It is a fine thing to go through a St. Paul's education as a young boy named Nate and return to the classroom as a tall person called by the very adult name of Mr. Stevenson.

 "I talked to my senior dean and we thought it would be cool to come back to my roots and end my senior year here, where I began," said Nate Stevenson, a member of the St. Paul's class of 2006 and the Bentley School class of 2010. Sporting neatly pressed duds and a regulation orange St. Paul's nametag, Nate is fulfilling his senior year community service requirement by volunteering in the fourth and fifth grade classrooms at St. Paul's. In the fall, he heads to Drew University in New Jersey. His interests include theater and acting.

Find Gold, Don't Just Talk About It
"I really appreciate St. Paul's," said Nate, as he stopped by the offices at 266 Grand Ave. en route to Mr. Farmer's fourth grade classroom. "At other schools, it's about memorizing facts, but at St. Paul's, it's about learning the facts through experiences." Studying the Gold Rush by panning for gold in the Sierra and studying ecology by cleaning Lake Merritt were two stand-out experiences for him when he was a St. Paul's student.

In his month working at the Lower School with Ms. Raj, Mr. Farmer, and Ms. Malabed, Nate has discussed gender stereotypes with Faven, campus beautification with Kobi, and math with Marcus. He was impressed when fifth grader Elizabeth declared, in a story she wrote and read to the class, that "homeless doesn't mean worthless." He took that insightful turn of phrase back to his Bentley high school teachers, who were also impressed. "These kids care so much about their environment and their community," said Nate.

At the Lower School, he has a fan club of students and a new moniker, Nate the Great. "He's really entertaining," said Eliza. "Whenever he comes he makes funny faces."  "He's really helpful in class," said Katie. "He's nice and he knows stuff about teaching. He's a good one-on-one tutor," said Marcus.