Upper School News
The new Service Corps in the news
Science teacher Bob Sauer named Outstanding Classroom Teacher
Upper School science teacher Bob Sauer recently was named an Outstanding Classroom Teacher in his region by the Oregon Science Teachers Association. The citation for his award took particular notice of his ability to engender enthusiasm about science in his students, as well as his international efforts for science education and experiential travel. Congratulations, Bob!
Empty the Lot October 14
Do your part to ease congestion by participating in Catlin Gabel’s annual Empty the Lot Day on October 14. Bus, bike, or walk on this student-initiated day dedicated to reducing our carbon footprint.
» Link to more information about Empty the Lot Day
» Link to online bus sign-up
» Link to carpool map
» Link to general bus service information
John Hamilton nominated for national coach of the year award
The Oregon Athletic Coaches Association (OACA) named John Hamilton the Oregon nominee for the National Federation of High Schools “Coach of the Year” award for boys golf.
Each year the OACA selects one coach from each of the 10 boys and nine girls sports offered in our state. Each state award winner then becomes eligible for Section 8 awards competing against coaches in their respective sports from Washington, Montana, Idaho, Alaska, and Wyoming. Section 8 winners will compete for National Coach of the Year against representatives from the other seven sections of the United States. Oregon has won numerous sectional and national awards over the past 10 years.
Nominees must exemplify the highest standards of sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and moral character, and carry the endorsement of their respective state high school associations. The OACA looks for coaches with winning records who contribute to their schools and communities. Longevity in coaching is also an important consideration. They must be members of the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association.
Seven schools take part in Shakespeare collaboration
Catlin Gabel students have been part of a collaboration in which Portland Playhouse is partnering with seven area high schools to produce a different Shakespeare play at each school. These plays will be performed first at each individual high school, and then all will come together at Portland’s Winningstad Theatre for a three-day Fall Festival of Shakespeare.
Come see the Catlin Gabel cast in As You Like It on October 29 and 30 at 7 p.m. in the Cabell Center Theater. And save the date to see their stage debut at the Winningstad Theatre on Sunday, November 7, at 4 p.m. (the curtain time has been changed since earlier reports). Tickets for the Catlin Gabel performances are available at the door: $5 general admission, $3 for students.
The collaborating high schools are Catlin Gabel, Lincoln, Jefferson, Hudson's Bay, Fort Vancouver, Cleveland, and De La Salle. Catlin Gabel is the only participating school to include Middle School students in its production.
“This is a thrilling opportunity for our students. They are meeting student actors from all over the city while delving into Shakespeare’s words,” said drama teacher Deirdre Atkinson. “Our students are building cross-divisional relationships and collaborating across disciplines: in addition to acting, the students are designing and building sets and costumes, composing original music, managing props, and generating publicity. I’m personally excited because experienced student actors are working with actors with no prior experience with Catlin Gabel’s theater program. This project allows us to develop community in the most creative of ways!”
The students have enjoyed meeting and training with actors from other schools. They have also benefited from working with professional artists who provided outside perspectives and experience in the process of producing a play. In preparation for leading this collaboration, Deirdre and her co-director, Gavin Hoffman from Portland Playhouse, trained with Kevin Coleman, the Shakespeare and Company education director. The rehearsal process incorporated techniques and exercises employed by professional companies, which enriched our students’ understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s works.
From the Portland Playhouse website: The Festival is a spectacular theatrical event, in part because student actors connect well to Shakespeare; they get the passion, large stakes, disaster. . . . high school is not unlike an Elizabethan tragedy. But the biggest surprise is the creation of an electric and fully engaged audience during the Festival. This Festival audience (imagine 330 Shakespeare-saturated teenagers packing the Winningstad) is the most active and alive theatre audience you will ever encounter. They “oooh” and “ahhh;” call out "Oh no she didn't;" scream and laugh. It's the closest thing we have to how an Elizabethan audience at Shakespeare’s Globe might have reacted. It’s an unforgettable experience for the students involved, and an engaging cultural phenomenon for everyone to witness.
Tickets for the Winningstad performance are available at the Portland Center for Performing Arts box office or online through Ticketmaster. Ticket Prices: Regular: $10 Students: $8
** Ticket charges at the PCPA box office are $3.25 per ticket. Location: 1111 SW Broadway, Portland. Hours: Mon-Sat 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
** Ticketmaster charges are between $4 and $8 per ticket (depending on quantity of order)
National Merit semifinalists announced
Robotics program director Dale Yocum named technology educator of the year
The TechStart Education Foundation named Dale Yocum Oregon's technology educator of the year. The award honors a teacher who is:
An effective, engaging instructor who inspires passion and commitment from her or his students while advancing their critical thinking ability, skills, and knowledge in challenging, meaningful ways.
An advocate for the study of information technology, making technology accessible to all students and building an inclusive culture.
A role model for colleagues, who is committed to ongoing personal and peer professional development and establishes, evolves and communicates best practices and pedagogy.
In addition to prestige and recognition, the award comes with a $1,000 donation to Catlin Gabel's robotics program.
McKenzie River Backpacking And Rafting
McKenzie River Backpacking And Rafting
A group of nine students and two adult leaders went on an incredible adventure during what may be the last weekend of summer 2010.
We met at 8 a.m. at the school parking lot and loaded our gear into an activity bus and a trailer. We drove through Springfield, stopping for a quick tutorial on high-level frisbee skills. The frisbee only ended up on the roof of the building twice!
We continued up the McKenzie river, pushing the stereo to the max, up to the Paradise put-in, where we stashed Sunday's lunch and got a feel for the terrain.
After some trailhead-finding hijinks, we parked the bus and packed our bags. The rest of the trip was downstream, in a good way. The McKenzie River trail stretched out before us as we made our way through the lush forest. Nobody could believe how clear the water was. We stopped for some competitive stick-racing and snacks, and finally made our way to a riverside campsite, where we enjoyed a fine culinary creation.
Sunday morning was a traditional Spam breakfast, and we high-tailed it back down to Paradise. Funny thing, though, the well-stashed lunch had vanished. So we went on. Maybe we were a little hungry. After a safety and paddling talk we hopped into the rafts and headed downstream. The McKenzie did not disappoint. Plenty of whitewater mixed with some downtime and sunshine was just what the doctor ordered.
At lunch, we all threw together bits and pieces of what we had remaining from the backpacking portion of the trip. An orange. An apple. A handfull of dried pomegranate. Some trail mix. A little bread. Before we knew it, we were staring at an veritable FEAST!!! One of the most satisfying meals in the history of the outdoor program.
After our time of sustainance, we piled back into the rafts and floated down to the bus. Below is a slideshow of our experience.
Caveat Emptor:One of the students accidentally erased all of the pictures on the primary camera. He did this when he fell overboard. When I say "fell," I mean "was pushed." But his life jacket worked!
Science teacher Becky Wynne wins high school teacher award
Upper School science teacher Becky Wynne has been selected for the University of Oregon High School Teacher Award. The award is given during convocation, in appreciation of the fine teaching that has prepared students for the university.
Every year, UO asks the nearly 3,700 incoming freshmen to nominate high school teachers who have influenced them in a particular subject area. Catlin Gabel graduate Becky Coulterpark ’10 nominated Becky Wynne. The subject area varies with the theme of their common reading and convocation. This year, they honor a science teacher because UO’s common reading is Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains. The book is about doctor Paul Farmer’s heroic effort – begun when he was a medical student – to tackle the human and medical challenges created by drug-resistant tuberculosis in Haiti. Paul Farmer’s understanding of science, coupled with his enormous sensitivity to human suffering, enabled him to accomplish the impossible. Coincidentally, Mountains Beyond Mountains was Catlin Gabel’s common reading book last year.
“I am delighted by Becky Wynne’s dedication to excellent teaching,” said UO biology professor Karen Sprague. “As a UO faculty member, I always feel indebted to the teachers in all subjects who have worked with my students before they enter my classroom. As someone who teaches cell biology and biochemistry, I’m especially grateful to those who’ve introduced students to the chemical and physical underpinnings of biology.”
Congratulations, Becky!
David Bragdon '77 joining New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration
Upper School soccer, volleyball, and cross-country practices begin August 22
Join an Upper School Athletic Team!
Upper School Athletics 2011-12 Preseason Schedule
Boys' Soccer
Monday, August 22 – Friday, August 26, 9:30 am – noon
Monday, August 29 – Thursday, September 1, 4 – 6:30 pm
Head Coach: Roger Gantz, 503-780-3312
Girls' Soccer
Monday, August 22 – Thursday, September 1, 5 – 7:30 pm
Head Coach: Mark Lawton, 503-860-5164
Soccer Finishing Camp (optional through Catlin Gabel Summer Programs)
Monday, August 15 – Friday, August 19, 5:30 – 8 pm; $175
Instructor: Lisa Unsworth, with Catlin Gabel soccer coaching staff
Enrollment: Contact Chris Bell at bellc@catlin.edu or 503-297-1894, ext. 403
Girls' Volleyball
Monday, August 15 – Friday, August 19, 4 – 8 pm (optional)
Monday, August 22 – Friday, August 26, 4 – 8 pm
Monday, August 29 – Wednesday, August 31, 4 – 8 pm
Head Coach: Chris Snelling, 503-841-8956
Cross-Country
August 22 – August 26
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 9:30 –11 am
Head Coach: John Hamilton, 503-645-7198
8th Graders Climb St. Helens
WE DID IT (all of us!)
This climb of Mt. St. Helens was open to graduating 8th graders. The students and their parents came to a pre-trip meeting to discuss the trip, training and equipment—from the beginning, everyone seemed engaged.
For training, the students joined some upper schoolers on a training hike up Dog Mountain in the Columbia Gorge—students were slowed down by conversation, but it was a good opportunity to talk about appropriate clothing and fitness for the climb.
On June 17 we met at Catlin at 10am, packed the bus, and drove up to the trailhead on St. Helens, stopping in Woodland for an adventure in Safeway (team game to find high-quality trash bags). The weather was great and we hiked 1.5 miles to a snowy slope to do “snow school” (kicking steps, self arrest, glissading).
We woke early the morning of June 11 for our summit attempt, hiking over compacted snow before proceeding to treeline. 
The climb alternated between open snow slopes and the rocky, gravely ridgeline. The group moved quickly through intermittent clouds and sun. The wind began to pick up at about 6,000 feet and we ascended into a veritable whiteout. We dropped packs about 1000 feet below the summit, and celebrated reaching the top by eating “Summit Tarts.” Visibility at the summit was about 30 feet, which was somewhat disappointing, but everybody was in a great mood.
We had the most incredible glissade ever!!! We were back to our packs and down the slope in an hour! Everybody was giddy with enjoyment.
We left camp at 7:30 pm, reached the summit around 12:30 pm and returned to camp around 3pm. We were back on campus at 6:30. ~SPEED RECORD~!!!
Learning to glissade.
BRAKES
Chutes and chutes.
Summit. Not a lot of visibility.
Action Jackson
Accelerating
This is what ascending into a whiteout looks like.
Safeway challenge.
Snow school.
Bliss. Cold bliss. But bliss nonetheless.
Freedom!
It's a big world. Gotta be Tank Top Tuesday somewhere.
Checkin' out.
Post-glissade lunch.
Digging in.
Challenge.
We got very, very good at glissading.
More ascending. More whiteout.
Grrrr.
Is this Switzerland?
Senior Hood Climb
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SENIORS CLIMB STORIED/LEGENDARY/FABLED MT HOOD (almost)
After they'd readujsted to post-graduation time, a group of eight seniors, accompanied by some of the finest leaders that money can buy, went up for a couple of days on "la montana."
What this trip was about:
--Bonding as a group of newly-graduated students.
--Learning about snow dynamics and snow stability.
--Incredible food!
--A lodge to ourselves
--A little bit of maybe sneaking into the kitchen for Rice Krispy Treats.
Unfortunately, this trip was also about forty mile per hour winds and sub-freezing temperatures. That can kind of slow you down when you're trying to walk up a mountain.
Once again we planned a climb for June (rather than May) as a way to take advantage of the longer days and better 
weather. Our group left Portland on Monday June 14th at 11:30 am and drove up toe Timberline Lodge where we got geared up for snow school. We began the school about 1:15 and ran until a bit after 5:30 pm. We began with a short course on snow stability testing and moved on to digging pits, a discussion on various methods of snow travel, self arrest, and then ropework. The weather was quite nice and we had incredible views of the mountain.
We drove down to the Mazamas Lodge and were able to park right in front, making loading and unloading a breeze. The lodge personnel were very kind and we were the only guests present. We reviewed the forecasts and looked at the telemetry from 6000’ and 7000’. Indications were that it was to be cold and breezy in the morning. Very breezy.
We woke up to even breezier forecasts and telemetry.
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From the beginning, our pace was slow. The wind was strong and increased as we gained elevation. Combined with sub-freezing temperatures, the atmospheric conditions were pretty difficult. We had a long break about 500 vertical feet below the top of the Palmer, where we had a good look at the rising clouds. Conditions were deteriorating fairly quickly as wind gusts were sometimes making us unstable on our feet! We pushed onto the top of the Palmer where we were able to find respite from the wind behind the snowcut.
The leaders decided to give students an opportunity to turn around.
6 of us went up, 6 went down.
The go-downs called our amazing limosuine driver on the cell phone and went back to Mazama lodge and had a nap.
The 6 remaining climbers proceeded up through the wind. We went as high as 500 feet below the hogsback, the sunlight chasing us as we rose. The weather, boots banging shins, and the lack of psych on the potential for a summit finally go to everybody and we took a long break, listening to music and watching the clouds roll by before we decided to come down.
The descent went well (glissading galore!) after some icy moments up high. We were back at the bus in time for the afternoon snowstorm.
I think the snow was kinda stable.
The weather was winding up.
Moving past a picket.
Get-R-Done
It didn't look like this when we were climbing. I promise.
Looks like there's only one thing left to do.
The very difficult backwards glissade.
Most soft snow.
View.
Enjoy.
Don't mind if I do.
Farewell to George Thompson '64 & Bob Kindley
From the Spring 2010 Caller
George Thompson ’64 has launched into retirement after spending 25 years at Catlin Gabel—first as a student, then as a teacher and counselor. He’s become a familiar presence on campus, with his service dog, Cairo, receiving almost as much daily love and attention as George gets.
Bob Kindley retires this summer after 42 years of teaching math at Catlin Gabel. A graduate of Reed College with a master’s in mathematics from the University of Oregon, Bob always wanted to be a high school teacher—especially after attending five high schools around the country and seeing the best and worst of teaching.
The Catlin Gabel Student Association: An Anatomical Analogy
By Eddie Friedman '10
From the Spring 2010 Caller
There are bad days and good days in and for the Catlin Gabel Student Association, the CGSA, of which I am president this year. On bad days the CGSA seems to me like an appendix. It started when the school needed a group to process and carry out the tasks of the community that other student or faculty organizations could not. On bad days, the CGSA feels a little vestigial, and like a sharp abdominal pain above the right hip of the (student) body.
Eddie Friedman will attend Brown University this fall. He admits that he may have taken a few liberties with the facts of the actual functions of the various organs he mentions, for the sake of beauty and aesthetic unity.
Redefining Community: Linking the Global & the Local
By Spencer White
From the Spring 2010 Caller
Our heads fill these days with reports of environmental degradation, the unraveling of indigenous communities, and the harsh realities of human conflict on our globe. I find this overwhelming and sometimes downright scary. I can only imagine how these problems make my 11-year-old students feel as they move through school, becoming more aware every year of the issues we, or they, will live through. Regardless of the life paths our students choose when they leave Catlin Gabel, they will face a world characterized by ever-increasing communication and collaboration with international communities. Technology has brought us the ability to maintain relationships and conduct business with people just about anywhere on the globe, at any time of the day. How our students engage in these relationships— in essence, their diplomacy—is of great importance to our world.
Teaching students to be literate in cross-cultural communication requires two intentional activities. The first is creating meaningful relationships with people around the world—initially through email exchanges and interactive Skype conversations, and eventually through global travel.“Looking back in my journal I see how I have really never felt a connection with someone that far away from home before.” —Catlin Gabel student traveler
“I really care about conserving water. I mean I did it before, but not nearly as much as I do now.” —Catlin Gabel student traveler
“I was really surprised when I got back at the sheer amount of resources we use every day, how easy it is for us to have a hot shower, and how we take so much for granted.” —Catlin Gabel student traveler
“There is no real way to explain what has changed about me. What I can say is that the way I see things is as if I am seeing it on two planes, two perspectives. I see things the way I see it from Costa Rica and from the U.S.” —Catlin Gabel student traveler
Urban Planning is Really Quite Fetching
By Alma Siulagi '10
From the Spring 2010 Caller
As my childhood years faded into the past, the conviction that I would one day change the world dissipated. With the slow creep of reality reducing my options, I resorted to crossing my fingers in hope of stumbling upon another fabulous passion.
upper school News