Page 3 - Priorities #68-Summer 2017

Dear Priory Community,
Each graduation at the Priory is special and unique in it’s own way. This year was no different with the Class of 2017 taking center stage. The colorfully decorated graduates with their blue and white ribbon leis and vibrant purple orchid leis marched down the long road to the graduation tent on the new Trudelle Family Track and Father Christopher Field. They later emerged as the 57th graduating class and new members of the Priory alumni community.
This issue of Priorities includes graduation pictures and information about both the middle school and the upper school graduations and academic awards. Once again we were blessed with students who live out our mission every day in “creating meaningful and balanced lives” and “developing as lifelong learners and stewards.” We are proud of each and every one of them.
The coming year is a special one for us–our 60th anniversary! We are planning a number of special events to celebrate. You will read about them in this issue along with an update about the Building Ingenuity Campaign and the status of projects currently underway or completed.
Mike Calbert, alum parent, will begin his 2 year term as Chair of the Board of Trustees as Eileen DiGiorgio finishes hers but remains on the board. We appreciate Eileen’s leadership during her term and Mike’s willingness to assume a new and vital role. Father Jonathan Licari, OSB from Saint John’s
College Prep in Minnesota will continue as our outside Benedictine representative. The Monastic community wants to thank the following trustees who have finished their terms–Mark Gainey, Sally Harris, Guy Nohra, Ray Rothrock, and Maureen Sansbury, and welcome new members Dom Filloux, Tom Halbach, Greg Hughes, Jennifer Nash, Steve Nachtsheim, Beckie Robertson and Anne Senti-Willis.
On the center table of the Founders Hall lobby you can usually find a copy of Being Benedictine–50 years of the Woodside Priory School, which was published in 2007 and is filled with pictures, descriptions, testimonials, and stories that chronicle the birth of a Benedictine community in California and the establishment of a school ”in the Lord’s service.”
The Forward of the book is written by Richard P. Cooley of Seattle who attended Portsmouth Abbey, a Benedictine school in Rhode Island, and one of the earliest benefactors to the Priory. He relates his meeting with Father Egon in San Francisco and the feeling he had after:
As we walked out, I thought to myself that this meeting would go on for another fifteen years; little did I know that fifty years later we would see what we have today. From the start with Emmet Cashin’s introduction to the Gilson ranch, to the 50th celebration that took place this year; so many of us have been carried across the landscape of years. What an amazing gift the Good Lord gave to all of us; one that led each of us to make our own small contribution to the creation of the Woodside Priory and School. It happened out of love, intelligence and faith in the Monks led by Father Egon’s old-world warmth and goodness. It was a happy, sometimes anxious journey that included scores and scores of incredibly faithful and dedicated souls. I’m grateful to have been one of them.
The Priory today is a credit to the many people upon whose shoulders we stand to celebrate a vibrant and thriving educational institution. We are excited to pause this year and reflect on what we have been given and what we give to those who are part of our school and extended communities.
Soon the campus will come alive with the arrival of the 2017-18 school year. The new 6th and 9th graders will explore their new school with their eyes wide open and a hunger to absorb all the Priory has to offer. New friendships will be made, familiar faces will see each other once again, and the new school year will officially be in the record books.
Happy 60th Birthday Priory as Always We Begin Again! Head of School
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HEAD OF SCHOOL