calendar of events - Strake Jesuit College Preparatory

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Principal’s
Perspective
My first encounter with Strake Jesuit, its students and its
faculty, was through its Debate Team. I had begun my
teaching career in another school and along with numerous
other assignments there was the job of Debate Coach. Early
in the season my teams began to meet Jesuit Debaters and
always came back knowing they had been in a good fight. A
good part of being a debate coach is sitting in auditoriums in
the early hours of a Saturday afternoon waiting for results. It
was in such an auditorium waiting for results that I met
Misters John Payne, S.J. and Dan O’Shea, S.J. Dan and John
had inherited the job of running the Jesuit forensics group
from Father Jacques Weber, S.J., and for the next two years
we spent our Saturday afternoons comparing notes and
talking. As a result of these conversations I ended up
teaching at Jesuit.
Father Weber was already a legend in my book. When
Strake Jesuit’s athletic teams were too young to field a
varsity, Father Weber’s debaters and orators were coming
home from tournaments around the state with trophies,
plaques and bragging rights. One of Father Weber’s orators
went to National Forensic League Nationals as a junior.
We are still sending teams out every weekend-sometimes
by the bus load-and they are still bringing home the trophies
and the points. There are 36 kids involved and five faculty
coaches. Mr. Jerry Crist heads up the coaching staff. Before
coming to Strake Jesuit two years ago, Mr. Crist earned a law
degree at Gonzaga University in Spokane and practiced law
for several years. Now he teaches government and world
history and spends most of his weekends at tournaments,
AROUND CAMPUS
along with Mr. Murvin Auzenne and Mr. Nick Arguello.
Many of you know Mr. Auzenne as your former government
or world history teacher. (He was an orator on the first
forensics team I ever coached.) While Mr. Arguello is a
debate coach and theology graduate student by night, he
chairs our theology department and teaches junior theology
by day. Mr. Mike Sullivan, who moderates the Southwell
Players, teaches theater and English, and directs our theatrical
program, helps our forensics group with duet acting and other
individual events. Some of you may remember Mike as a
fellow member of the Class of ‘87. Mrs. Diane Hollingsworth
also worked with our theater program for a number of
years; she now teaches English and also helps out with
individual events.
When our team is not on the road, prepping briefs or
practicing, they are running debate camps for incoming
Freshmen. This year we have 20 freshmen in the program.
They are as enthusiastic and as wily as those in my first years
at the school. Father Chris Billac and I became great friends
watching their machinations and attempting to control them.
My best memories of my own years as a debate coach are not
the awards ceremonies or even a few of the really great
debates that I watched our teams win, but the long rides
home. Debaters never quit; if they are not going over their
last “round” word by word they are excoriating the judges
they had or the feeble attempts of their opponents. Many of
those tireless young men are still using the skills they
developed in research, speaking and organization as judges,
lawyers, physicians and a host of other professions and
occupations. One of great joys now is seeing them again; so
many of our conversations begin-“Remember the ride back
from......”
24 STRAKE JESUIT SENIORS SELECTED AS NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR FINALISTS
NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR FINALISTS
First Row (L to R)
Jonathan Kwan, Justin Wang, Omar Gafur, Chris Glaser, Juan
Rivera, Joseph Vengalil, Colby Fan, Ryan Reddy, Matt
Stoner, Armando Huaringa, Jonathan Murphy, Matthew
Kuhn, Paul Albrecht, Peter Blais and Andre Mouton
Top Row (L to R)
Ryan Caldwell, Michael Raia, Samuel Williams and Steven
Lanier
Not Pictured:
Cameron Cope, T.J. Edwards, Eric Heller, Bryan Nettels and
Andy Seré
Crusader Chronicle a 7