by Robert Visty III, Photo Editor

Science teacher Mr. Brian Miller returns to education this school year after two years away from the profession and is another welcomed new addition to St. John Bosco High School.

Q. Where did you grow up?

A. I grew up in Pasadena, CA

Q. What high school did you attend?

A. I attended La Salle High School in Pasadena.

Q. What college did you attend?

A. I attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where I studied Ergonomics, or movement efficiency. Unfortunately due to family issues, I returned home and complete my degree at California State University, Los Angeles. I also have an MA in Educational Administration from Concordia University in Irvine.

Q. Have you always been a teacher? If not, what did you do before becoming a teacher?

A. I have been teaching in one form or another since my junior year in college. I did take one year off and sold insurance for New York Life when I was 27 and spent the last two years selling and training sales people at CarMax, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Q. What brought you to Bosco?

A. After two years away from education, I had to return to who I am and what I do: my vocation as an educator.  I was an associate of Mr. Salmingo at La Salle High School, and he was instrumental in assisting me in joining the faculty here at Bosco.

Q. What’s been your favorite part of teaching at Bosco so far?

A. I am just very happy being back in my role as an educator.  I think that Bosco provides an excellent opportunity for me to interact with an amazing community of students and faculty. I am excited about a community that represents more than 20 countries with great cultural diversity. I am excited to be at a school that provides an outstanding balance of academics, athletics, arts and activities.

Q. What classes do you teach at Bosco?

A. Biology, Environmental Science, Anatomy and Chemistry

Q. What is your favorite field of biology?

A. Environmental Ecology and Human Anatomy.

Q. What is your favorite biology fact?

A. Alice the Algae and Freddie the Fungus took a Lichen to each other in one of the most amazing symbiotic relationships.

Q. What’s your favorite genre of music?

A. I am partial to storyteller songwriters like Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Jack Johnson, Dan Fogelberg and Gordon Lightfoot. But I also like a wide variety of music: Motown, R&B, soul, country and western as well as classic rock.

Q. What’s your favorite song?

A. So many, but some of my favorites are “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Leader of the Band” by Dan Fogelberg, “What a Wonderful World” by Louie Armstrong, “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield, “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, and “Respect” by Aretha Franklin

Q. What do you do in your free time?

A. I ride my bike, hike, paint watercolor, bake bread, garden and cook.

Q. Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are their names?

A. I miss having a dog, but where I live does not allow for pets.

Q. What is your favorite color and why?

A. I love the shades of indigo that appear at sunset from the horizon into the night sky.

Q. What is your favorite food?

A. My favorite is anything that contains shrimp. Although pizza provides carbs, dairy, veggies and protein all in one bite.

Q. What is your favorite restaurant?

A. Lawry’s Prime Rib and Paco’s in Mazatlan.

Q. What is your favorite sport?

A. Baseball.  I coached at Bishop Amat, Saint Paul and La Salle.  At La Salle, my team won a CIF and State Title in baseball.

Q. What are your favorite sports teams?

A. I am an LA homer: Dodgers, Lakers, Rams and USC.

Q. What is your favorite drink?

A. Agua de Sandia (watermelon water).

Q. What can students expect in your class?

A. My class will make you think and look at the world in different ways.

Q. What are you most looking forward to in your time at Bosco?

A. Making my future better by teaching Bosco students how to make our world better.

By Connor Sheehan, Editor-in-Chief

During Triduum Week, St. John Bosco High School Campus Ministry unveiled a new guiding theme for the year, called a “strenna” (Italian for “gift”), which calls for Braves to embrace their gifts while pursuing improvement and change in the world.

In a society that is increasingly polarized, this message of combining individual talent with cohesive and unified action is a powerful one. It is consistent with a Bosco community that has thrived being an environment of many perspectives and ideas while retaining the core principles of a Salesian community.

“What any good strenna is meant to do is simultaneously uplift our Salesian family while presenting them with a gentle but concrete call to action,” said Campus Ministry President and senior Ricardo Rodriguez. “The first step in achieving that goal is recognizing and developing a sense of courage and security from the gifts we’ve been blessed with as individuals. Once we do that, we are empowered to point those gifts outward to engage in the Oratory.”

Rodriguez refers to the Oratory system of schooling pioneered by Don Bosco and continued at Salesian institutions around the world – a holistic educative system fostering learning around the tenets of home, school, church and playground.

This year’s strenna calls the Salesian community to action in all four parts of the Oratory. Campus Ministry Vice President and senior Ryan Gutierrez shared ideas about how that call to action can manifest itself in the actions of Bosco’s student body.

“As students of St. John Bosco High School, we can all share our gifts to other students and our community through various ways, such as programs like peer-to-peer tutoring, which allows students talented in various subjects to teach other students,” said Gutierrez.

Of course, the Strenna is all call to action beyond the parameters of the classroom, and many students are already using their talents to contribute to the larger Bosco community.

“Clubs at SJB, such as Key Club and Brothers of Bosco, strive to support their community through park and beach clean-ups, school supply and clothing donations and numerous fundraisers. By utilizing the gifts that God has blessed all of us with, we are able to make our world better,” Gutierrez said. 

The simple yet complex nature of the strenna calls all members of the Bosco community to action. 

“Like any good art, [the strenna] can be interpreted differently by different people while still getting the message across that meaningful impact is something we are all called to do, we are capable of doing and something we can find true joy in,” said Rodriguez.

Joy is something that Don Bosco sought for all of his children. That holistic, Christ-like joy is something that he preached and something that is found from humble service. This year’s strenna is undoubtedly a continuation of that idea, spreading joy through the humble use of one’s talents to better oneself, one’s community and the world at large. 

by: William Reynolds and Ed Crowe

During Fall orientation for the 2022-2023 school year, the St. John Bosco High School senior class had a once in a lifetime opportunity to speak with members of Alder, an organization featuring a diverse collection of motivational speakers from various professional fields.

Principal Dr. Kris Anderson got the idea to collaborate with Alder when he met with Bosco parent, Mr. Kyle Cox. As a member of Alder, Mr. Cox possesses connections with dozens of successful entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers and professional athletes who were willing to come and share their stories with the senior class.

Their stories were shared in the course of a panel discussion. The main focus of the discussion was the three principles of self, family and community. Alder believes that in order to help your family, you must first fix yourself, and in order to help your community, you must first fix your family. You cannot go to the next step without completing the previous step. If the steps are not followed in order, the goal will be harder to obtain.

“I felt proud to see our senior class, the leaders of our school, were engaged, asking great questions and giving thorough responses. I am just proud of the seniors that rose to the occasion,” said Dr. Anderson.

With every guest speaker came a story of perseverance. Their main focus was on how hard work and dedication can take someone a long way and how the choices they made impacted where they are today.

Mr. Cox, one of the most impactful speakers that led the event, unveiled his treacherous journey. When he was younger, he struggled to mature. To help him shape up, he enlisted in the Navy to attain leadership, discipline and hard work. After six years as a satellite technician, he was honorably discharged and began to set foot on a career of marketing strategy as well as marketing development. He then created his business TCG, a men footwear and lifestyle brand who are making a Bosco exclusive shoe for the school.

However, Cox was not the only one of Alder presenters who displayed perseverance.

Nancy Gale was one of the more inspirational speakers from the symposium. She told her story about how she made a living from being an entrepreneur in the world of fashion design. But she also went through a despairing time in her life following the murder of her mother in a home invasion. In the end, she used this tragedy and made something good out of it. She decided to start an organization called Ambition in memorial of her mother, which is a nonprofit organization that helps young entrepreneurs achieve their goals.

Another prominent speaker was Ryan Hollins, who offered his experience of persistence as a child growing up in the projects. Hollins became an NBA journeyman who played for nine teams in his career. But at the beginning of his childhood, he grew up in the worst of the worst environments and brought himself up on his own, falling in love with basketball from a very early age. After ten seasons of professional ball, he decided to retire and pursue a career in broadcasting so that he can still stay close to the sport he knows and loves.

After the panel spoke, the seniors went into small groups and conversed more personally at a table with two representatives from Alder. Everyone spoke about their life experiences and answered some ice breaker questions. The leaders talked to the seniors about the vast number of opportunities they have available to them as young men.

“I thought that the whole experience was one I will never forget because I learned so much about all of the potential opportunities that await me within the next couple of years from my two Alder mentors,” said senior Paxton Allison.

Dr. Anderson has confirmed that Alder will be making another guest appearance to next year’s senior class. They plan on having smaller discussions that are more specifically tailored to our six academic pathways.