MEGAPHONE VOLUME 102 ISSUE 1 OCTOBER 11, 2022

Eifert

Schilling

Stuckey Luke Spencer

On the front cover

A snapshot of one of the most looked forward to football games of the year, where The Fighting Irish took on the Chatard Trojans. The game took place on September 9th and resulted in a win for Cathedral.

Submitted

On the back cover

On the third day of school, August 15, students from all grades came together for the first all school welcome mass. The picture features the freshman sitting section, where they all seem eager to see what this year holds in store for them.

Photo Submitted

Mullin

Pea Henry Browne

Leonard Krystal Veguilla

Emmick

Spencer

Taylor

Ireland

Katherine Nash

Spiegel

Marc Quaranta

Julie Barthel

Robert Bridges

A South Bend Pilgrimage

The New Junior Retreat to Notre Dame Inspires in Ways the Old Retreat Never Could

Senior Nya Huff does not remember her class’ retreat with any particular fondness af ter participating in the new junior retreat as a senior leader. She said, “(My junior retreat) was at Brunette Park and that was nothing compared to Notre Dame. Yes, there was a group aspect, but it definitely wasn’t as deep as this junior retreat was.” As for the junior retreat she attended this year, how ever, Huff said, “It was very meaningful. We talked about our goals in life, the gifts we find in each other, and how those can help us reach our goals.”

The new junior retreat is the brainchild of Director of Campus Ministry Mr. David Neeson. He said, “When I was hired, I wanted to look at all the retreats: freshman, sopho more, junior, and senior. Our senior retreat is proven. It’s a great retreat, everybody en joys it. I still wanted to see it, just experience it. After that first experience there was really no changes I wanted to make on that senior retreat, that was great.”

Mr. Neeson was not as impressed with the junior retreat. He said, “The start of it came from watching the junior retreat last year and going ‘oh my gosh, this cannot be the excellence we talk about trying to achieve here at Cathedral, we can do better than this.”

Over the course of the two days, Juniors, mentored by Senior leaders, were led through the rich spiritual offerings of South Bend, including much of Notre Dame and also St. Mary’s. Mr. Neeson said, “When we

took them to South Bend, we took them to areas where they get to see life differently, they get to see mission vision focused, like in the original log cabin that father sorin built on the campus, the very first building on Notre Dame’s property. And they get to realize that somebody started this without any inclination of what was happening be yond this starting point, they just started, knowing that God was with them.”

Junior Seth Greene, who went on the first junior retreat, loved the places they went, but had mixed feelings about the retreat overall. He said, “I enjoyed the Grotto and I liked going around all the different campus es and it wasn’t like we were sitting in one place, but I feel like I might have enjoyed it a little more if we had diversified a little more instead of just sticking with one small group, maybe if we had some larger groups or switched groups occasionally.”

Huff stressed the value of the senior leaders on the retreat. She said, “It was more so not just about leadership, but it’s like, ‘I’m com ing to you as a friend for this retreat, not I’m coming to you to be in charge of you.’ I thought that was a different lens for the juniors to experience and they responded really well to it.”

Greene said his favorite part of the retreat was the planetarium where they

BY LIAM EIFERT

watched a show called “All Creation Gives Praise.” He said, “It was really cool, seeing how big the universe is — I mean I knew it was infinite — but actually seeing it was really cool.”

Much of the retreat is based on group dis cussion. To juniors who have yet to go, Greene said, “Make sure you open up to your group, because otherwise it will get boring if you stay quiet.”

Neeson hopes the junior retreat can rep resent a different conception of Faith here at Cathedral. He said, “I don’t know where along the line it was decided that Catholic faith has to be mundane or boring or lame, but we don’t have to make that our reality here, we asked to come here. I know that people struggle with certain aspects of the Catholic teaching. I’m not asking everybody to blindly follow, but I’m asking for people to be open to what it is, open to the expe rience of God in their life, and if they can be open to the experience of God in their life, honestly look at it — I get we’re dealing with high schoolers. I get that high school ers don’t often think of the eternal, they’re barely able to process beyond today, but you’re not guaranteed tomorrow, nobody is — so I think if they can just be a little bit more open to what we’re trying to provide here, I think it will guide them in their jour ney here. I think it will help them for their next step.”

Students light candles at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes at Notre Dame Photo Submitted

The Golden Dome from Across St. Mary’s Lake at Notre Dame.

Photo Sumbitted

Book It

In 2019, when Xavier Booker was a fresh man, he appeared in just five games for the men’s basketball team and averaged only 1.6 points per game. He was not on the ra dar of any colleges, not ranked on any re cruiting websites.

Nearly three years later, Booker is a senior, one of the key returning members of the team that won the program’s first State Championship since 1998 last season. And he is no longer unknown as a recruit. A consensus top five prospect across every recruiting website, Booker is a household name in the college basketball community. ESPN has him rated as the third best player in the country for the class of 2023, as does 247 Sports, while Rivals has him rated first.

So what happened? What caused this massive jump up the rankings that made Booker such a coveted prospect going into the summer Amatuer Athletic Union (AAU) circuit? Head Coach Mr. Jason Delaney wit nessed Booker’s rise first hand. He said, “He continued to work hard, he continued to be coachable, he continued to believe in the process and it paid off for him.”

This process has caused Booker to develop a unique skill set that few in the world pos sess. Listed at 6’10 since his freshman year, he has always possessed the ideal height for a Division I forward/center. But he has bulked up since then, getting up to 215 pounds.

With this physical development came new skills that made Booker such a coveted re cruit. Delaney said, “He’s able to do a lot of things at his size that not a lot of people can do. He’s able to handle the basketball. He’s able to make good decisions with his pass ing, he’s a willing passer. He’s able to knock down the three of course and I think what he’s improving on the most is being able to guard multiple positions.”

Booker’s versatility was a huge asset for the team last year, as Booker was able to bring the ball up the court and function as the primary ball handler at times, which creat ed mismatches when he was guarded by

bigger, slower defend ers. He was also able to stretch the floor, con necting on 36% of his three point attempts while also being a pres ence inside, collecting 70 blocks and over 200 rebounds.

After winning the State Championship in March, Booker shifted his focus to AAU. He attended the USA Basketball FIBA Americas training camp alongside some of the most highly touted players in the nation. Booker be lieves that this camp helped his recruitment a lot. He said, “I think the second day (of the camp) college coaches were able to come out. I think I got two offers that day. I got one from Duke and then Texas. So it definitely helped a lot playing with older guys and playing with more people on my skill level.”

Booker had around 15 offers prior to the camp and the beginning of the AAU season, the biggest of which was from the reigning National Champion Kansas Jayhawks. Once the AAU season picked up, however, even more offers started to flood in.

Booker competed for George Hill All Indy, a team sponsored by Milwaukee Bucks guard and Indianapolis native George Hill. His team competed in tournaments across the country in front of coaches from the big gest colleges. “We were in Virginia, Dallas, Atlanta, Milwaukee, lots of big places.”

As Booker dominated in the AAU circuit, even more schools began to take notice.

BY LUKE SPENCER

He picked up offers from Oregon, Auburn, Memphis, Gonzaga and USC all in the month of June.

With over 30 different schools to choose from, Booker began to narrow down his re cruitment, releasing his top ten schools on July 25. This list included schools that had been recruiting Booker since before his ju nior season.

Oregon, Purdue, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Auburn, Michigan State, Michigan and Indiana were the final ten. Booker said, regarding these schools, “The relationships that I had with (the 10 schools). They all just were consistent. I like a consistent relationship. I pretty much heard from them every other day or everyday. And

Senior Xavier Booker walks off the bus and into Gainbridge Fieldhouse prior to the State Championship game on March 26, 2022. The team beat Chesterton, 65-31. Photo Submitted

Senior Xavier Booker, a top five recruit nationwide, will look to lead the men’s basketball team to another State Championship this season

those were schools I felt like I would fit in pretty well in their program.”

Just five days later, on July 30, Booker an nounced his commitment on an Instagram Live with ESPN Recruiting Consultor Paul Biancardi. His choice was Michigan State, who offered Booker a scholarship on Sept. 14, 2021.

For Booker, there was a lot to like about Michigan State. He said, “(The campus) is not too big, but it’s a good size. Definitely I want to get into sports broadcasting there, so they have a good sports broadcasting program. And the basketball program, I definitely fit in there. I love (Head) Coach (Tom) Izzo, love all of the coaching staff. They compared me to (former Park Tudor and Michigan State and current Memphis Grizzlies forward) Jaren Jackson a lot, and

With his big decision out of the way, Booker can fully focus on win ning another State Championship. It will be a tough road for the team to get back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in March, but Delaney is making sure the team is tested in the regular season, so the players will be used to the competition when the Sectional comes around. Delaney said, “It’ll be the hardest schedule that we’ve had. We’ve worked to get to this level. One being the defending State Champs and two, having players of (Booker’s) caliber. You’re going to get op portunities.”

According to Delaney, the program is working with ESPN in hopes of scheduling a game this season, like ly against a national powerhouse, that would be featured on ESPN. This would be a national stage few on the team have experi enced. However, Delaney does not think that this would affect the team. He said, “Xavier makes (the spotlight) really easy to deal with because he’s such a humble person. He’s just one of the guys. I think the way he approaches things will make it pretty easy for the rest of his teammates.”

Delaney expects Booker, as a senior and returning starter, to step up as a leader on the team. He said, “You expect him to be more vocal. That’s not really his strong suit, you know, he’s a qui et guy. But I have at times seen

him lead more and now he’s leading through actions as well. Finishing first in sprints and things like that. He’s really put ting the action behind his leadership.”

Booker believes that he is ready for this leadership role, and he knows what he needs to do. He said, “Just continue to guide the younger guys. We have a lot of young guys on our team, so just continue to have their backs.”

Booker will likely have to take on a bigger role both offensively and defensively. With the losses of point guard and leading scor er Tayshaun Comer and starting forward Jaxon Edwards, Booker will likely be looked to as the primary scoring option this year. In some cases, he will probably be asked to guard the team’s best offensive player, a task that Edwards took last season.

Booker is ready for everything that will be thrown at him this year, and he is already laser focused on the goals he wants to achieve, saying, “My approach is still the same. We’re still going to go for another State ring, and I’m still focused on getting stronger and preparing myself for college.”

I see that fit there for sure.”

Senior Xavier Booker (middle) listens to instructions with fellow seniors Sincere Germany (left) and Jake Davis (right) at an offseason practice on April 14, 2022.

Photo Submitted

Senior Xavier Booker warms up before a game against Ben Davis on Feb. 18, 2022. The team would lose, 67-64.

Photo Submitted

Diving into the Season with a new coach

BY KATHERINE NASH

This school year, Cathedral welcomes a new girls volleyball head coach, Mrs. Karrie Quenichet. Coach Quenichet, a new Religion teacher on the Hill, has stepped into the role of head volleyball coach at ca thedral with much great enthusiasm.

Girls volleyball head coach Karrie Quenichet said, “I love the competitiveness, the tra dition, the tier, and it is one of the most sought after programs in the state. It’s really cool to come somewhere with such a rich history, but also athletes that want to work hard everyday.”

Coach Quenichet started her journey with coaching in college. She started coaching as a college student, and was coaching both girls basketball and volleyball. Later on she found that she preferred to coach volleyball over basketball, even though she was better at basketball herself.

Since then, she has continued to coach vol leyball. When she was coaching at Lafayette Central Catholic, her team unseated the previous runner-up at state in sectionals as a 1A school. “It was like David versus Goliath and I was hooked from that point on,” said Queinchet.

Coach Quenichet is a Roncalli graduate and returned to coach there after coaching at Lafayette Central Catholic, for two years in 1998. She went back and coached two years at Roncalli in 1998. One of the two years that she was there coaching, Roncalli won state. Later on, she coached for six years at Providence High School. Four of these six years her team went to the state champion ship, and won three of them.

“I thought my coaching days were behind me honestly, and I was always an assistant before now. But I thought I was ready to be done when my kids were done. But just a few different conversations and people tell ing me I should be head coach and I thought that I would only ever do it at a catholic high school back in Indianapolis. I googled head coach positions in Indianapolis and I saw this one. I hadn’t realized that the pre vious head coach had stepped down. So, I

thought, well, maybe this is the Holy Spirit trying to tell me I should do this. So, here I am” states Queinchet.

Her main priority is getting to know her team. “Coming in as a new coach, my pri ority was to build relationships with the girls. Get to know them, and once you do that, then you want to give them what they want” said Queinchet.

She has high hopes and expectations for her team this year. At the beginning of the season, she had the team list down goals for them to aim towards. One goal they hope to accomplish this season is winning a state championship. They’ve seen Cathedral teams before them do that, so they strive to do that as well. “I, of course, will try to do everything in my willpower to make that a reality for them,” said Queinchet.

The team unfortunately has faced some troubles throughout the season. There have been many injuries throughout the

season. Players that have suffered injuries this season include: senior Erin Emmick, se nior Karsyn Kramer, and senior Caiti Barthel. Caiti Barthel has returned, but the other two still remain injured. Senior Hannah Barbee is described by Quenichet as being an “amaz ing leader and a great all around person.” She said, “We have a transfer setter, junior Kamryn Utley. She's amazing, almost every match we play she gets complimented.” All around, she has nothing but good things to say about her players. Overall, they have a strong team this year and have improved through the challenges they’ve faced this year.

Overall, Quenichet is very happy to be at Cathedral. “It was a little bit different be ing a Roncalli grad, but I love it. I love the feeling of family at Cathedral, the diversity, and the Holy Cross Values. Everything that is represented in the Holy Cross Values I love. And you really see that it's visible here, ev erywhere.

Varisty team prepares for their upcoming match Photo Submitted

Cathedral girls volleyball hired a new coach, Coach Quenichet

A Four Day Schedule, for the Fourth Time

new four day schedule

been

For previous school years, new academic daily schedules have been put into place causing new adjustments and alterations. This year, a schedule has been created with the hopes of bringing new opportunities and advancements to both students and staff.

Seen in the past are five day rotating sched ules, seven day rotating schedules, tradi tional seven periods schedule, and others. This year, the team made up of educators and administrators collaborated with teach ers through a google form to collect their in put and hopes for the schedule. The results from this google form created our current schedule, a four day rotating schedule.

Vice Principal for Academics Mr. Mark Matthews collaborated with other admin istrators to create the schedule. He sees a lot of success from this schedule for both students and teachers. Matthews said, “All of the feedback that I have had thus far in dicates that people do like this schedule as opposed to our previous schedule.”

This schedule allows students to meet with their classes more often, but has the downside of attending six classes a day as opposed to five as it was during last year’s schedule. To allow the change in number of classes, the length of classes has been short ened to 55 minutes. This is better for the stu dents and allows more interaction between them. Matthews describes this as “a true rotating schedule (other than Alpha),” which he thinks is good for all.

A downside of having an extra class a day is the workload. Many students have no ticed an increase in their homework, tests, and quizzes. Matthews believes that other than this complication, it is still better than previous schedules. He said, “I think the only complaint that I have heard from students is that they do have six classes a day instead

school year, one that has not been seen before. BY CAROLINE SCHILLING

of five. That might mean more homework on a daily basis.”

During the first and sec ond week, adjustments were made during lunch es. There are still the tradi tional three lunch periods, but lunches have been more crowded due to the increase in students. This issue has been resolved by dividing the numbers and students also are choosing alternative lunch options.

Matthews and other ad ministrators created a goo gle form collecting teach ers opinions, and sent it out in March of 2022. They proposed three different schedules in this form and results favored the four day schedule. He said, “Last March when we looked at all of the schedules for this year, I got input from all educators and more than 60% preferred this four day schedule than any of the other options.”

Throughout the first quarter, he has not heard of any major concerns regarding the schedule, and believes that it will continue to succeed for both students and teachers.

“I think one thing that a lot of people appre ciate about the four day rotation is even in a four day week, you get all the way through the cycle. It provides more opportunities for each class to meet,” he said.

Last year, the schedule had a built in activity period which would occur during E period. Many believed that this built in time was a

waste and there were too many built in. This year for activities, periods are built into the schedule to allow for more flexibility and ability for the activity period. Office hours are still offered on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

More classes allows for more interaction and overall allows for success across the student body. Matthews said, “Meeting more often is certainly a positive because (of) the more opportunities that each class has to interact with the teacher better. Generally speaking, 55 minute classes are better for students than longer classes.”

Religion teacher Mr. Cole Hepp during a Religion class in the new daily schedule. Photo by Ava Palmer '24

Transfers and Teachers

With 27 brand new teachers

transfer students, the Hill has gained many new

BY MADELINE TAYLOR

After a over month of school, students have begun to adjust and gather their bearings. For some, however; that transition has been easier compared to others. With a multitude of new students as well as new teachers, the Hill has had plenty of new additions. From Germany to South Carolina, people have come from all over to be a part of the cul ture here on the Hill.

For one teacher, it wasn’t much of a far drive. After teaching a variety of math classes at Ivy Tech Community College, Math Teacher Mr. Leslie Meyer came to Cathedral for a change of pace. Meyer said,” I absolutely love it and I’m grateful for all the support that has been given to me by the people that work here.” Thanks to the aid of fellow math teacher Mrs. Christine Koers, Meyer was able to transition from college to high school level. Meyer said, “Mrs. Koers and I taught at Ivy Tech together and we ran into each other back in the spring and I ended up here.” With both an undergraduate and master's degree in secondary education, Meyer will provide a plethora of experience to the Geometry and Algebra 2 classes he teaches.

In addition to the new teacher in the math department, the STEM section of the Hill has had another boost with the addition of a Pre-Engineering Teacher Mr. Tim Tappel. After working previously in Kentucky, he

and his wife made the move to teach on the Hill. Tappel said, “I knew I wanted to end up as a teacher. Mr. Matthews had a resume for me on file because I applied maybe 7 or 8 years ago so he reached out to me. After talking, he hired me and my wife and both moved out here.” After working pre viously at Amazon, the switch to teaching came from an experience in youth ministry. Tappel said, “I love teaching, back when I was a youth minister I got the most out of actually teaching people about the faith so from that experience I knew I wanted to end up as a teacher.”

Despite all the new faculty this year, without students there would be no classrooms. In addi tion to the large, new freshman class, the Hill has met a multi tude of new transfer students. Likely traveling the farthest dis tance, Junior Flynn Larshen at tends school after moving from Germany. After taking time to ad just to a new prominent language, Lahrsen said “Yeah it’s been very difficult, but It’s been good, it’s nice to be here.” With American high schools providing a different culture compared to other coun tries Lahrsen said, “I’m

excited to go to football games and enjoy the sports culture.”

Although Germany is the farthest traveled by a new student this year, there have still been many miles traveled by others to at tend school on the Hill. Despite only be ing on the Hill for one year, Senior Beatrice Berle transferred from South Carolina. For her first impression of the school, Berle said, “It’s been nice getting to meet everyone be cause they’ve all been super nice.”

Despite the overall positive remarks, the ad justment hasn’t been completely straight forward for everyone. Both Tappel and Meyer commented on the new schedules being particularly difficult at first. Tappel said, “The hardest part has been getting used to the schedule, you pick up on it but it's a little odd.” After some time, however, both agreed that it became easier to follow.

These are the stories of only a handful of the transfers and new teachers on the Hill this year, each with their own story about why they choose to come here and what their experiences with it have been. For both new students as well as returning ones, Berle said, “Try to get involved in activities. Try to be friendly with everyone and put yourself out there.”

Students adjusting to their new classes and geting settled in a new environment with new teachers. Photo Submitted

Students from the whole school gather for one of the first assemblys of the year.

Photo by

Unified Media Center

Library becomes Unified Media Center

With the first month of the 2022/23 school year down, it is obvious that many things have changed from previous years. One prominent change is the library has been partially transformed into the new Unified Media Center.

Broadcasting Teacher Miss Rebekah Barnes said,“The library has taken the backseat to broadcasting, newspaper, yearbook, and all journalistic media.”

The new Unified Media Center includes classes that were once very separate; this also comes along with new skills. “A com bination of broadcasting, newspaper, com munication, literacy, learning, and commu nication skills, it is all about focusing on building it up for cathedral students,” add ed yearbook director Ms Taylor Belleville.“I think that it is nice that instead of being tucked back in Loretto hall now people now get to see what we are doing.”

The Unified media center can provide a newer, bigger purpose. “Collaboration, a lot of schools that I have experienced do not have that unity between all types of media classes and it only makes other classes bet ter when they pass back and forth ideas,” Barnes said.

Another reason for the Unified Media Center is that reporting is very important.“Media is so needed in today's world no matter what class you are in,” Barnes said.

Reporting can be important when reaching out to the entire student body and staff. “Every class can benefit from it, so it is cool that we are all working together so that we can reach that out into the school,” said Barnes.

With the plans in motion for a more collabo rative space, there is also hope that students could branch out from their one class and learn more about another class in the same area. “They might be great at photography, but they could be great at all these other things as well,” Belleville said.

The importance of this area comes with a lot

of hope for growth, and new focuses as well as expanding the program. “I hope that we are able to transform the program in order to focus more on collaboration between these different classes instead of it just being the newspaper, and the yearbook, and broad casting. I hope that we are able to come more together, maybe start hosting classes at the same time so that everyone enrolled in this journalism department is able to re ally get a full amount of information or a full amount of training,” said Belleville.

“Having that collaborative space and hav ing it be more open. If any students in any of these classes just need help with some one with different expertise you could walk right over and say ‘what do you think about this’ instead of having to go to someone you do not know, in different classrooms and different buildings. It is all in one place and it is very convenient,” Barnes said.

Although it is just getting off the ground many positives have already come. “Right now having like minded teachers and ed ucators around you so people who know about journalism you can talk about that and adjust how we are teaching things to meet students' needs,” said Barnes.

Belleville added, “I think that we are still in the beginning stages and there is a lot of room for growth and for us to continue to grow together to make a stronger journal ism team here,” she said. “Create a space that is even more functional and beneficial for students as they are engaging in profes sional practices.”

Having multiple teachers in one department has allowed many aspects of the problem to develop and improve. Belleville said, “Since there is no longer one person we have three brains coming together to see how we can best benefit the students in this program.”

“By having three different journalism teach ers in (the library) we are really opening (the students) up to a multitude of different ex periences. All three of the teachers here all have different backgrounds and because of that we all bring something a little different,

BY AVERY STUCKEY

Media classes come together in what once was the library and formed what is a collaborative space for all journalism.

on top of that we can also bring a lot more energy and passion to the table,” she said.

“I feel like we have been able to talk with each other on a moderator level has been really beneficial because we have been able to get almost constant feedback on the ideas that we have, the programs that we want to run, and the things that we want to try,” Belleville said.

“It is never taking on something alone; there is always somebody there to help, if you need help,” said Belleville.

Change can be a good thing and allows projects to grow. “Come check it out. Technology is over here and everyone walks through and probably ignores what is going on, come see where the broadcasting class is going on, come check out the yearbook and what they do, be curious about what is going on because it is going to keep getting better.”

Belleville said, “Be on the lookout for growth and change over the next several years be cause we are still in those beginning stages and we are working to make this space real ly amazing for (students) and that it serves you guys to the fullest extent.”

Photo by Avery Stuckey 24'

From Priest to Math Teacher

After six years away, Mr. Rushka has returned to the hill to teach math; however his journey back was anything but ordinary.

In high school, math teacher Mr. Micheal Rushka ‘16 was just a normal kid. He spent his days at Cathedral going to morning Mass, studying his favorite subject, math and after school, he attended volleyball practice.

He said, “I was super religious coming in (to Cathedral) and I worked with Mr. (Matt) Cannaday to start the Theology and Philosophy Club.” Through this club, he was able to take a trip with Cannaday to Philadelphia where the Pope was speak ing. “When I was a senior, Mr. Cannaday took me to see Pope Francis speak and that really lit a spark,” he said.

After graduating, Rushka attended Georgetown University where he stud ied mathematics and physics. “I got seri ous (about pursuing religious life) during college,” he said. In 2020, he graduated from Georgetown and became a priest in training. “It was hard. Transitions are hard for a lot of people but it happened during Covid-19 so it was especially hard,” Rushka said regarding his switch from college to seminary.

Rushka went to the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, knowing hard ly anyone he entered religious life with. “You’re not allowed to have a phone and your life just slows down a lot,” he said.

Each day in Seminary, Rushka woke up at 7 a.m. to go to Mass, ate breakfast, read for about two hours and attended a class before having the rest of the day to him self. “(The Jesuits) make (the schedule) like that to de-stress you and allow you to think about your decision,” Rushka said.

While he was in training, Rushka was re quired to join campus ministry at the uni versity and Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, he decided

to teach and tutor math. “From (teach ing and tutoring), I really discerned that I loved the math side of things more than I loved campus ministry,” he said.

In the spring of 2022, Rushka made the difficult decision to leave his religious life behind. He said, “There is a big differ ence between practicing your faith and ministering it to others, and I found that I don’t love ministering it as much as I love teaching math to others.” Rushka said that even though leaving was incredibly scary, he did not feel called by God to minister for the rest of his life.

On March 13, Rushka officially left the seminary and moved back to Indiana.

“(When I left the seminary) I needed a job and there was an opening here,” Rushka said. “It just felt like a really natural tran sition for me.”

“(Cathedral) is a great place to work but it is really weird to teach in the place that I was a student at not so long ago,” he said,

BY ALLY PEA

“I am grateful to get to work here because the first year teaching is tough so already knowing a lot of the faculty and knowing the building makes it a lot easier.” Though he is no longer a student, Rushka is continuing to learn a lot here on the hill. He said, “I am learning just like (the students) are but obviously I’m learning how to be a better teacher and (the stu dents) are learning how to do quadratic equations.” Rushka said, “Teaching is a lot of work behind the scenes and hard because I am responsible for (my stu dents) success however I really like being a teacher.”

Rushka eventually wants to go back to college to further his education in mathe matics. As for possibly going back to reli gious life, Rushka believes that right now he is called not to know. Rushka said, “I just feel called by God to not know what to do right now but I could see myself do ing a multitude of things because I still love my faith and I always will.”

A photo of Mr. Rushka from his days at Cathedral Photo from 2016 yearbook

The SLC Coffee Shop

There have been many changes to Cathedral High School these past few years. A new building has been added onto the school, called the Innovation Center, but recently the talk of Cathedral has been about the brand new coffee shop being built in the student life center or as the students and staff know it, the SLC commons. The cof fee shop will take the place of the vending machines in the SLC commons with a lounge area and will even include a fireplace.

Construction for the new coffee shop started on Monday, September 19th. Construction is expected to end by January 6th 2023. The SLC will look com pletely different, with a new totally updated look. Rolly Landeros has told us all of the insight for the coffee shop, he even sent us this photo of what it is expected to look like!

Cathedral offers so many great

opportunities for the students to grow and mature into smart and diligent students. Starting freshman year our teachers help the students begin their journey into being great leaders. So with the excitement of the coffee shop something even more exciting is that the students in Business and Entrepreneurship classes will run/work the coffee shop. This is a great opportunity to have experience in a professional work

BY LOLA MULLIN

place, while also providing students with an understanding of a real job, especially if they have never had one before. These times will likely change as it becomes more familiar to the school and we know more about it.

The student body is extremely excited about the coffee shop, there has always been rumors about it but nobody knew it was a set and stone plan. Sophomore Maci Mansell said “I am extremely excited to try out the new coffee shop. It would save me

so much more time in the morning instead of going to Starbucks”. And Senior Amanda Leon said “I am so jealous of the lower class men, I wish they started the con struction when I was a freshman so that I would get to experience it for longer than a few months. But I do think it would be so much fun to work at and it would look really good on resumes. But I am excited that I at least get to try it out for a little bit before I graduate”!

The coffee shop should be a very successful addition to the school and will be a great place for students to work and socialize. The coffee shop will initially be opened before school, from 7:30am to 8:30am.

A potential mockup of the soon to come Johnny Mac Coffee House. Photoo provided by Mr. Landeros

The SLC is currently under construction for the building of the coffee shop Photo by Lola Mullin

Face Off

Against the New Schedule

BY LIAM EIFERT

As the fifth school schedule in four years, this year’s schedule represents a major shift. For the first time in this almost half decade of shuffling classes, there is an even number of days in the rotation. The more often touted change is that, once again, there are 6 classes a day, same as non-late start days in the 2019-2020 schedule. Such is the iteration that has come to pass for managerial innovation on the Hill.

The constant switching of daily schedules was due in some part to disruptions from Covid-19. Those changes were understandable, reacting to a worldwide pandemic, but the school has stuck to this curious habit well past the age of mandatory masking and distance learning. The rationale for the latest schedule change is teachers requesting more instruction time, and more frequent classes. This isn’t, by itself, a bad reason. Any change that might increase the quality of education is welcome. But was the schedule last year really so bad as to invite another overhaul? Has the administration made the perfect the enemy of the good?

It’s easy to dismiss these concerns by questioning what harm they could really bring. After all, it’s often said that true progress comes in small increments, as stepping stones to a larger goal. It is also true, however, that stability is important for good teaching. Maybe the concerns with last year’s schedule could have been remedied had teachers had the chance to adjust their plans for it. The administration would perhaps do well to consider not only the ideal theoretical schedule, but also a practical real one for the reality of high school.

None of this is meant to discount the hard work done to determine the scheduling direction the school has gone in, but I remain unconvinced that there was no better use of time than reorganizing ours.

In Favor of the New Schedule

BY CAROLINE SCHILLING

It may come as a surprise, but a new schedule has been put in place for the 2022-23 school year. This schedule is based on a four day rotating schedule, as opposed to a 5 or 7 day schedule like we have seen in the past.

Some may argue that one more class a day causes more struggles, but I believe this is a strong and helpful change. It gives students and teachers the opportunity to meet with their class more often, which is a positive. However, some students have noticed an increase in their workload or homework. I do not think this is the case, as we are usually given a good amount of time during the day to work on what we know we need to do at home that night. It is all based on the student, time management is a key factor with the new schedule and will allow success.

This new schedule allows a later start time and allows for the same release time, which is another positive. I believe that since we are able to meet with six classes a day and have our original times, it's all around a positive.

Aside from the students' opinions of the schedule, teachers have also been able to appreciate the change. They had originally wanted a four day schedule, so this change is in favor of all.

The complications that may come with the schedule are based on the students. Time management and work ethic is the most important contributor to the change of schedule. Being aware of the change and possible increase in workload will affect your learning. Overall, I believe that this is a strong schedule and has the potential to help students and teachers as it provides them with more opportunities.

US