A team full of young talent and untapped potential has just recorded one of the best starts to their season in program history. The Braves have started 15-2 with wins over big name teams such as South Torrance, Los Alamitos and Marina.
Photo by @sjbathletics
Although this great start was not expected from all, this early success is not surprising considering the experience of fifth-year Head Volleyball Coach Shane Beatty. Coach Beatty played collegiate volleyball at Hope International University, where he was named Setter of the Year in the GSAC conference.
Coach Beatty then went on to become the assistant coach for the men and women’s volleyball teams at Holy Names University from 2015-2017. From there, he would move to an assistant coaching job at Long Beach City College during their 2017-2018 season.
The experienced coach would then take on the task of trying to transform the Braves program, as he took the head coaching position right before the start of their 2019 season.
Captain Matthew Gallegos has a big role to play this year, as he is the only senior in the starting lineup. This lineup is made up of one freshman, two sophomores, two juniors and Matthew.
“We have a very young team with not a lot of seniors, but our young guys are so talented. We will be extremely competitive for the next few years to come,” said Captain Matthew Gallegos.
The Braves this past weekend competed in a very tough tournament at the Long Beach Invitational. Although the competition was challenging, the Braves shined by beating Los Alamitos and coming up short against Long Beach Wilson to secure a second place finish.
A stand out player in that tournament was junior, Tucker Carichner. Tucker, who received First Team Trinity League honors as a sophomore, had an impressive third set against Los Alamitos, ultimately helping the Braves secure the victory.
“Tucker was without a doubt the reason we won that game against Los Al. He had three kills and two blocks in just that third set alone which got us the win,” said Coach Beatty.
The Braves would take this game against Los Alamitos by a score of 2-1, which helped the Braves make some noise in the Southern Section CIF rankings. As of March 5th, the Braves find themselves 25th in the CIF rankings, earning them their first top 25 spot since their 2013 campaign.
“Four of our league opponents are ahead of us in the top 25 rankings. So even though we have celebrated this achievement, we need to keep working and put our foot on the gas,” Coach Beatty said.
The Braves have an extremely difficult road ahead of them, as they start their Trinity League season with Santa Margarita on March 13th. They hope to be one of the top teams in their league as the Trinity League is known to be one of the best leagues in the state for volleyball.
Coach Beatty asks that students pack the Thunderdome tonight, as Bosco Volleyball takes on local rival Long Beach Poly at 5:30 pm.
Bosco Lacrosse has made it loud and clear that their number one intention this season is to overpower all opponents in their way to achieve a CIF Championship.
Photo by Austin Hughes
After a successful 2021-2022 season for Bosco Lacrosse, they have continued to make the improvements and adjustments necessary to have an even more successful season in 2022-2023. The Braves have a big advantage over their competition by training since the Winter, making sure to get in all of the time they could before their first home opener game of their season.
The much anticipated lacrosse season will consist of fourteen games, with five of those games being Trinity League opponents and nine other games against non-league opponents. The Braves hosted their first two games of the season against the Santa Monica Vikings and the Downey Vikings.
The first game of the season against the Santa Monica Vikings ended in a hard fought loss for the Braves with a goal being scored by freshman attacker, Milo Watts. The Braves made sure to bounce back in their game last Friday against the Downey Vikings, flipping the script in a 17-1 victory.
“Bosco Lacrosse has put a bunch of effort into our stick stills. We are a super young team and super athletic, but we need to continue to be able to handle tough situations,” said senior midfielder Paxton Allison. “Also, we are continuing to put in work on and off the field by watching and studying teams in order to combat whatever they throw against us.”
Last year’s varsity lacrosse team consisted of many seniors, which gave the opportunity for many young and talented freshmen prospects to get opportunities to contribute and shine. Head Lacrosse Coach Chris Jewett emphasized how this Braves team is not only fresh, filled with young and hungry underclassmen, but that they are ready to compete at the next level.
With many talented freshmen and sophomores in the mix, Coach Jewett has been making sure to get the young bucks adjusted to the difference between 8th grade lacrosse and high school lacrosse by putting emphasis on fundamentals.
Photo by @BoscoLacrosse
“Some points we stressed on were fundamentals overall, like catching, shooting, throwing, lacrosse IQ. With a young team making the jump from 8th grade to high school is very difficult in some cases with the size, speed, as well as the skillset. Overall, we’ve just been doing lots of fundamentals and lots of in-game reps to get kids better,” said Coach Jewett.
This lacrosse season, there is also a fair share of veterans that are models for the underclassmen, like Paxton Allison. Through Paxton’s hard work and commitment to the program, he recently committed to Baldwin Wallace University, setting an example for the young core that they’ll be able to accomplish the goal of continuing their lacrosse careers past high school with commitment and discipline.
“The majority of our team want to play college lacrosse, so I hope what I’ve done inspires them to work hard. You have to be open to any opportunity that comes your way and be humble. I would also say [to young players] figure out what you want to chase after and don’t stop chasing it,” said Paxton.
The Bosco Braves lacrosse team is prepared to take on both the toughness of the Trinity League and their non-league opponents to reach the CIF Championship. The Braves take on non-league opponent, the La Canada Spartans, this afternoon at 4pm at home.
The wrestling program traveled to Bakersfield, where eleven wrestlers competed for the CIF State Championship in their respective weight classes. Senior Nicco Ruiz and sophomore Nicholas Sahakian emerged as champions.
Photo by Tony Rotundo
The elite eleven qualified for their matchups, making them “placers,” as they worked to earn their spot in the CIF State matches. These eleven placers consisted of many underclassmen. Freshmen Sean Willcox, Issac Torres Nathan Carrillo, Zaydrein Hernandez and Tigran Greyan as well as sophomores Nicholas Sahakian and Joseph Antonio all competed at the Bakersfield event. The upperclassmen consisted of Stanford University commit junior Grigor Cholakyan, Arizona State University commit senior Nicco Ruiz, senior Julian Barajas and senior Mark Ayala.
Photo by sjbwrestling
Head Coach Jeff Anderson, who is very proud of all the placers, as well as the other wrestlers, believes that this year was the program’s best year.
“I expect that nationally Bosco will take the number 15 spot. The wrestling program continues to make history, and has very high hopes that next year, the team will reach new heights and take the world by storm,” said Coach Anderson.
From these eleven placers, Nicco Ruiz and Nicholas Sahakian wrestled their way to the top and were able to achieve CIF State Championships. In addition to this year’s victory, Nicco has now won this title two years in a row, making him the California two-time defending CIF State Champion for the 160-pound division, which is a remarkable accomplishment for himself as well as the Bosco wrestling program.
Nicco gives special thanks to his family and friends that pushed him to his limits as well as his coaches and Bosco brothers who pushed him even further to his accomplishments. Of course, this achievement was not earned with ease, a lot of hard work and determination was necessary.
“To prepare mentally, I looked at my past matches from last year’s state tournament and kept telling myself that I have to be better than that. Also, I have my medal from last year in my room hanging, and I would see it every day and I would tell myself that I need to get that medal again,” said Nicco.
Wrestling is not only a challenging sport physically, but also mentally. Each wrestler must have the right mindset stepping onto the mat, and Nicco made sure he was fully prepared for it. However, each year the competition grows even more challenging.
“Throughout the whole competition, I felt really confident and I had wrestled some of the top guys in the state before and I was ready to beat them again,” Nicco said.
As a team, Nicco believed that the wrestlers did great. Nonetheless, he also added that there can be much more improvement next year. Unfortunately, Nicco and the other seniors will be graduating this year, yet their legacies will be felt for years to come. Nicco will be attending Arizona State University and also has aspirations in the future to earn a spot on the USA Wrestling team.
Nicholas Sahakian, who is only a sophomore, put in the work and received a state title as well. While the competition was heavy, Nicholas kept focus and wrestled his way to the top. Nicholas has experience competing at the state level, achieving the remarkable as he had earned third in the competition the year prior as a freshman.
The most impressive accomplishment is that this year, the Bosco wrestling program placed seventh overall in the entire competition. On top of that achievement, seven of these placers were only freshmen or sophomores, which is incredible for the future of Bosco Wrestling.
Though two wrestlers earned the CIF State Championship, every wrestler earned the experience needed for next year. While this tournament may mark the end for the seniors, it marks a new beginning for the underclassmen wrestlers. The Braves were able to finish out their season on a high note and hope to continue bringing the heat for years to come.
Last Saturday Bosco Basketball competed inside the Honda Center for the CIF Southern Section Open Division Final. The atmosphere was electric, as the St. John Bosco community cheered on their Braves in a thrilling game.
Photo by Alex Diaz, Photo Editor
The Braves rose to the occasion in last week’s title game, jumping out to a quick 10-4 lead over the top seeded Corona Centennial Huskies in the middle of the first. They closed it out and ended the first quarter with a 16-12 lead.
Junior Jack Turner made an early impact on the game, scoring a crowd-pleasing 3-pointer and a couple layups.
“We were coming to play, and we were going to give it our all,” said Jack. “We still have unfinished business.”
Bosco led for almost all of the first half until late into the second quarter. Kade Bonam, Jack Turner and Xinyi Li were on their A-games from the jump ball, and the Braves were adamant that the Huskies wouldn’t walk off the court without a determined fight.
At halftime the score was 28-23, with the Braves trailing by five points. The game was still far from decided and tension continued to mount.
Coming out of the tunnel in the third quarter, the Braves got a strong push from sophomore guard Elzie Harrington, who scored ten points in the quarter. Elzie is one of the top sophomores in the nation and is rated as a five-star recruit for the class of 2025.
“I was trying to do anything I could to help the team,” said Elzie. “These are the type of games you play for. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
The game came down to the wire and was tied in the very last second of the game. Yet devastatingly, the Huskies intercepted a pass from Elzie and followed through to end the game on a dunk to secure a 58-56 victory over the Braves.
Bosco Basketball might not have been able to pull off the win, but they still are hopeful for the CIF State Playoffs with their sights on a match-up with another top 25 team in the country, Harvard-Westlake, who they recently defeated only two weeks ago.
The last game was played on the opponent’s turf at Harvard-Westlake, but this time the Wolverines will come to the Thunderdome. The Tribe went wild for the Braves in their last home game against St. Bernard, so fans should expect the same and more tonight.
The Braves had won 62-55 in the first game, and Elzie scored 22 points to lead the Braves to victory.
If the Braves best the Wolverines tonight, they will advance and most likely get a shot at redemption with Corona Centennial for a chance to go to the CIF State Championship game. Fans not attending the game can tune in to Spectrum Sportsnet to watch the action starting at 7:30 pm.
The late Bishop David O’Connell presided in Los Angeles for over forty years and brought relief to underrepresented communities. The Irish native used his platform to serve the Los Angeles community and manifested Catholic values throughout his respected pastoral career.
Photo via Facebook (@Bishop David G O’Connell)
On Saturday, February 18, Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell was found dead in his Hacienda Heights home with a gunshot wound to his upper chest. This discovery was made apparent as Bishop O’Connell was found unresponsive to a fellow deacon attempting to contact him. The accused murderer, Carlos Medina, is the husband of one of Bishop O’Connell’s longtime housekeepers and is being charged with first-degree murder.
The recent tragedy to the Catholic community has garnered much support from parishioners across the county. Over the past week, hundreds of people have paid their respects to Bishop O’Connell by hosting prayer services and placing flowers outside his Hacienda Heights home. Along with this, prominent Los Angeles Catholic icons have expressed their grief for the death of Bishop O’Connell.
Archbishop Jose Gomez released a statement saying, “Every day [Bishop O’Connell] worked to show compassion to the poor, to the homeless, to the immigrant and to all those living on society’s margins. He was a good priest, a good bishop and a man of peace. And we are very sad to lose him.”
Born in 1953, Bishop O’Connell lived a life of service and empathy to the people of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Beginning his pastoral career in 1979, the Irish immigrant served as an associate pastor for nearby St. Raymond Catholic Church in Downey, California. After assisting other parishes over the years, it would not be until 1988 that he would head his own church, St. Frances X Cabrini, in South Los Angeles. From there, he would serve St. Frances X Cabrini and other South Los Angeles parishes for the majority of his pastoral life.
Using his platform, Bishop O’Connell fought on issues regarding workers rights, gun violence and immigration. Most notably, Bishop O’ Connell helped mediate racial violence and gang activity in his community. During the Los Angeles Riots of 1992, he was a key contributor to help rebuild his community. One way he achieved this was by rebuilding the relationship between his community and law enforcement.
“That was part of our work as a Church, to try to provide spaces for conversations. And we thought we really had achieved a lot of progress. There was a trust built up between LAPD and residents,” said Bishop O’Connell in a 2020 interview with the Angelus News.
Being named bishop was not a role he always had in mind for much of his pastoral career. As a man for the people, Bishop O’Connell felt that his work was best fit on the front lines with the people that needed his support most. This is emphasized by the fact that the Irish-born pastor is fluent in Spanish. By speaking Spanish in a heavy Latino region, this was one more way Bishop O’Connell demonstrated relatability to his parishioners. In 2015, he proudly accepted the role of Auxiliary Bishop for the San Gabriel Region.
Bishop O’Connell was known by many within the Salesian community. Over the past three years, Former Salesian Provisional and current Spiritual Director of St. John Bosco High School, Fr. Ted Montemayor, shared membership on Don Bosco Technical Institute’s school board with Bishop O’Connell.
“He was very interested in assisting Don Bosco Tech because of its Salesian values and the uniqueness of the school. His goal was to help bring financial aid to kids that needed it and wanted the opportunity to get a Catholic education,” said Fr. Ted.
Don Bosco Technical Institute is St. John Bosco High School’s brother school located in Rosemead, California. Being the Auxiliary Bishop for the San Gabriel Valley, Bishop O’Connell found it to be a great necessity to continue the growth of an all boys learning environment along with the unique STEM learning integrated within the school’s curriculum.
Bishop O’Connell’s legacy in the Catholic world will not go forgotten. Over the past week, parishioners have flooded social media with personal stories and interactions with Bishop O’Connell over the years. All stories aligned in agreement with his willingness to help the needy and sense of humor. O’Connell was not only an iconic Catholic figure, but also a well respected man within the Los Angeles area for all of his philanthropy performed over the years.
“He [O’Connell] was a humble man and a good listener. He was not afraid to be vulnerable, which not every leader has the capability to do. David really had a care for helping the poor, the immigrant and the kids,” said Fr. Ted.
On Friday, March 3, a funeral mass will be open to the public at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles at 11:00 am.
After a strong performance in pool play in the CIF-SS Open Division Playoffs, the Trinity League Champions are set to take on Corona Centennial, the defending Open Champions, on Saturday at 8:00pm at the Honda Center.
Photo by Alex Diaz
The Bosco Braves just knocked off the number eight high school basketball team in the country, according to Maxpreps. The Harvard Westlake Wolverines came into the matchup with only one loss before meeting the Braves last Tuesday night. This crucial win came in a must win game, as Bosco fell to West Ranch in the first round of pool play.
The win came off of a strong performance by five star sophomore Elzie Harrington who led the Braves with 22 points. Other players also played big roles in the win, like senior Xinyi Li who tied the game at 46 in the 4th quarter with just over four minutes to play after the Braves were down for most of the game.
“We know what we got to do and we just got to execute it, and we’ll be champs,” Elzie Harrington said. “We just want to go out there and prove everybody wrong.”
After going down later in the game to the Wolverines, the Braves went on an 8-1 run to seal the win with buckets coming from junior Jack Turner and sixth man, freshman Brandon McCoy. The 62-55 win broke Harvard Westlake’s 13-game win streak.
The Braves improved to 26-5 on the year after their win last Friday night at home over St Bernard.
Several Braves stood out in that game, most notably Brandon McCoy, Jack Turner and Elzie Harrington. Brandon McCoy had a great sequence at the end of the game to propel the Braves to victory. The freshman sixth man got a block late in the fourth quarter then topped it off with a dunk to give the Braves a twelve point lead.
“I just have fun out there competing and showing everybody who I am and what I can do,” said Brandon McCoy.
Elzie Harrington and Jack Turner were both consistent throughout the whole game making play after play time and time again. Jack scored 20 points, while Elzie added twelve.
“We’ve been working towards this the whole year, and now that it’s here, we’re going to give it our all,” said Jack. “We’ve been doubted all year; can’t wait to prove them wrong,”
The Braves now have their sights set on Corona Centennial, the top ranked team in the state and a top five team in the nation. This should be a great game, and this year’s Braves are making history, as the only Bosco Basketball team to ever reach the Open Division Finals and the first to win a Trinity League Championship.
This matchup will tip-off at 8:00 pm at the Honda Center and looks to be one of the top games in school history.
St. John Bosco High School, nestled in the heart of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, is known for its academic excellence and thriving student community. This year, the school hosted its first annual cookout for hosted by the school’s Black Student Union (BSU), providing a space for students to connect with one another and celebrate their community.
Photo by senior Austin Hughes
As students poured into the sprawling campus, they were met with the mouthwatering aroma of all sorts of delicious treats. The event featured a wide range of activities, including games, music and dancing.
One of the most popular activities was the basketball tournament, which pitted students against each other in fierce competition on the school’s outdoor courts. There were also a variety of board games and card games for those who preferred to keep things a little more low-key.
Throughout the day, the air was filled with the sounds of laughter and music, as students of all ages came together to celebrate back heritage. The event provided a space for students to connect with each other and build new friendships, strengthening the bonds that make the Bosco community so special.
For many students, the cookout was a chance to connect with other Black students in a way that they had never been able to before. It provided a sense of belonging and community that is sometimes difficult to find in a school with so much diversity.
“This was a great opportunity for us to come together and celebrate our culture,” said senior Ahrian McNeil. “It’s important to have spaces like this where we can just be ourselves and feel comfortable.”
Even students from other schools felt the impact of the event.
“I go to St. Mary’s, but I came here with a friend, and I’m so glad I did,” says St. Mary’s senior Dallas Oliver. “It’s great to see so many people from different schools coming together like this.”
In a world that is often divided by race, ethnicity and culture, events like the BSU Cookout are more essential than ever. They provide a space for Black students to come together and celebrate their culture, building a sense of community that is essential for success. Senior Austin Hughes, the secretary of the BSU, was beaming with pride.
“It was cool seeing people from my community come together in one place to appreciate our culture through music and conversation,” Austin said.
The event ended with an announcement from the BSU president, inviting everyone to a movie night coming up in March at the St. Joseph’s Flynn Center. The BSU had selected a classic film that celebrated the black experience, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, and the event promises to be a great way to continue the celebration of black excellence and culture.
As students made their way home, tired but happy after a long day of fun, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in their community. The first annual BSU Cookout had been a resounding success, and everyone was looking forward to the next one.
When the sun set, there was a palpable sense of possibility for the prosperity of the African-American student body in the air. The future was looking bright, and everyone was excited to see where this new tradition would lead.
Coach Jeff Anderson has been involved with coaching St. John Bosco Wrestling since 2005, using his experience as a former Brave’s wrestler to produce CIF Champions and many upcoming prospects.
Photo by SJB Wrestling
Coach Anderson is best known as the head coach of St. John Bosco’s wrestling program, while also leading the Tribe Wrestling Club whose home is in the Brave’s wrestling room, adjacent to the weight room. But even before entering the realm of coaching, Coach Anderson was a Brave himself. He was a member of the class of ‘98 and wrestled all four years of his high school career.
Jeff Anderson was born on March 28th, 1980 in Long Beach, California and he began his wrestling career in his freshman year of high school. Over his time at Bosco, he not only wrestled but also pole-vaulted and competed in football. For the longest time, Coach Anderson also played soccer, but decided to give wrestling a shot after being encouraged by his older brother, Andrew. His brother’s encouragement would soon change his life forever.
While he was a student at Bosco, Coach Anderson achieved many significant accomplishments during his wrestling career. He became a CIF and CIF Masters Champion as well as qualified for State, which is an accomplishment most high school wrestlers can only dream of. Coach Anderson is notable because he was the first Brave to qualify for state since the twenty-three year drought of no Braves being able to qualify for the competition since former Bosco wrestler Jim Mendoza, who was a part of the class of 1974.
“I joke around and say my mom dropped me off in 1994 and I never really left Bosco. I joined Bosco Wrestling in the fall of November 1994 and I loved the challenge of Bosco and its brotherhood,” said Coach Anderson. “It always felt like home. There were a lot of great people who wanted the best for me and to see me do well. They pushed me and guided me to try and reach my potential,”
Coach Anderson continued his wrestling career after graduating from Bosco attending Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in economics and eventually went on to work in bond trading and then investment banking. Coach Jeff described college as a unique experience, especially considering he was moving to a different state for school, but it allowed him to learn how to balance responsibilities and freedom at the same time, skills he would apply to his return to Bosco.
Some of Coach Anderson’s most important and memorable moments went down at Columbia University, but he notes his most important accolade in college was being able to receive his diploma in front of his loved ones after years of hard work and dedication, traits he acquired from his time as a Brave. However, there were some events that weren’t so positive, but are nonetheless events that shaped the wonderful and inspiring person that he is today.
“I definitely have some memories that really formed me as a person. I remember watching [World Trade Center] Tower One and Tower Two on fire from the top of our dorm on 9/11″ said Anderson. “I even remember hearing the news of one of our friends being murdered and how devastating that was. It is important you have friends and family that love you to help you go through it, the good and the bad.”
Throughout his coaching career for the Braves, he has been able to form lasting bonds while accomplishing great things. Coach Anderson attributes much of his success as a coach to former wrestling head coach and current counselor Mr. Omar Delgado. He says Mr. Delgado always helped him see the bigger picture and go after what he wants most in life.
Two of his assistants, Coach Jenaro Santillan and Coach Ruben Valencia are two people he sees as very influential on the Wrestling Program. They have been working and coaching with Coach Anderson for ten plus years to the present, with both of them leaving an impact on every wrestler and on the program as a whole, notably helping to lead the program to a CIF State Runner-Up finish in 2020 and to CIF Section and Masters Championships during this 2022-2023 season.
Not only does Coach Anderson form good relationships with his staff, he forms great connections and working relationships with the wrestlers as well. Former Brave wrestlers Mike Martinez and Julian Gendreau are some great examples of that, with them being his first state and national placers when he was an assistant coach on Mr. Delgado’s staff.
To many of the wrestlers in the program, Coach Anderson is known for cracking his corny jokes during practice and tournaments to lighten the mood and to connect with the wrestlers on a personal level. Many of the wrestlers have been able to thank Coach Anderson for some of their success with him promoting their names through Bosco Wrestling’s social media pages, which have thousands of followers, helping them to compete in some of the biggest tournaments in the country.
“I feel like my relationship with Coach Anderson is really good because of how close we got with such a short amount of time,” said sophomore wrestler Nicholas Sahakian. “He has always provided us with the best gear for our team, the best tournaments to go to and, of course, he’s definitely contributed to my success by getting my name out there with all the tournaments he set up for us during our season.”
One of Coach Anderson’s biggest priorities is to see his wrestlers obtain the most experience and knowledge from him and his staff so that they can eventually carry it on to the next level. His goal is to encourage his wrestlers to experience what wrestling can do for a person and how it can change their life, just like how it did for him.
Heading into the future, Coach Anderson has many other goals to scratch off his list, an important one being to win CIF State and National Championships as a team. The Braves have managed to win individual State and National Championships, but the team title is the next landmark to reach in future competition.
Coach Anderson doesn’t just want to share the experience and success that comes with being a Brave wrestler with the boys, as in the upcoming seasons he plans to expand the program to include our sister school St. Joseph’s High School and their prospective wrestlers, too.
The position of wrestling head coach requires a tireless and constant effort, but for Coach Anderson it is worth every bit of it because it is a way of being able to give back to the school and sport that he loves. It provides, like it did when he was a student, the opportunity to not only make new friends, but to find and nurture a second family.
The Black College Expo held at the Los Angeles Convention Center has been hailed as a significant success with young African American juniors and seniors from Los Angeles and Orange County in attendance. This event offers a platform for young black students to make informed decisions about their future college careers.
Photo by CityWatchLA
With over 20 years of experience, the Black College Expo has become an essential resource for young black students who may not have the same opportunities as their peers. For many students, especially those from low-income families, the cost of attending college can be a significant barrier. However, by attending events like this expo, they can learn about scholarship opportunities and other forms of financial aid that can make college more accessible.
Held last month on January 28th, the event offered numerous scholarships to deserving students. Scholarship awards ranged from a few thousand dollars to full-tuition scholarships. Many students were overjoyed about the idea of being able to pursue their dreams of higher education without having to take on large sums of student debt.
The event featured on-site acceptances where students could receive immediate admissions decisions from participating schools. These on-site acceptances offered a unique opportunity for students to fast-track their admission process, bypassing the anxiety and skipping the waiting process often associated with the traditional application process.
For many of the students in attendance, the expo was a chance to immerse themselves in a community that understands their unique experiences and challenges.
“This expo has helped me realize that there is a whole community out there that wants to support me and help me succeed. It’s like a family,” said Jazmine, a senior from Orange County.
The event was particularly impactful for students looking to attend a historically black college and unviersity, HBCU. Notable schools, such as Howard University, Hampton University, and Xavier University of Louisiana, were all in attendance providing students with the opportunity to connect with representatives, learn about the schools’ programs, admissions requirements and campus culture. Many students were able to walk away with on-site acceptances to their dream schools.
“I got accepted into my top-choice school, Xavier University [of Louisiana],” said David, a senior from South Central LA. “I never thought it would happen so quickly, but now I know where I’m going, and I can focus on my studies.”
The event also featured a captivating step team performance that left the crowd on their feet. Comprised of students from local high schools, the step team showcased their talent while highlighting the vibrant cultural traditions often associated with HBCUs. The performance was a visual reminder of the spirit, unity and cultural pride that HBCUs embody.
For local vendors, the event provided an opportunity to connect with the community and gain exposure. Numerous vendors were on hand, offering items ranging from college gear to natural hair products. Small businesses, in particular, found the event to be a valuable platform for connecting with potential customers. Kim, the owner of a local college apparel company, expressed her gratitude for the event.
“The Black College Expo provides us with a unique opportunity to connect with the community and show our support for young black students who are pursuing higher education. It’s an excellent way to showcase our products and make a positive impact,” said Kim.
Events like the Black College Expo provide an opportunity for young black students to overcome obstacles and pursue their dreams of higher education. It is a reminder that opportunities should not be defined by race or socioeconomic status and that everyone deserves a chance to succeed.
As the world becomes increasingly diverse, events like the Black College Expo play a crucial role in promoting inclusivity and equity. The expo provides a safe space for young black students to share their stories and connect with others who have faced similar challenges.
Many of the students who attended the event left feeling inspired and empowered as they became armed with the knowledge and resources they need to pursue their dreams. For students like David, the event was life-changing, and he will forever be grateful for the opportunity.
“Without the Black College Expo, I don’t know where I would be,” he said. “I have a full scholarship to my dream school, and I know that anything is possible if I work hard and believe in myself.”
In addition to the positive impact the event had on students, it also served as a reminder to the broader community of the importance of investing in education. By supporting events like the Black College Expo, we can create a more equitable and just society that provides equal opportunities for all.
From the celebration on Bourbon Street in New Orleans to the Quad of St. John Bosco High School, the sold out first annual Mardi Gras Celebration comes to benefit all academics, athletics, the arts and extracurriculars.
The Parent Association in collaboration with St. John Bosco High School are inaugurating the Mardi Gras celebration this Saturday from 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. in the quad. There will be many types of entertainment including the school’s very own band to start off the first hour.
After the first hour, the main jazz band, The Chico Band, will take over because after the school band leaves, the cocktail hour will start and the party will be closed off to anyone under the age of 21.
There will also be a raffle and silent auction that features some great prizes. This includes the opportunity for a student to be “Principal of the Day,” “Four First Row Seats to Graduation,” “A Ride in the Goodyear Blimp,” “VIP Parking for Graduation,” “VIP Student Parking for the 2023-2024 School Year” and a “Catered Presidential Suite at Panish Family Stadium for 10”, just to name a few.
The main organizer for this event is parent Mrs. Sherri McCovey who has done work with other events at Bosco. To Mrs. McCovey, the Mardi Gras Celebration is definitely one of her favorites, as it aims to fundraise for different areas of the school including academics, athletics, the arts and extracurriculars.
“I am proud to state that 100% of the proceeds will go directly back to the Bosco program that the guests designated when they bought tickets, so that will really help boost their program’s funds. If a program donated an experience or an item to the silent auction, whatever money that item makes, they get to keep it. For some programs the money helps offset the cost of student fees to participate in the sport. It’s really a win-win for the program and the students in the programs that are participating,” said Mrs McCovey.
Even though the Mardi Gras event is currently sold out with over 350 families attending, Mrs. McCovey mentioned that she will start planning earlier for next year’s annual event to allow even more families to attend. Mrs. McCovey wants everyone to enjoy the love of the school within the Bosco community through celebration, music, dance and great food, helping to support the many wonderful programs St. John Bosco offers.
The celebration of Mardi Gras has been a part of cultures for centuries. It is French for “Fat Tuesday,” which falls the day before Lent begins.
Fat Tuesday is known as the last day of eating rich and fatty foods. The origins of the holiday can be traced all the way back to medieval Europe. Although the festival season is celebrated in many cities, New Orleans, LA is the most well-known city in the United States for the Mardi Gras celebration.
The most popular colors associated with Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold. These colors all have meaning as purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power. Many people participate by wearing elaborate costumes and masks.
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