by Brett Baligad, Senior Editor

Last Saturday, the Braves and Jesters community took a trip to the Wild West, as they celebrated Sadie Hawkins Dance. The longtime American tradition made its return to the St. John Bosco and St. Joseph’s community.

In order to get into the Valentine’s Day spirit, St. Joseph’s High School hosted a Sadie Hawkins Dance in the Flynn Center on Saturday, February 11th. Sadie Hawkins was inspired by a comic strip in 1937 written by cartoonist Al Capp and became popularized in America by the early 1940s. Traditionally, Sadie Hawkins tasks the girl with asking the boy to the dance, something not typically done in Homecoming, Winter Formal or Prom. 

St. John Bosco High School was very receptive to this dance idea, as the school saw this as an opportunity to further the already strong relationship with sister school, St. Joseph’s.

“We were excited to bring back another old tradition. After collaborating with St. Joseph’s to bring back the Senior Swap Day last semester, this was another great idea to bring back within the community,” said senior Ryan Gutierrez. “The preparation was very smooth, as both boards wanted this event to be such a success.

The preparation of this dance took weeks because this was an event St. Joseph’s brought back from the ground up. With no recent Sadies Hawkins Dances to reference, the planning committee was open to following old traditions along with ushering in new ideas.

“[The Executive Board] was able to encompass these traditional aspects in the overall theme of the dance but still kept a modern twist by allowing students to dress up in any type of group costume,” said St. Joseph’s Executive Board Member and senior Xochitl Moreno.

Leading up to the dance, many St. Joseph’s girls asked St. John Bosco boys to the Sadies Hawkins Dance. As mentioned, they followed the typical Sadie Hawkins tradition by empowering the girls to ask the boys, reversing gender stereotypes with the Jesters providing posters and flowers to their Brave brothers.

Hosted by the St. Joseph’s Executive Board, the event began at 8pm. Upon entering, students were greeted by a live DJ and colorful lights. Following the Sadie Hawkins traditions, many couples and groups showed up in matching outfits. Most notably, many students stuck to the western theme of the dance and dressed up in flannels, jeans and cowboy hats.

“My date and I dressed up as rappers and I had a dance battle with freshman Nels Nelson. Overall, being the first Sadie Hawkins, I was surprised that so many people came dressed up and matched with their dates,” said senior and Bosco ASB Co-President Tyler Baligad.

As the night went on, the DJ kept the night lively and the dance floor active. Students were offered free refreshments and snacks to keep the energy alive. Along with this, there was a western themed backdrop and photo booth providing photo opportunities for couples and groups.

“I really enjoyed the Sadies Hawkins Dance,” said junior Christian Salinas. “We have never had a dance like this in my three years at Bosco. It was a cool idea, and I enjoyed dressing up as a cowboy.”

The night concluded at 11:00 pm with a ton of positive reviews on the newest dance. With these types of new events being introduced into the Brave and Jester community, students should continue to get excited for the creativity of the Executive Boards.

With Valentine’s Day also in season, events like these serve to help the bond between the two schools. The Executive Boards of both Bosco and St. Joseph’s invite everyone to stay tuned for more school events in the near future. Seniors from both schools can look forward to Prom later in the Spring on Saturday, April 29th.

by Ed Crowe

Earlier this month, the St. John Bosco and St. Joseph’s High School Sophomore Board presented the annual Sophomore Lock-In for the Class of 2025.

St. John Bosco and St. Joseph’s High Schools’ sophomores were in luck as the schools hosted a casino night for the annual Sophomore Lock-In which included blackjack tables, roulette tables and a craps table. There was also a DJ and a dance floor that the sophomores enjoyed the night. Students were able to play these games to earn chips, which then can be used to buy tickets and in turn were put into a raffle to win prizes. 

In previous years, the annual Sophomore Lock-In did not have a theme, but as time went on, this event turned into an event where all sophomores from both schools, can have fun and meet one another. Mrs. Elizabeth Hunt, who has been the Sophomore Class Moderator for almost a decade in collaboration with the Sophomore Boards from both St. Joseph’s and St. John Bosco played a very huge role in planning the event and fundraising by selling pizza, donuts and much more to help finance the Casino Night Lock-In to make the night into a lucky jackpot. 

“More than anything this is a great opportunity to spend time with their fellow classmates, our boys have an opportunity to interact with the Saint Joseph girls and have fun because there are going to have a lot of other future events as well as formal dances coming up where they might find a future date,” said Mrs. Hunt.

However, the Sophomore Lock-In is more than just a meet and greet. For many sophomores, it may have been their first time attending a Braves-Jesters class event, as there have been many events within the last school year for all grade levels. The last event exclusive to the Class of 2025 was the Freshman BBQ in August of 2021. For many sophomores, it was an event where they shared quality time with one another and created new class memories for the years to come.

“The lock-in was an experience I won’t forget. This is an event that I recommend that future sophomore classes attend because you get to meet people who you may possibly know for the rest of your life,” said sophomore Andrew Ricaldai. 

As this year’s Sophomore Lock-In was a great success, many sophomores from both school’s cannot wait for the next class event, the Junior Picnic, and make new memories.

“This sophomore lock-in was a new experience for me and personally I thought that the theme for it was really cool. I got to make new friends from our sister school which was the best part,” said sophomore Johannes Austin. 

by William Reynolds

Throughout the Feast Day of St. John Bosco and in honor of Catholic School’s Week, St. John Bosco High School highlighted the four models of the Oratory.

Don Bosco, was born August 16, 1815 in the city of Turin, Italy, where he had a famous dream at the age of nine. He dreamt that he was near his home in a playing field where a crowd of young children were having fun, laughing and playing.  But unfortunately, many started to curse and when he tried to stop them, Jesus appeared and told Bosco that he will have to lead the boys with kindness instead of hate.

The result of this dream was Don Bosco having the ambition saving the souls of many young men and helping them grow in life to become good strong men through the power of faith and brotherhood that unites us all for life through the Oratory.

Don Bosco explains through the Oratory that the four pillars of Salesian education are home, school, church and playground. These are the same pillars on which St. John Bosco High School was founded.

Our school represents the home aspect of the oratory, as a second home where the Braves learn, worship, laugh and play, and throughout the week, St. John Bosco High School honored and reflected on the Oratory mission.

Last Tuesday the Brave community came together to honor the church aspect of the Oratory at St. Dominic Savio Parish and to celebrate the Feast Day of Don Bosco as well as his life and accomplishments. The community celebrated Mass with the honor of having the Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Bishop Marc Trudeau, perform the Feast Day Mass of our patron saint. In his homily he talked about the importance of family and how “we have a very special thing with our brothers here.”

The mission and message of St. John Bosco has influenced people all over the world, but has greatly affected our fellow students and faculty, such as Ricardo Rodriguez, a senior who has been a part of the Campus Ministry Team for all four years of his high school career, as well as the leader of the campus ministry team, Mr. Kris Tran.

“Taking the time out of my day to celebrate St. John Bosco’s history and his impact at this moment serves as an opportunity to gather together and remember. Remember who we are, remember that we are not alone, and remember the mission we are made for,” said Ricardo.

“I have always liked Don Bosco, he has been my inspiration when it comes to working with good young men. And in the month of January when we celebrate a lot of our Salesian saints and leaders, and it’s a good reminder of the spirits, work and life of the man who’s name we take for our school,” said Mr. Tran.

On Wednesday, the Brave community celebrated the school aspect of the Oratory, as students, faculty, staff and parents came together at St. Dominic Savio Parish to honor all students based on their academic achievements.

As the week of celebrating came to an end, on Friday, the Faith Families came together to reflect the playground aspect of Don Bosco and had a field day where students had the opportunity to win points for their Faith Families from games such as basketball, tug-o-war, ultimate frisbee, soccer, volleyball and football. This was one final hurrah in a week where the entire student body shared in laughter and fun, just like Don Bosco wanted. 

by Isaac Mays, Sports Editor

At St. John Bosco High School’s very own Thunderdome, St. Joseph’s Associated Student Body (ASB) revealed the Winter Formal Dance King, Phansidilang “King” Dina, who is the first ever international student elected King.

Anticipation arose leading up to Friday, January 20th, where the court and King was celebrated. During halftime of the Bosco Basketball Homecoming Game, all nominees lined up for the reveal. Much of the study body gathered to watch the Braves face off against the Servite Friars, as they also cheered on their classmates in the race for Formal King. 

One senior would be crowned as the King, while the others would serve on the Winter Formal Court. The 2023 senior nominees included Alex Palmer, Ryan Gutierrez and King (Phansidilang) Dina. Additionally, junior princes Max Abrahamson and Grant Hidalgo-Villanueva were given the opportunity to serve on the court after winning their respective elections.

During halftime, candidates were escorted by Saint Joseph’s ASB onto the gym floor. Senior Grace Maxwell crowned King Dina as the official 2023 Winter Formal King. The crowd erupted into applause as the King, King, would now be supported by Ryan, Alex, Max and Grant as his Formal Court.

“I feel like I belong somewhere. I am also representing Asian communities out there, not just Saint John Bosco or Saint Joseph’s,” King said.

King is an international student from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and is a member of the Bosco’s International Exchange Program. King has become the first exchange student to win the title of Formal King in school history. King participates in extracurricular activities, such as Kairos, and also maintains a job as a barista at a local boba shop.

“I just want to say thank you to Bosco and Joseph’s for voting me on as Formal King.” 

Spectators were also very impressed with the overall preparation that the Bosco administration had put into the event. All of the pairs walking up to the gym floor were dressed in formal attire as they processed in perfect fashion.

“I think [the court] all looked very good…I think [Bosco Student Life] did a really good job planning,” said senior Ryan Cirrincione.

King Dina would later go on to perform his duties as the Formal King, the most significant of which being leading the slow dance Saturday evening at the Winter Formal Dance. King and his St. Joseph’s dance partner, Emma Persi, danced to “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin.

King and the rest of the formal court saw themselves as the stars of the evening, as this election played a significant role in the course of the evening. Held at The MODERN in Long Beach, near the Long Beach Airport, Winter Formal was a smashing success.

After the festivities, the Bosco Braves executed a dominating victory against the Friars, 73-45, solidifying the night for the Bosco community.