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Ryan Quock, right, was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout by his former Scoutmaster Cynthia Dragon, left, at a ceremony held at the Flanagan Center of Holy Name Parish Aug. 17. (Courtesy photo)
Sept. 23, 2019
Christina Gray
Ryan Quock, the assistant leader for youth ministry at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in San Francisco, received the Eagle Scout award in a ceremony Aug. 17.
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. Candidates must have earned at least 21 merit badges for competency in such areas as first aid, citizenship, emergency preparedness and lifesaving.
Ryan’s Eagle Scout project, a requirement of the rank, was to redesign the landscaping for the grotto of Mary at Holy Name, his family’s parish. Eagle Scout projects must demonstrate capable leadership of others while performing a project to benefit the community.
Ryan started as a Cub Scout in first grade at the former St. Mary’s Chinese Day School in Chinatown. He became a Boy Scout in the sixth grade. He served as class president of his eighth grade class and won prizes in science, speech and debate while also serving as a lector and altar server at Holy Name. As a student at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco, Ryan participated in student parliament, campus ministry, choir, the lacrosse team and as a student ambassador with the Knights of Riordan. In his senior year, he served as a Kairos prison ministry retreat leader.
In 2016 and 2017, Ryan was a summer counselor for at-risk Chinese-American children at Donaldina Cameron House in Chinatown. Currently a freshman at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, he is studying bio-chemistry and is interested in becoming a dentist one day.
In the meantime, Ryan treks across the bridge each Sunday to play ukulele at the 9:30 a.m. Mass at Holy Name Parish; on every third Sunday he also plays at the 10:15 Mass at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco.
Ryan told Catholic San Francisco that being an Eagle Scout is “more than just accomplishing tasks” leading to a badge.
“It means being patient to learn about every community you become a part of, and then contributing by leading to make it a better one,” he said.
SCHOLARSHIP HOME RUN: Caden Kalagayan, an eighth grader at St. Robert School in San Bruno, won a $5,000 scholarship for leadership, character and academic potential shown as a member of the San Bruno Junior Giants Vipers team.
Caden and nine other recipients of the Harmon & Sue Burns Scholarship were honored Aug. 10 at a ceremony at Oracle Park after standing out in a field of 80 contenders. Winners of the scholarship commit to maintaining their academic performance throughout high school and serving as mentors or coaches with the Junior Giants, a program that cultivates confidence, leadership skills, healthy habits and teamwork through baseball.
Caden will be putting the skills he’s learned through the program to use this year as the student body president of St. Robert’s. “I am grateful to Junior Giants for helping me develop the courage and confidence to be a good leader and to work well with a team of study body representatives.”
MERCY IN ACTION: In the first two weeks of the new school year, Mercy Burlingame collected 500 pair of shoelaces and socks, and 50 pair of men’s briefs for migrant families served by Missionary of Jesus Sister Norma Pimentel’s Human Respite Center in McAllen, Texas.
Sister Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, opened the center in 2014 to provide temporary shelter, food, clothes, a shower and other necessities for migrant children and adults passing through the city in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas near the border of Mexico.
Campus ministers Sandy Flaherty and Angie Simonetti headed up the schoolwide campaign to educate students, faculty and staff about the crisis at the border after hearing Sister Pimentel speak at the Sisters of Mercy’s annual meeting. Bay Area Border Relief, a local nonprofit, spoke to religion classes, while students in Spanish classes wrote letters of welcome and support for new arrivals. A student-led fundraiser this month will buy toys for migrant children at the HRC.
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