The Brave News

by Brett Baligad, Senior Editor

This past Sunday, Braves and their maternal figures celebrated Bosco’s annual Mother and Son Breakfast.

As the holidays are in full swing, members of the Bosco community are not shy about welcoming the Christmas cheer. To kick off the month, the Parent Association hosted their annual Mother and Son Breakfast. The event took place at Quiet Cannon in Montebello, as it invited all Bosco students to attend a morning mass, enjoy breakfast and hear from a guest speaker. Students were accompanied by mothers, aunts and grandmothers who have impacted their lives the most. Faculty were in attendance, too, as Principal Dr. Kris Anderson and President Dr. Brian Wickstrom were in attendance with their families.

Mass began at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning. Father Ted led mass while being accompanied by a choir and band consisting of Bosco students. Fr. Ted would dedicate his Homily to the mothers in attendance, as he recollected a story about a man who donated holiday goods to a Canadian family years ago.

“Fr. Ted had a very moving Homily. It resonated deeply with me since the story took place in Alberta, Canada and my in-laws are from there,” said Mrs. Janine Mays, mother of senior Isaac Mays. “It is brutally cold in the winter time, and I can only imagine how that single mother must have felt when the man showed up with food and toys. That was a miracle on its own, and when the child asked, ‘Is that Jesus?’ That gave me chills. ‘Yes, my child, he is our Jesus.’ Jesus lives in all of us all time, not just at Christmas.”

The Homily came with perfect timing, catering to all of the mothers that sacrifice for their children along with a sense of hope during Christmas time.

Following the Mass, a catered breakfast was open to guests. While breakfast was being served, there were raffles, silent auctions and vendors. Raffles included gift baskets from notable sports teams on campus including Football, Baseball, Basketball and Esports.

“I really enjoyed the raffles. There were plenty of options to choose from,” said senior Tyler Baligad. “I actually won a basket full of baseball gear. I am excited to wear them to school.”

The silent auction was also a big hit. The most notable prizes were tickets to a Clippers game against the Bucks and a pair of signed gloves from Oscar De La Hoya. Respectively, both winners belonged to seniors Anthony Rodriguez and Mauro Meraz.

The vendors lined the back of the event center and sold a wide variety of goods that served as perfect Christmas presents for the holiday season. This included bracelets, necklaces and St. John Bosco novelties. 

The event concluded with guest speaker and alumni, Dr. Fidencio Saldaña, Class of ‘91. After Dr. Saldaña graduated from St. John Bosco, he would go on to study at Stanford University. He is currently a Dean of Students at Harvard Medical School. 

“I really enjoyed his keynote speech. He emphasized passion, family and building an image for yourself,” said Ryan Gutierrez ‘23. “I had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Saldaña, and he said he was willing to help me build connections with his colleagues in the east coast.”

Overall, there was plenty to see and do at the Mother and Son Breakfast. Whether it was sharing mass with their mothers, grandmothers and aunts, having breakfast or shopping for Christmas presents, the Mother and Son Breakfast once again showed the importance of the Brave women in students’ lives.

by Marco Castro

The Brothers of Bosco strive to make an impact on the communities of Baja California, Mexico. With the help of Co-Presidents Tyler Baligad and Christopher Facio, the club hopes to continue to unite the Brave community through service.

As St. John Bosco Braves, students are called to be men of service, and one new club has certainly answered that call. The Brothers of Bosco, founded by seniors Brett and Tyler Baligad, is a new service club on campus that donates money and supplies to the communities of Ensenada, Mexico. 

“We started the club earlier this year because my brother Brett and I saw an opportunity to give back to our grandparents’ church,” said Tyler. “During Covid-19, our grandparents retired in Ensenada, Mexico. Working with their pastor, Fr. Rodolfo, we saw an opportunity to do good.”

After recognizing the chance to help, Brett and Tyler reached out to their friends in the Bosco community for assistance in providing to these people. One person who answered the call to help is the club’s other Co-President, senior Christopher Facio.

“When Brett and Tyler brought up the idea, I was really excited and honored that they wanted me to be part of the moment,” said Christopher.

After assembling a group of students to lead the club, they needed a teacher moderator to officially become a club on campus. Luckily for them, science teacher Mr. Ruben Solorza, Class of ’13, was more than willing to help.

“After I heard how it got started and saw their personal connection with it, I was on board to help them get it going,” Mr. Solorza said.

While the Brothers of Bosco is a brand new club, they have already raised over $1,000 worth of supplies for the community of Ensenada, and are currently hosting a drive collecting warm clothes for the elderly.

“We raised $500 in our first project, $300 at the Dia de Los Muertos celebration, and $300 at the Culture Fair. One hundred percent of our donations have gone back into buying donatable goods for the communities of Ensenada,” said Tyler.

After completing each drive, a few members of the club drive down to Iglesia María Auxiliadora in Ensenada. From there, the clothes and other goods get distributed by the church to the people in the community. 

This club has hit the ground running and hopes to continue that with its current warm goods drive. If you would like to donate, they will be collecting beanies, scarves, gloves, blankets and other warm clothing until December 15th in room 318.

The Brothers of Bosco are always looking for new members and will welcome anyone who wishes to join. They meet every Thursday in Mr. Solorza’s classroom, room 318.