The Brave News

by Ty Nakagawa

It is a new year at St. John Bosco High School, and there has been no better time than this past summer to turn some things around in the school’s own Oratory.

It has been a decade since Brother Nold and Mr. Woods re-opened the Oratory to its current state. The Oratory is an essential part of the Salesian program at Bosco, for it is both a home and a playground for students at the school.

Many families rely on it as a shelter and safe place for their kids who have to be dropped off at six o’clock in the morning and picked up later in the afternoon. The Oratory is a place where students can take a break to engage in friendly banter outside of school hours.

“The Oratory is a place for students to play and get energy out of them before and after school. I think it’s very positive because it gives you a sense of balance in your life. All work and no play is not healthy, because God tells us to rest, and so there is a time and place for everything that we have to do,” said religion teacher Mrs. Shields.

Every day of the school week, the Oratory is flooded with students. There are students eating, conversing, playing games, and buying snacks. The couches are packed, and so are the game spaces. However, that doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement.

The couches were somewhat old and tattered last year. The ping-pong tables were scratched, the paddles stained and shabby. The toasters and microwaves were also dingy and soiled with food stains.

In reaction to some of these aging resources, the administration at Bosco took action. You can say ‘goodbye’ to the old couches crawling with creatures, and ‘hello’ to new reclining leather seats, as well as brand-new foosball tables.

Other things to look forward to in the Oratory are new pool tables, better ping-pong equipment, air hockey tables, a new paint-job, a new TV along with a new PlayStation, and more. These changes will hopefully encourage more students to participate in the Oratory socially and connect more with the community and each other.

Because some students heavily rely on the Oratory, these new additions will be instituted incrementally so that the Oratory may remain open during renovation.

“Building a pipe underwater, you can’t just stop the water completely. You have to build in the water, and separate [the pipe] piece by piece, and parcel it out,” said Mr. Jaramillo.

The touch-ups made on the Oratory are expected to be fully complete and instituted around October. Mr. Jaramillo hopes that students will take better care of the Oratory this year after they see the time the school has put into remodeling the room and wishes to make a celebration of the new Oratory once the project is complete.