Page 35 - Priorities #66- Winter 2017

than they are.” But sometimes achieving this goal can feel like an obstacle course. The biggest challenge, he continues, can be “getting adults to understand the per- spective of our students and to adjust their interactions accordingly.”
As the person who organizes the community service week in January as well as the other service opportuni- ties, Gulliver has an excellent sense of how Priory can serve its greater community. Keenly interested in help- ing students connect with meaningful activities, he puts countless hours into working with such organizations as 49ers Academy, Acterra, Ecumenical Hunger Proj- ect, and The Sequoias assisted living. “It’s been great to learn about and find organizations that are interested in connecting with our kids and watch our kids develop their own relationships with these outside organizations that help them express their passion, and thus hopeful- ly develop a lifelong desire to give of themselves,” he states. “If I can help every kid I come in contact with to more clearly see a path that resonates with who they are, whether it be through exposure to outside learning op- portunities or individual growth through their school ex- perience,” he continues, “then I would feel happy know- ing that it somehow helped propel them to follow their hearts and to live compassionately.”
Gulliver also coordinates Priory’s efforts to under- stand the broad range of diverse backgrounds repre- sented here. He heads the faculty Diversity Committee, which meets monthly and tackles issues such as how to interrupt prejudicial statements, to developing Pri- ory’s mission statement and increasing the diversity of students and staff. The students have also organized the proactive Dedicated 2 Diversity (D2D) club, which Gulliver LaValle advises. “He’s very passionate about diversity as a construct,” states Brian Schlaak. Gulliver has built this program over six years, and because of it, staff and students have felt increasingly welcomed and heard. Anysa Gray ‘20 believes, “He understands peo- ple’s backgrounds and takes them into consideration.”
Gulliver’s own goal? “I hope to accomplish being a guide for kids to discover their passion and feel em- powered to turn that passion into action for the purpose of making their lives better,” he says. Katy Oseguera ‘17 adds her own favorite anecdote. “At the year-end Access dinner, he has something nice to say about every senior who’s there.” Gulliver LaValle truly lives the Benedictine belief that every student is known and loved.
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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT