THE COMMUNITY MAGAZINE of CATHEDRAL SCHOOL for BOYS RED & RED GOLD GOLD
*faculty and staff too Cathedral School Boys* Are ON THE MOVE!
RED&GOLD THE COMMUNITY MAGAZINE of CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
ON THE COVER In the spring of 2024,
Cathedral School for Boys launched its first season of Sailing & Leadership: The Sea Hawks, open to all Upper School students, novice and advanced alike, and hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club. Our Sea Hawks are back on the Bay in 2024–2025! Pictured on the cover and at left are Nate Park ’27, Ashkon Perrone ’27, and Brock Pola ’22.
OUR MISSION
IN THIS ISSUE
1 Message From the Head of School: A Balance to Strike 2 A Year in the Life: Cathedral School Boys on the Move in 2023–2024 6 A Year in the Life: Cathedral School Boys on the Move in 2024–2025 8 Life Lessons: How Cathedral School for Boys Cultivates Leaders 20 Carve Every Word: The Imperative of Public Speaking at Cathedral School for Boys 22 Faculty Sabbatical Program: 15 Days in Can Tho, Vietnam 30 A Quiet Confidence: An Interview
With Bill Bennington ’79 32 2024 Forbes Master Teacher Chair: Judy Hilbrich Sheppard 33 Commencement Speech: Space for Every Type of Kid at CSB 36 Commencement Speech: The Confidence to Be Yourself 40 Congratulations, Class of 2024! 41 High Schools Our 2020–2024 Alumni Are Attending or Attended 42 Alumni News & Updates: Class Notes 45 Annual Report: 2023–2024 Fiscal Year
To provide an excellent education for boys at the elementary level.
To attract a diverse student body of strong academic potential.
To provide a school committed to intellectual inquiry and rigor, centered in the Episcopal tradition, respectful of and welcoming to people of all religious traditions and beliefs.
To develop social responsibility through exemplary programs of outreach and service.
Cathedral School for Boys, a department of Grace Cathedral, is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES). As an institution with 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, it relies on the generosity of individual and community support and an active Parents Association to fund its annual operating and capital needs. If you would like to make a gift to the school or would like more information on how you can make a difference in the lives of the school and our boys, please contact Cathedral School for Boy at info@cathedralschool.net. All gifts to the school are fully tax-deductible as allowed by law. CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 1275 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94108 • 415-771-6600 • info@cathedralschool.net • www.cathedralschool.net
To create a community bonded by open-heartedness, hope, compassion, and concern.
message from the head of school
A Balance to Strike
DEAR CATHEDRAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY:
And while the growth of programs like Experiential Education, STEM, and Student Leadership Development operate as conduits for the development of necessary skills at Cathedral School, essential content remains important, too. We believe students need to learn content that allows them to build connections across curricular areas, to make meaning of the world, and to appreciate their place in it. Thus, we are in the process of organizing our curriculum in ways that deconstruct the typical silos that often impede a student’s ability to make important connections across content areas. Such connections, we believe, prepare our students for the rigorous high school programs that they will face later in their careers, and they are necessary for complex problem-solving and fundamental to productive citizenship and leadership. Perhaps, more than anything else, the key to academic excellence resides in our desire to continue to evaluate our approach, to be open to new ideas, and to be research-based in the way we construct our academic programs. We want to hold true to all that is remarkable about our program, and regularly evaluate how we make our program even better. Very truly yours,
Our Red & Gold magazine presents an opportunity for Cathedral School to highlight so many of the people and programs that make our school
special. Perhaps no component is more important than our academic program. We are known to provide one of the top K–8 academic programs in the Bay Area, and there are a number of reasons for that reputation. As many of you know, there has been a seismic shift in the way schools have, or at least should, approach the process of education. For decades, if not centuries, the American educational model was premised upon the delivery of content — what students needed to know to be successful adults. Typically, this approach placed teachers and the materials they developed or delivered at the center of the classroom experience. Teachers represented the primary and often only source of learning within this model. That model has shifted in this technological age. Now that information is ubiquitous, schools have grown to recognize the importance of the development of skills — the attributes, behaviors, and approaches that students need to develop to become capable citizens in a global and increasingly complex world. (Public speaking represents an important program within this approach, and we have chosen to profile our Public Speaking program in this edition on page 20.) Like most things in life, however, there is a balance to strike.
Burns Jones Head of School
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Cathedral School Boys on the Move a year in the life: 2023–2024
A. First Day of School, August 30, 2023 B. Grade 8 Retreat C. Kindergarten Soccer — Go Hawks!
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A. Morning Care Balancing Act B. Grade 8 Big Brothers Meet Their Little Brothers in Kindergarten C. All Smiles at Lunch A. Good Samaritans for the First Week of October 2023 B. Grade 4 Recology Field Trip C. Grade 5 Outdoor Ed Trip
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A. Blessing of the Animals
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B. Chapel Leadership C. Grade 3 Publishing Party
A. Grade 8 Students Giving Tours of Grace Cathedral in Spanish B. South Asian Student Affinity Group Meeting C. Grade 3 at the Cable Car Museum
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A. Fall Cross Country Meet B. Grade 6 Working on a Project at the Farmers’ Market. C. Investiture of Grade 3 Probies
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A. Haunted Hallway B. Kindergarten at
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Clancy’s Pumpkin Patch C. AAPI Student Affinity Group Having a Karaoke Party at Lunch
A. Red & Gold Chapel B. Advanced Band Field Trip C. Celebrating Diwali at Chapel
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A. Grade 4 Big Brothers Meeting Their Little Brothers in Kindergarten B. Celebrating Native American Heritage C. Crypt Classic Alumni vs. Faculty Basketball Game
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A. Grade 3 Performance B. Grandparents & Special Friends Day C. Spirit Week Fun
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A. Grade 4 Publishing Party B. Grade 6 Field Trip to See a Play C. Hawk Combo Band Performing at Lunch
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a year in the life: 2023–2024
A. Kindergartners Checking Books Out for the First Time B. Upper School STEM Club C. Grade 6 Red Basketball A. Learning About Bystanders vs. Upstanders B. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day March C. Egg Color Project in Kindergarten A. Grade 4 and Kindergarten Big and Little Brothers B. Gumbo & Dominoes C. 100 th Day of School
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A. Murals, Street Art & Politics Intersession Class B. Spring Celebration C. Grade 3 California Missions Project
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A. Volleyball Team B. Grade 6 Project X C. Volunteering at City Hope
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A. Day of Service B. Grade 5 Performance C. Grade 7 Invention Convention
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A. Lower School Dance B. Upper School Sneakerhead Club C. Field Foundation Competition
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A. Track & Field B. Boba & Mahjong C. Grade 7 & 8 Pop-up Art Exhibit
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A. Ed Vere Painting a Mural in the Library B. Giants Game Community Outing C. Grade 3 & 4 Students Practicing Their Speeches Outside A. Grade 5/6 Baseball Champs B. Grade 8 Practicing for Their Musical C. Our First-Annual IndieFest
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A. Upper School City Planning Project B. The Living Bay Intersession Class C. Grade 3 Panning for Gold on a Field Trip
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A. Grade 8 Baccaleaurate
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B. Grade 8 Students With Their Spanish- Speaking Pen Pals C. Grade 8 Graduation
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Cathedral School Boys on the Move a year in the life: 2024–2025
august 28–30, 2024
september 3–6, 2024
september 9–13, 2024 september 16–20, 2024
september 30– october 4, 2024
september 12–27, 2024
october 7–11, 2024
october 15–18, 2024
october 21–25, 2024
october 28–31, 2024
november 4–8, 2024
november 11–15, 2024
november 18–22, 2024
december 2–6, 2024
december 9–13, 2024 december 16–20, 2024
january 7–10, 2025
january 13–17, 2025
january 21–24, 2025
january 27–31, 2025
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INSTRUCTIONS: Scan the QR codes below throughout the 2024–2025 school year to see what’s happening that week at Cathedral School for Boys in and beyond the classrooms!
february 3–7, 2025
february 10–14, 2025
february 24–28, 2025
march 3–7, 2025
march 31– april 4, 2025
march 10–14, 2025
march 17–21, 2025
march 24–28, 2025
april 28– may 2, 2025
may 5–9, 2025
april 7–11, 2025
april 21–25, 2025
may 12–16, 2025
may 19–23, 2025
may 27–30, 2025
june 2–5, 2025
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Intersession 2024: The Living Bay
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leadership development
Life Lessons How Cathedral School for Boys cultivates leaders through real-world, immersive experiences beyond the classroom
By Megan Wyman E
boys to feel like school matters, and experiential learning makes interdisciplinary work and learning easier because it puts boys in position to connect the dots on things they learn.” Whether they practice language skills, present to outside investors, or produce a podcast, these experiences produce moments of growth. “The magic in that is that boys are seeing that learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom,” adds Juergens.
xperiential learning — be it through local service opportunities, immersive Intersession courses, Outdoor Education, or language trips abroad — has
long been a deeply valued and vital component of Cathedral School’s Upper School curriculum. Whether students interface with experts in fields of study, immerse in real-life settings, or live with locals on language immersion trips, they learn to step out of their comfort zones to gain a higher sense of purpose, responsibility, and outward mindedness — all qualities of being a true global citizen and leader. “Boys learn by doing,” says Kate Juergens, current Director of Enrollment Management. “This is what makes experiential learning so transformative: When you introduce a new voice, perspective, or environment that is solidifying something you already know or introducing something in tandem with what you’re learning, it codifies the experience, the learning, and the interest.” As a school that creates leaders, Cathedral intentionally utilizes off-campus opportunities to give boys exposure to how the real world operates. “They provide relevance and rigor,” says former Director of Upper School Chad Harlow. “I want
Service Learning: Consideration & Local Needs
Cathedral’s long-standing tradition of service to local communities has always provided boys with opportunities to cultivate leadership skills. Since COVID, the school has evolved its approach, devoting more time to challenging students to reflect on the ‘why’ behind community service and create solutions that more intentionally impact those who are served. “Letting the boys be part of the planning and diagnosing of community needs, there’s a deeper level of commitment and accountability so that by Grade 8, they are ready to serve with
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Intersession: Immersion in the Real World
greater autonomy,” says Director of Inclusion Aaron Mullen. Case in point: In 2023, a team of Grade 8 students developed an event for City Hope, whose mission is to provide a dignified, home-like environment for those living on society’s margins. Under Mullen’s guidance, the boys crafted a fun evening that included a Jeopardy-inspired game, crafting trivia questions that would ensure everyone in the room felt included and engaged. “In planning every part of the night, their desire for ownership of the night increased,” says Mullen. “When the boys are part of the planning process, they learn how to create an activity that is geared towards the audience and not towards themselves. It’s an art to get the kids to displace themselves and think about their ideas and whether they’re what that audience or community needs, then run that event themselves. It’s not just ‘ticking the box’ to fill service hours; you want them to understand why we’re putting them in these spaces and places.”
Held during the last week of February each year, Intersession provides an interactive “deep dive” into multi-disciplinary topics of interest and relevance. Hinged on collaborations with local professionals and partners, from bakeries to bike shops, these classes allow students to understand a topic from multiple viewpoints and then hypothetically plan solutions to real-world situations or problems. “By engaging in dialogue with adults outside their familiar Cathedral School community, the boys recognize that their teachers can come from all walks of life and that learning is a life skill,” explains Harlow. Intersession programs are conceived from Cathedral’s collective brainpower: Months before the last week of February,
Intersession 2024: Restaurant Battles
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the Upper School division director gathers Cathedral School faculty to pitch and develop ideas, many of which stem from teachers’ personal passions and hobbies. Invariably, these initial concepts morph and distill into an array of eight courses that connect seemingly unrelated topics, such as “Let’s Make Some Dough,” a course co-designed by Juergens that marries the history and art of bread-baking with the challenges of managing a small business in the food sector. Over the course of the week, students create and test cookie recipes, meet local bakery owners, weigh financial challenges for their hypothetical businesses, and present their end-product to outside investors. “Inherently, there is a sense of ‘I’d better get this right because this is not just for me anymore’,” Juergens says. “There is a rigor in these classes that often doesn’t exist in the traditional academic environment,” adds Harlow. “Kids come up against things they can’t answer, that push
them to think outside the box,” observes Upper School Math Teacher Judy Hilbrich Sheppard who has led Intersession courses in sport management and podcasting. “It challenges them to think in a different way, so everyone — boys and teachers — is getting something from being outside the classroom.” For Jackson Moore ’24, who signed up for The Skreetch in 2023, a podcasting class, production proved to be far more involved than he initially believed: “I thought it would be a lot simpler: just do the research, make a script, and record,” he says. “But there’s extra stuff like adding in sound effects and audio editing; it’s a more involved process than I expected.” Intersession “encourages our students to look deeper into our city,” says Performing Arts Teacher Brandon Joseph, who co-led a Murals, Street Art & Politics course, which included a 360-degree study of street art, from the history of graffiti and
Intersession 2024: Bikes & Burritos
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the symbolism of Chinatown’s murals to the financial toll on San Francisco Public Works to clean up public spaces, to Clarion Alley Mural Project’s mission to support social justice messaging. “Students walk away understanding that there are so many answers to one topic, numerous experiences that can explain a broad art form, and that San Francisco bursts forth with art that … can evoke change.” The immediate access students gain through such community partnerships also opens opportunities for boys to question the adult world around them. In the case of Grade 7/8 History Teacher Peter Mundy’s course, The Legal System, students are immersed in San Francisco’s court system, attending multiple cases, engaging with judges, and on occasion weighing in on the merits of lawyers’ arguments. “You can see how capable the boys are of thinking at a very high level,” says Mundy. “We’ll see judges call out lawyers who haven’t done their homework. It’s a great lesson for the kids to see what it means to be prepared, to see adults struggle, to see where an argument is going.” Following Intersession week, Mundy notices positive shifts in classroom dynamics: “The boys make connections to the cases we’re studying in class, and you can see that their experience sank in
much more than any sort of lesson I can give them,” says Mundy.
care of the group.” Academically, Outdoor Ed can also serve boys who may struggle to absorb a lesson in a traditional classroom setting. A lesson on the impact of agriculture on the environment or trophic cascades and the recovery of Pacific otters can suddenly come to life when students are in the field learning first-hand about raising cattle from a local rancher or observing animals in habitat from the hull of a kayak. “The students start to make connections about the bigger picture when they are out there,” Rahlson says. “Those are the kids who become the experts, answering all the questions.”
Outdoor Education: Fostering Responsibility & Curiosity Much like Intersession and service opportunities, Outdoor Education trips put students into immediate, unique scenarios (think pitching tents, building campfires, and prepping meals) that cannot be replicated in the classroom. “By forcing adversity on the boys, we put them in situations where they have to show their character and rise to the occasion,” says current Director of Upper School Lukas Rahlson, who plans and chaperones trips for Grade 4–7 students. “Teaching personal responsibility, teamwork, and leadership is built into every part of these trips, like setting up your tent — we don’t do it for them. They have to get out there and set it up themselves. They have to work together in ways where there are direct outcomes, where everyone has to pitch in in order for everyone to succeed. It’s what I call ‘expedition mentality’: We are all part of the same expedition, and we need to take care of ourselves so that we can help take
Language & Service Trips Abroad:
Broadening Perspectives
Connection is at the heart of Cathedral’s language trips to Taiwan, China, and Central America where Grade 7 and 8 students immerse themselves in language study and cultural exchanges while living with local families. “These are not sightseeing trips,” Harlow emphasizes. “Being away from home, speaking the language you’ve been studying, having no digital access, is all pretty novel. These
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Intersession 2024: Murals, Street Art & Politics
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trips foster a maturity that allows the students to be more independent, to want to pay attention and work hard. From both an independent and cultural awareness standpoint, their evolution as a language student spikes in an awesome way.” While the goals of these trips are to fully immerse students in a culture and increase language fluency, it is ultimately the confidence they gain from living with local families where not using the language is not an option. In 2023, a small cohort of Grade 8 Spanish students traveled to Guatemala where they spent 95% of their waking hours in Spanish. “This allowed them to ‘turn off’ their English brains and gain fluidity in their second language,” says Spanish Teacher Dirgni Betancourt, who chaperoned the trip and encouraged the boys daily to
immerse themselves in the culture, only eat local cuisine, and try the unfamiliar, like the ancient temazcal (Guatemalan sauna). “Once they make these meaningful connections, it brings everything to life,” says Mandarin Teacher Isaac Chou. Whether it’s attending a local village’s Lunar New Year celebrations or making tortillas in the kitchen with homestay families, “It’s no longer just a school subject, a textbook worksheet, or homework. They get different perspectives from real people, real culture with special history and meaning. It’s irreplaceable.” For Betancourt, understanding their role in the bigger picture of humanity inspires the boys “to help create a fair, equal, and diverse community,” life lessons the boys brought back into her
classroom after their last trip. “They became more involved in class, eager to help others to improve their Spanish,” she says of the confidence the trip instilled. “They developed a thoughtful sensitivity to explore and understand other cultures.” And, as Felix Ramirez ’23 observed from his homestay in Guatemala, humility was one of the greatest lessons: “I learned that you don’t need much to be happy and feel loved,” he says. “People have much less money but still live life to its fullest.” Both transformative and humbling is the annual service trip to Puerto Rico, an initiative brought to the Cathedral community by Grade 7/8 English Teacher Chris Corrigan. Focused on two ongoing projects, Eye on the Rain Forest and the underserved community of Villa del Rio, this labor-intensive service trip commits
Intersession 2024: The Future of Transportation
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Intersession Courses in 2024 Minority-owned Small Businesses: What barriers exist for minority-owned businesses, and how have minority and marginalized entrepreneurs influenced their industries? Murals, Street Art & Politics: How does street art amplify community values and empower the underrepresented? The Living Bay: What impact do humans have on the complex ecosystem of San Francisco Bay? Restaurant Battles: What does it take to create a compelling and profitable dining experience? The Legal System: What can we learn about the legal system through attending real trials? Sports Management: How do you turn a love of sports into a sustainable business? Bikes & Burritos: What does the urban biker need to know about routes, repairs, road safety, and taquerias? The Future of Transportation: What are the most exciting innovations and solutions addressing today’s transportation challenges?
students to full days of manual labor: clearing, building, and maintaining trails, planting endangered plant species, pouring concrete roofs, digging house foundations, and building retaining walls. Add language barriers, an intense tropical climate, and startling socio-economic conditions and the boys can’t help but be in a different headspace from the more familiar comforts of a classroom. In 2023, Kian Perrone ’23 gained new perspective through his efforts to help rebuild homes and clear forest paths. “The trip really showed the effect that my hard work can have on the lives of people,” he reflects. “Even the smallest help and gesture of kindness can make someone’s day.” “We work side by side with the people who benefit from our efforts,” says Corrigan. “We share meals with them.
As such, the boys make connections and form bonds with the community members. They come to see that the work, although strenuous, can be a conduit for building community and profound connection. And they learn to depend on classmates and teachers in a new way and see each other in a new light.” R&G About the Author: A former magazine editor and journalist, Megan Wyman is a freelance writer, currently (re)writing a Young Adult novel while taking on editorial projects for a small coterie of clients on the side. During her “copious free time,” she loves cheering on her son, Thorne ’23, whether it’s from the bleachers of a baseball field or the back row of a theater, and visiting her college-age daughter in New York.
Intersession 2024: The Living Bay
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Intersession 2024: The Living Bay
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guatemala trip 2024
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puerto rico trip 2024
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taiwan trip 2024
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public speaking
Carve Every Word The Imperative of Public Speaking at Cathedral School for Boys By Burns Jones, Head of School I “Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
Cathedral School has been committed to teaching effective public speaking for decades, and in ways both informal and formal, boys routinely demonstrate their learning and their proficiency through presentations and public speech. More than anything, our dedication to the development of confident and effective communicators connects with our goal of graduating strong leaders. Communication skills are foundational to that effort. Nowhere is our approach to public speaking programing more obvious than in the cycle of reading and speaking competitions that we hold each spring. Made possible by a long-term relationship with the Frances K. and Charles D. Field Foundation, these competitions are designed to teach public-
suspect that anyone entering the classrooms of Cathedral School for Boys might make a few, common observations about the process of teaching and learning at our school. One would relate to student engagement. Our teachers know boys well and design lessons in ways that capture their interest and attention. Another might relate to the hands-on nature of our approach. We know that boys learn through doing, and our teachers make the classroom experience approximate the real world Public speaking represents another common, and important, element of our educational approach that is an obvious part of any boy’s experience.
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speaking skills, highlight the importance of speech and debate, and showcase our students’ proficiency and talent. Our competitions begin in Grade 3 and Grade 4, when boys select and present a poem, reading, or speech of literary or historical importance. In typical Cathedral School fashion, our approach is not limited to a select group of boys. All students participate in the beginning stages of the competition, and then boys can opt into the public phase of the competition, which is open to parents and students in the division. Boys in Grades 5–8 are selected into the public rounds based upon their performance in the competition’s initial phase. Depending upon the year and grade, students may be asked to recite a famous speech or excerpt from literature, take a position on a political or global issue, deliver a TED Talk, or engage in a structured debate with classmates.
One of the unique features of our scope of competitions is that they are supported by an endowment that allows the winners to work with the Head of School to select a fun outing for their class or to purchase an item for school use. In the past, winners have taken classmates to a Giants game or scheduled a class day in Golden Gate Park. Others have chosen to purchase outdoor ping pong and foosball tables for student use. These rewards make the competitions even more exciting and compelling. Another compelling example of public speaking at Cathedral School comes in the form of Chapel Talks in Grade 4 and Grade 8. Every year, each Grade 4 and Grade 8 student composes and delivers a Chapel Talk in Grace Cathedral to an audience of his peers, family members, and guests. These talks typically describe a life event that has influenced a student’s world view or involve reflections on a
student’s time at Cathedral School. This practice has become one of the most important culminating experiences of a boy’s time at Cathedral School. The opportunity to speak in Grace Cathedral, which has hosted some of the world’s most famous leaders and dignitaries, represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As we continue to study the influence of our Public Speaking program, we can’t help but imagine continued opportunities for programmatic growth. Recently, we have discussed whether we might create a debate class in our Upper School and hire a full-time debate coach. Public Speaking continues to generate such great interest at our school, and we expect to work hard to produce capable young men who communicate effectively and with confidence. R&G
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15 Days in Can Tho, Vietnam Experience Is Sweet, Memories Are Bittersweet faculty sabbatical program CATHEDRAL SCHOOL’S FACULTY SABBATICAL PROGRAM: For over two decades, Cathedral School for Boys has paid a significant stipend to reward teaching faculty who have completed seven years of service. The purpose of the stipend is to allow faculty to pursue a course of travel or study that is meaningful to that individual teacher and that helps advance his or her work in the classrooms of Cathedral School. Past sabbatical experiences have included: Galapagos Island ecology study, travel to the Great Wall of China, pursuit of advanced degrees at Harvard, visits to schools in Europe, Asia, and Africa, backpacking and ecotourism trips to Europe, and language acquisition trips to Spain and Central America.
By Christopher Corrigan, Upper School English Teacher
their son struggling to walk. Forty years later, a father now myself. My heart aches for the man on the gurney being examined. His ankle pushed and prodded, bent and twisted. “Noi dau?” they ask him, “Pain?” Pain Noi dau. My heart breaks for his parents … their sobs across the generations drown out the voices of the doctors conferring … recommending … surgery … to reconstruct their boy’s ankle … to dry their 40-year-old tears. Outside the exam room, in the waiting room … I see my daughter … her first trip outside the States … she leads a five- year-old girl with a clubfoot into the adjoining screening room. I remember a fever she had when she was five. I hug her and call for the next patient.
Wednesday, December 27, 2023 “I t’s been this way for 40 years …. He had a fever when he was five years old.” He had a fever when he was five years old … When I was five years old and had a fever, I climbed into bed with my parents … no place was safer … for any of us. Nestled in between them, I didn’t worry about my fever. And they didn’t … worry about … polio … exposure to heavy metals … groundwater contamination … Agent Orange … He had a fever when he was five years old. His parents worried … as mine did … different worries. Their son, his foot turning inward … the struggles ahead … my parents watching their son from the sidelines at a basketball game … his parents watching
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faculty sabbatical program
Tuesday, January 2, 2024 “It all needed something more than swagger, something more knowing than a thoughtless reach for the great golden ring. It needed something else.” — Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff
furniture, and these people are taking humans apart, refastening them, and putting them back together. Part mechanic, part sculptor, with no signs of doubt or second-guessing. Single minded … focused … clinical … surgical … I have a new appreciation for those adjectives … “clinical” … “surgical.” I mean I’ve always understood what they meant as well as their etymology … I was an English major after all. The way of looking at situations and the world with precision and free of emotion. I even understand its relationship to the world of medicine, where everything needs to be precise … I can wrap my head around that. It makes sense, even in the abstract. But observing the work of the surgery teams, the words become more powerful. Concrete. It’s like my previous understanding of these words are jacked up on steroids …. clinical … surgical …. But I still wonder. Here’s a kid who wants to play soccer … ride a bike … walk to school … run down the street, or meet a friend. How does a doctor separate the patient’s body from the patient’s Life? Family? Past? Future? From the patient’s Soul? How can
“A man’s gotta know his limitations.” — Harry Callahan Magnum Force
As a layman, it’s hard to comprehend what I can only label as the extreme confidence of the people in the O.R. To slice through skin, muscle, tendon, ligament, saw through bone … to see the connections and inner workings of the human body, and understand how it all fits together … how it can be taken apart … reworked … put back together again. To have a backstage pass and work stage crew for the most intricate show on Earth. There is a humbling level of nerve on display that has somehow eluded me. I get nervous changing the batteries in my TV remote. I’m terrified of losing the screws when I’m putting together IKEA
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you compartmentalize the person from the body? Likewise, looking down from above the table, does the doctor push aside their own feelings … emotions … in the moment? How do they not hear the voices of the patient’s hopes … fears … spirit? How do they not hear their own hopes … fears … spirit? “A surgeon knows what he knows and does well to stay in that box. Yeah, you hear the voice, but you stay in your lane, do your thing in your moment, focus on it, stick with it.” Dr. Bruce Lehnert. Confidence … it’s not swagger … it’s focus … it’s knowing yourself … it’s not arrogance … or will … or ego. It’s self-awareness, paramount and supreme and comfortable Self-awareness. In Can Tho, I watch a woman wheeled out of the operating room post-surgery waving from the gurney at one of the attending nurses. I realize this is the right stuff.
gratuitous violence. There is NO bad moon rising here. There IS a constant cacophony of beeps and the grinding whine of scooter motors. There are loud speakers and megaphones blaring out from scooter-driving pitchmen letting us all know about a nightclub, a party, a brand of cigarettes. There’s the old lady sitting on a milk crate next to a cracked Igloo cooler, her gouty hand wrapped in an ace bandage; her dark blotchy dark skin flaking off her shin, yelling across the street over the maelstrom of pedestrians, scooters, taxis, tour buses. ‘You! You! You buy water! You buy beer! Tiger bia! Bia Ba Ba Ba! (333 beer)!” There’s a Vietnamese cover of “Never Going to Give You Up” spilling out from a sidewalk bar. Yeah, in case you were wondering, you can get Rick Rolled in Can Tho. All the sounds smear together like an aural version of a kindergarten finger painting project. It’s not Simon and Garfunkel. There is no sound of silence on Hai Ba Trung along the Mekong River. But there is a harmony and a flow to everything. It expands beyond mere sound. It attaches to everything … part of the whole. It’s sound in three dimensions. You can hear it in the street din. You can see it in the ever-flowing tapestry of people weaving in and out of the unceasing traffic. The discordant consonance of ground level. The soundtrack of Vietnam. In the O.R., the banter of the doctors discussing the patient and procedure adds yet another note to the melody. Someone has brought in a Bluetooth speaker. Climbing above the buzz of the bone saw, something familiar rises up. The Allman Brothers Band. “You’re my blue sky; you’re my sunny day; don’t you know it makes me smile when you turn your love my way.” We’re back to classic rock. Only now it’s different. The music isn’t punctuating Hollywood helicopters flying over jungles or firefights in rice paddies — in a glorification of violence. No, it’s
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2024
“We need some music in here, man. It’s getting too serious. ” — Dr. Bruce Lehnert
The first thing that hit me when I got to Vietnam is that the soundtrack is all wrong. My understanding of this place up until this point has a very distinct and specific soundtrack. Classic rock … Credence Clearwater Revival … The Rolling Stones cranked up to 11 “IT AIN’T ME! IT AIN’T ME! I AIN’T NO FORTUNATE ONE” “OOH SAID THE STORM IS THREATENING MY VERY LIFE TODAY. … IT’S JUST A SHOT AWAY! IT’S JUST A SHOT AWAY!” The songs are always irrevocably shackled to CGI images of napalm and firefights … the beauty of the music hobbled and handicapped by scenes of
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Minh, Little Red Book clutched in his right hand, his left arm raised as if giving an approving papal blessing to the Westerners pumping Vietnamese dong into his utopian, Socialist dream. Then there’s the neon-lit streets and the footbridge, as muted as everything else is, this is the definition of flamboyant. You read what I wrote earlier about Vegas and Miami … these cities pale in comparison … Can Tho’s lights at night are the homecoming and prom queen all rolled into one. The belle of the ball, every other city would be battling to ask her out or too shy to walk by her table in the high school cafeteria. All of this said, the wet market is where the true colors of Can Tho explode and come alive, leaping off the canvas. Say what you will about Van Gogh, he’s got nothing in his oil color arsenal that can touch the depth of expression here. First let me explain. Forget “Alice’s Restaurant.” The wet market is where you can get anything you want … … ANYTHING … Fruits, fish, frogs, fashion? It’s here. Shrimp chips flavored like New York steak? It’s here. Ginger root carved into the shape of a dragon and soaking in a clear alcohol that resembles lighter fluid in look, taste, and texture? It’s here. Oh — it’s here, and it only costs 5.000 Vietnamese dong or 20 American cents. FDR’s profile on two tiny silver coins can set off an apocalyptic chain of events. Side note: When writing numbers, the Vietnamese don’t use commas; they use decimal points. It can be confusing at first. But the colors! Yellow flowers for good luck heading into Tet. The pink carp swimming in the shallow stainless silver pans of water on the sidewalk. The red of the dried shrimp meets the earth tones of the eels gasping on the sidewalk. Piles of pale gray root vegetables I’ve never scene before most likely harvested on the moon. The red Tony Hillfiger shirt on the boy driving his scooter down the rutted-out, one-lane road. I’ve come to the conclusion that Tony is Tommy’s cousin who set up shop
adding the background to scenes of healing. I realize now that we’re reclaiming the imagery. There’s a new soundtrack to a new movie. There are two videographers following us with their cameras, making a new movie, writing a new narrative. The songs, like the patients, are being reclaimed … made whole … healed.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 2024
“No quiet browns or grays, I’ll take my days instead, And fill them ‘till they overflow, with rose and cherry red.” — Michael Stewart Barnum, Lyricist Every place has its color. Santa Fe — khaki brown and red dirt orange, the palette of the Southwest desert. San Francisco — the purples and reds and periwinkles vibrating off Victorian houses. The garish pinks and turquoises of Miami. Las Vegas, the land where God coughed up neon. The deep greens rolling over every rolling hill of the Appalachian Mountains in the summertime before they surrender to the reds and yellows of autumn. But Vietnam? You ask of Can Tho? It’s hard to pinpoint. The sky is the proletariat gray often associated with films depicting East Germany, circa 1972. There are the muted tones on the socialist murals. Flat reds, yellows, oranges, blues, and greens, depicting images of people — doctors, construction workers, teachers, soldiers, some arm in arm; others hands raised; all smiling white smiles — stretching across a concrete wall in two dimensions with an SUV parked in front. The river — the illegitimate son of green and brown. To call it ‘olive’ would insult martinis around the world. But this is the land of dissonance. What can only be described as a purple ‘house’ boat, Thuyen nha, sits on the water. High- end floating restaurants reminiscent of Show Boat or some other Hollywood whitewashing of the 1800s American South are moored along the docks; a golden 40-foot statue of Ho Chi
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in Vietnam, as so many people wear his shirts here. You might also be interested to know that Tony is a born-again Christian. I know this because on the back
thought that this would be difficult to witness, but it’s not. Oh, It’s REAL — no doubt about it — on many levels, it’s real.
There is no CGI or special effects here. But there is a beauty in the “colors’’ of it … all is real. The color of the knowledge I’ve gained. The ever-brightening color of my daughter’s growth on this trip. The color of the work
of the scooter-riding young man’s shirt is silk-screened, ‘Y’All need Jesus.’ But I digress as all the sights, sounds, and smells vie for my attention,
“I’ll come home and tell my wife some of E-Z’s jokes, but they won’t land in my living room as well as they land in the hallway outside the O.R.”
dragging my adult ADHD thought process in a million directions at once … oh yeah … the colors.
of the doctors and the coordination of the team. The color of hope. Beauty. Beauty that can not be described with mere visual colors. No longer is “color” a noun or an adjective. Witnessing operating room, “color” becomes a verb. There is a beauty here that is not just color; it is a beauty that colors … has colored my whole perspective. It has added brilliant new hues to my psychic palette. The glow of the camaraderie of the people I’ve shared
Then there’s the other colors … in O.R. The green scrubs and gown of the surgeons. The blue scrubs of the International Extremity Project (IEP) team. Although it might be impertinent to mention the colors of the surgeries, the bright reds and whites beneath the skin … exposed to light for the first time … the harsh operating room light illuminating an incision. I
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this time with. The beauty of the human body and how it works. The beauty of healing … the beauty in the colors of Can Tho.
it’s more than that. Their presence is gone. We’ve been a bunch of grapes ripening on a vine together, and now that some have been plucked, we feel somewhat incomplete. The quiet has a weight to it. People are aware that just around the corner, the other world awaits, the ‘real world’, the other side of the looking glass. Just as a child’s excitement is always more intense the day or two before their birthday — the anticipation is often better than the moment — the feeling I have as the reality of leaving these people weighs heavily a few days before hopping on a plane to San Francisco. I know I’ll always have the memories; I know that the generosity, talent, professionalism, and dedication I’ve lived in has impacted me and my daughter and how we will be moving forward — not just from the IEP team, but from everyone, the patients, the Vietnamese doctors and nurses. But that’s not the same — I’ll remember cracking up with Fletcher, the videographer, but that’s not the same as sitting next to him and cracking up. I’ll remember what Nyska, the surgeon from Tel Aviv, told me about surgery, but that’s not the same as standing next to him and watching a master at work. (“They say it will take 90 minutes … me, I’ll do it in 20.”) Fellow surgeon Wing’s caring gentleness, wisdom, and kindness had nestled into my psyche, but that’s not the same as standing next to her while she explains a procedure, not just with her words and expertise, but with her heart. I’ll come home and tell my wife some of surgeon E-Z’s jokes, but they won’t land in my living room as well as they land in the hallway outside the O.R. Experience is sweet; memories are bittersweet. For those of you who know me, you know I have a sweet tooth. R&G
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
“All things must pass away.” — George Harrison
There’s a new found quiet here. Gone is the frenetic energy of the screening days, the endless parade of patients and the spectrum of emotions as patients hear whether or not they can receive a procedure that can dramatically alter their lives. No more nervous energy in the operating rooms and hallways connecting them. The laypeople’s shock at our first view of surgery has tempered if not worn off. Everyone knows the drill. The ping of the heart monitor now seems like a metronome, keeping time as the team moves seamlessly through the halls to their places. The path has been cleared and paved by Jeni and Madison, and all is rolling along. Marathon runners talk about ‘getting in the zone’ somewhere around mile 18. Autopilot kicks in. It’s not complacency or arrogance; not carelessness or apathy. The focus just comes easier now. There aren’t as many questions. “Wheres” and “whats” and “hows” are much more infrequent. Most of those were answered days ago. They have given way to the good natured joking and ribbing that comes out as people become more familiar with each other … as strangers become acquaintances … as acquaintances become friends … as friends become family. Over the weekend some of the team split town for a bit, while others still left for good … for now. The demands of the ‘back home’, jobs, schools, families came knocking on their doors, and that call needed to be answered. Their absence has added to the quiet. Sure, they are missed, but on a deeper level. Sure, the team is down a few players, and others are lifting a heavier load. But
Scan this QR code to watch a seven-minute video about the International Extremity Project’s 2024 Medical Mission to Vietnam.
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alumni interview
A Quiet Confidence An Interview With Bill Bennington, Class of 1979, Lifetime Trustee
R &G: For those folks who may not know you, can you walk us through the different phases of your connection to Cathedral School for Boys? Bill: Sure. I came to Cathedral School in 1975, in fifth grade. Mimi Lowrey, one of the founders of the school and a lifelong trustee, was a good friend of my father’s. They served together on the board of the Children’s Hospital Foundation. After a meeting one day, Mimi said to my father, “Bill should
Kent School, Occidental College, and he is now a captain in the U.S. Navy, serving in the Pentagon. After Cathedral, I went off to St. Paul’s School, Princeton, and then I worked in London for 15 years before coming back to San Francisco. At some point, as an alumnus, I got to talking with Deb Rockwood, who worked
in Cathedral’s Development Office at the time. Deb had set up an Alumni Association Council. I got involved, and I reconnected with Cathedral School! Seven years ago, Deb asked me to start a major gifts program for alumni. Greg Lee — a great friend of mine from the Class of 1978 — and I teamed up. We decided that an interesting way to do that might be to establish and raise donations for a permanent fund. We decided we would honor a very important member of the CSB family: Canon David Forbes, our founding headmaster. At the same time, we would honor our fantastic teachers. The school was approaching its 60 th birthday and Canon Forbes his 60 years of service; we thought this was the perfect time. Our goal was to raise a million dollars from the alumni, and, with lots of help from our
apply to Cathedral. There might be an opening.” I did apply, and I got in. The next year my twin brother, Jeff, joined me. R&G: Identical or fraternal? Bill: Fraternal, fortunately for him. We both had a fantastic experience at Cathedral. I graduated in ’79, and Jeff graduated in ’80. Jeff went on to
Jeffrey George (“Jeff”) Bennington, Class of 1980, in Grade 6 (Left), and William (“Bill”) J. Bennington, Class of 1979, in Grade 7 in 1978.
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Bill: Yes, living in Europe opens up lots of fun
fellow alumni, we succeeded! We presented the fund to Canon Forbes at the school’s 60 th Celebration in Grace Cathedral. The Forbes Fund honors his amazing legacy, and
“I think my experience living abroad connects to something that makes our Cathedral experience special. I think we seek to bring out confidence in Cathedral School boys, a quiet confidence.”
opportunities to travel and learn and have fun. I think my experience living abroad connects to something that makes the Cathedral experience special. I think we seek to bring out confidence in Cathedral School boys, a quiet confidence. I was taking a chance moving to London the day after I graduated from Princeton, instead of moving to New York with my friends. The confidence to do that, I believe, came in large part from my experience over the years at Cathedral. My teachers were fantastic! I still exchange Christmas cards with several
the proceeds of the fund are used to honor great teachers who are really excelling. R&G: Last year, Judy Hilbrich Sheppard was honored. Bill: Judy was a terrific choice! I was very happy for her! It turned out that Burns and Cathedral’s board really appreciated the Forbes Fund project. They asked me to join our board and in particular to help with fundraising. I was thrilled to accept. (Greg Lee had previously served as a CSB trustee.) I served on the board for six years until this past June. At that point I received the great honor of being made a lifetime trustee of CSB. There are only three lifetime trustees at a time. I have the spot previously filled by Canon Forbes, and I am serving alongside two of the school’s great leaders and culture carriers: Thayer Hopkins and David Thier. R&G: How did you end up in London, by the way? Bill: I wanted to learn about investment banking, but I didn’t want to go to New York and work for a large
firm. I went to London and joined a small investment bank. After a couple of years of working in London and Edinburgh, I went to New York to see what I was missing. I decided pretty quickly that I preferred London and moved back. Since then, I have only lived in London and San Francisco, my two favorite cities. R&G: Sounds like you had a lot of adventures as an adult.
of them after 50 years! This speaks to great relationships. I love CSB. I really enjoy serving on our board and also on the board of Grace Cathedral. It is great to get to give back. It is great to get to help plot the path ahead! R&G: Thank you again so much for your time, Bill. Bill: My pleasure. Thank you. R&G
Jeff and Bill in 2022 after Jeff’s wedding in Grace Cathedral.
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