The Crusader
November Edition '22
CURRENT EVENTS
ANNUAL FR. JUDGE MEMORIAL MASS
On Wednesday, November 9th, the National Honor Society along with the administration sponsored the annual memorial mass in order to commemorate the alumni that have passed away. The beginning of the service included the oration of all the deceased members of the Father Judge community along with the beloved fallen 27. As a token of remembrance, one member of each family attending the memorial was given a rose by NHS members. The rest of the mass was celebrated by Father Vince, who gave a sermon emphasizing all the little things for which we constantly create memories. At the conclusion of the mass, my fellow NHS members and I led the procession toward the Vietnam “27” memorial as the honor guard. The sentimental procession featured United States service members and traditional bagpipe honorary music. Once the people arrived at the memorial statue, Fr. Vince made a blessing over it, and the representing service members fired blank shots into the night sky. The overall ceremony was tenderhearted and special to give tribute to the well-venerated departed members of our Judge Community.
Peter Gerace
FATHER & SON BOWLING NIGHT
The Father Son Bowling Night was a great evening, seeing Crusaders and their fathers spending time. The event took place at Thunderbird Lanes from 4 to 6pm on a Saturday. Although fun, there was no lack of competitive spirit in the air: dad’s were power throwing their sons out of the game and vice versa. The Thunderbird staff was joinging in on the fun, enjoying the event with us and holding small competitions like an M&M guessing game (with a hefty prize of $250). I might be a bit biased, but my favorite part about the event was being the son of the man taking all of the pics! While challening my friends and keeping a very close eye on the score, it's hard not to feel a bit nostalgic for truly wholesome family fun. I would love to see more events involving families and the Fr. Judge community - although we might pretend it isn't, time spent with family and friends is what fills the heart.
Jaden Davis-Wah
2022 PENNSYLVANIA MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS
The long-anticipated arrival of the midterm elections has come, so let’s get to the results. In the governor’s race, the matchup pitted Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro against Republican Doug Mastriano. Our next governor will be Attorney General Josh Shapiro by defeating State Senator Doug Mastriano by about 800k total votes. Additionally, the highly contested Senate race to replace current Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who is retiring at the end of the year, featured Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Republican T.V. host Dr. Mehmet Oz. Our next senator will be Democrat John Fetterman after defeating Oz by about 300k votes. In the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, the Democrats netted 12 seats from the Republicans to gain control of the chamber while the Republicans maintained control of the State Senate. Regardless of which party is in control for the next term, we hope to see them exemplify the core Salesian Gentleman values taught here at Judge.
Peter Gerace
IMPORTANT DATES IN DECEMBER
Provided by Frank Do
Thurs 12/1 - 11th & 12th Grade Advent Confessions; Parent Teacher Conferences; Fr. Judge Apparel Christmas Sale
Sat 12/3 - SAT Test
Mon 12/5 - 9th & 10th Grade Advent Confessions
Wed 12/7 - Student Council Coat Drive
Thurs 12/8 - School Closed
Fri 12/9 - Junior Ring Order Deadline
Sat 12/10 - ACT Test
Wed 12/14 - Department Meetings
Mon 12/19 - Junior Retreat
Wed 12/21 - Faculty Meeting
Thurs 12/22 - Christmas Mass
Fri 12/23 - Faculty Retreat
Mon 12/26 through Fri 12/30 - School Closed for Christmas Break
NEW FACES & NEW ROLES
The Crusader Staff has taken initiative to interview some of the new and familiar faces around Father Judge's campus. Take a moment to read about how these individuals have transitioned into leadership positions and continue to promote Salesian virtues!
FR. VINCE SMITH
Mick: How has your time been working with Father Judge? How is the Judge community different from other communities you have experienced?
Father Vince: Alright well first I would say since I've arrived here I feel very much at home and I’m quite happy to be here and most of that has to do with the students and the staff here. I’ve worked at 3 other Salesian schools and yeah I love the atmosphere, it’s unique to what we do, I find the students very welcoming and you know we can poke fun at one another about being gentlemen, some good humor and those are things that are typical but as you know, day in and day out be who you are and be that well and I get to speak that out loud and encourage guys and do the same. So I’m quite happy to be here.
M: How do you hope to foster the Salesian identity within Judge students?
FV: The first thing is that administration, faculty and staff know as we say we try to model the behavior, we really believe in this we try to model it and hopefully you see it in us, and we engage it and that's been the tradition of the oblates with students, great respect for the students and we try to speak in that manner and we call you gentlemen instead of boys because that's not how we regard you, we regard you as gentlemen and I think the more we hear that the more we rise to the occasion, if someone treats us as if we are much younger we sometimes conduct ourselves that way but there's a way to inspire people across the board and I think Judge continues to do that well.
M: What are your goals for the rest of this year?
FV: So since I came in a little bit late, were fortunate to have Mr. Williams as campus minister so he attends to those matters and the retreats and the service works, my primary responsibility is to attend to the sacramental life of the school, so that involves Eucharist, Reconciliation this week, major celebrations of mass, and such. Beyond that, is that I understand is my next role is just to get to know the faculty, staff, and students and to affirm good deter, but that's a day-to-day effort, I’m trying to get to know names, I’m trying to get to know faces, I walk around and guys are kinda taken back if I’m up in their face and saying “Hello” but I've got some catching up to do and I like people and I enjoy being in school so… it’ll come.
M: What do you hope to learn?
FV: Oh that's an everyday experience, quite honestly… when I work with the faculty staff, and students, every day I meet people who give me a new insight on how good God is just because of their kindness, their creativity, students who are coping with a lot of stuff that nobody else knows about, but I may and I get inspired by their company and that's true for the people I meet throughout the day, so that's a wonderful part of my job that not everybody gets to see… not part of my job, just the benefits.
M: What are you most excited about?
FV: Well here at Judge I just think the Salesian spirit is alive and well here and I like to see by the time some of these graduates have given a glimpse of that, that they make it their own. We're all different personalities but there's a way to make it their own and we want them to be who they are, just be themselves, and as we say be that well, but it takes a while to get there, and that's okay so we practice patience, optimism, joy, all those Salesian good ideas that the world desperately needs to hear.
M: What has your favorite memory been at Judge so far?
FV: Oh that's a tough one because the days are full of memories, I guess in the morning when I got here I just begin to greet people, and usually on the streets we keep our privacy but here were a community so I do that, and then on the days where it finally clicks and I’ll say “Hey good morning how ya doing?” and a student will look back at me and say sincerely “Yeah I’m okay, how are you today?” That's a wonderful response, that's a very human response, it's what Salesian gentlemen do in the world. I try to engage people and hopefully they respond back and we get a conversation started. So those moments I absolutely love.
Mick Murray
MR. LOUGHLIN
Christian: Would Father Judge ever be open to the idea of a class trip?
Mr. Loughlin: Of course, anything can be accomplished when the proper steps are taken.
C: Regarding clubs and activities, do you think students who academically struggle should be permitted to participate in these activities?
L: Extracurriculars are just that, extra. Education is the main focus, everything after that is extra so no its student first, athlete second, everything else is a privilege.
C: Regarding student services is there anything that Judge students particularly struggle with or excels at in comparison to other schools?
L: One thing as a team is that there are a lot of new faces and that students are always welcome and the doors open. It can be anything from wanting to excel in class to doing well in extracurriculars. New faces shouldn't feel unheard or neglected.
C: What is your favorite tradition at Father Judge?
L: Turkey bow and Catholic school weeks are always fun but, the basketball marathon 50th anniversary is coming up and the administration and student council are working on adding events and fun activities for the students to commemorate the tradition.
C: When you were a student at Father Judge how do you think the school has changed since then?
L: Become more dynamic, a lot of college prep, more trades more expansion, branding skill sets, and embracing more availability to tech and resources, although not far removed massive strides. It has become a really dynamic place, when I went here there was a lot of “if I go to college” or “if I can't go to college” but now theres so much more, we're working every day to provide trades and languages, and new technology with more resources.
C: Do you believe a changing school is good or is the old method of things more favorable to a student's ability to learn?
L: That ties into the new technology we’ve introduced, it's so much more adaptable and creative while at Father Judge we still tie into the core values from which it was founded.
C: As the new overseer of the parent association how far do you think the parents should be able to influence their children’s education?
L: Certainly, parents should be able to be received and invited and feel welcome to add their input, we as a school community should work together, working with the administration this is a community effort to make the learning experience for the students better.
C: What is something you are most critical or concerned about at Father judge, problems, crisis’, or anything else?
L: One role hope was to find as many students feeling at home at Father judge and getting involved with them, making an impact. Especially, my biggest goal is to make these four years the most special years of these students' education.
C: What is your favorite sport at Father Judge?
L: I was originally the golf coach so I’d have to say them to no other dismay to the other sports, with students becoming 2 or 3 sport athletes rooting for them all has become more difficult, but I'm more passionate about our sports than ever.
C: Do you think being a teacher at Father Judge has been an easier transition than someone who hadn't been teaching prior or do you think it's more difficult?
L: Unique opportunities, knowing the campus culture, the building, teachers, and familiarity definitely helps. Dynamic was interesting there are definitely unique possibilities
C: What's the best piece of advice someone has given you?
L: Understand that as a community, people should succeed and that collective decisions are better than a decision based on my own thoughts but using feedback from others is a really helpful tool.
C: To end, what's something every student should know about you or something you want them to know
L: Doors always open, room 134 is where I’ll be and no one should feel hesitant to come and speak to me for whatever reason.
Christian Eroh
JOURNALISM AT PLAY
ACROSS
2. November is the _______ month of the year
4. In astronomy, the first day of autumn is called the autumnal _______.
5. The Pilgrim's ship landed at Plymouth ________.
6. A holiday don't
7. The fourth Thursday of November.
8. Settlers who came from England to America seeking religious freedom.
10. A red berry people eat on thanksgiving.
DOWN
1. Veteran's Day is a holiday to honor ________.
3. Horn of plenty.
9. A bird many people eat on Thanksgiving.
RIDDLE
I have ears, but can't hear. I have flakes, but no hair. What am I?
