From The Headmaster

I ran across this gem of a letter from a gem of a teacher.  It was too good not to share.

My best,
Trevor Ott

Dear Parents!

I have been doing some teacher training and had some pretty great eye-opening realizations that I wanted to share with you all, especially since the old adage “It takes a village” is so true in raising children.

First let me say that knowledge doesn’t have to be complex to be powerful, and often applying the most basic truths creates the most success. That is the case in what I want to share.

If a person is truly educated, then they know the subject and are able to accomplish the actions and results taught in that subject. That is what we’re going for here at Delphian, not how well they did on the test (though some level of examination can be helpful).

But, in order for someone to achieve education they first have to WANT it. And in order for that to happen, they have to see for themselves how and why it could help their success in life. This is so basic yet so key.

And that IS the challenge: getting each and every student to realize this about their education. 

So how do we accomplish that?

The young people during pioneer days or of more primitive cultures got to witness every day how the actions of their parents DIRECTLY affected their immediate and long-term success in life. So of course, anything taught was very valuable.

But today, in our current culture, life is not so strenuous in terms of getting essential needs. There is much more opportunity for leisure: playing at the park, watching TV, seeing a movie, hanging out at the beach, playing video games or watching videos, “chilling” with friends, etc. Though these activities are all fun and should be enjoyed, I realized that as a whole, our young people are not faced with as many situations to see WHY they need to learn vital information. And we need to help them with this.

Here is where you as parents can make a huge impact. And it’s an impact I would love to see so that I can then do my job to the fullest for your children.

I encourage you to involve your children in as many day-to-day life activities as possible: laundry, cooking, buying groceries, paying bills, changing that flat tire, filling the gas tank, etc. Let them be challenged. Let them see firsthand WHY they need to be able to read instructions, know their arithmetic, talk to people with good manners, be able to write well, etc. 

This may be a challenge and it may be inconvenient, since it would be so much faster to do things oneself. I do realize this. But it struck me in my training how much a student needs to see what the purpose and need for what they’re learning is, otherwise they won’t connect their education with their real life. And even if I tell them the purpose, it won’t be real to them that they need to know it unless they experience its need themselves.

I feel very passionate about this and feel we could get so much more accomplished for your children if we can get them to fully see the benefit of their education.

Thank you!

Best,
Tami McCole
Elementary School Teacher

Advancing Technology

With the advance of technology humanity has gained too many benefits to count, but it’s easy to forget it when you see a teenager crossing a busy street with a cell phone glued to their face. While we’re proud whenever our children show an interest in computer programming or engineering, it sometimes seems like all they want to do is watch YouTube and send selfies. 

As technology and screens become an increasingly prevalent part of our lives, we have to ask the question: how can parents and schools help young people find a healthy technological balance in their lives?

At Delphian, we have been preparing our students for a technological future since 1976. Delphian students learn that knowledge is only as useful as it can solve real-life problems. Or in other words, knowing how to take a great selfie is all well and good but technology exists to be used, to solve problems and to make lives better. 

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in Delphian’s Scientific Research Class run by 2018 Alan Shepherd Award winner Diego Martinez. This class teaches students to ask questions and find solutions to unique problems using science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 

To this end, five students recently completed projects and entered them into the regional Intel Northwest Science Expo at Willamette University. Each Delphian student did so well they advanced on to the state competition at Portland State University.

The Time Machine

Upper School form 7 student Quinn Bennett used math and problem-solving skills to design and 3D print the clock gears for a homemade, functional time-telling machine. After performing well in the regional competition, Quinn changed categories from Mechanical Engineering to Behavioral Science. She used her clock as an educational device to test the cognitive abilities of students of different ages, having them create their own arrangements of gears to make the clock function correctly. 

Her project has gained the interest of a senior engineering professor from Oregon State University who plans on incorporating her project into the curriculum for an OSU Summer STEM camp.

Sugar Power Rocket Chemistry

Middle School student Lucas Curry studied sugar as a fuel source for rockets. Lucas used a “bomb calorimeter,” which measures the temperature at which fuel combusts and converts to the energy needed to let a rocket fly. Most students don’t study bomb calorimetry until college chemistry, but Lucas studied and built an apparatus for testing his sugar engine in Delphian’s lab. 

Mars To Earth Terraforming

Middle School student Aiden Perpelitt researched terraforming, the science of transforming a lifeless planet so it can support human life. He simulated the climate of Mars to test if water could be captured from Martian rocks. This simulation included creating an environment subjected to a vacuum, microwaves and heat. The project was important, as a sustainable water supply will be one of the biggest challenges scientists have to solve to colonize Mars.

Exploring The Future

Though the majority of courses offered from the Delphi Program™ encourage and allow students to develop their independent study skills, there are still many topics best taken up in a setting that is based on a lot of live interaction—between teacher and students, students and teacher, and students and students. 

This is where seminars come in. 

From writing to second language, science to advanced English, business to art, there are many topics offered as both required and elective options to Delphian students.  

Studying these topics in an interactive seminar setting allows students to test information for its validity, workability and value. Students build their confidence, competence and certainty of subjects by experiencing them in class and in the real world through class discussion, projects, guest speakers and field trips. 

Business Seminar is one of the most attended elective seminars offered at Delphian. Assistant Headmaster Mark Siegel began instructing this seminar 24 years ago. He takes students through a challenging curriculum that covers business and economic theory. This seminar is lively with discussion, debate, and opportunities for students to expand their understanding of the business world. 

“I particularly enjoyed the US Department of Education’s Office of Nonpublic Education and the meetings we had there. I got so much from these people’s experiences and what they had to tell us. I experienced the American government first hand.”

-Federica Bocca, a form 6 student from Italy

In addition to the weekly seminar, Mark arranges an annual ten-day Business Seminar field trip to cities on either the east or west coast. 

The trip complements the Business Seminar by having students meet a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs and business professionals. Students learn about different industries and professions, and see business and economic principles from class being applied in the real world.

Host companies and professionals take students behind the scenes and share their workaday world. Students see first-hand what they do and how they spend their day. Hosts focus on showing the students how their businesses operate, how their goods and services help their customers, and how they uniquely fit into the world of business. 

This year’s trip took students to Washington D.C. and New York City. The trip’s agenda was packed with many meetings and tours, ranging from the U.S. Department of Education and Congress to visits with magazine editors and fashion designers.

The trip included meetings with entrepreneurs who created huge companies from nothing and top-level executives who worked their way up to leadership roles. Students received life lessons from each visit including the importance of ethics and integrity in all aspects of the world of business. A highlight was having breakfast with Jayne Jamison, Senior Vice President and Publisher of O, The Oprah Magazine, on the 44th floor of the Hearst Tower.

Students prepared and studied for this trip far in advance of their scheduled departure from campus. Each student attending the trip took on a range of jobs—from helping to plan every aspect of the trip as Mark’s assistant to making sure each student was professionally dressed for each visit. 

In addition to gaining valuable business knowledge on this trip, Mark has always felt it is important to immerse the students into the culture and daily life of the cities they visit. This includes learning to navigate the cities, touring landmarks, watching plays and musicals, and touring local museums. 

In Washington D.C. students visited the National Archives and the Smithsonian, seeing the Star-Spangled Banner and the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

In New York, students learned to navigate using the subway system. They went on a private backstage tour of Madison Square Garden and made a point to attend four Broadway shows where they were able to meet and have question-and-answer sessions with the actors, writers and directors of the shows.

For many students, this trip is life changing. The insight into the world of business from a first-hand perspective allows them to turn the information they’ve been studying in the seminar into knowledge they can use in planning their futures. 

This trip allows students to explore and discover future careers they hadn’t yet considered. They gain certainty that they’re on the right college or career path, or decide they’d like to change directions entirely. Many use the contacts they gain on this trip to arrange internships and in some cases jobs after graduation from Delphian. 

Though she had been in the seminar for a few years, form 7 student Callie Whitworth had never been on the Business Seminar trip. “I heard it was a great experience,” she said, “but I didn’t understand just how great it was until I went on the trip and came back as a new person. I never thought much about the business world or what it would mean to have a job. Seeing businesses up close, I started to realize all that my future could hold.”

Federica Bocca, a form 6 student from Italy, said, “I particularly enjoyed the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Nonpublic Education and the meetings we had there. I got so much from these people’s experiences and what they had to tell us. I experienced the American government firsthand.”

Sean Ku, a form 6 student, found the meetings and experience of New York City to be more than just a business lesson but an expansion in his worldview. “Visiting New York City and seeing how some of the businesses function helped me understand how the infrastructure of a big company works. I also learned about how important it is for different individuals and groups to cooperate with each other in order to make a company successful and long lasting,” he said. “This trip made me understand so much about our society. I also learned so much about myself and my future career path. This trip was planned around business, but I learned a lot from a cultural point of view, outside the glamorous and prosperous city portrayed in the media.”

Andres Garcia, a form 6 student, spoke for all the students when he summarized the trip. “I got great tips on how to be more successful in life. I got tips about what I can do to increase my chances to get in the college of my choice, how to get good internships, how to start working, and much more. All the information I obtained from this trip is gold to me.”

A special thank you to each of the businesses who hosted the 2019 Business Trip

Washington D.C.:   

US Department of Education, Office of Nonpublic Education

US Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici’s Office (& Capitol Tour)

The Carlyle Group

National Air and Space Museum

National Gallery of Art

Newseum

Ben’s Chili Bowl

National Archives

Museum of American History

Governing Magazine

Cato Institute

US Supreme Court

New York:

Focus Lighting

Splice

Come From Away (play and talkback with the cast, writers and directors)

Hearst Publishing (O and Good Housekeeping magazines)

52nd Street Project

YouTube 

Dear Evan Hansen (Broadway play)

ExecOnLine

Rebecca Minkoff

Paladin

My Fair Lady (Broadway play)

Good Morning America (with special guests New Kids On The Block)

Artsy

Kiss Me, Kate! (Broadway play)

NYU

Parsons

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Competence

The Test & The End Result

One of the key purposes of Delphian’s practical program is to help students build confidence, certainty and competence. Practical activities, which include student council, art, music, yearbook, sports, clubs, group projects, student service and apprenticeships, allow students to balance classroom learning with practical, out-of-class experiences. 

More than anything, Delphian’s practical program gives students the opportunity to experience real problems in an environment where they can come up with their own solutions. In such an environment, every failure is looked upon as an opportunity to learn. In turn, this leads students to achieving true successes they can be proud of. 

In this spirit, here is an excerpt from a chapter of the Form 6 course The Way to Happiness.

Be Competent

In an age of intricate equipment and high-speed machines and vehicles, one’s survival and that of one’s family and friends depends in no small measure upon the general competence of others.

In the marketplace, in the sciences, the humanities and in the government, incompetence can threaten the lives and future of the few or the many.

I am sure you can think of many examples of these things.

Man has always had an impulse to control his fate. Superstition, propitiation of the right gods, ritual dances before the hunt, can all be viewed as efforts, no matter how faint or unavailing, to control destiny.

It was not until he learned to think, to value knowledge and to apply it with competent skill, that he began to dominate his environment. The true “gift of heaven” may have been the potential to be competent.

In common pursuits and activities, Man respects skill and ability. These in a hero or athlete are almost worshiped.

The test of true competence is the end result.

To the degree that a man is competent, he survives. To the degree he is incompetent he perishes.

Encourage the attainment of competence in any worthwhile pursuit. Compliment it and reward it whenever you find it.

Demand high performance standards. The test of a society is whether or not you, your family and friends can live in it safely.

The ingredients of competence include observation, study and practice.

Why Donate?

American private schools fundraise because tuition dollars alone can’t provide the richness expected of an exceptional educational program.

It’s true that a single teacher can make the difference between motivated and unmotivated students, between students who are actively pursuing their own goals and those who aren’t.  But when you are creating a comprehensive program that routinely produces competent, capable graduates, it takes more than excellent teachers.  

Without fundraising, Delphian would be at a disadvantage against other private schools.

This past year Harvard University raised an additional 1.42 billion dollars above tuition. That makes a very long list of opportunities available for their students. Private high schools also fundraise, generally in the millions of dollars each year. At Delphian, many major school improvements in recent years have been financed 100% with fundraised dollars.  Your support makes a huge difference to the school’s present and future, and is what makes it possible for Delphian to remain competitive while carrying out its mission.

Outdoor Program

Your donations are getting students into the great outdoors.  They’ve built a bridge, cleared trees for a meadow and campground, and cleared trails for cross country. Delphian’s summer camp this year will feature on-campus group camping for the first time ever.

“Doing courses and reading is very important, but going out and getting the experience to drill holes, level surfaces, put in water pipes, etc., brought out my self-confidence.”

Jake Kugler, form 8 

Science Lab

The previous lab produced competent scientists, but it was so crowded and lacking in storage space that often students had to be interrupted to make room for others. The new lab has five times the available space just for chemistry experiments. Students can tackle a greater diversity of projects with more modern and varied equipment.

“The new science lab has changed my approach to science. All it takes is being in the space to get my curiosity going. Even on the weekends, going into the lab to set up circuits or test things is exciting and interesting.” 

Quinn Bennett, form 7

Makerspace

This is what our Headmaster lovingly calls “The Garage,” containing the tools and materials we all wish our childhood home garage had for getting our hands dirty. Students learn basic engineering skills through activities like carpentry, soldering and welding. They learn about car mechanics, electrical work, and anything else they need to design and build whatever they imagine. 

“I constructed the frames for a steel shelf for a coffee shop. I completed that project understanding how to operate different industrial machines safely and the chemistry and physics of welding metal. I got a small taste of applied engineering.”  

James Gentile, form 8

Little Theater & Rec Room

The new Student Rec Room gives students ample space for games and activities, and the table and seating areas are more attractive and more comfortable. Audiences in the Little Theater appreciate the new HVAC system, while students manage the intricate sound and lighting system.

“The new theater makes me feel more confident. The space is so cool that it makes me a better performer just being on the stage.” 

Lorelei Oman, form 7 

Grown-Ups For A Day

This spring the Elementary and Middle School practical coordinator Joelle Rothe led Elementary students in a business and life skills seminar. The class spent weeks learning about real-life subjects such as opening a bank account, writing a check, delivering good customer service, and paying rent and bills. This all led up to a trip to Portland to participate in a simulated miniature town called “BizTown.” 

Before leaving for BizTown, the students had to apply and interview for a job they would like to have for the day in the BizTown economy. For the interview, each student had to fill out an application listing their skills and qualifications and then confront having a sit-down interview with a Delphian staff member (preferably one they haven’t interacted with much on a daily basis). 

Once at BizTown, the students were the ones running the town. “We were given fake money and checks and had to use them like they were real,” said Chloe Aden. The amount of money each student received was based on their income from their job for the day. 

“I was hired as the food manager for a café selling snacks to people,” said Liv Curry. “I got to learn what it is like to be an adult. It was really fun.”

Nora Larsson was hired to be the town mayor. In addition to having daily duties and having to pay her bills, she said, “I had to learn how to write checks, make a deposit and register for a bank account. I also had to give a speech to the town.”

From mayor, to CFO, to manager, to assistant, these students now have a much better idea of their future roles and responsibilities. “Being a grown up turned out to be challenging—but really fun!” said Jack Bowling.

Breaking The Curve

Interview with Alumnus Robin Gray

After graduating from Delphian in 1986, Robin Gray received his bachelor’s degree from ITAM, the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México in Mexico City. After graduating at the top of his class, Robin moved to London where he received his masters degree in finance from London Business School. Robin currently works in real estate in Mexico. Here, he discusses his Delphian experience and how it helped to shape his career and life as he pursued his goals.

Delphian Magazine: Thank you for talking to us today! As a successful businessman, would you say Delphian set you up for your career path?

Robin Gray: I remember in my commencement speech I said there were two things I received beyond the standard academic subjects offered at every school. First was the ability to study and learn anything—Delphian gave me the study tools I needed. Second was ethics and responsibility. Those two things together have enabled me to do many, many things in my life.

DM: Was responsibility a quality you had when you arrived at Delphian or was it something you had to learn? 

RG: The year I was supposed to graduate I was having trouble on one of the final exams. Working with the Delphian staff, I found I wasn’t being a very self-determined student who could really confront and be responsible for my environment. 

This led to me being put on several projects where I had to really confront the world around me and do some real-life work to get some real-life products. I started working on all kinds of  projects from washing dishes to helping fix roofs and windows. I also helped build one of the paths that still exists on campus! 

It seemed really hard at first. I even thought it was too hard, but I learned to push through it and by the end I was a pro. I found that after a while my whole outlook on life and my responsibility for my life changed. I could really confront my life and any problems life threw at me. 

DM: We’ve heard you have an interesting “bell curve story.” What is it?

RG: I was in my second year at ITAM in Mexico City working on my degree. I was in a really large math class and everybody ended up doing really badly on a test. The passing grade was a six out of ten. Less than a six and you failed the class. Many people failed and many received sixes or sevens so they were barely passing. 

At ITAM they used a grading system called a bell curve, where a zero is the worst possible score and ten is the best. The highest score in a class might be an eight. The student with the eight will get moved up to a ten, the student with a six will be moved up to an eight and so on. This system can be very helpful for students who score in the middle of the class as it bumps them higher on the grading scale.  

This was the grading system being used in my class and with lots of people failing or barely passing, they were hoping the bell curve would bring their grades up. After a particular test they asked the teacher, “So what about the bell curve?” But the teacher responded that he couldn’t apply the bell curve because one student had received a ten. I was that student—I had broken the bell curve for the whole class.

“You have the tools from your Delphian education so don’t be reasonable—take responsibility for and confront the problems as they come, and you will succeed.”

DM: Were you always good at math? 

RG: I always loved mathematics and I always loved finance. When I was at Delphian I already knew I wanted to do something where I could apply both. However, when I first arrived at university, I was not as prepared as the other students for some of the advanced math we were taking. 

What I did have, that no other students had, was the study technology from Delphian. Because of this I was able to quickly realize that the math was too steep a gradient for me and I corrected that. I knew exactly what I needed to do to get back on track with the rest of the students. 

It was a lot of hard work but I used my study technology tools and it wasn’t long until I went from a student who was behind to the student breaking the bell curve. It wasn’t that I was the best; I was just using study technology. 

DM: You worked in the finance world for some time in London, and now you’re in Mexico City working to restore properties. What sort of problems do you find yourself solving on a daily basis?

RG: One of the projects I’m working on right now is a 70-year-old hotel we’re renovating into a retirement home. Before we took it over it was really falling apart. Everywhere you’d turn there were problems—there were holes in the roof so big you could see the sky! We had to just decide what was a priority and focus on fixing those items first. 

We started with the roof because that was causing damage to the walls and floors and went from there. After three years of renovations we’re coming to the point where we’re making rooms beautiful and people are coming and commenting on how beautiful everything is.

Making all these renovations requires a very organized schedule with weekly targets. We have a full-time crew that I check in on every few days to ensure the quality of their work and to correct errors.                              I purchase materials, have accounting and legal meetings to figure out problems as they come up. It is a lot of confronting problems and coming up with solutions so progress can continue to happen on the renovations. There is really no typical day; I just do whatever needs to be done. 

DM: What sort of advice do you have for current students or alumni?

RG: One of the problems I ran into when I graduated from Delphian was that life at Delphian is very safe and logical. Everything is, if not perfect, close to perfect. When I went out into the “real world” I saw insanity in so many ways. I was going crazy because I never expected it and I found it really hard to confront.

 At Delphian you observe something illogical, communicate with the right people and it gets sorted out. When you’re “out there,” it doesn’t work that way. You have to be able to confront and take responsibility for the problems around you. 

For example, if you’re in college and you run into classmates who are having trouble studying, help them out. Give them some pointers. Or if you run into someone who doesn’t share your ethical values, help them raise their standards and explain what is not okay. Some people are going to get it and some people won’t. Learn to expect that. 

So my advice is to expect the craziness of the outside world. Expect that things are not going to be as sane or as safe as Delphian and be ready to take responsibility. Delphian makes you confront lots of things, but it’s in a safe and logical environment. Once you graduate you get to take your responsibility to the next gradient and confront the world. 

Don’t be reasonable with the illogical, unethical behavior you find; keep your personal standards high. After a while you can see so much unethical behavior and insanity going on around you that you’re liable to become reasonable about it. If you become reasonable about it then you become part of it. 

You have the tools from your Delphian education so don’t be reasonable—take responsibility for and confront the problems as they come, and you will succeed.

Open The Door

Imagine what the world would be like if each high school graduate was empowered with an education that enabled them to bring positive change to our society through reason, creativity and integrity? 

Now, imagine a child you know (through a friend, co-worker, family member or maybe your own) going through school while being encouraged to maintain their freedom to think for themselves, explore their personal interests, expand their knowledge and skills so they can graduate ready to take on the challenges and problems of tomorrow with responsibility, knowledge, ethics and integrity.

The door to this future is opened for a student every time an ambassador like you refers a child to Delphian. This past September we enrolled thirty-nine new students into our community who were referred by an ambassador. Opening the door to a limitless future for a child is what being an ambassador is all about.

Interview With Two Top Ambassadors

When not busy raising two children or running their multiple businesses in Los Angeles, California, Ryan and Michelle Kugler spend time introducing families to Delphian. Over the years Ryan and Michelle have introduced hundreds of people to Delphian; year after year we see new families enroll because of them. Here they discuss how and why they feel it’s important to be Delphian ambassadors.

Delphian Magazine: Thank you for sharing your story with us. As two very busy alumni, parents and business owners, why do you also feel it’s important to be ambassadors? 

Ryan & Michelle Kugler: When we started introducing families to Delphian eight years ago, our kids were still little too little to be enrolled yet. We have always felt very strongly about the school, the study technology, and the way of life at Delphian. We enjoyed our time there so much and grew in such marked ways. We are ambassadors because we want to help others achieve what we achieved when we were students. Introducing families to the school is our way of doing that.

“You are not there to just pass a grade. You are learning how to roll up your sleeves and get things done.”

DM: What have you found to be the most successful way to introduce new families to Delphian? 

RK & MK: We started by inviting a Delphian Admissions Associate to our home to present the summer program to our friends and family when they were in our area for their annual tour. We pulled out all the address books and invited anyone we could think of that we thought should know about this amazing place. 

We told them this is where our children will be going to school and invited them to our home to hang out with us, eat food and to watch a short 30-minute presentation on the summer program (kids invited). We continued doing this regularly over the years, introducing more and more families to the school. 

We get about 10-25 people attending each time we do this which is about once a year. Now that our son Remy is at Delphian during the school year, our friends that have come to the presentation have a much better understanding of why we are sending him to a school in Oregon and why Delphian is the ideal education. 

DM: How do you describe Delphian School to families you’re introducing to the school for the first time?

RK & MK: There is a different philosophy at Delphian than at other schools. You are not there to just pass a grade. You are learning how to roll up your sleeves and get things done. You are learning the basics of life and independence, which are all keys to success in life. The summer program is a great way to introduce a new family to Delphian. We find that our friends are looking for something new, educational, fun and safe for the summer and Delphian checks all those boxes. It’s a perfect summer experience that all children should have.  

Athletic Director Of The Year

Brandon Lidgard

Every spring the Oregon Athletic Directors Association for the Tri-River 2A Conference selects an athletic director to receive the League Award of Merit as the Athletic Director Of The Year. This merit-based award is presented to a deserving athletic director who was nominated by their school and selected by the association. 

Delphian’s Athletic Director (AD) and alumnus Brandon Lidgard (class of 2001) was the recipient of this year’s 2A Athletic Director Of The Year award. During the nomination process, several coaches and students explained why Brandon would be a good recipient for this award. The following is some of what the nominators said.

From our headmaster Trevor Ott, “Brandon has been the best AD Delphian has seen, as he has generated more interest in our student body for our sports programs than any AD before him. He has more students participating in our sports programs than ever before. He single-handedly started our track and field program and this has been very successful with two straight trips to the state playoffs in the last two years since he created the program. 

“His overall management in our league as an AD has been stellar, as he has consistently been a leader in AD league meetings presenting new ideas and organization in matters ranging from scheduling games, planning the boundaries of new leagues, managing new OSAA guidelines, etc. 

“He serves our school community beyond just being our AD in that he is one of our best Faculty Advisors for our boarding students and one of our top chaperones on any school trip or activity. He also coaches three sports - soccer, basketball and track and field - going above and beyond his normal AD duties. Another great tradition he started was having an annual student award for students who have played all four years of their sports eligibility on 3 or more sports teams. As part of this award, these students get a BBQ party catered by Brandon himself! This has promoted more students wanting to increase their participation in the sports programs we have.”

From senior student Luca Marrazzo, “There is a certain level of care and respect for both the game and the player that Brandon has that is unmatched by other ADs and coaches. Being a team captain on the varsity basketball and track teams, Brandon allowed me to lead the teams and grow not only as a player and competitor, but as a leader. 

“He talks to me and the rest of the players like we are adults, he focuses on how we grow as a team and as individuals, both on and off the court. I could thank Brandon for many of my accolades both inside and outside the sports world. He got me to try new sports like soccer and track and field. He has been, and continues to be, the voice on the sideline pushing and encouraging me to do my best, and as I look back at the past four years I can say that I wouldn’t want anyone else there to do it!”

From the girls varsity basketball coach Sam Silver, “Brandon has represented courage to evolve in our sports program, willingness to look newly at what we are doing and how we are doing it, and above all a real care and interest in helping students discover and pursue their own potential and growth through athletics.”   

From all of us, thank you, Brandon, for your commitment to the Delphian athletic program!