The Brave News

by Ed Crowe

Anyone who has walked into Mrs. Becky Ellison’s office has been the beneficiary of her kindness, compassion and selfless attention. 

Mrs. Ellison is a treasure to the Bosco community. As the dean of enrollment, she has helped many students of St. John Bosco High School in their admissions process. She works with many eighth graders with their incoming freshmen interviews, along with giving tours of the St. John Bosco campus. However, her biggest work comes with the responsibility of planning and organizing Open House. 

As part of the admissions department, Admissions Coordinator Mrs. Patty Lazcano works alongside Mrs. Ellison and has developed a strong friendship with her.

“I think there is no better person than Mrs. Ellison. She has a strong faith that is lived out everyday. She is always serving others and being a role model to our Bosco community. Her laughter is contagious and her heart is huge. I feel very honored and blessed to be working alongside her,” Mrs. Lazcano said.

“Smart, funny, committed, honest, Godly woman. A wonderful Mother and hard working.”

Even though they have only been working together for the past two years, they still relish each other’s company, especially when working together on admissions events. The admissions department teams up to give many stellar presentations about the four pillars of St. John Bosco to schools and families throughout Southern California. 

Anything in the realm of admissions, from applications to interviews and class presentations to high school fairs, Mrs. Ellison is essential behind the scenes. 

Another coworker that thinks highly of Mrs. Ellison is Mr. Michael Crawford who has been part of the Bosco community since 2015. While he started as a Bosco Football coach, he was brought on in 2020 to work on admissions with Mrs. Ellison.

“She is the most selfless person I know. There is not a kinder human being than Mrs. Ellison,” said Mr. Crawford. 

Mr. Crawford is not the only person that looks up to Mrs. Ellison. Her son, sophomore Andrew Ellison, believes that she is fantastic at her jobs of being Dean of Enrollment and also a great mom. 

“I think that she’s a very caring person and that she treats everyone equally with the same amount of love and respect,” said Andrew. 

Much like Mrs. Lazcano, Andrew also believes that his mom is a huge help in the admissions process for students.

“She’s helped get a lot of people into the school, and she’s helped a lot of kids working with ambassadors,” Andrew said. 

In the perspective of mother-to-son, Mrs. Ellison is kind and caring to her family as well as the students she has helped out in her time at Bosco. Not only is she helpful around her own family, but she is also helpful around the Bosco family, and because of her sons – Andrew as well as Jake Ellison who graduated last year – she has been involved in the Bosco community for years and hopefully will be for years to come.

by Noah Dawson

St. John Bosco High School welcomes Mrs. Cathy Roohan, a former Bosco parent, to the counseling staff as a Learning Specialist and STEP Counselor, working to serve all students with their academic needs.

Q. Where did you grow up?

A. As an immigrant family, I moved to where my father’s job took us. After we arrived in the United States, we lived in Eagle Rock and Koreatown. I also lived in Costa Mesa, Garden Grove and Huntington Beach. When people ask where I am from, I say Huntington Beach because I spent my high school years in HB, and it is the city where I spent the most years growing up as a teenager.

Q. What school did you attend for high school?

A. For high school, I attended a very small religious-based school, Liberty Christian School, in Huntington Beach. This is significant because it formed the foundation for my spirituality and Catholic-Christian worldview. 

Q. What school did you attend for university?

A. I attended Boston College, just outside of Boston, Massachusetts for my undergraduate years. At this Jesuit college, I re-discovered my Catholic-Christian identity, which reshaped or redefined my worldview.

Q. What was your major/minor in college?

A. Philosophy and History double major. Many of my classes were in my pursuit of understanding my Korean/Asian American history, culture and identity. I was also interested in world religions in my pursuit to better understand my Catholic-Christian faith.  I received my Master’s of Arts at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles in Special Education. 

Q. Do you have any pets?

A. I have had a series of cats and dogs over my youth and adulthood. Our last family dog, MacDougal, passed away in 2021. He was very special to my family… a big loss.

Q. What do you like to do as a hobby?

A. I love to eat yummy food and cook! I spend a lot of my free time volunteering at my children’s clubs and organizations.

Q. What’s your outside interest?

A. Hiking and walking. 

Q. Do you like or play any sports?

A. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I picked up jogging. I have completed a few half marathons and a 10K in the past few years. Also, I do 5Ks regularly for fundraisers or just to get out there.

Q. What is your role at Bosco?

A. At Bosco, I am the Learning Specialist and Counselor. I coordinate the STEP program for students.

Q. What made you decide to come to work at Bosco?

A. I came to work at Bosco through Mr. Salmingo, but I first learned about Bosco through my son, who graduated a few years back, Class of 2020.

Q. What specifically drew you to Bosco?

A. The best part of Bosco is that everyone is excited about their roles and people are fun and nice to work with. As a volunteer, I found that the staff and faculty were welcoming and grateful to the parents who volunteered. As a parent, over the years, I got involved in more activities because there was such a positive energy here. When considering working at Bosco, the positive, grateful and fun energy attributed to my wanting to accept the job!

Q. Where did you first become inspired to get into counseling?

A. I became interested in counseling in recent years because, in my previous job, I noticed that I effectively guided parents and students along their school and parenting journey. 

Q. How are you acclimating to the all-boy environment?

A. Slowly but surely. This would be the newest aspect of my job here. 

Q. Which event are you most excited about here at Bosco?

A. As I mentioned, I love community events or events where I can share my enthusiasm for SJB with others. I look forward to Open House, too. 

Q. How has your time been at Bosco so far?

A. So far, I have been busy trying to learn and assimilate new information. Busy, but fun! I love meeting with students one-on-one to talk about how they feel about their learning and to offer different learning strategies, tricks or perspectives. 

Q. What are your most exciting experiences this school year?

A. I enjoy the community activities; the latest one was Spirit Week for Homecoming. I dressed up for Twin Day and Adam Sandler Day and had a lot of fun! I also loved going to a high school fair representing SJB.

Q. What’s your favorite memory so far at Bosco?

A. I have many favorite memories as a parent: Mother-Son Mass & Brunch, Margherita’s Guild hospitality events–Salesian Dinner, baking pumpkin loaves for the staff and faculty, the football [CIF] championship game in 2019. I have fond memories of organizing the Lunar New Year Celebration. Lastly, I loved the Dia de Los Muertos celebration!

Q. Do you have any advice for any students that wish to become counselors?

A. To have empathy but to develop self-preservation techniques.

Q. What are your favorite types of food?

A.  I love Indian, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai, Hawaiian, Sushi and, of course, Korean BBQ (Kalbi). I love fresh baked pastries and bread, fruit, boba, coffee and tea.

Q. What’s your favorite type of music to listen to?

A. It is difficult to use music category names as it has different meanings throughout time! I feel nostalgic and giggle when I hear 80s music and see its popularity with young people these days. These are a few of my favorite vocal artists or bands: Adele, Elton John, Sarah Brightman, Queen, Eurythmics, Sting, The Beatles, Blonde and Coldplay. And I enjoy Saturday Night Live.  

Q. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

A.  I would love to go back to Korea to see my relatives. My family and I were planning to go to Korea in Summer 2020, as a graduation celebration for my son. But with the pandemic, those plans got deferred. Secondly, I would love to return to Peru, as I was an exchange student there as a high school student and haven’t had the opportunity to return.

by William Reynolds and Ed Crowe

In the wake of Homecoming Week, alumni faculty reflect on the influence St. John Bosco High School had on their own academic career. With many alumni returning to teach at Bosco, the brotherhood continues to grow stronger within the Brave community.

Since St. John Bosco was established in 1940, the school has been constructed around four core values. These include the ideals of St. John Bosco being a home, school, church and playground. Homecoming made the students feel the pillar of home more than ever with all of the fun activities. This is especially true for the alumni faculty, as Bosco is much more than just a job.

Many great alumni teachers, such as Mr. Walter Wippler ’83, Mr. Joe Griffin ’75 and Mr. Derrick Fernando ’00, have found their way back to Bosco. All these teachers have truly been a major part of the Bosco community over the years as students, athletes, coaches and teachers. These experiences that they have attained from all these years is now shared to the community, which brings a sense of unity. Although the reasoning for returning differs amongst teachers, the concept of the second home is viable in each of their stories.

Mr. Wippler ’83 has been in the Bosco community for over 30 years. He is currently the head of the Engineering pathway as well as a physics instructor. Outside the classroom, he is the faculty moderator for Bosco’s Robotics Team 4123.

“I worked part-time for the youth program here at Bosco when I was in college and I really enjoyed teaching. And so Jim Cross, one of the English teachers at the time, and Brother Nold, one of the Salesians during this time, said, ‘Hey we have an opening in the science department.’ So I applied and both Brother Nold and Jim Cross were very happy that I took on this position,” said Mr. Wippler. 

However, there is still a reasoning behind why Mr. Wippler came back to his home at Bosco specifically and why he has stayed for all these years. 

“I came back because of the welcomeness of the Bosco home and I thought to myself, if I’m going to work anywhere I would want it to be here,” said Mr. Wippler.

As a student, he immediately picked soccer, which he enjoyed and played for a long time. Ultimately, he found his love for music, which prompted him to join the marching band. In his years in the marching band, they went on to have over 50 members. One of his favorite memories was being apart of the band when Bosco defeated the “Team in Red.” As a student, Bosco truly was a second home for Mr. Wippler.

“ I see the brotherhood of Bosco is the students that I have taught,” Mr. Wippler said. “For example, not too long ago, a student of mine graduated in 2017, who was in the first Engineering [Pathway] cohort, came back to visit to catch up on what has been going on in this student’s life, letting me know that he is finishing up a double master’s in Business and Systems Engineering”. 

Mr. Griffin of the class of ’75 is another one of the profound alumni teachers Bosco has had. Mr. Griffin has been part of the Salesian family for over 40 years. As of now, Mr. Griffin is a religion teacher as well as the freshmen football offensive line coach. When it comes to a classroom or on the field, Mr. Griffin is a teacher of experience. 

Much like Mr. Wippler, Mr. Griffin has a backstory as to why he became a teacher. 

“If you would have told me I was going to be a teacher when I was here, I would’ve told you that you were crazy. But I started to think about becoming a teacher when I started taking school seriously in my senior year of college,” said Mr. Griffin. “After ten years of teaching, I came back because there was a greater opportunity at Bosco for me as a teacher to be here and this is going to be my 33rd year here, coming in with Mr. [Bob] Linares and Mr. [Ernie] Antonelli.”

The brotherhood that has impacted all of us has impacted Mr. Griffin the most.

Many students have received great advice from Mr. Griffin given his many years of experience. One of his most notable quotes: “To work like a champion, not play like a champion.”

Mr. Griffin also believes that students should not wait until the end of their academic career to take their studies seriously. It is teachers like Mr. Griffin that contain a lot of wisdom that can be shared to newer generations. This is a key reason why having alumni teachers is crucial for the Bosco community. 

Mr. Fernando of the class of ’00 also has been an integral part of the community. Although Mr. Fernando has not been teaching as long as Mr. Wippler and Mr. Griffin, he still attains the wisdom that is beneficial for many students of Bosco. Today, Mr. Fernando teaches American Literature for juniors and British Literature for seniors. 

Like his alumni colleagues, there is a story as to why he decided to come home to Bosco. 

“The short answer is I was just good at it. But a couple of my professors from LMU made mention of a graduate degree and a teaching fellowship that would help pay for it. And while my grandmother and aunt were both teachers, I never considered being a teacher until that point in time,” said Mr. Fernando.

Bosco also includes great younger alumni teachers that are just as important to the home of Bosco as the more veteran ones. By having young and old alumni teachers, the community is brought closer together in the younger and older generations. 

Some other notable alumni teachers include Mr. Garcia-Esparza ’16, Mr. Nold ’08 and Mr. Solarza ’13. Even though these teachers have not been around as long as Mr. Wippler, Mr. Griffin and Mr. Fernando, they still have a tremendous impact with the younger students and making them good young men. 

Mr. Garcia-Esparza, has had an impact on the classroom and on the court since he graduated in ’16. When he was a student, he was the head football and basketball manager. Along with this, he was a student council member, student ambassador and played rugby. 

“I started looking into this path when I started coaching football and basketball at St. Raymond Catholic. I was very much into sports, the sports world and sports careers,” said Mr. Garcia-Esparza. “I worked for the Clippers and the Rams, but when I took that experience, I saw the little things. Then I got the call here that we needed somebody to fill in the role of a Spanish teacher and felt that I was well prepared for our Spanish courses. Great teachers like Mrs. Rayas and Mrs. Hunt helped me get through my college classes, and I was more than happy to answer the call back home.”

Another young alumni teacher is Mr. Nold ’08. Although he did not participate in as many extracurriculars as Mr. Garcia-Esparza, he found himself in the film and media world. In college, he took a film and media class and found his love in the visual arts. Later in college, he found calling in animation and soon after decided he would like to share his skills to other aspiring animators.

These skills he has attained were all self-taught, which shows his true passion behind the visual arts. As of now, Mr. Nold teaches Animation one, two, and three. Mr. Nold also has a major role in the production Brave Vision. 

Mr. Solorza ’13 is another example of a great young alumni teacher. He was in cross country as well as track in his time as a student. He also published a few articles for the Brave News. Mr. Solorza is now in his second year teaching Environmental Science, AP Environmental Science and Astronomy. 

“I started coaching back in 2017 and realized how much I enjoyed it. Andd I love being around the guys, which ultimately led me into teaching, and fortunately I got to teach what I learned in college, which was pretty cool, and now be with the guys on and off the field,” said Mr. Solorza.

From all these teachers, older and younger generations, there is one clear idea about their so-called second home, which is the idea that the Salesian family spirit will never die. It is vital that more alumni come back to Bosco because their experiences are too valuable to not be shared with future generations of Braves.

By Connor Sheehan, Editor-in-Chief

Mr. Geoff McArthur arrives at St. John Bosco High School seeing his younger self in many of the Brave student body and with the hope to teach the Braves about how perspective as well as respect can better the world.

Mr. McArthur grew up in South Central Los Angeles and went to Palisades High School, where he was coached by Steve Clarkson, father of current Braves quarterback Pierce Clarkson. He attributes finding out about the opening at Bosco to Coach Clarkson.

Mr. McArthur holds the record for most receiving yards at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was recruited after having the most receiving yards in the country during his senior year at Palisades. He was Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ primary target during their shared time at Cal – and was a projected second round draft pick prior to his decision to walk away from playing football. Educationally, he received a Bachelor’s in Social Welfare from UC-Berkeley and went on to receive a Master’s in Education from Lindenwood University.

Prior to coming to Bosco, McArthur started Canada Prep Academy to provide Canadian student-athletes with the opportunity to achieve a football scholarship from American colleges. There, he was the head football coach and a philosophy teacher. McArthur served as the wide receivers coach at El Camino College from 2018 to 2019 and the head coach at St. Monica High School from July 2020 to January 2022.

Coming from another Catholic school, McArthur is no stranger to the impact that the presence of God and the Church at a school provides.

“It’s something I’m familiar with, especially coaching and teaching at St. Monica Catholic High School,” said Mr. McArthur. “I enjoy being Catholic. I enjoy trying to emulate people like St. John Bosco. Being Catholic really matters to me.”

After going to the doctor in the Spring of 2022 because he was feeling lethargic and sickly, Mr. McArthur was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin diffuse large b-cell lymphoma. He thought his exhaustion was due to his commute that encompassed over a hundred miles and multiple hours each day, as he was coaching Spring ball at Bosco and continuing to teach at St. Monica’s. Mr. McArthur received his last chemotherapy treatment this October.

“Anytime you have your life on the line, you start to reflect – I can get kind of emotional about it – because it’s one of those things where you don’t know where your time is meant to end, and when you have something looming over your head, you look back at your life and then decide how to move forward,” said Mr. McArthur. “The first thing I decided to do was to stay active and involved. I was definitely worn out.”

A true “Brave,” he continued to coach and teach throughout his treatment. He improved his diet, and now drinks a cup of tea every morning, which he sees as a testament to the lifestyle changes he made to attack his disease with as much strength as possible. In addition to personal changes, Mr. McArthur attributes a lot of the successes in his fight against cancer to the intangibles, rooted in the support and love of the Bosco community.

“I don’t think I would have done as well if I didn’t have the Bosco family. They have been super supportive throughout the entire process. At times, I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. I thought I would be too weak, but Dr. Anderson and Coach Negro really came in and gave me the support I needed to go even harder,” Mr. McArthur said.

“Bosco has kept me proud and happy and purposeful, and I’m forever grateful for being here during that time.”

Coach Negro hired Mr. McArthur in early 2022, and the success of the move is already clear. On the field, the Braves receiving room has produced 1386 total receiving yards on 76 total receptions.

His wide receivers, the Bosco Football and students at Bosco on the whole are people he looks at with awe and admiration for their work ethic and brotherhood.

“Watching them mature and develop is really fun to watch. Our guys are bonding – went to Oregon and Texas, and the team bonding has been fulfilling to see,” said Mr. McArthur.

His happiness for the 6-1 Braves is palpable, but he admits that the more exciting thing is what the Braves have yet to accomplish.

“We’re playing at a really high level, but there’s room to improve,” Mr. McArthur said. “We haven’t peaked yet, and it’s like, ‘Oh my god! We can be better than we are right now?’”

There’s no doubt that Mr. McArthur will be instrumental in that improvement, helping not just Bosco Football but our entire community reach their peaks.

By: Connor Sheehan, Editor-in-Chief

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, announced the certification and widespread publication of the decree that proclaims the miracles of God that were seen through Artemide Zatti’s works as true, paving the way for Zatti to be the first Salesian brother to be canonized as a Saint.

Br. Artemide, born on October 12th, 1880, in Boretto, Italy, was a prolific lay Salesian Brother and doctor. He immigrated to Bahía Blanca, Argentina at 17 but spent the rest of his life in Viedma, Argentina. An immigrant, he assimilated to Argentinian culture by a Salesian parish in Bahía Blanca and attending Spanish language masses held by Salesian Priest Fr. Carlo Cavalli, who later guided Br. Artemide to a Salesian life.

He ran a pharmacy and hospital for the sick and poor for forty years, in which time he cared and aided countless patients and provided hundreds of jobs and opportunities for work to his community in Viedma. His philosophy, adapted from his predecessor and mentor, Fr. Evaristo Garrone, was to provide all patients, no matter their class, with high quality and holistic care. He followed Garrone’s philosophy: “He who has little, pays little and the one who has nothing pays nothing.”

Poverty stricken and sickly as a child, he decided to renounce the priesthood and dedicate his life to help those who were afflicted with those same blights after he was cured of tuberculosis by the intercession of Mary Help of Christians when promised to dedicate his life to service if he was healed. He would later write of the events of his curing.

“I believed, because I knew by reputation that Mary Help of Christians helped him [(Father Garrone)] in visible ways. I promised, because it was always my desire to help my neighbor in some way. And, since God listened to his servant, I recovered,” Br. Artemide wrote.

Br. Artemide was a fervent and proud Salesian. He undoubtedly lived the message St. John Bosco preached to the first Salesians that were sent to the Americas on missionary vocations.

“Take special care of the sick, the children, the elderly, the poor, and you will receive God’s blessing and the respect of those around you,” Don Bosco said.

After his death, several miracles were attributed to his intercession with God. He was beatified and declared blessed by St. John Paul II on April 14, 2002.

Br. Artemide embodied all it meant to be a Salesian and Catholic. His example of tireless dedication, strong belief and unbounding love and care are now being immortalized. He is to be a patron of immigrants and pharmacists.

Saint Artemide Zatti is due to be canonized at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican tomorrow. Salesian Rector Major Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime and the Pope are set to make appearances. A livestream of the festivities can be viewed via the Salesian Info Agency’s (ANS) YouTube channel here – or alternatively, at their Facebook page, here.

by Noah Dawson

St. John Bosco High School welcomes new counselor, Mrs. Melissa Pantoja, to the counseling staff, as she works to serve all students with their academic needs.

Q. What is your hometown?

A. I am from La Mirada, California

Q. What school did you attend for high school?

A. La Mirada High School

Q. What school(s) did you attend for college? 

A. Cerritos College, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Oregon State University.

Q. What was your major/minor in college?

A. I was a Psychology major for my undergraduate and a School Counseling major for my graduate degree.

Q. Do you own any pets?

A. YES! Two silver labs. They are my babies :).

Q. What do you like to do as a hobby?

A. Two of my hobbies are exercising and meditating.

Q. What’s your favorite outdoor hobbies?

A. I like being outdoors as much as possible, so I really enjoy hiking, walking and camping.

Q. Do you like any sports or have you played any?

A. I swam for my high school varsity swim team for three years and played softball for eight years. 

Q. What’s your favorite sport to watch. 

A. I will watch any sport! 

Q. Can you explain what you do as a counselor at Bosco?

A. I help with academics, career and college readiness as well as social emotional learning.

Q. What specifically drew you to Bosco?

A. I was drawn to work at Bosco because of the school’s reputation. This is a prestigious high school filled with young scholars who are motivated and families that are supportive. That is a counselor’s dream!

Q. Where did you first become inspired to get into counseling?

A. I was first inspired to get into the field of human services when I was in high school.                                                

Q. What was your first introduction to counseling and psychology? 

A. I took my first Psychology class as a junior in high school and fell in love with the field. From there, I knew I wanted to work in psychology and with children, so I pursued counseling. I never thought an elective course would be my key to figuring out what I wanted to do as a career.

Q. How has your time at Bosco been so far?

A. Great! Everyone is so kind and helpful, especially the students. I feel so welcomed.

Q. How are you acclimating to the all-boy environment?

A. I grew up with two younger brothers and was the only girl of three, so I am used to an “all-boy environment.”          

Q. What’s your favorite thing about Bosco? 

A. I appreciate how well mannered and respectful all the boys on campus are.

Q. Which event are you most excited about here at Bosco?

A. To experience a football game! I heard those are super fun. I am excited to bring my family along and share the experience with them too.

Q. What are some difficulties that you went through to get to where you are today?

A. My journey to college was somewhat rocky. I did not have a lot of guidance when it came to the college application process. I made a lot of mistakes that affected my college entrance. However, I am now able to utilize the lessons I learned throughout my journey along with my professional training to best help students reach their post-secondary goals.

Q. Do you have any advice for any students that wish to become counselors?

A. DO IT! If you like helping people you’ll love this job. It’s fun and rewarding.

Q. What’s your favorite type of music to listen to?

A. Pop.

Q. What is your favorite food?

A. Mac n’ cheese. I could literally eat it every day.