by Aydn Morris

Polynesian culture has been incorporated into the Salesian community after the fantastic Senior Luau event put together by St. John Bosco and St. Joseph.

There is absolutely no better way to throw a party that celebrates the seniors of SJ and SJB, than a Hawaiian luau theme. The senior luau was held on Wednesday, October 28, 2021, and started at 6:30pm and concluded at 9:00pm. 

A luau is a Polynesian ritual, the act is meant to socially gather and unite the community in a celebration of a significant event. After losing a year of social interaction due to COVID-19, the luau acted as an incredible opportunity to unite the Bosco and Joseph community together, with both schools having an amazing, as well as unique, high school experience.

The senior luau was a great opportunity for the two schools’ students to come together to meet and get to know more about each other. With both classes having spent a whole year online, it was great for the community to get back together and meet new people.

The luau consisted of a beautiful entertainment performance, with music, dancing and most importantly great food. The performers included three women and one man, who danced and sang for different polynesian countries such as Fiji, New Zealand and many more. The show lasted about an hour long and not only did they perform to the senior class, but they also educated many of them in the polynesian ritual. 

Although the performance as a whole was outstanding, many believed the best part of the performance was the finale. 

The finale began with a man dancing with the fire and performing amazing stunts that definitely should not be done at home. He completed stunts where he had held an inflamed stick with the fire reaching both ends of the stick. His fire performance skills are based on juggling, baton twirling, poi spinning and other forms of object manipulation. He also includes skills such as fire breathing, and body burning. Not only was the performance amazing, but the seniors were very involved and impressed by his performance. The performance went on to gain a vocal interaction out of the seniors screaming out “ahi”, which means fire in Hawaiian. 

Ms. Kelly Blakeman was in charge of being the senior moderator and this is her fifth year organizing the event. Before Ms. Blakeman, Ms. Yates and Mrs. Tracy were both senior moderators. Ms. Blakeman did an excellent job on organizing the senior event along with Ms. Fernandez, and the ASB student board. The senior event was fantastic and it seems as if there will only be more successful ones alike in the near future.