Viewpoint’s football team had the opportunity to learn from one of the game’s most accomplished players when former Super Bowl champion, University of Southern California standout, and Viewpoint parent Keyshawn Johnson visited campus to share his experiences, advice, and perspective with the Patriots.

During his visit on August 27, Johnson watched the final portion of the team’s practice before joining players in the Bradway Family Peak Performance Center for an extended conversation. Over nearly an hour, he reflected on his exhilarating career, the challenging life experiences that shaped his hard-working and resilient character, and the lessons he learned along the way that extend well beyond the game and into everyday life.

For Viewpoint’s scholar-athletes, the visit offered a rare opportunity to hear directly from someone who competed at the highest levels of the sport. Johnson was a unanimous first-team All-American at USC in 1995 before being selected No. 1 overall in the 1996 NFL Draft. During an 11-season NFL career, he earned three Pro Bowl selections and helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII.

“Perseverance, grit, grind, and hustle. That’s just what I was built on,” Johnson said. “If somebody told me I couldn’t do something, that just motivated me even more to prove them wrong.”

The visit was made possible through the generosity of alumnus, current parent, and Trustee Chaney Sheffield ’98, who donated the live auction package he won at the 43rd Annual Benefit to our team to celebrate and inspire them as they began the fall season.

“We are incredibly blessed at Viewpoint to have such a talented community of students, faculty, coaches, and parents,” Sheffield said. “I want to thank Keyshawn for sharing his incredible journey and the life lessons he has learned with our football team. His message was highly motivating for our scholar-athletes and I hope they carry those lessons with them both on and off the field. Go Patriots!”

The opportunity came at the start of an exciting season for Viewpoint Football. The Patriots are currently 7-0, marking an impressive undefeated start to the year.

Viewpoint is grateful to Keyshawn Johnson for generously sharing his time and expertise with our scholar-athletes and to Chaney Sheffield for helping make this memorable experience possible through his commitment to Viewpoint Athletics.

For parents interested in helping create meaningful opportunities like this for our scholar-athletes and supporting the continued growth of Viewpoint Athletics, learn more about the launch of the Patriot Athletics Club (PAC) here or reach out to Joey Swett at joey.swett@viewpoint.org. 

Rebecca Elliott brings nearly two decades of experience as a coach, educator and athletics program leader to her new role as Viewpoint’s Assistant Director of Athletics for Grades 4-8. Most recently, she served as Head Field Hockey Coach and Physical Education Teacher at St. John’s School in Houston, where she led a field hockey program for more than 100 student-athletes and guided her varsity teams to back-to-back conference championships and national rankings.

As she begins this newly created leadership role at Viewpoint, we recently sat down with Elliott to learn more about what drew her to Viewpoint School, what she hopes to accomplish in her first year and why she believes athletics can play such an important role in helping students grow.

Katerina: What drew you to Viewpoint and the new Assistant Director of Athletics for Grades 4-8 role?

Rebecca: After teaching and coaching for roughly two decades, I was ready to take my experience into a leadership role. This beautiful school in the canyon, back in my home state of California, seemed like the perfect place for me. My values are right in line with those of Viewpoint’s “Love, Honor, Excellence, Imagination and Optimism,” making for a perfect professional relationship.

Katerina: What are you most excited to develop or accomplish during your first year at Viewpoint?

Rebecca: I am excited to cultivate and grow relationships across divisions, with students and parents, around all things athletics at the Lower and Middle School levels. I am looking forward to learning more about athletics at Viewpoint and finding ways to bring what I’ve learned through my experiences to continue developing and progressing the vision of the Athletic Department.

Katerina: What do you believe makes an athletics experience meaningful and positive for younger student-athletes?

Rebecca: I believe that when student-athletes are challenged and inspired by their peers, teammates and coaches, the impossible seems achievable. I also believe that when they are having fun, the tireless hours they are putting in don’t seem so long. Instead, they are ready for more.

I am definitely a believer in the journey, not the end result, and in helping student-athletes have the best adventure possible along the way through sports.

Katerina: What values or life skills do you hope students develop through participating in athletics?

Rebecca: I always hope that student-athletes learn what it means to be part of a team: finding something more than self and helping make others successful. I love to see student-athletes set individual and team goals and watch them achieve and exceed those goals with the help of teammates and amazing coaches.

I always like to see student-athletes face and overcome adversity, whether it’s a skill they never thought they could master or a game against a tough opponent they didn’t believe they could beat. I love seeing when they realize that success and failure are not defined by a dictionary definition, but through tangible experiences they have overcome or achieved, either as individuals or as a team.

Athletics and being part of a team help you see life and things through a different lens, and I have always loved that.

Katerina: What has stood out to you most about the Viewpoint community since starting?

Rebecca: The warm and welcoming atmosphere is evident the moment you step on campus. I have yet to come across someone who isn’t willing to answer a question, help you find your way or just lend an ear to listen. It feels like people really want you to not only succeed here but continue to grow in your craft.

Peyton Goto-Lynch ’29 has been horseback riding for nearly as long as she can remember. She first rode ponies at Griffith Park when she was just two years old and began taking lessons a few years later. 

“There wasn’t a specific spark for equestrian sports; it was just a part of my everyday life,” Peyton said. “I started seriously competing when I was 11 years old, and it wasn’t until then that the possibilities of going far in the sport felt real.”

Today, Peyton trains five to six times a week at Mark Watring Stables in Thousand Oaks, working with accomplished international equestrian and Olympian Mark Watring.

A major turning point in Peyton’s competitive journey came in November 2025, when Watring helped her find her horse, Erne Mountain Dew, known as “Dew.”

“With Dew, I started to improve my riding and jump higher,” Peyton said. “We were getting top ribbons as my show season went on.”

During the 2025-26 season, Peyton and Dew earned multiple first-place finishes, including Division Championships at Desert International Horse Park and the Flintridge Horse Show. Peyton also represented Viewpoint in IEL competition, finishing the season as the IEL Varsity League Reserve Champion in Jumpers.

Balancing school with training and competitions requires careful planning, and Peyton credits her teachers with helping her stay on track when traveling for shows.

“I’m thankful to all my teachers for being willing to help me while I continue to pursue my equestrian goals,” she said.

Looking ahead, Peyton hopes to qualify for Nationals in Las Vegas this November and continue advancing to higher levels with Dew. We look forward to cheering her on throughout the season!