California
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July 14, 2022
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View through the Chapel doors: students pray before the exposed Sacrament

With a day of Biblical exegesis and visiting with the Bishop behind them, the 2022 California High School Summer Program students were very ready to relax Wednesday afternoon. While previous recreation periods have focused mostly on athletics, Tuesday’s centered largely around artistic pursuits — although several students still found their way to the Pope St. John Paul II Athletic Center for basketball, swimming, and climbing.

Upstairs in the St. Bernardine of Siena Library — a vaulting building with a ceiling transplanted from a 17th century Spanish monastery — the student art studio was full of quiet, supportive chatter and deep focus. In every nook and cranny programmers brought wonderful works of art to life with the utmost care. Meanwhile, auditions for the Open Mic Night and an abridged production of Oscar Wilde’s the Importance of Being Ernest took place in St. Cecilia Hall. “We have a lot of talent at the Summer Program,” said prefect Anna van Wijk (’24). “I’m very excited to see how that forms itself into the play!”

Recreation
  • Two students sketch together
  • A student surrounded by her friends and drawing equipment at the art table
  • Three students draw together
  • Three students read a document in the Dillon Seminar Room
  • Two students read a script
  • Two other students read a skit script
  • A student with a guitar auditions for Open Mic Night
  • Closeup: another student auditions with a guitar
  • Volleyball on the grass court
  • Basketball on the gym court: a student is about to shoot a hoop!
  • Three sit and chat on one side of the gym
  • A student free climbs the rock wall
  • A student on the tennis court prepares a forehand
  • Basketball on the outdoor court
  • Two paint, cross-legged on the floor
  • A student draws with colored pencils
  • Two students practice their skit
  • Two others practice their skit
  • Volleyball on the sand court
  • Another shot of sand-court volleyball
  • Two relax in the pool
  • Seven students prepare to play water polo

Then it was time to eat! Students enjoyed delicious New York strip alongside mashed potatoes and gravy with Caesar salad. Properly nourished, they then took to the library to study Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, a work concerned with the sacrifice of Isaac, written with “beautiful prose,” as one student described it. They also dove into Pascal’s “Wager” and excerpts from J. Henri Fabre, renowned for his vivid descriptions of the lives of insects, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ fifth proof for the existence of God.

Concluding the study period, the customary recitation of the Holy Rosary featured something special: Adoration. Fr. Sebastian exposed the Blessed Sacrament on the Chapel altar while, upstairs in the choir loft, prefects complemented the reverent experience with beautiful chant.

Next it was time for the first dance lesson of the Summer Program, in preparation for next week’s farewell banquet and ball! Prefects led students to the St. Cecilia’s Auditorium, where TAC Career Counselor Dan Selmeczy (’08) instructed everyone in merengue, rumba, and swing dancing with the aid of his wife, Mary. Dan jokingly likened his teaching process to Euclid’s Elements as he built upon the principles of each number to lead students to greater success on the dance floor. To a wide variety of songs, students followed Dan’s lead and danced the evening away.

Dance Class
  • Arm in arm, a pair of students takes the floor for the practice
  • The pairs line up, men on one side, women on the other
  • A group of students looking up at the instructor
  • Another student pair
  • Another student pair, as the lines begin to line up
  • A student pair, as all the pairs form parallel columns
  • Another view of the couples in columns
  • A student pair on the dancefloor
  • Students group together on one side of the floor
  • Students applaud
  • Across the floor, student pairs take up the swing position
  • In swing position, the pairs line up in rows
  • Practicing a simple turn
  • Students practice in the background; in the foreground, Fr. Walshe looks on
  • Students pairs step around the room
  • All across the dancefloor, students practice a dual simultaneous turn
  • Students wave their hands in the air and snap their fingers
  • Close shot of students moving about
  • A student pair practices, with others all around
  • Students laugh and chat to one side of the floor

After lessons, students and prefects wound down in the coffee shop over brownies and ice cream. When curfew approached, prefects led the group back to the residence halls, wrapping up the night with cheese, crackers, and light conversation before lights out.

Students have just one class today — followed by an afternoon trip to Santa Barbara and the beach! Return later for photos and updates …

 

Students assemble their preferred ice cream/topping combinations