By TIM ZVONCHEK ‘19

Saint Ignatius students have something new in their wallets, an official Wildcard. This card, which acts as a credit card and student ID, is loaded with money so students can make purchases around campus.

Wildcats are able to use it to buy lunches from the cafeteria and also to buy Ignatius gear from the bookstore. The future of this card is bright, as it is rumored to be expanded to all vending machines, restaurants around Ohio City, and even Wendy’s. This Wildcard was introduced to our campus a few months ago as a way to increase convenience, in addition to preparing us for life on a college campus. Overall, the new system has been running smoothly. When asked about his opinion on the wildcard David Turska of campus dining said “I feel that the system is user-friendly for our students and parents and has streamlined the process of adding funds to a student’s account.”

The Wildcard’s main use is in the cafeteria to purchase food. According to the cafeteria cashier staff, it has been moving lines along quicker, provided that students have their cards out, ready, and pre-loaded with money. However, there are still people who feel the need to pay with cash, holding the line up. Students around campus feel that there should be different lines, such as a Wildcard-only, a cash-only, and a mixed line. In order to keep lines moving and efficient, the Campus Dining staff also warns students to check their card’s balance, as they cannot see this and will decline the card if it is below ten dollars in debt.

All students are encouraged to use their Wildcards whenever possible because it is safer, quicker, and easier. When asked about the new system, Tommy Napoli said, “I like the Wildcard because now I don’t always have to carry money around If I’m hungry. But I don’t think the new system is easier or faster. For me, it seemed like punching in my student ID was a much easier process”.

By CONOR MCCONVILLE ‘17

Here at Saint Ignatius High school students are promoted throughout their four years to grow academically, athletically, and spiritually. However, with Saint Ignatius being such a large school with over 1,500 students, it is often hard for a class to grow academically, athletically, and spiritually together. In addition to this, there are only limited opportunities and events for a class to come together as one such as homecoming and prom for seniors.

For these reasons, every year the entire freshman class takes a day off from learning in the classroom, in order to make a class wide quasi-retreat known as Freshman Spirit Day. With the help of juniors and seniors, the freshmen are led through various activities that help them feel better connected to their school, their community, their faith, and their classmates. Mrs. Koehler, one of the head planers for Freshman Spirit Day said, “The purpose of Freshman Spirit Day is to build a spirit of community, a spirit of of God, a spirit of self, and a spirit of the school. Saint Ignatius is so large that that days and programs like Freshman Spirit Day make the school feel a little bit smaller and a little bit more like a community. There only certain amount of all class events and we want to emphasize that events like this one make the freshmen feel welcome in this community ”

The freshman started the day as we start all things here at Saint Ignatius High School, with prayer. The entire freshman class, along with faculty, and the junior and senior leaders gathered in Saint Mary’s Chapel and were lead in the liturgy by Rev. Raymond P. Guiao, S.J.’82 and led in song by Mr. Jason Falkofsky and the freshman choir. After mass, everyone gathered in the Breen Center where Mrs Koehler, and several students gave a presentation regarding fair trade and how important it is to the Saint Ignatius mission. From there the freshman split up into groups and from 9:55 to 10:30 heard a talk in the Chapel from either Mr. Gallagher or Mr. Vilinsky about what it means to be a part of Saint Ignatius, played a Cleveland/Saint Ignatius Kahoot! trivia game, and went to the market to enjoy some of the delicious foods offered by vendors.

After this rotation everyone gathered in the breen center to begin the afternoon activities which featured a tour of Ohio City, which included a stop at Mitchell’s for some delicious ice cream, a capture the flag game involving water balloons, and lunch. To end the day the freshman gathered in the Sullivan gymnasium for prayer and then went out onto to Wasmer field to sing the Alma Mater with the marching band.

When asked how the day went, Mrs. Koehler said, “The whole thing went really, really well and I heard great things about the Mitchell’s ice cream, the tour of Ohio City, and the talks in the Chapel. All of the freshman and student leaders that I’ve talked to said that they had a really great time.”

By CONOR MCCONVILLE ‘17

On Monday September 26, 2016 some of Saint Ignatius High School’s best and brightest students from the junior and senior classes gathered for a presentation during fourth period entitled “Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secret’s of the Universe” given by astronaut Mike Massimino. The presentation was brought to Saint Ignatius by Columbia University and based on Mike Massimino’s book about his adventures in both becoming an astronaut and exploring space.

Although most students went in excited because they didn’t have to attend fourth period, the presentation was both captivating and informative. The presentation did not merely focus on how to become an astronaut nor what kind of training is required of an astronaut, but rather it focused on Massimino’s perseverance and willingness to obtain a childhood dream. Massimino began the speech by showing the students a picture of him at a young age, dressed as an astronaut holding a stuffed snoopy doll. Massimino then explained that his dreams of going to space were born at a young age, when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon when he was a child.

Like most childhood dreams however, Massimino’s dream of going to space faltered a little bit through high school, but did, however, influence his college decision. Massimino told students that he knew he wanted to study both math and engineering, and that Columbia University, being the prestigious University it was, was his top choice to study math and engineering. However, Massimino also added that he went to Columbia because, “The people who went to Columbia didn’t just go to study one thing, they went there to study a lot of things”.

This quote brought up Massimino’s second main point of the talk which was to explain to a group of juniors and seniors in high school that the college you attend becomes a very important part of who you are. Although, Massimino only touched on this point briefly, he would later return to it and explain its significance.

Massimino then went on to describe the process of how he became an astronaut. After four years at Columbia University he went the Massachusetts Institute of technology for grad school, and at this time his childhood dream of going to space resurfaced, and he seriously contemplated applying to be an astronaut at NASA. Although Massimino went into greater detail, the gist of his story was that after being denied three times by NASA, coming closer to being accepted each time, he was finally accepted by NASA and entered the Space program to be trained as an astronaut.

After his training was done, Massimino would go to space two times, both trips to perform maintenance on the hubble telescope. Massimino recounted his first blast off into space, and described his fear that something had gone terribly wrong, while two experienced astronauts began to high five each other and then began to make fun of him for being so nervous. Massimino then jokingly told students that his real motivation for going to space a second time, was to see the facial expression of the newbee who would think something had gone terribly wrong. Massimino continued highlighting the moments of his missions to space such as a video of he and his fellow astronauts eating food, or a video of him ripping a handle off a door because he striped a screw in space.

However, at the end of speech Massimino returned to a serious note and showed everyone the same picture of him as a kid, with a dream of going to space. This moment truly represented the necessity for perseverance in accomplishing our goals. He then showed another picture of him in space wearing a Columbia sweatshirt and explained that in space he was only allowed to bring one shirt of his own, and brought his alma mater’s shirt. He told students the significance of his college and how it shaped the person he was. This subtle advice, more applicable for seniors, demonstrated the importance of school and the importance of the college students select as it truly molds that student into their future self.