Giving
Support the Catlin Gabel Difference
Teachers speak about our distinctive programs
From the Winter 2010 Caller
The programs here embody Catlin Gabel’s uniqueness. These important offerings advance the mission of the school by continually reinforcing and refining the notion of progressive education. The teachers quoted here highlight what makes these programs exceptional and what they contribute to a Catlin Gabel education.
Robotics
By Dale Yocum, Middle & Upper School robotics program director
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Catlin Gabel’s robotics program gives students experience with hands-on engineering. More important than that, it is an opportunity to work together as a team accomplishing an impossible goal in a time too short and with a budget too small, just like the real world. Our robotics team is the most decorated in Oregon, advancing to the world championships the last three years in a row. Our membership continues to grow, with 10% of the upper school now taking part. The next phase of work for robotics is to apply our skills earned in competitions towards other problems in the community. Our work to improve the quality of life for the elephants in the zoo is the first example of how we will reach out.Outdoor Education
By Peter Green, outdoor education director & Upper School dean of students
The outdoor education program is the place where students grow in ways that will help them face the challenges of the outside world. It is one of the ways we help prepare them for the unexpected. The program provides leadership opportunities where students are genuinely challenged to lead their peers, make decisions, and confront daunting obstacles. This past year we passed a major milestone with 60% of the current Upper School students having been on an outdoor program trip. January marks the fifth anniversary of the program, and we have offered over 120 trips. Our plan is to involve as many students as possible. We will be offering more trips that are truly adventures, like our trip to Paulina Butte in central Oregon, where the group will hike up in winter conditions and try to construct a pond or tub to warm themselves before camping out.Global Education
By Spencer White, global education coordinator & Middle School Spanish teacher
Global education at Catlin Gabel takes full advantage of the international diversity of parents, faculty, and staff to design activities and travel experiences that do not rely on outside contractors or travel agents. Connections to places and cultures far from Catlin Gabel exist in our students’ daily classes and lives rather than as an isolated, future destination. Our students need to be able to communicate and act internationally at every level of their education. Fostering abilities in cross-cultural communication and critical thinking about global issues is at the forefront of our global initiative. Our global programs are developing exponentially. We have launched the Viewfinder Global Film Series, which showed 23 films this year. We invite families from all divisions to gather monthly to view and discuss films selected by the faculty, connected to curriculum. This series honors the diversity of our families and allows us to expand our perspectives on the world and its cultures. In addition, global trip opportunities for Middle and Upper School students this year include Costa Rica, Martinique, Nepal, Cuba, and Japan.
The Learning Center
By Kathy Qualman, Middle & Upper School learning specialist
The Learning Center is truly the place where each child is the unit of consideration. We help students from all four divisions understand their unique cognitive abilities and work with them to identify and practice strategies that get them to their academic goals. We facilitate communications between families, students, teachers, and outside resources so that we are coordinated in supporting student learning. For students there is no stigma attached to using the Learning Center. It’s seen as a resource for all, just like the libraries. Our achievements are highly personal to each student and family. We believe they are life changing and life enhancing. It makes us proud to see the transformation in students, culminating with graduation, when we see our students walk across the stage every June. In recent years between 75% and 95% of each graduating class has used our services during their time at Catlin Gabel. We are working on improving our ESL support, strengthening our efforts to help students transition between divisions, integrating new technologies, strengthening support for new students, becoming a more active professional resource for teachers, investigating partnerships with other institutions, and becoming a resource to our greater Portland community.
PLACE--Planning and Leadership Across City Environments (formerly the Urban Leadership Program)
By George Zaninovich, PLACE director
This unique program allows students to gain exposure to local government and learn how engaged citizens can influence the future of their communities. Every PLACE class culminates in a service learning project where students form an urban planning consulting firm and complete a plan for a client. This directly benefits the community as Catlin Gabel students, working with students from other public and private high schools, tackle a need in our city and find appropriate solutions. Recently, thanks to the work of PLACE’s advisory committee made up of city leaders and Catlin Gabel students and teachers, PLACE was awarded a prestigious grant from the Edward E. Ford Family Foundation. We have added partners in Portland’s Bureau of Planning of Sustainability, Portland State University, and Portland’s public schools. PLACE has come a long way in the last year by adding summer classes at Catlin Gabel, and offering the course at Lincoln and Marshall high schools. We are looking to build a more robust urban studies curriculum at Catlin Gabel, as well as expanding the summer program to include a middle school City Explorers camp and more opportunities for high school students from across the region.
The Arts
By Nance Leonhardt, Middle & Upper School art teacher
Active participation in the arts is essential to each student’s understanding and appreciation of humanity. We honor the integrity of each student’s work and aim to create an environment that facilitates creative risk taking, where the process is as important as the product. One example of many vibrant programs in the arts is the Poetry in Motion project, which frees students from traditional media conventions and pushes them to explore cinematography and editing from an experimental and expressionistic angle. It generates cross-divisional connections between filmmakers and poets, and joins the community in a creative process. Each year students in the project produce 45 original films, inspired by works of poetry written by community members ranging in age from 4 to 65 and beyond.
To support these, and all of the amazing programs at Catlin Gabel, please visit the giving website or call or email the development office, 503-297-1894 ext. 302.
A Rummage Farewell
A longtime teacher and sale announcer bids goodbye to Rummage
From the Winter 2010 Caller
By Sid Eaton
I married into Rummage. When I married Margaret (Meg) Shepard Patten ’58 in 1964, I became son-in-law to her mother, Elsie Failing Shepard Patten ’29, a 24-year volunteer for the Catlin Gabel Rummage Sale. In fact, during my first fall at both Rummage and Catlin Gabel, I was invited to attend a luncheon in Elsie’s honor, the venue for which was the then sorting center at the corner of NW Thurman and 28th Avenue. It gave me a preview of coming attractions, of the care so many put into the project known as Rummage.My previous hints of what I was getting into were four in number. First there was Schauff, Manvel Schauffler, then headmaster of Catlin Gabel, who spoke so often and warmly of Rummage during his many visits to my previous employer, the Charles Wright Academy, up in Tacoma. He never had to say, “Sid, you have to come and see the Rummage Sale.” So tantalizingly did he speak of the Sale, I wanted to come and see it in action, invited or not.
Near the end of my 10 years at Charles Wright, I got the chance to see a bit of the Sale in preparatory action. The Sale was still at the Journal Building down on what is now known as Tom McCall Waterfront Park, but it was not yet in session. Caravan Day had occurred, and the spoils of that year’s collection were everywhere. Silent though the building was, I could sense the growing excitement. I still recall Elsie and Meg talking about one of the off-duty policemen serving as security who would honor the Sale by serving as a cashier during the early moments. Thus was my second preview of coming attractions.
Third was Meg, who had virtually grown up at Rummage, not quite like a waif out of a Dickens novel, but to the manor or manner born, the highlight of her early life being when she was asked to sort buttons or something of that sort all by herself in the sewing department: complete responsibility at an early age, something she did again during Alumni Night on the Tuesday preceding this year’s final sale. She loved it!
Fourth was working in the Rummage Truck during my first student contest. I remember Eddie Hartzell, my colleague from a previous teaching life at the Cate School, and I were unloading a load of plywood table tops when the load shifted, just missing Eddie’s head by a non-existent hair. Rummage could be dangerous, exciting, hair-raising.
Then came loading week, an entire week committed to loading up some 20 semi trailers; Caravan Day, an entire Sunday devoted to unloading them over at the Coliseum, just days before the Trail Blazers would open their season; Pre-Sale, the nervous time during which parents and alums would eagerly await the arrival of the school’s fleet of buses, loaded to their windows with eager shoppers; finally the sale itself, which opened at 10 a.m. the next day with a swarm of humanity charging through the doors after waiting in line outside for many hours.
I had to tend shop my first year at the school (four English classes in the Upper School), so I missed the sight of this human tsunami, but I heard enough about it that I 
managed to be present thereafter at the official start of each succeeding sale. Someone had asked me to serve as the Sale’s announcer. It was chaotic, happy madness. No one had warned me of how many shoppers would ask their party to meet them in front of the snack bar, nor that one had to broadcast their requests in the order received or face intimidating stares from the denied populace.
managed to be present thereafter at the official start of each succeeding sale. Someone had asked me to serve as the Sale’s announcer. It was chaotic, happy madness. No one had warned me of how many shoppers would ask their party to meet them in front of the snack bar, nor that one had to broadcast their requests in the order received or face intimidating stares from the denied populace.There were light moments, to be sure. I remember one of our workers coming over from Housewares to ask me to ask the lady who had bought some bed pans to come pick them up. With all due seriousness I made an announcement about the bed pans, made it several times in fact as the buyer hadn’t shown up yet. The worker then reappeared with the same message, and again it went over the PA system, to the amusement of all in the building. Finally we discovered that the worker, who had a strong Balkan accent, was referring to bread pans.
There are many stories, and that’s just one. Come to think of it, maybe we need a Rummage reminiscence reunion, annually perhaps, where and when all associated with Rummage over the years can gather, share their memories, small and large, and say farewell to Rummage as it deserves and as we knew it. Something will be missing when Rummage ends: the bargaining in Hardware, the mental game of knowing what items to sit upon waiting for the next bag sale vs. not holding a bag sale too soon, the sheer pleasure of finding something one wasn’t seeking, and the experience of interacting with the public and the Catlin Gabel family. This was a two-way experience. This is what I hope so deeply the school, via a series of meetings being planned for this winter, will find ways to match. I shall miss the Rummage Sale very much, but I’m sure the school will find a way to extend all of its positives into the next 65 years of Catlin Gabel School’s existence.
Sid Eaton retired in 2001 after serving as admission director and teaching Upper School and Middle School English at Catlin Gabel for 30 years.
What We Would Have Missed
Thoughts about the Rummage Sale
From the Winter 2010 Caller
By Debbie Ehrman Kaye '73
We almost didn’t have it!
In 1945 a rummage sale did not appeal to some members of the Catlin-Hillside Mother’s Club. They wondered if they couldn’t just write a check to buy library books and cover other expenses for the school (Rummage would support financial aid exclusively after 1950), never imagining that their efforts would yield $8,864. Thankfully, with their huge success, they were hooked!Think what we would have missed:
* 5 years of positive connection with the greater Portland community
* 8 million in financial aid (2009 value), enabling thousands of students to attend Catlin-Hillside and Catlin Gabel
* All that recycling of usable goods
* Extracurricular, experiential learning by thousands of students
* Community participation in an “all-for-one & one-for-all” experience yielding friendships and connections among the diverse elements of our school
* So much FUN! and all those stories about merchandise, customers, trucks, buildings, and each other—shared experiences building community.
Because my parents were involved with Rummage, so was I (and my siblings). My volunteering began when I was four—my job: separating hangers. By the time I was 10 in the mid-sixties, I got to help in women’s accessories, stapling 2 x 2-inch price tags onto hats, gloves, handkerchiefs, and scarves. Kelly Puziss allowed me to price them; hankies generally cost 5 cents. Althea Williams in women’s sportswear taught her daughters (Leslie ’73 and Terra ’76) and me how to distinguish women’s from men’s shirts and how to display merchandise. Soon after, the Treasures ladies (Mrs. Hammer and Mrs. Wise) invited me to work with them and even to sell and cashier. I learned the value and power of taking responsibility and doing what I said I would do. These generous people taught me life skills I use to this day, such as leadership and “followership,” organization, interpersonal and intergenerational relations, finding the fun, and how to listen to, respect, and have compassion for colleagues and customers. Many parents and teachers taught all of us that together we could move a lot of rummage, and that the sum of our individual work was huge. I later worked as a buyer and floor manager for a Brazilian department store in Santiago, Chile, using every one of these skills! Recently, it has been a great pleasure to engage with students at Rummage, encouraging them to find their niche, to identify and enhance their skills. That kind of experiential learning must be integral to what we do next as a community.
During Rummage season, our family—and our mother, Pat Ehrman, particularly—were at the sorting centers and then the Journal Building all the time. With early November birthdays, my brother and sister did not have timely parties so, as compensation, their special days were announced over the loudspeaker. We were among those legions of children over the years who would see a toy and say, “I have one just like that!” and have their mother reply, “Not anymore, dear.” One year Mom was so busy at Rummage she forgot about Halloween—she called Dad at dinner time and told him to send us out in the oldest white sheets!The Rummage Sale involved students from the beginning. The contest always brought in a lot of rummage, often treasures. Students found many opportunities for cooperative learning and for fun. Team leadership offered additional skill building (Go Blue!).
We almost didn’t have it. Recently, with 1,000 volunteers working 12,000 hours serving 11,000 customers every sale, consider how many people have participated in our annual community gathering—a wonderful and immensely beneficial event for 65 years. So “thank you” to those courageous and generous women who chose to have a rummage sale. Without them, think what we would have missed!
Debbie Ehrman Kaye ’73 is a member of the alumni board and the wife and mother of alumni (Ted ’73, Mason ’04, and Rob ’07). She served for many years as Rummage volunteer coordinator.
A Tribute to Rummage, A Look Ahead
From the Winter 2010 Caller
This past November was Catlin Gabel’s final Rummage Sale. Forces that include changes in the way goods are sold in the digital age, the growth of second hand and discount retailers, and the shrinking pool of volunteers eroded the ability of this cherished 65-year tradition to raise the funds Catlin Gabel needs for financial aid. After the sale, it was time to find new ways to bring people of all ages together the way Rummage did, and to teach our students the lessons they could learn outside the classroom from Rummage. The Catlin Gabel community— students, teachers, staffers, parents, alumni, trustees, and friends—began working together to figure out What’s Next? at a meeting on January 23.
The group of more than 100 met in the Barn for most of the day to figure out what was important to them and to the school and wider communities through self-reflection and a series of group discussions led by past trustee and parent Mindy Clark. In addition, the event was streamed live on the website, and those off campus were able to participate online. Every idea and contribution was given respectful consideration at all times as the group worked towards final consensus at the end of the meeting. From smaller to larger groups, and then to the group as a whole, participants brainstormed ideas for what’s next, given a set of basic parameters. The final products were a list of events or activities that all agreed on, a list of what was agreed to be common ground, and a list of ideas that not every one agreed to, but that were important to some. No idea was thrown away, however—all ideas were captured and will be kept for future consideration.
Common ground—values that all thought should undergird what’s next— included attributes of multiple generations, physical activity, a learning component, a local connection to the community, a service component, financial sustainability, ability of students to run or organize the activity, and a way for the school community to bond or connect.
Projects, activities, or events that drew consensus were something to do with gardens, farms, or growing food (what one called a “Honey Hollow Farm resurrection”); a “Barn Raising” as a metaphor for building and working together on a specific project on or off campus; one specific event; a Catlin Gabel service corps; and an annual Campus Day connected to a worldwide day of service so that those who don’t live nearby can take part.
The day’s discussions are available online for everyone to see and to comment on. Members of the What’s Next steering committee will consider all the input and come back to the entire Catlin Gabel community with proposals for consideration. Whether it be one event, or many, or what shape it will take, remains to be seen. But what’s definite is that the community will decide, and try it out, and see what works. A new tradition may be born, or it may take time, but we will do it together.We’ll never forget Rummage and the memories we have. Two stalwart volunteers reminisce here about what the Sale meant to them, and think about the directions we can go from here. 
Faces of Rummage
Thank you, volunteers!
This is by no means a complete gallery of volunteer portraits. After all, it took more than 12,000 volunteer hours to put on the Rummage Sale.
Rummage Sale Photo Gallery
The 65th and final Rummage Sale
On Monday, November 2, trucks and trailers filled with Catlin Gabel rummage and props rolled into the Expo Center for the last time. Eager volunteers set to work unloading and arranging merchandise for the 65th and final Rummage Sale. When the sale opened on Thursday, everyone got down to the business of shopping, cashiering, roustabouting, and sharing memories. Thank you, Portland-area shoppers and Catlin Gabel volunteers, for retiring the Rummage Sale in style!
So, what’s next?
Do you have ideas about what Catlin Gabel might do to recreate the wonderful sense of community and commitment to service we have experienced through Rummage? Share your after-Rummage Sale ideas with us on the After Rummage Forum or send your ideas by e-mail to AfterRummage@catlin.edu. Ideas will be considered at a community-wide meeting on Saturday, January 23. Stay tuned for details.
Link to portrait gallery of some Rummage Sale volunteers.
These volunteers unloaded the last truck
The last box off the last truck
Tom swept floors in "St. George," too
Coveted green cart
Cheerful alumni help with set-up
Tidy set-up in the sewing department
Box Mountain
Alumni board member
Rohan plays the baby grand on opening day
She shopped at the first Rummage Sale when she was 5
Dedicated Men's Clothing department chair
Women's Clothing department volunteers
Book department volunteers
Looking glamorous at Rummage
Lesley and Ted having too much fun
Three cheers for Priscilla
Want to buy some jewelry?
Shopper shows off her antique telephone
Roustabouts
More roustabouts
Alumni home from college to help with the sale
Foremen plan the next step
Roustabouts
Shoppers examine the goods
Roustabouts
Shoe and Schauff drop by for old time's sake
When good girls go bad—get out of the green cart!
Shoppers collect books
Great book finds
Rummage captain interviewed for documentary
Student cashier and shopper
Cashiers with time on their hands (just wait 10 minutes)
Thanks, Dylan!
Student cashiers
Patient student cashiers endure shopper's long story
Curious shopper
Hmmm. How do we package this?
Students gain retail experience
Loading up on merchandise
Student cashier adds it up
The money counters
Shopper inspects jeans
Demonstrating proper use of makeshift shopping cart
Everyone's favorite volunteer job
Max shares his knowledge about old cameras
Alumnae straigthen up clothing
MK's first Rummage Sale
Sunday Club clean-up crew listens to instructions
Volunteers in Radio, TV, and Computer
Lots of choices
Sifting through the clothing
Ted is overdressed for the occasion
Attended Rummage Sale every year of their 33 year marriage
Parent of alumnae helps out
Testing out a camping chair in sporting goods
Alumnus and student work together
Break time for shoppers
Christmas decor flies out the door
Student and staff member cashier together
Student cashier awaits his next customer
Explaining why Rummage is retiring
Bag and tag
Student cashiers
Vicki keeps smiling
Student and trustee cashier together
One very happy customer
Weird face paint
Cashiering for the last of many times
Selling jewelry
The voice of Rummage
"Roustabout to Will Call, Roustabout to Will Call"
Horsing around and working are not mutually exclusive
Moving racks
Do they have Rummage Sales in Germany?
Roustabouts talk it over with Tom
Thanks, Joyce!
"Roustabouts to Treasures, Roustabouts to Treasures"
Roaming Roustabouts
Helping out in Books
Fixing a well-worn Roustabout hat
Straightening up in Men's Clothing
Mary's got the money
Volunteer with cash box
Sporting goods department guys
Lisa tells it like it is
Foremen give instructions to Sunday Club
The last of many, many sales for Peg and Pat
Michael helps with clean-up
Lark, Sidonie, and Joan wrap things up in the Art department
Girl Scout troop helps with Sunday Club clean-up
Art department post-sale
Not much left in sporting goods
The aftermath — almost empty Expo
Retiring a flatbed cart
Clothing racks donated to David Douglas High for their first rummage sale
Rummage Sale generates $274,000 in sales
Retiring in style
The 65th and final Rummage Sale was an AMAZING success thanks to energetic volunteers and loyal customers. We generated $274,000 in sales, just $1,000 shy of last year's total.
The Catlin Gabel community spirit is epic. We do great things together — we always have and we always will.
Thank you very much!
So, what’s next?
Do you have ideas about what Catlin Gabel might do to recreate the wonderful sense of community and commitment to service we have experienced through Rummage? Share your after-Rummage Sale ideas with us on the After Rummage Forum or send your ideas by e-mail to AfterRummage@catlin.edu. Ideas will be considered at a community-wide meeting in January. Stay tuned for details.
The Last Rummage Sale
Rummage retires at 65
From the Fall 2009 Caller
By Karen Katz '74
This year, we celebrate the Rummage Sale’s 65th anniversary. As we mark this milestone, we will also commemorate the sale’s retirement. Yes, that’s right, Rummage is retiring at age 65 after the 2009 sale. I talked at length with Lark Palma, head of school, and Lesley Sepetoski, Rummage Sale coordinator since 2000, to find out why this amazing sale is being retired after this year.
Why are we retiring Rummage?
Lark:As much as we love the Rummage Sale, external forces have steadily eroded our ability to put on a great sale and deliver the best benefits to the school and the community. These include the advent of Craigslist and eBay, which have drawn high-value rummage away from us; the growth of discount retailers, second-hand, and consignment outlets; a shrinking pool of available volunteers; and ever-rising overhead costs.
Lesley:The Sale has been our cherished tradition for 65 years, but it raises far less money for financial aid than it once did. In inflation-adjusted dollars, Rummage revenue actually peaked nearly 30 years ago. Ten years ago, the sale raised 20 percent of our financial aid budget. Rummage now only contributes 7 percent of our financial aid budget, at a tremendous cost to us in hard work, volunteer time, and money. It’s hard to say “farewell,” but it’s time to find new ways to accomplish for the school what Rummage has done for 65 years.
Rummage is such a great community event. How will we replicate that?
Lark:The sense of community we gain from Rummage is vitally important to our school’s well-being. We’re sad that this will be the last sale. So many of us will miss seeing old friends and coming together for a common purpose. It is hard to let go of the iconic things about Rummage like the wobbly green carts, the red roustabout hats, Sid Eaton at the microphone, and the festive feel of the presale. In January we will bring folks together to brainstorm community-building activities and come up with new ideas to replicate the kind of community spirit generated each year at the Rummage Sale.
What were the factors that went into making the decision?
Lesley: After every sale we debrief with key volunteers, parents, development staff members, and finance committee members. It is clear from what they have said — and from the 2008 parent survey
about Rummage — that our community is deeply committed to supporting financial aid and to community-building activities, but Rummage is not effectively serving either purpose. For the past several years we have been concerned about the amount of effort put forth for the sale compared with the benefit. The tipping point was the realization that 12,000 volunteer hours amounted to just 7 percent of our financial aid budget.
about Rummage — that our community is deeply committed to supporting financial aid and to community-building activities, but Rummage is not effectively serving either purpose. For the past several years we have been concerned about the amount of effort put forth for the sale compared with the benefit. The tipping point was the realization that 12,000 volunteer hours amounted to just 7 percent of our financial aid budget.Who made the decision to make this the last Rummage Sale and what was the process?
Lark: Volunteers, alumni, parents, trustees, and faculty-staff who know and love the sale and who understand our financial aid needs came to me with their concerns about the sale’s viability. I could not ignore the strong case for retiring Rummage made by some of the sale’s most devoted supporters and volunteers. Ultimately, I made the decision to make this year’s sale our last.
Will there be less financial aid available without Rummage?
Lark:The sale has been phenomenally successful, and for many years it was the school’s only source of financial aid. But times have changed, and we can raise much more if we turn our attention to less expensive ways of fundraising. Right now, we plan on increasing financial aid support through direct gifts from alumni and current families, foundation grants, and corporate sponsorships. A board of trustees task force will look at our options and work with the development office to ensure that we replace our Rummage revenue and create new programs that raise as much money or more.
What’s going to happen to Lesley?
Lark: Lesley is an asset to the school, and I am thrilled about her new role focusing on alumni and community relations.
Is this the first time the school has considered retiring Rummage?Lesley: No, it is not. The conversation is decades old and familiar to many in our community, including alumni, parents, volunteers, students, and faculty. As a community, we identify with and take pride in this unique endeavor, and yet we struggle each year to rally the troops. We have continued because the core idea of the Rummage Sale is good, even though we have known for some time that the results no longer justify the effort and expense. It was an agonizing decision.
Then why didn’t we retire Rummage sooner?
Lark: Tradition! The sale is a grand tradition, and nobody likes to see a tradition end — especially one that generates so many fun stories and such amazing community spirit. But this is a tradition we can no longer afford. Our tradition of supporting students who need financial aid is too important to continue an event that does not generate the financial aid we need.
Let’s get back to the volunteer question. Why don’t we have the volunteers in place to continue the sale? Lark: The enormous energy expended by so many dedicated Rummage volunteers is inspiring. However, the nature of volunteering has changed so much from the early days of the sale. People stillwant to volunteer, but they want more flexibility. Many simply don’t have the time to volunteer the way they once did. Families are more scheduled into after-school and weekend activities than before. Parents who volunteer during the week want to work near their children, help in the classroom, and make a difference on campus. We are excited about the huge potential created when our amazing volunteers set their minds on the next big thing. We clearly need to create another avenue that continues the Rummage legacy of bringing our community together to work side by side.
As an alumna and the mother of one alumnus and one current student, I really value the lessons students learn through the Rummage Sale. What about that?
Lark: Sid Eaton, retired teacher and stalwart Rummage announcer, once said, “You can always tell a Catlin Gabel alum – get more than six of them in one place and they form a bucket line and pass your furniture out the window.” Our students do know how to jump in, without being asked, to form a human conveyor belt to pack a bus or set up a campsite or pick up the other end of a couch. We instill that cooperative spirit every day — in classrooms, through community service, on campus days, and on trips. We must be intentional about maintaining that valuable piece of learning for our children.
What about the way Rummage ties into our sustainability efforts?
Lesley: An important aspect of Rummage has been recycling and re-use. I am sure people will continue their good practices on that front. Once this year’s sale concludes, we will suggest alternative organizations for our community to support with their used items. We have worked with some wonderful nonprofits that collect our unsold merchandise.
What will happen to the sorting center?
Lark: We don’t know yet. Once we are beyond this year’s sale and clean-up we can start thinking about the best use for that space. We are open to suggestions.
Is there anything else you want to add?
Lesley: We need everyone to pitch in this year as we celebrate the many lives Rummage has affected so positively, in so many ways, over its 65 years. Join with us (if you can) to help Rummage retire with a hoot and a holler and a whole lot of fun.
Karen Katz ’74 is communications director, Rummage announcer, and former sporting goods department chair.
Gambol Auction Needs Your Help
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Dear Parents, Alumni, and Friends,We are proud members of the Catlin Gabel community. The school is inspiring to children, parents, teachers, and alumni. Being involved in Gambol committees during the last two years, and seeing the good that this event does for the entire Catlin Gabel community, we are honored to co-chair this year’s Gambol Auction.
As you may be aware, it has become increasingly more difficult for schools to meet all of their budgetary needs. Although Catlin Gabel is more fortunate than most schools, the Gambol supplies essential funds needed to achieve several goals. It helps our incredible teachers hone their skills and further their educational goals through professional development, enabling them to create fresh and current curricula for our children. The event’s special appeal goes directly to the school’s financial aid program — more than 25% of our students receive financial assistance.
This year’s “There’s No Place Like Home” theme is inspired by what is important: family and community. Not only would we love for you to join us for what will be a fun and exciting evening, but also we would be especially grateful if you would participate by donating an item or experience to the auction. We need many items to make this year's auction a success and have complied a wish list to help generate ideas. The list is just a sampling of suggestions; any other ideas you have for donations are welcome. If you prefer to be an event sponsor or buy an advertisement in the auction catalog, please download the necessary forms by clicking this link.
This year we start an exciting new tradition with a Gambol Online Auction available November 9–23. The online auction will expand our participation to alumni, family, and friends. The Gambol Party & Live Auction is on Saturday, March 13, at the Nines hotel. Please join us as we celebrate our children, honor Catlin Gabel's outstanding teachers, and make this a successful year for the Gambol to give back to our amazing community.
We are working hard to make the Gambol a success, and we need your help. Please use the donation form to pledge your support today.
Thank You,
Heather Blackburn ’90
Gina Wand
Gambol Co-chairs
Karl Jonske '99 Memorial Lecture Series presents Tracy Kidder
Tuesday, October 13, 11:30 a.m., Cabell Center Theater
Tracy Kidder is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mountains Beyond Mountains and Strength in What Remains.
The Karl Jonske '99 Memorial Lecture Series honors a devoted student of English and lover of the written word. The series brings intellectually engaging speakers to campus for Upper School assemblies with students, faculty-staff, alumni, and friends.
Karl graduated from Catlin Gabel in 1999, where he was a National Merit semi-finalist, a member of the varsity tennis team and a captain of the varsity basketball team. He went on to attend the University of Chicago, where he was active in community service, sports and the Model United Nations of the University of Chicago.
His many interests included reading, writing, scuba, and travel. He had a passion for working with young people and volunteered with middle school youth as a math tutor. He hoped to become a professional writer. In addition to the lecture itself, the memorial has provided for the acquistion of 420 titles to date by the Upper School library.
Past lecturers have included poet and essayist Ted Kooser, journalists David Lamb and Sandy Northrop, and photographer Anne B. Keiser.
To support the lecture series, get in touch with Miranda Wellman '91, director of development, 503-297-1894 ext 398.
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