SEEKING CLARITY

ThRouGh ThE LENS oF TIME

ThE FIRST dAY oF SChooL

LooKING ThRouGh ThE

Ap phoTo LENS

Looking Through the Lens Fall 2012

looking through rose- colored glasses

Sporting pink, the varsity football and volleyball teams gave a uniform show of support in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

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whAT do SCIENTISTS do?

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Earthworm, earthworm, what do you see?I see a scientist looking at me! Junior Kindergartners visit Roberta Imbimbo’s science lab to practice their scientific observation skills.

“What do scientists do?” she asks, and allows students like Matthias ‘26 to observe, experiment and discuss. Just like the grown-up scientists.

When you have a window for your institutional logo, you must be all about VISION. SEEING. LOOKING.

Our theme in this issue of Parker Magazine is LOOKING THROUGH THE LENS. Whether it’s how we see our students and alumni, or how they see themselves and the world around them, the Parker lens is a remarkable filter. As Far As The Mind Can See.

Looking for Alumni Class Notes: www.francisparker.org/alumninewsLooking for Faculty News: www.francisparker.org/facultynews

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CoNTENTS ANd CoNTRIBuToRSCoNTRIBuToRS

Stephen p. BreenStephen P. Breen became the editorial cartoonist for the Asbury Park Press (NJ) in 1996 and in 2001, became the cartoonist for The San Diego Union-Tribune. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize (1998 and 2009).

Steve has also won the 2007 Berryman Award, the 2009 National Headliner Award, the 2009 Thomas Nast Award and the 2010 Fischetti Award. Steve also writes and illustrates children’s books and enjoys running, reading and playing the guitar. He lives in San Diego County with his wife and five children.

Logan Jenkins ‘61Logan Jenkins, a San Diego Union-Tribune columnist, attended Francis Parker School from third- through eighth-grade. His wife, Renee, taught second-grade at Parker for 19 years. His son, Lee, attended Parker

from preschool through sixth grade. For one of our feature articles, Logan chronicles the purchase of and subsequent move to the Linda Vista campus.

Tershia d’ElginFor a start, author Tershia d’Elgin is a mother. As a writer-for-hire and illustrator, she has contributed to over thirty published books and is a recipient of the Los Angeles Times Press Club Award and the

San Diego Press Club Award. As an environmental activist in Golden Hill, she has received three congressional recognitions. D’Elgin is presently at work on Dispatches from the Dog Widow, an illustrated diary of an Argentine adventure.

CREdITS ANd ACKNowLEdGEMENTS

Front Cover: Photo: Laura Coburn

Inside Front Cover: Photos: Tom Paluch and Cathy Morrison

What does a scientist do?, p.1: Photo: Lorenzo and Olga Gunn

Where’s Kevin, p.4: Photo: John Durant

Seeking Clarity, p.6: Photo: Thinkstock.com

Instagram Centennial Dinners, p.8: Photos: Courtesy of our dinner hosts and guests

Through the Lens of Time, p.12: Photos: Parker Archives

Byron Harlan ‘77 Profile, p.18: Photo: Dylan Mayer, Writer: Jim Zimmerman

All-School Centennial, p.19: Photos: Mike Muckley (All-School Photo), Birdy Hartman and Cathy Morrison

Laura Crabtree ‘00 Profile, p.22: Photo: Courtesy of SpaceX, Writer: Jim Zimmerman

All-School Centennial, p.20: Photo: Mike Muckley

First Day of School, p.24: Photos: Rob Hansen ‘87, Illustration: Aaron Amerine

Tom Crowley, p.28: Photo: Marshall Williams

100 Things to Love, p.30: Photos: Cathy Morrison, Parker SmugMug Galleries, Jill Duehr and David Wahlstrom

AP Photo Portfolio, p.32: Photos: Patrick Barba ‘13, Kate Biel ‘12, Leeann Bui ‘12, Emily Heft ‘12, Christian Jimenez ‘13, Emma Kahn ‘09, Carolina Martinez ‘13, Claire Reedy ‘12, Eva Scarano ‘13, Writer: Mark Byrne

The Francis Parker View of the World, p.39: Illustration: Stephen P. Breen

Back Cover: Photo: Cathy Morrison

Head of School: Kevin Yaley

Head of Institutional Advancement: Jim Zimmerman

Editor, Director of Communications: Cathy Morrison

Layout and Design: Savacool Secviar Brand Communications

Printer: Neyenesch Printers

Printed on: Cover: TopKote 80lb cover weight Interior: TopKote 80lb text weight

Corrections and notes from the last issue of parker Magazine:

p.5: Photo #8 is the class of 1986, photo #9 is the class of 1989

p.5: We missed two alumni who are now faculty: Lynn Stafford ’83 teaches 1st grade at the Lower School, and Danny Hughes ’98 is the Head Coach of the Boys’ Varsity Volleyball team

p.19: We misspelled Mrs. Kunkle’s last name (Kunkle, not Kunkel)

We regret the errors!

FEATuRES

1 what do scientists do? Junior Kindergartners visit Roberta Imbimbo’s science class

6 Seeking Clarity Adjusting the parental prescription

8 Through the Instagram Lens 23 parties, seen via Instagram

Through the Lens of Time An offer that changed the course of Parker history

All-School Centennial picnic It’s not every day you gather 1500 people for a photo!

First day of School As seen from parent, student and teacher lenses

Looking Through the Ap photo Lens There’s more to these images than meets the eye

dEpARTMENTS

4 where’s Kevin? So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades!

alumni Profile: Byron harlan ‘77 Getting the story to the viewers

alumni Profile: Laura Crabtree ‘00 To infinity and beyond

Faculty Profile: Tom Crowley Mr. Crowley answers our questions

100 Things to Love about Francis parker School: 26-50 See if you agree

Editorial Cartoon The Francis Parker View of the World

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whERE’S KEVIN?

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So Bright, I Gotta wear Shades!

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By Cathy Morrison

Generally, one wouldn’t recommend playinG with fire, literally or figuratively. However, Parker’s 3D-art studios offer a safe environment for taking an academic artistic risk.

Not an “out of body experience,” but instead, a whole-body experience, exactly what the Colonel (as in Francis W. Parker) had in mind.

On his visit to 3-D art & design, Head of School Kevin Yaley was surrounded by eager students, most of whom were getting their first up-close view of the tools, techniques and theory they’ll apply to their own projects as they progress through the course.

Metalworking and stone carving are quite literally the embodiment of integrated academics. One gains a sense of the chemistry and physics behind the processes. Whether it’s proper pressure and the precise mixture of oxygen and acetylene for cutting and shaping metal, getting the best temperature to heat the materials for welding and forging a bond, or use of angles, force, speed and finesse for carving alabaster and marble, math and science are applied concepts in these artistic endeavors.

And the physicality of the process matters as well: stance and endurance help steady the hand that wields the tools that carry out the vision. Teacher Tom Crowley told the group, “a comfortable stance and a sure hand allow more control over outcome; don’t get too close, you want to see the whole piece, the whole process.”

Mr. Crowley started with the welding, carefully explaining the equipment and protective gear while illuminating the creative possibilities that lie ahead.

Next up, the science and art of inert gases cutting steel; interestingly, it’s the oxygen, not the flame that does the cutting. (It’s amazing what these two can do together that cannot be accomplished separately.) Followed by the pneumatic chisel used for shaping stone.

Three distinct processes, three distinct lenses (mask, goggles and eye shield) that allow the student artists to at once protect their vision and execute their Vision.

So much of what happens in this class is a metaphor for what happens at Parker and in life:

Taking something from the minds’ eye to completion; this process is not instant gratification, but a journey as important as the destination.

Initial practice efforts may not look like much, but they’re building blocks to the next level.

Steel allows for abstract combinations, other materials do not; something seemingly inflexible has an unexpected capacity.

Recycling/reusing of materials that others might see as leftovers or trash.

Tempered by heat, shaping, and molding, a beautiful and interesting piece emerges, akin to the stages our students go through to learn, grow, and develop into their wonderful unique selves.

As Mr. Crowley and two students who’ve already had some experience using the tools were showing the class — including Mr. Yaley —what’s in store this year, there was an animated sense of fun and anticipation. A palpable it is SO COOL to be able to use and master this mysterious machinery! Some kids were clearly itching to give it a go, while others seemed somewhat anxious; they’re all going to take their turn eventually and be proud of themselves and their work. That’s a terrific risk/reward scenario.

Thoroughly enjoying his time in class, Mr. Yaley said, “What a thrill it is to see our students come to light, filled with the simple joy of doing. People often ask what real learning looks like. Stop by Crowley’s stone carving and iron casting and you will see it first hand.”

Indeed, hands-on participation in the artistic process provides an opportunity to acquire a lifelong skill or passion. Each of these students can now view the process of creating art with an insider’s eye — they’ll never see a sculpture the same way ever again. One can even imagine them sharing this sense of pride and appreciation with their own children as they tour a museum or gallery — possibly even their own studio — some day.

“It’s amazing what these two can do

together that cannot be accomplished

separately.”

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a d j u s t i n g t h e p a r e n ta l p r e s c r i p t i o n

by Tershia d’Elgin

As with so much that we love, we think we know our children, from that almost imperceptible dimple to their toenail clippings left on the bathroom floor. This intimate inventory extends beyond their looks and habits, to our expectations, right into the future.

“Envisioning” is a big part of the parental job. It started with the moniker. Didn’t you name your child imagining him or her becoming that person as an adult? As a friend with several children said, “I always name them as if they will be investment bankers.” In our family, we tend toward names suitable for freedom fighters. Others, even in the first weeks of pregnancy, already see their children’s names in lights.

Soon after naming were the other investments in the vision — the clothes, toddler soccer and Little League teams, lessons, the friends, the camps — the whole inculcation toward whatever you have pictured as the most safe, rewarding and fulfilling future for your child.

What happens when the vision blurs? When the child you thought you were nurturing toward great expectations shows signs that he or she is not just shirking, but has a whole other destination in mind?

You used to enjoy a game of toss and were convinced you had a Hall of Famer at home. Now your child won’t go outside because he’s memorizing the periodic table backwards, he says. And he’s committed to doing stop-motion photography on old vegetables from the fridge’s bottom drawer when he finishes. He no longer seems like an athlete. How can you talk with the child from another planet?

Or you’re pushing your daughter toward the Junior United Nations Assembly on her way to the State Department, but she is masked in Goth makeup and is refusing all but raw foods. And there’s that black-lace bustier under her uniform that you’ve only just discovered.

When a parent’s farsightedness collides with nearsightedness, the cognitive dissonance can be almost crippling. Happens all the time as children experiment with their interests and abilities. It may not look like it, but they are probably looking for a self-defined self they can live and hopefully flourish with. Maybe their behavior isn’t the glaring rebellion you think it is. Maybe it’s just common currency among peers by way of Facebook, Twitter and Call of Duty.

This betrayal of your vision can feel like blindsiding, even if it’s been creeping up on you since Day One. Acts of individuation in children might not fit their parents’ idea of an approach to a CEO position or solving the conundrums of cold fusion. But most parents remember their own childhood, their own parents’ myopia. Myopia has always been an affliction passed between generations.

Parenthood is necessarily dynamic, right? — full of opportunities for adjustment and improvisation. Try a diagnostic that includes gentle inquiry and very careful listening. Revelations may not take so much as seeing-eye dog.

Sometimes seeing one’s child afresh is as easy as loving him or her for additional reasons. Maybe — despite and even because of the body-piercing — the family name will eventually be chiseled in marble. When that happens, how terrific it’ll be to know that you nurtured those passions… and just as important… learned from your child’s novel take on an ever-changing world. Isn’t being able to bridge the distance between our own front nose and the horizon what progressive lenses are all about?

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CENTENNIAL dINNERS

#Centennial Dinners Looking at the Centennial Through the Instagram Lens 23 Exquisite Dinners, 23 Different Homes, 23 Unique Themes—a fun and

festive way for the Parker community to celebrate all things Parker and help

to kick off the Centennial year. The night began with a cocktail reception

for all on the Linda Vista campus, then 817 guests made their way to their

chosen dinners, at various homes throughout San Diego County, from Carmel

Valley to Chula Vista, La Jolla to La Mesa, and many points in between. Each

dinner was hosted by a Parker family; each event was captured spontaneously

on smartphone and/or tablet cameras by dinner guests who put their own

filter on the experience using Instagram.* Our hosts set the table for a truly

memorable evening!

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*What’s Instagram? A free photo-sharing program and social network lets users take a photo,

apply a digital filter to it, and share it with friends and family. Photos are

confined to a square, akin to the old Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid images

of the 1970s era, with options for all sorts of special effects and filters.

The hashtag (#) allows people to group and gather photos with similar

titles, so it’s easy to find and share from the same event. #Parker100

CENTENNIAL dINNERS

Through

the lens of time

by Logan Jenkins

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no matter how much i may have wanted to stay, i would be going to high school someplace else.

in the summer of 1961, i said goodbye to my Parker classmates and in the fall started ninth grade at the four-year Coronado High school. Many of my old friends stayed for ninth grade at Parker before going on to a three-year high school.

even now, a half-century later, i feel that 13-year-old’s desolate sense of separation from what had become his family across the bay.

But that’s the way it was. Come the end of Middle school, you went to what we Parker kids would have called a “real” school, one with stadiums and gyms.

Time to go. Ready or not.

Like most Parker students of a certain vintage, I knew from my first day in Mrs. Kennedy’s third-grade class that my days were numbered.

learly, the decision to keep a number of students through high school forced the issue of expansion to the fore.

The board, under the forceful leadership of george scott, concluded that another campus had to be built if Parker was going to offer a complete high-school experience.

During this period of strategic planning, Dr. Crone had been hired with the explicit understanding that his legacy would be judged on his success in taking Parker to the major leagues of private schools, recalls Janet smith, then secretary to the board and later headmistress of the Lower school.

“Doug was told that if he could do this, his career would be made,” smith said recently.

With the vision and a dynamic college-oriented headmaster in place, the board began the search for land to build a campus for sixth through 12th grades.

The first start turned out to be false one.

in early 1971, Parker announced plans to build a “junior-senior high school” on 63 acres of city-owned land in Tecolote Canyon. sale price: $282,000. it would

take more than two years to build the campus from scratch.

During this period of intense planning, the clouds parted and lightning struck.

Bruce Hazard, the chairman of the board for san Miguel school of Boys, called scott with an offer that would change the course of Parker’s future.

san Miguel, founded in 1952, moved from national City to Linda Vista in 1960.

By 1970, enrollment had dwindled to 80 boys at the 43-acre campus.

To keep its academic commitment to boys alive, the episcopal school was moving to the sister La Jolla campus of The Bishop’s school for girls.

The only other possible buyer Hazard approached was the University of san Diego, on the other side of Linda Vista Road.

The april 19, 1971, Parker board minutes reflect reluctance on the part of the board to seize this opportunity before UsD grabbed it: “Bishop Francis eric Bloy asked Mr. Hazard to approach Parker school and Mr. scott reports that if this plan is to be considered it would mean asking for an extension on the option for the Tecolote Canyon property. Mr. scott stated it appeared the consensus of the board indicates no interest at this time.”

Less than two months later, however, the San Diego Union reported that Parker had bought the Linda Vista campus for “over a million dollars,” according to scott’s statement.

Parker’s option on the city-owned Tecolote property had until september to be exercised, scott added.

“Thirty of the 43 acres at the former san Miguel site have been developed,” the article went on. “There are 12 classrooms, two laboratories, a library to accommodate 20,000 volumes, an administration building, a gymnasium and dining hall. There are two dormitories, which will not be utilized.”

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During this period of intense planning, the clouds parted

and lightning struck.

{Previous Page} scene from the open House in

front of the administration Building following the october 26, 1971

dedication ceremony.

{Above} The 1970-71 baseball team poses for their last team photo on the Mission Hills campus. That’s Pat Flynn ’75 in the front row, second from the right.

in 1971, students gather around the flagpole.

{Right} The administration Building

as seen from the front parking lot.

Back in the misty past, Parker had been a k-12 campus, but the powers that be decided that, in order to financially survive the Depression, Parker had to focus on lower grades. no high school.

given the fixed physical constraints of the Mission Hills campus, Parker would never be an academic or athletic powerhouse among private schools. For decades, it remained a highly esteemed school that prided itself on preparing children for life, not competing as a high-octane college-prep academy attracting huge endowments.

as luck would have it, the board shifted strategies shortly after my class left.

Looking back, it was almost as if Parker itself couldn’t bear the tearful goodbyes anymore.

in the mid-’60s, a nucleus of students stayed on at the five-acre campus designed by William Templeton Johnson, the architect who with wife Clara founded the school in 1912.

By the late ’60s, Parker was a k-12 school with around 500 students jammed into the Mission Hills campus.

The graduating senior class of 1971 was dubbed the “Lucky 13” by Headmaster Doug Crone, who in the yearbook proudly announced that the whole class was college-bound.

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appropriately, the 1972 yearbook was dedicated to none other than scott, the department store magnate credited with keeping the school on an even keel after the loss of longtime headmaster, Dr. Rollin grant.

in the Headmaster’s Message, Crone congratulated the 20-member class of 1972, the first to graduate from Parker’s new campus in Linda Vista.

as you’d expect, Parker traditions carried on at the Upper school but with the sort of unpredictable twists and turns of high-school life.

“We met every morning for ‘flag-raising’ around the pole in front of the old administration building,” Flynn recalled,

“an event that was once disrupted by a couple of naked young men running by the edge of campus. The streakers were said to be La Jolla Country Day scholars.”

imagine that sort of display of rivalry at the cloistered Lower school.

a history of the transition to the Upper school would not be complete without one last chapter.

The purchase price of the Linda Vista campus and the renovation had stretched Parker’s resources to the point where it was forced to sell 23 unused acres for residential development.

Three times Parker pleaded for a zoning change and three times its application was rejected on what today seems a bizarre technicality.

Because the local high school was overcrowded and could not accept students from the proposed project, no zoning amendment could be granted. Parker was held hostage by a jam-packed kearny High school.

Finally, on the fourth try in March 1976, the sale won approval thanks to a creative solution. Parker, which had ample experience with bus transportation, agreed to shuttle students living in the condos to a high school designated by the san Diego school board.

in 1978, the Union reported the first phase of the $15 million north Rim development, a project of the well-respected Lion Property Co., which had built homes in Del Mar and La Jolla.

“We want the development that is to become our next-door neighbor to be well-conceived and skillfully executed,” Dr. Crone told a reporter.

With the proceeds from that sale, Parker was on track to begin an extensive building program, the graceful results of which can be seen today on both campuses.

Without William Templeton Johnson’s brilliance as an architect, Parker would not mean what it means to generations of students who attended what’s now called the Lower school.

But the Mission Hills campus is a canyon-bordered retreat from the madding crowd, scaled to small classes and students of tender years, a little world inextricably linked to Parker’s idealistic past of learning through doing, of fostering citizenship above all else.

The Middle and Upper school, on the other hand, is scaled for the world at large. its open-air modernism embraces the global future.

Together, the two campuses form a smooth whole, a yin and yang that is so Parker.

as Parker honors its hundred years of history, the Johnsonian birth in 1912 is rightly remembered as the school’s boldest stroke of practical genius.

But the leap of faith in 1971, that gamble that keeps on giving to generations of students and teachers, is a close, a very close, second.

n the summer of 1971, Parker went into overdrive to clean up the campus and get it ready for students in the fall. smith said the

condition of the buildings was, in a word, “awful.”

Pat Flynn ’75, who would grow up to become a journalist, recalled “a warm day in the summer of 1971. Jeff silberman ’75 and i, ostensible future Parker basketball players, had finished our regular saturday morning pickup game with older guys at UsD and decided to walk over to the former san Miguel campus that we knew Parker had acquired and where we would be starting ninth grade in a few weeks, part of the first class that would spend all four high-school years at the Upper school.

“The place was quiet. What seemed then a vast parking lot was all but empty. But we saw george scott, who we knew had been active in the acquisition, walking

around the property. our big interest was the gym, now a secondary facility to the Field House. Parker would finally have an on-campus place to practice and play. Previously, practices and home games were played at Muni gym in Balboa Park. i am not sure what scott was doing there

that day, but he seemed thrilled that two students would have enough interest to spend part of the summer day examining the place.”

The sense of open space in a new, at times challenging, neighborhood was overpowering to those who’d taught at the Lower school.

“When we moved here from the Mission Hills campus, we were in awe,” teacher Tony ghironi said. “The campus was big and spread out. one of my duties was to be security in the evenings and on weekends. The campus was not fenced in and it seemed the community liked to use our

grounds for certain activities. i lived in what was to be the headmaster’s home with my family. since i was also the football coach, i had to seed and water the field to keep it in a worthy condition to practice and play our games on.”

The Upper school campus was dedicated on october 26, 1971. The 1972 yearbook

celebrated that day when “the dream of a Parker High school became a reality.”

“i remember the entire Upper school convening in the old library,” Flynn remembered, “probably on the first day of school, and thinking how large it seemed compared to the tiny Lower school library.”

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{Left} The official offer of purchase by then-Board Chair george a. scott to Bruce Hazard, Board Chair for san Miguel school for Boys.

{Above} Recognize this building? it’s the only original building from the san Miguel school still remaining: the Middle school gym/Locker Rooms/Cafeteria.

{Above} The new campus was officially dedicated on Tuesday, october 26, 1971. Here, newspaper clippings from the october 27 san Diego Union, the invitation, and photo from the archive scrapbook.

With all the grades on the original Mission Hills campus, a typical day or event would find Parker students of all ages and grades all together in the same location at one time. students are shown here in front of what is now the szekely auditorium.

Together, the two campuses form a smooth whole, a yin and

yang that is so Parker.

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pARKER ALuMNI pRoFILE

Current residence: Downtown San Diego

Current position: Weekend Anchor and Reporter, KUSI

Job description: I am a general assignment reporter, but they are aware of my financial planning background and the station often sends economics stories my way.

Craziest story? Sometimes dumb luck lands you at the scene of a big story. Years ago I was covering a boat race on Mission Bay. My cameraman was filming when he caught a terrible crash on camera. We went to a live report to cover the accident, but the crowd thought we were being invasive and got mad at us. They actually started taking our gear – I had to use my martial arts skills to retrieve our microphones! We had to do the live report from on top of the news van. Fortunately, the injured boaters survived.

Most interesting story? The OJ Simpson criminal and civil trials. I was at CBS in Chicago, but was sent out to LA to share the workload of network coverage. I had already filed our story for the day when Christopher Darden asked OJ to try on the glove. I immediately called my producer and told him we needed to re-file. We knew we were watching the prosecutor’s case die in front of us.

Most interesting interview? George Clinton, founder of the band Parliament. I was a big fan when I was at Parker. It was interesting to me because he was experiencing in the late 1990s the same exploitation that the old blues artists were experiencing in the 1930s.

Wish you could interview? Al Davis, the late owner of the Oakland Raiders. He hired the first African-American coach in the modern era, he was the first ever to pick an African-American in the first round of the NFL draft, and the first owner to hire an African-American chief executive. He broke all sorts of barriers.

Do you like the way you look on camera? Yes. I’m not in love with my looks, but you have to be presentable.

Do you do your own makeup? Yes. The money has left the business. However, it does give me a unique skill set! I also purchase my own makeup, which is interesting.

Why do you always wear boots? A fellow reporter once told me that when you’re covering a story, you’re traipsing through fires and canyons. You’ll only ruin good shoes. Plus, boots give you style points.

When journalism? I took a radio news-writing course at San Diego City College at age 19 and it just clicked.

Most rewarding? Access. I get to talk to mayors, senators, presidents. It’s important, but at the same time it’s really no big deal – they are the same as the rest of us.

Years at Parker? High school, 1973 – 1977. My mom found the school and told me I was going. The culture was pretty alien to me when I first arrived — you could have put all of the African-American students in a phone booth.

Favorite Parker Memory? Spending time with my girlfriend Patricia.

Least Favorite Parker Memory? Losing a football game by a few points to a school from LA. Our team was good — we put up some of the first banners in the Gym. We hated to lose. You carry those things with you.

Favorite Parker Teachers: Mrs. Corbin, I took English from her every year. Ms. Payette — all the boys had a crush on her. Mr. Summers, I didn’t understand the chemistry, but I liked him a lot.

Favorite quote? “Don’t take what life gives you. Take what you want.” – Al Davis

Byron harlan Class of 1977

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Photography by Dylan Mayer

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1500 students, faculty and staff gathered for an all-school photo, presentation and picnic on — the hottest day of 2012 — September 14. The Lower Schoolers rode to the Linda Vista campus on Parker buses, saw the “big kids’ school,” and enjoyed lunch in the “big kids’ cafeteria.”

hAppY 100Th BIRThdAY pARKER!

Explore the smiles up close and personal at: http://bit.ly/X4h74Z

Centennial kickoff CelebrationAs seen through a Nikkor 17-35mm, f 2.8 ED lens from 40 feet above field level.

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Centennial spirit—cookies for the short term, and t-shirts for the long term!

pARKER ALuMNI pRoFILE

Laura CrabtreeClass of 2000

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Current residence: Redondo Beach, California

Current position: Mission Operations Engineer and Simulation Training Lead for Dragon Operations, SpaceX

Job description: I prepare the operators for the flights of Dragon and Falcon 9, from capsule communications to working with NASA.

Most amazing sight through a lens?Watching the Dragon attach to the Space Station was a life changing experience.

What is SpaceX? We’re trying to revolutionize space travel, make it faster, better and cheaper. People think space is this unobtainable thing and we want to make it obtainable.

Current Projects: We have a commercial contract with NASA to deliver cargo and payloads to the International Space Station.

Greatest Opportunities in Space:Developing the capability to reuse a vehicle will be a huge game changer. America needs the capability to take people into space again.

Emotions when you watch a live video feed? Excitement, passion. Our company accomplished something that only a few countries have been able to do. Also, extreme tension. There are so many obstacles that need to be overcome in order to be successful.

Greatest Accomplishment: I played a big part in training my colleagues who were responsible for the Dragon rendezvous with the Space Station. We grew and learned together, and afterward they thanked me for my role in the mission’s success.

When did you decide on space exploration? When I was 10. I spent the early part of my life excited about watching all the Shuttle flights, and went to the Challenger Center with Parker in 6th grade. I then went to Space Camp in Huntsville, AL in high school. I’ve always been fascinated by the unknown. When I was young, I wanted to be an architect and an astronaut. I told my mother I was going to build houses on the moon.

Most rewarding part of your job?Every day is different. I go to work with an idea of what I am going to do but it always changes as the day goes on.

Humans on Mars? I think it is entirely possible in my lifetime. If not, I will be sad.

Would you go? Absolutely. My sister (Heather Crabtree ’02) would be mad at me for saying that. But I would go.

Is Pluto a planet? Yes. I think there is too much hype about that issue.

Years at Parker: 9

Favorite Parker Memory? In 10th grade, I was on the volleyball team that won the state championship. It was an amazing experience and a great group of girls.

Least Favorite Parker Memory? 6th grade was my toughest year. I was so busy trying to figure out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do.

Favorite Parker Teachers: Mrs. Redelings, Mr. Kleve, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Wineholt, Señor Steel, Mrs. Hanscom.

Favorite quote? “Do or do not... There is no try.” – Jedi Master Yoda

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As Seen through the Student Lens

From the eager kid who has been trying to insinuate herself into kindergarten ever since she could speak, to the resisting child who couldn’t be cajoled into the school until his little hands

were pried off the family car’s door handle, expectations are varied. All students’ anticipation – positive and negative – comes together in a new classroom.

Starting at a new school is, of course, the most compelling change, like being plucked from one mammalian colony and resettled into a new location with unfamiliar prospects, intrigue, posturing, rivalries, established relationships. Some students are wary and tentative, as was sixth grader Christian Tran ’19, though he added, “I look forward to making new friends, too.”

Others jump in as if into a theme park. From their former home in San Paolo, Brazil, the Lee children equated San Diego itself with a theme park. Then they moved here and Parker became San Diego’s E-ticket. Kristian ’23 and Katerina ’26 tested a “fake” first day in the Summer Program. Their mother Fernanda Lee says her children were tearful on their last day of camp because “school was finished.” They insisted on using the word “school” instead of “camp.” By September, Kristian was in a hurry to get back to the friends he made in July, to play soccer and find additional snakes in the science lab. A second grader, he already feels he “belongs at Parker.”

Axel Pierce ’25 wasted no time in settling in as a new junior kindergartner.

“Don’t you just love it here?” he said. “You can have all the food you want!” Similarly, Lara Mertens ’24 reported after her first day, “Mama, I had NO idea that SK would be THAT much fun!”

And some students, like Zach Von Behren ’25, were a bit blasé. How was the first day of school?

“Cameron threw up, and Jack got a bean stuck in his nose.”

Returning to the same campus is, by comparison to the “new school syndrome,” a cakewalk. It’s time to break out the sharpened pencils, compare new apps, and share summer stories. Students may not admit it, but they’re eager to vet different hairstyles and the refinements made to the uniform within the narrow dress-code margins among their core critics.

Advancing a grade also bears the entitlements of seniority, the glory of growing beyond an age where one can ever again be the “brunt.” For some, the move to the Middle School produced some nervous moments, but their apprehension quickly dissipated.

Every first day of school is a high-spirited spectacle of initiation. Enacting the rites of autumn once a year are its lead players – students, teachers and parents. The whole campus becomes a stage, with the “ensemble” displaying the full spectrum of human feeling. Excitement, anxiety, separation, surprise, letting go, joy, jealousy, loneliness, friendship and much more fly around and bump into each other, and then somehow distill into first impressions. And first impressions count. They provide a foundation for the coming school year and also the years to follow.

Here, observe and celebrate first day of school impressions at Francis Parker School through three lenses, one each for students, teachers and parents.

by Tershia d’Elgin

Illustrations by Aaron Amerine

of all my ‘first days’. I was also more excited than I have ever been.”

Being a senior can add some cherished rites of passage to the day. “This year I drove myself to school, so it was really different,” noted Molly O’Meara ’13. To which Meghan Babla ’13 added, “This year was extra special because I got to wear my senior class shirt! It was very sentimental.”

As Seen through the Teacher Lens

fter three months of sleeping in and learning to converse without mentioning lesson plans, grading and that one kid (let’s just call her “Apoplexy”), teachers are back in their

element. They have each other, the solidarity of colleagues. They have newly minted rubrics and sparkling whiteboards. And they’re ready to pour a richly brewed school year with attractions they’ve percolated from June through September.

On the other side of the faculty meetings, forms and new protocols is the faculty’s eagerness to “have at it,” to meet and win over the next brood. Whether by sweetness, or humor, or measures just short of mania, they will outcompete the attractions of the Internet.

Fourth-grade teacher Annie Voight slept fitfully the night before school started, not because she was nervous but because she was excited. She joined other teachers on the playground 15 minutes early, where she met parents and new fourth graders. Parents were still peeking through the windows as their children hung up their backpacks and began the Pledge of Allegiance.

In today’s world, Parker’s teachers shoulder an important covenant. They come to school each fall as modern magi. Their role is interactive, to become a guide and inspiration. Through teachers’ first-day lens and the lenses they use every day, is an aperture to information.

Lofty pedagogical goals notwithstanding, a teacher’s perspective for Day One is, at its core, identical to the student’s. Upper School English teacher Jared D’Onofrio puts it this way: “I don’t know these people.

I don’t know if they’re going to like me. I don’t know what they’ve heard about me, and I really wish this zit weren’t coming in on my forehead.”

As Seen through the Parent Lens

hen there are the people who made it all possible. For parents, watching their sons and daughters disappear into the front gate at the Lower School or the breezeway on

the Linda Vista campus can be, and usually is, a blithering moment. All summer every fiber of a parent’s being has been about correction, protection, affection, etc., the full complement of 24/7 responsibility. Suddenly,

“the unknown” has swallowed their charges and picked up the slack.

Despite parenting’s many pleasures sometimes loving children hurts. Letting go in the drop-off line might be one of those moments. But, as we know from labor pains, hurt eventually delivers its ineffable pleasures, many in a form undiscovered until after you let go. The school year is where your parenting skills get their real test, where your family learns how the love you’ve given can be invested in a new setting. And the first day of school is, therefore, scary, but oh so necessary.

Caroline Rentto Wohl ’86 recalls, “Like many families, we always take a ‘first day of school’ photo on the front porch. As we finished and were loading backpacks in the car, the kids (Caroline ’16 and Robby ’19) asked, ‘Aren’t you going to do the kissing hand?’ It comes from a book they each heard on the first day of senior kindergarten in Birdy Hartman’s class. In the story, the mother raccoon soothes her son’s first day jitters by kissing his palm before sending him off to school. That way, any time during the school day, he’ll be able to feel her love by pressing his hand to his cheek. We used to do it when they were still in Lower School. They asked this year in a semi-teasing way, but I was happy to oblige, even if they are both about to pass me up in height. I think that is one of my favorite things about our school — keeping these traditions through the years truly makes each of us feel part of the Parker family.”

So letting go doesn’t so much put you “outside” as give you new windows (and lenses) into a greater demographic. As we know from Obi Wan Kenobi and still-active former American presidents, letting go is far from the end of the story. When your children report on their day, what they’ve learned and their new friends, you’ll get a sense of your expanding world. Like the Lee family, honor the tradition of change. Letting go is another beginning and so much more. From the first day of school forward, your next nine months are abruptly freed up! You still have your wits, most of your looks, and a whole lot more time. Make the most of it!

Within the Parker “family” these lenses from students, teachers and parents come together, reflecting and refracting impressions. It’s a thrill. Fernanda Lee wrote that the first day sets the tone of the year. It is like a mantra: “Sleep deeply and wake up full of energy, because tomorrow it is going to be the most beautiful day of your life!” Thanks, all, for your role in our rites of autumn, and bravo! A renewal.

For Dylan Gersen ’19, the first day of school “was weird. I felt like I didn’t belong at Middle School. I felt like I should’ve been at the Lower School. Everyone seemed so much older than me.”

Luisa Southworth ’19 said, “When we got there I was freaking out! (On the inside). But then, as I neared the Commons, I thought, ‘Parker is my home, why am I scared?’ ”

And Drew Brown ’19 found that challenges seemed minor in the bigger picture, saying,

“My first day of school was great. The campus is beautiful and the teachers are outstanding. My only problem was I couldn’t open the lock on my locker.”

Summer (which might have been a monotonous stretch anyway) begins to fade.

Some students may say they prefer that monotony to remain endless, particularly if it includes surfing and the beach. Still, routines and expectations at Parker are far from drudgery. Including new friends and old, they sometimes approach a perfect wave.

By the time Parker students reach senior year, that last first day in September can be very gratifying.

Many parents harvest first days with a new photo each year. In this year’s family photo, June Lewis-Osborne noticed that her daughter Sarah ’13, a senior this year, was no longer hugging her binder nervously, but

looked poised and confident. “The next stop is ‘first day of living away from home’ and going to college,” June writes. “It is also a tense time. It seems like from the very first day, we are focused on them graduating, and all that must happen in the interim.”

For Clare Harrington, parent of Gabe ’13, her tradition is to take pictures of the kids in the front yard. She writes, “The look on Gabe’s face this year represents the way he has, so far, approached his senior year: ease and confidence. He and I both know the academic challenges that face him, but seeing him upbeat about taking them on this year puts me at ease as I think about him starting college-level classes next fall.”

Sally Aul ’13 echoed that, saying, “There was very little about the first day that felt

‘unknown’ to me. I was the most confident

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Tom CrowleySocial Studies, Upper School

Tom is the Upper School Social Studies Department

Chair, Upper School Economics and Sculpture Teacher,

and Director of Global Studies program. He’s traveled with

Parker students to South Africa, Guatemala, Vietnam and

Colombia; this year he’ll head to the Philippines.

Tom began teaching at Parker while finishing his Master’s

Degree in Political Science at San Diego State University

in 1991. Since then, he’s taught a variety of courses in the

Social Studies and Arts departments. (For more on his

3D art class, see Where’s Kevin on page 4). In addition,

he’s coached five different sports during his Parker

tenure and helped develop the Global Studies program

that he now directs.

01 Do you wear glasses or contacts? Unfortunately, I’ve succumbed to reading glasses.

02 If you wear glasses, are they rose-colored? Undoubtedly. I actually used to wear round,

rose-colored glasses in my college days.

03 How many lenses do you see the Parker community through? (e.g. Global, parental, professorial, microscopic, athletic, artistic...)

How many lenses? You could say I’m a Fresnel.

04 How has the world-view of your students changed over time?

Technology has brought the world to their fingertips. Some have developed a broader worldview and greater social awareness with such access. Some have chosen to use technology in ways that make them more isolated and removed. I’m amazed at the high level of tolerance and acceptance that my students exhibit.

05 What’s it like to wear those goggles when you’re metalworking, casting or sculpting?

The welding shield blackens but prevents blindness, the sculpting glasses are geeky-cool. They keep the corneas intact, but I wouldn’t go on a date wearing them.

FACuLT Y pRoFILE

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06 What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Hiking in the forest with my wife, son and all my critter friends.

07 What is your greatest fear? These days? Heights. In the longer

view, the same as everyone else.

08 What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

My tendency to rant, pontificate and lose my cool.

09 What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Selfishness.

10 Which living person do you most admire?

What self-respecting Irish boy wouldn’t say his mother? My mom is a living saint.

11 What is your greatest extravagance?

Traveling.

12 What is your current state of mind? Content at where I am, but

anxious to get at all the things I want to accomplish.

13 What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

A full head of hair.

14 On what occasion do you lie?

When I find it better to tell my wife what she’d like to hear about my whereabouts… ha, ha, ha, hmmm.

15 What do you most dislike about your appearance?

My gradually distending middle.

16 Which living person do you most despise?

Text-messaging drivers when I’m riding my bike. It’s got to stop! And litterers! I hate litterers. Can’t be tolerated.

17 What is the quality you most like in a man?

Trust.

18 What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Friendship.

19 Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“Jiminy Cricket!” or “Jo- Jo, the dog faced boy!” when swearing won’t do.

20 What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Earth, she’s all we have and is the reason for our being.

21 When and where were you happiest?

Every morning I wake up and anywhere I’m welcome.

22 Which talent would you most like to have?

I wish I had greater math aptitude.

23 If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

See Question #15 above. That and my sleep habits, or lack thereof.

24 What do you consider your greatest achievement?

I think I’ve been a pretty good husband and father, so far. Those are the two biggest commitments I’ve made in my life. I feel like I’ve had a good tenure at Parker and have helped contribute to its successes. It’s been a large part of my life for the past two decades.

25 If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

A tree. Probably a conifer. No bark beetles, please.

26 Where would you most like to live? Can’t top San Diego! I’d like to split

my time between here and Truro on Cape Cod. That’s my paradise away from home. I’d enjoy living in the Canadian Maritimes for a bit.

27 What is your most treasured possession?

My extended family.

28 What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Shipwrecked on the open ocean.

29 What is your favorite occupation? When my teaching seems to be

working, there’s nothing better. I wish I could occupy my time more with making art.

30 What is your most marked characteristic?

I’d like to think it’s my lust for life, but it’s probably my lingering Boston accent.

31 What do you most value in your friends?

Their apparent willingness to hang out with me and listen to my blather.

32 Who are your favorite writers? This is who I read last month:

Nathaniel Philbrick, David Halberstam, William Martin, Erik Larson, James Mitchener, Larz Keplar, Jo Nesbo, Ken Dorsey… that’s a pretty typical sample.

33 Who is your hero of fiction? Zorba the Greek.

34 Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Akbar the Great, Leonardo Da Vinci, Mohandas Gandhi, Lev Bronstein…there are many.

35 Who are your heroes in real life? My high school & college art teachers.

Sports hero: Muhammad Ali, Political heroes: Latin American revolutionaries, Science hero: Carl Sagan, Guitar hero: Eric Clapton.

36 What are your favorite names? Person: Boutros Boutros Ghali,

Place: Djbouti City, Thing: The didgeridoo

37 What is it that you most dislike? Gun violence.

38 What is your greatest regret? No real regrets. I wish I were a

better coach.

39 How would you like to die?

Just like Phyllis Diller did: 95 years old, in her sleep, with a smile on her face.

40 What is your motto? Pay attention. You only think

you’re not moving.

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26 Café Parker: Sitting outside under the

umbrellas with your friends.

27 Dr. Gillingham’s Morning Handshakes at the Lower School: Getting the day off to a good start.

28 Homecoming Spirit Week: From crazy hair to comfy PJ’s to the wearin’ o’ the Brown & Gold — Go Lancers!

29 Pet Day: Puttin’ on the dog! And the cat, the hamster, the pony, the pig, the chicken, the fish and the reptiles.

30 Wall of Guitars in Mr. Gonzales’ classroom: We’re all Guitar Heroes!

31 Friday Night Lights: It’s like going to the county fair, without the deep-fried Twinkies.

32 The Scribe and Bema: Olympics, Schlympics. Our student publications brought home the gold too!

33 The Rose Art Gallery: Showcasing the work of students and professionals —quiet inspiration.

34 Lancer Man and Lancer Lady: We’ve got spirit, yes we do!

35 Coming to America: 2nd graders and 8th graders explore their roots.

36 Parker Unplugged: Who needs a coffeehouse (or coffee) when you’ve got live music and poetry in J. Crivello Hall?

37 Lower School Halloween Carnival: Trick or Treating doesn’t hold a flashlight to this, thanks to the Parents’ Association.

38 AIDS Walk San Diego: Parker leads the way in participation.

39 Skorts: Not your mother’s culottes!

40 Faculty/staff who started out as bus drivers: Bob Gillingham and Annie Voight once drove the bus, now they drive curriculum. Debbie Burzynski runs Parker’s Transportation department; Coach Matt Schellenberg logs more miles on foot than he did behind the wheel; it’s about shutter drives for Mark Byrne these days, and Manny Villaseñor keeps the buses maintained, something Mike Crone ‘78 used to do before he started teaching at the Lower School.

41 Interim and Global Trips: Take only pictures, leave only footprints.

43 Middle School camp on Catalina Island: Spending the first week of school navigating new waters. Literally.

44 Afterschool Aides: Making 2:35 or 3:15 – 6:00pm fly by.

45 Grandparents’ Day: Love is in the air!

46 Lower School and Middle School PE: Not just once a week, once a day!

47 College Counseling Office: Stars and caps for the wall, snacks for the seniors, support for students and their families every step of the way.

48 Extracurricular Clubs: Who needs an app? There’s a club for that…

49 Alumni who stay in touch with their former teachers: We don’t stop rooting for you when you graduate.

50 No two days are ever the same: Really!

42 Assemblies: Expect the unexpected!

100 Things to Love About parker

“Mic check”

“Has anyone

seen Willard?”Scream or

sugar?

45

38

43 29 41

36

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Last issue, we gave you items #1 – 25, now we offer #26 – 50. Do you agree?

In fact, if you have something special to add to the list, let us know at parkermagazine@francisparker.org.

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Photography by Cathy Morrison, Parker SmugMug Galleries, Jill Duehr and David Wahlstrom

01 Emily Heft ‘12, Self Portrait

01

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the ap

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Photo

Ap phoTo LENS

The path to AP Photo frequently starts with summer school, with some students starting

photography courses the summer after their eighth-grade year. Then they have three more

trimesters before they’re in AP, resulting in a degree of proficiency with the camera and the

darkroom that’s unusual for high school. Throughout that time, they’ve seen the AP work

going on around them, so they understand the stress and the camaraderie. They are

self-selecting, so the AP darkroom becomes a communal cauldron of creativity.

!

! !

!

Mark Byrne

AP Photo Instructor

“The practice of photography, when coupled with the study

of photographic theory, teaches a way of looking at the world.

Photographs stop life to be examined with various analytical

tools. Over the year AP Photo students study and emulate

photographers such as Richard Avedon, Cindy Sherman,

Gary Winogrand, Sally Mann and David Hockney. Then

Susan Sontag, John Berger, Marshall Mc Luhan, and

Roland Barthes, among others, inform them about

photography’s effects on society, art, and perception.”

Chase Stone, 2008

Oberlin College

“In most classes you are filling up file cabinets in your brain,

in AP photo I was able to retrieve info from these files and

use the camera to bring my knowledge into the world

and bring back an interpretation of the world.”

Kate Biel, 2011

Skidmore, Art & Photography

“AP Photo, helped me tap into a talent and passion I never knew

I had and lead me to evaluate the world with much more insight

and finesse. The AP submission was the most stimulating artistic

experience of my young life. The intense process inspired some

of my most creative ideas.”

Haley Robinson, 2011

UC Davis

“When you look at a picture produced in AP Photography,

there is so much more behind that one print than what meets

the eye. There’s influence from the historical movements the

students have studied, there’s discipline in procedure and an

understanding of technicalities, and there is the creative style

of every individual student.“

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05 Leeann Bui ’12, Alexandra Alemany 06 Carolina Martinez ’13, Pierfon 07 Kate Biel ’11, Wig02 Ciaran Gallagher ’13, Departure 03 Emma Kahn ’09, Mr. Byrne 04 Patrick Barba ’13, Time and Light

05

06 07

03

04

02

13

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12

08

08 Emma Kahn ’09, Philippines 09 Patrick Barba ’13, “Hockney” Ali Bloom 10 Emma Kahn ’09, Photographically Self-Conscious 11 Claire Reedy ’12, Ghost Town Triptych 12 Christian Jimenez ’13, Vanishing Point 13 Eva Scarano ’13, Turkey

Develop hunger,

dedication, determination

& silver gelatin film

He judges your work harshly,

then he gives you Vanilla Wafersand a compliment. You are urged to

drink lots of water.

Discover that

your “Con”has emerged

from your work,

interests, sub-conscious

and the readings.

Put up the annual Parker AP Photo

show at Gelato’s on India Street.

Get compliments, feel cocky.

It’s time to write your

ConcentrationStatement

(The theoretical readings have

become your cool friends.)

Submit your

portfolio

Become concerned about the

AP Concentration Requirement:

“The Con.”

You discover that

necessity is themother of invention.

You spend weekends in

the lab inventing.

Take photo for 3 trimesters +Take photo for 3 trimesters +Take photo for 3 trimesters +

Have an

imagination

Readthe assigned theoretical readings on

photography — find them to be unrelated

to the creative problem at hand.

I’m curiouslike a cat!

Arguetheir validity with

the instructor.

“Because I said

to read them,

that’s why.”

Mr. Byrne explains the relevance

of the readings, resorts to:

Con.

I’m a PRO!

Be

curious

Wait, there’s readingin photography??

Do you need a glass of water to

swallow your pride?

“Con” is a good thing, right?

Feelin’ good, feelin’ great...

Receive your score& submit it to the college

of your dreams!

Realize that it’s

10 days before thesubmission deadline

and that you have been

so preoccupied with your

“Con” that you’ve neglected

the equally important

Breadth requirement.

Tears.

APPhoto

Ta-da!

Meow?

BE E JUICE!TE L

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ThE pATh oF AN Ap phoTo poRTFoLIo

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6501 Linda Vista Road San Diego, CA 92111 www.francisparker.org

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PAIDFRANCIS PARKER

SCHOOL

parker Magazine Looking Through the Lens / Fall 2012

Adam D’Onofrio ‘13 is reflected in the lens of Eric Lee ‘13 as they play onstage in J. Crivello Hall.

Centennial weekend June 7–8, 2013

Alumni Cluster Reunions June 7

All parker Celebration June 8

More details coming soon!

Save the Date!