A football player, a member of the 1988 state championship wrestling team, a rugby player at Duke University, an English teacher, an executive for Cartoon Network, a playwright, and a producer at PBS, Paul Siefken ’88 built a habit of success over the two decades since his graduation from Jesuit. At Cartoon Network and PBS, he was a driving force behind shows such as Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, Wild Kratts, and The Cat in the Hat.

But in 2012 when he received the call to spearhead a new project called Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, the opportunity would springboard him into becoming president of one of the nation’s preeminent nonprofit production companies, Fred Rogers Productions. Though Fred Rogers (better known simply as “Mr. Rogers”) was an American icon, Siefken’s leadership on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and later projects such as Odd Squad and Peg + Cat would define American children’s television for a new generation of viewers.

“Men for others” sticks with you… men for others is real.

Paul Siefken ’88

He has now published his own novel, reconnecting with his New Orleans roots to tell the story of the fictional Vernon Poche in Vernon Poche and the Ghosts of New Orleans. The occasion recently brought him back to Carrollton & Banks, where he was able to meet with current Blue Jays and faculty members. He spoke with students in English III under the tutelage of Danny Fitzpatrick ’09, himself an accomplished author and poet.

“Ms. Alexander first sparked my love of writing,” Siefken reflected. “I had always done well enough in English classes, but I wrote well to get good grades. After she handed my back a satiric essay I wrote, she looked me in the eye and told me it was something really special. And that was the first time I thought about writing in a new way.”

From 2017 to 2024, Siefken grew Fred Rogers Productions from a six-person operation into a 42-person outfit, all the while remaining hyper-focused on the organization’s responsibility of upholding Fred Roger’s legacy.

“I was recently speaking to one of my classmates for a podcast the Class of 1988 is doing, and he asked me, ‘How does Jesuit still inform your life?'” Siefken explained to Fitzpatrick’s class. “Fred Rogers left us a mission to educate, but in large part because of Jesuit I believe that that’s more than a surface-level responsibility. ‘Men for others’ sticks with you.”

He added, “Doing something that’s good for the world and good for people can be so fulfilling. To love going to work every day and to know what you’re doing is making a difference. ‘Men for others’ is real.”

Interested readers can purchase Siefken’s new book here or at book sellers nationally.