Last issue, we wrote about the passing of Rev. Robert J. Welsh, S.J. ‘54. And months later, the Saint Ignatius Community is still recognizing his legacy. Welsh Academy, a middle school for boys from Cleveland, will soon be opening in his honor.
This church on the corner of Carroll and W 32nd Street will be renovated to house the Welsh Academy.
The school presents a new learning experience for inner-city boys of modest economic means. Each grade will be filled with about twenty-five students. Prospective students will partake in an application process which includes an interview with him and his family. The school is designed for students who were previously enrolled at a Cleveland Public School. Thus, no students will be drawn from any other local Catholic schools. There will be no tuition for the students who attend, in order to eliminate any financial burdens prohibiting students from reaching their academic potential.
A typical day at Welsh Academy will last from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The long day will prepare the students for high school, college, and careers. The day will be different from that of an average middle school. Welsh Academy will integrate different styles of learning to meet the needs of the students, including field trips and collaborative projects. The current plan also involves students from both schools coming together to celebrate Mass periodically, attending all-school events together, and eating in the same cafeteria, the Rade Dining Hall.
The location for the inaugural school year is still undecided. However, by August of 2020, the old church near Gibbons Hall will be completely renovated into the new Welsh Academy.
New faculty and staff will be hired to teach the young students. Currently, Ms. Vogel, Director of Implementation of The Welsh Academy, has been working full time on the project. As one can imagine, starting a new school is no easy task. Each day, she works on different aspects of the school – curriculum, fundraising, admissions, job descriptions, etc. Additionally, Mr. Dan Dixon, S.J. has been helping Ms. Vogel to hire more staff by the spring.
The creation of Welsh Academy helps fulfill the Saint Ignatius mission even more. Although The Welsh Academy student does not get automatically admitted into Saint Ignatius High School, the hope is that they will be accepted and continue their educations as a Wildcat before going to college. Welsh Academy fulfills Fr. Welsh’s dream and shows that Saint Ignatius High School is taking a huge step in the right direction by providing high-quality education to those who might not have other options available.
The Welsh Academy mission statement sums up the purpose very well. It reads, “Inspired by the Catholic faith in the Jesuit tradition, The Welsh Academy serves the unique needs of early adolescent boys of modest economic means in their journey of becoming men for others. Rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Welsh Academy shares the mission and life of Saint Ignatius High School, forming boys to grow in faith, leadership, academic excellence, and the desire for lifelong learning.”
Damien Chazelle is one of the great new filmmakers working in Hollywood today. His love of both film and music has colored his films with an undeniable passion that seeps off the screen. With his second film Whiplash, Chazelle proved himself a commanding force, and attracted the attention of major studios, leading to his next film La La Land. While La La Land is not as good as Whiplash, it holds a certain charm to it as a throwback to the bygone era of vibrant Hollywood musicals in the 40’s and 50’s. The common thread through his first three films was music, specifically jazz, which Chazelle seems to be just as obsessed with as the characters he brought to the screen. And that’s a large part of what made his movies so great: his passions. Though First Man is a very good film, it doesn’t seem to come from that same place. If anything, it seems to be a film that’s trying to prove he doesn’t need to focus on jazz to make a great movie, and while he has certainly succeeded on all technical levels, the depth is lost in translating another person’s script.
This might make it seem like I disliked the film, and I want to make it clear from the beginning that that could not be further from the truth. This is a very good film, a little reminiscent of films like The Right Stuff and Apollo 13, but that’s really unavoidable when making a film about the space program.
The most impressive thing in this entire film is the way in which the actual space travel is portrayed. These men were not going into space in smooth, polished machines, but in rickety tin cans blasting out of the atmosphere at thousands of miles an hour, running on a computer less powerful than the ones we carry in our pockets these days. Even in a film like Apollo 13, where everything that can go wrong does, the space travel still seems somewhat appealing. Being an astronaut on these flights looks more like a suicide mission than a sure thing, and this presentation makes you appreciate the astronauts’ hard work even more.
Like most films, this one has its flaws. I would place most of the blame on the dissonance between writing and directing. Chazelle seems to be working out how to best portray someone else’s material, and while it isn’t bad, it’s certainly not great. This isn’t to say it’s a bad script, it’s just that the more epic moments feel very out of place with the more quiet moments at home. Maybe this is purposeful to show the disconnect between Neil’s life as an astronaut and his life as a father? I don’t know. I’d probably have to watch it again to come up with a more solid opinion on this.
The performances were great all around, almost as great as the visuals, but Ryan Reynolds and Claire Foy shine out above the rest as Neil and Janet Armstrong. They felt like a realistic couple, and compellingly showed the stress these events must have had on their real life counterparts. Though they weren’t on the same level as this year’s other, great movie couple, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born, their performances certainly deserve recognition, and both should have a good chance of seeing nominations in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress Oscar categories respectively.
If you want to see Chazelle at his best, see Whiplash or La La Land. If you’re interested in American history, space travel, or just good filmmaking, see First Man. It’s not on the same level as his past work, but I could not say I regret seeing it.
Here at Saint Ignatius, we are deeply rooted in the arts. Since as far back as July, our school’s artistic prowess has been exhibited by one group in particular: the band.
Led by directors Mr. Hamlin and Mr. Mullen, the group goes to every varsity football game. The devoted audience at Byers Field knows them for their unique halftime show performances. This year, the band has marched to the iconic rock anthems of Led Zeppelin and the jazzy tunes of The Blues Brothers. The Led Zeppelin show was especially popular among the student section, who enjoyed the beloved hit, Stairway to Heaven.
At the end of every football season, the band pulls off the famous Script Cats tradition, going strong for its 31st year. The long lasting custom has members playing the song Le Regiment and lining up in 4 familiar letters that represent our school pride–no, not AMDG–but CATS. This is reminiscent of the Ohio State Marching Band Script Ohio show, yet it brings a distinctive Ignatian spin. Script Cats is undoubtedly a classic that every Ignatius student should see before graduating.
Script Cats marks a triumphant end for the marching band season, but it is not the end for instrumental music. After the football season, the concert band will prepare a new set of Christmas music. Additionally, there is huge news for the Ignatius Jazz Ensemble. Dominick Farinacci, a Cleveland-born jazz performer, is coming to work with the ensemble. Farinacci is currently an artist in residence at Cuyahoga Community College and has toured with famed jazz musician Wynton Marsalis. The next time you have a musical itch, come and listen to any one of our talented instrumental groups.
We are currently in the midst of fantasy football season at Saint Ignatius High School. Many students have different opinions on the ideal team. One example of this is Mark Ruddy’s (‘21) three main players. Mark would have his quarterback as Patrick Mahomes for the sole purpose of multiple 30+ point weeks. For wide receiver, Adam Thielen was the pick since Thielen already has 800+ total yards. At the running back position, Ruddy selected Kareem Hunt be- cause of the “cheer for the local guy” aspect and Hunt’s average 4.6 yards per carry.
Every league varies in rules, some being PPR (points per reception) and others standard. This affects where players get drafted as well as how players perform each week. JP Tijanich ‘21 plays in a standard league and drops players one week and picks them up the next when they are hot again. Mcrey Socha ‘21 plays in a PPR league and makes sure to draft a quarterback and wide receiver duo to put up big points on his opponents. As the season heads into week eleven, records are becoming very important in whether or not participants make the playoffs.
