’s time at CSB helped lead to his current career in the classroom.
Such care for the students and allowance of individual expression stayed with Peter through his own career. “As a classroom teacher, I attended soccer games when my students invited me,” he recalls. “I kept one boy from being expelled when I caught him breaking a rule. I advised another to quit school, take the GED, and go to college before he got expelled. We were not created to be cookie-cutter copies of each other even though we have to struggle under a common set of rules.” Individual expression among the students continues to be central to Cathedral’s ethos. Alum William (Will) C rawford ’0 3 has drawn on this philosophy in his own classrooms, first teaching English in China before enrolling in the Bay Area Teacher Training Institute (BATTI) to complete his Masters and California teaching credential while working at Chinese American International School, and more recently as a middle school math teacher at San Francisco Day School. “It is endlessly fascinating what motivates people to learn a subject and what activities help the knowledge stick,” Will says. At Cathedral “classrooms were established as safe places to share ideas, make mistakes, and explore different aspects of yourself. We were encouraged to learn from each other and our personal and ancestral experience.” In particular, Will fondly recalls specific teachers and lessons that prepared him for high school and as a teacher in his own
right. “My favorite teachers were those who I could tell were having fun while teaching. I remember sharing free writes and writing poetry with Ms. Roberts, measuring the angles of hills with Mr. Fox, a U.S. immigration project with Mr. Mundy, the energy and laughter of Ms. Hilbrich Sheppard, and maintaining positive energy with Mr. Glass,” he reflects. “I left Cathedral interested in many subjects and felt excited about the oppor- tunities that come from learning. [As a teacher] I make sure that I enjoy and am interested in what we are doing before subjecting the kids to it.” Much like his fellow alums Ross and Peter, Will has adopted Cathedral’s practice of expanded learning beyond the confines of a textbook or curriculum plan. “Cathedral puts an emphasis on applying knowledge through projects and creative applica- tions,” he explains. “I entered high school feeling that we were not learning the subjects for the sake of learning them, but that there was greater meaning to what we were studying and joy in the learning process itself. “I feel fortunate to have had an education that encouraged deep thinking and the inherent joy of working through challenging problems,” Will continues. “Teaching to me is a celebration of learning. It is challenging, rewarding, inspiring, and fulfilling. I wake up excited to go to work and sleep well at the end of the day.”
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