Skip to main content

A Christmas Gathering in Honor of Alumnus Bruce Lee '79

Yesterday evening, the Saint David's alumni community came together in the Lapeyre Family Performing Arts Commons to celebrate one of our dearest traditions, A Christmas Gathering.

This year's occasion featured a special tribute to Saint David's Alumnus of the Year, Bruce H. Lee '79. At the age of 19, Bruce's son Andrew was diagnosed with a rare kidney cancer know as HLRCC, which has no known cure.

"Andrew was motivated to help others," his father explained. "Following his diagnosis, when he came home from school for Christmas, Andrew said, 'Dad, I have an idea - I'm going to start a non-profit.'"

Andrew established Driven to Cure to help others and raise awareness for rare kidney cancers. When Andrew passed away on Easter Sunday, the nonprofit received donations from 160 countries within five days.

"To be honored here at Saint David's and to see everyone (classmates, friends, faculty) tonight, is very special to me and my family," said Bruce. "Andrew's legacy will continue and we will find a cure."

We were inspired by Andrew's motivation to serve for the greater good while battling cancer and by Bruce's determination to continue his son's work.

This is the true spirit of Christmas.


For more information on Driven to Cure go to driventocure.org

Popular posts from this blog

William Burke '10 Explores the Mother-Son Relationship in Special Chapel Talk

William Burke '10 returned to Saint David's this morning to speak to our fifth graders and their moms or special friends about the mother-son relationship. Will, a graduate of Regis and Georgetown who works as an Analyst at BlackRock, reminded our boys of the instrumental role their moms play in myriad aspects of their daily lives. Using the experience of boys who play hockey as an example, he observed, "Mom is always there, she's your gear sponsor, your Uber to the games, rooting you on during the game and waiting afterward with donuts and hot chocolate." Win or lose, a son's biggest fan is his mom. As he referenced our school's mission, Will remarked, " Ut viri boni sint  (that they be good men)  are beautiful words, but how do we learn to be a good man?" He noted that the boys can learn from teachers, coaches, and other students, while adding that they receive vital wisdom, support, and guidance from their mothers. "Behind e...
Read more

"The Wisdom Within" - The Superpower of Performance

In the following entry of our Teaching Boys Initiative blog series, Saint David's Director of Music and Master Teacher Jeffrey Moore explores how participating in performances and productions build transformative competencies, transmit values, and inspire boys to excel. Jose Antonio Abreu, one of the leading educators in classical music and the founder of El Sistema said this: “Music has to be recognized as an agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values  — solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it can unite an entire community and express sublime feelings.”¹ At Saint David’s School, performance begins in the very first years. Each class, from Pre-K through Eighth Grade, presents their work to an audience of peers and parents, whether it is a story, a skit, a play, a lecture, or a musical presentation. But the increasing complexity and demands on our boys to push themselves to another level is the key to their development and succes...
Read more

"The Wisdom Within" - Writing and Thinking

In our continuing efforts through the Teaching Boys Initiative at Saint David's School ™ , one of our visiting scholars, Dr. Ric Campbell, engages in ongoing reflective practice with our faculty. Below, Dr. Campbell shares an example of a freewriting initiative that was born from the collaboration between literature teacher Jamie MacNeille and history teacher Drew Burton, who sought to address forms of student engagement in their respective disciplines.  WRITING and THINKING:  A Learning Community Engaged in the Knowledge-Making Practices of the Disciplines “Whoa, this freewriting is really helpful !” The above quote by a sixth-grade literature student captures a revelatory moment; he has discovered the wealth of ideas at the end of his pen as he writes to describe what he is noticing in the novel the class is reading and discovers that what he notices leads to questions, and that those questions, in turn, lead to bigger ideas. “All there is to thinking is seeing something not...
Read more