THE FA LCONVolume LI X, I ssue I I Visit Our Editions Archive H ere October /November 2019

REPRESENTING THE SA INT JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL COM M UNITY SINCE 1961®

BY ALEX HAVARDANSKY '20Correspondent

On October 15, the Saint Joe?s community showed our

support for all people's right to life. For the first time in school

history, Saint Joe?s participated in the nation-wide event known as

the Silent Day of Solidarity to bring attention to the three

thousand unborn infants who are victims of abortion every day.

In the morning, more than one hundred students received

a red ribbon to be worn all day, indicating their participation in

the event. After the first tone sounded, those students vowed to

give up their voices in solidarity with those voices who were

unfairly silenced. This day was a truly impactful and resonating

experience for all community members who participated.

The participation in this event had a special meaning for

the students, but it was especially meaningful for the Partners in

Mission. Mr. Chedid ?11 is one of those Partners who holds this

event dear to his heart.

When asked about the event, Chedid said that it was

?beautiful and powerful. It?s amazing to see how much we take

our voices for granted when we vow to give our voices up for a

day for those who never had the chance to speak.? Mr. Chedid

said that it is eye-opening to see ?how hard it really is to

communicate when you don?t have a voice.?

The silence of the day is symbolic of how unborn babies

did not receive their chance to speak or live. The event saw a

tremendous participation among students and Partners in

Mission, and the Silent Day of Solidarity will definitely return next

year.

Students Par t icipate in the Si lent Day of Sol idar i ty

Clubs and Activi t ies: Page 2-3Community With a Purpose

Cardboard City

Nets Trip

Until Help Arrives Workshop

Month of October in Photos : Page 4Highlights from the Month of October

Spor ts : Page 5-6Homecoming

Soccer GMCs

XC Team Participates in Night of Lights 5K

Community: Page 7-8Christian's Auto Detailing

Mr. Adu Makes an Early Impact at Saint Joe's

Theology Department Introduces Virtue Formation Program

Contents

Phot os cour t esy of CJ Taler ico '20

Phot os cour t esy of Mrs. Coudr iet

The Falcon Vol LIX , Issue I I Page 2

BY GAVIN MURILLO '20Contributor

Celebrating our first school wide ?Community Day? of the

year, our students took part in various activities across Saint

Joseph?s 70 acre campus. Along with a variety of games like Flag

Football and Cornhole being played, students like CJ Reggio ?20

made sure to still give back to people in need.

Taking part in honor of the Marisa Tufaro Foundation,

Reggio, along with several other students from all grade levels,

made care packages for families in need of assistance.

?It?s so good to do things like this,? Reggio said. ?It makes me

feel great knowing that something I?m doing can really have a

positive impact on someone's life, especially those in need.?

Along with Reggio, fellow senior Dominic Petrocci ?20 aided

in packaging food items and other utensils.

?I?ve been in Campus Ministry for three years now, and I can

honestly say it?s one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done,?

Petrocci said. ?Things like this always make me feel like the best

version of myself.?

Even in the days of celebration and fun, Falcons always look

to put our hearts in the right place. With the likelihood of

another Community Day in the near future, the possibilit ies for

good works are truly limitless.

Community Day With a Purpose

Saint Joe's Hosts Annual Sleep Out for Covenant House

Phot o cour t esy of Mrs. Coudr iet

BY KYLE FLOOD '20Contributor

The Annual Sleepout at Saint Joseph High School to

Support Homeless Youth this year was one like no other

with a record 79 students participating.

Every year, many students from Saint Joe's spend the

night sleeping on the outside basketball courts to be a part

of the fundraiser that helps so many of the homeless youth

in their daily struggles. On these basketball courts,

students cut out cardboard boxes and use them as shelters

on the concrete. This event has caught on, and it is

commonly referred to as ?Cardboard City.?

Participant and Saint Joseph student Riley Wilkins '20

said, ?For some reason, Cardboard City always ends up as a

really cold night, so we have to bring multiple blankets and

layers of clothing to stay warm.?

Wilkins has attended Cardboard City all of his four years

at Saint Joseph High School, and he says that this event has

changed his thinking on the whole topic.

?It really shows us how thankful we should be because

there are many people who have had no choice but to sleep

in the cold and with no extra layers to keep themselves

warm.?

The lead organizer of the event, Vaughn McConnell '20

said, ?We had a great turnout; so many students showed up

and participated. This is the highest number we have had in

my four years here.?

Vaughn also said that we are on the verge of completing

our goal of raising $10,000 this year from the event alone. It

is great to see a student body coming together and doing all

that we can to raise not only money, but also awareness for

this great cause.

Phot os by Mrs. Coudr iet

The Falcon Vol LIX , Issue I I Page 3

Until Help Arrives Presentation Educates Seniors

Saint Joe's Heads to Brook lyn to Suppor t Kar l Towns '14 on Opening NightBY ALEX HAVARDANSKY '20

Senior EditorOn Wednesday October 23, approximately 50 Saint Joe?s

students had the extraordinary opportunity to take a step back

from their normal after school routines and attend Opening

Night of the 2019 NBA season in Brooklyn in support of fellow

Falcon, Karl Towns '14.

One such student, Christian Haynes ?20, was able to

attend and shared exactly what was experienced that night.

Upon arrival at Barclay's Center, students were already given a

unique opportunity of ?getting autographed flyers from the

Brooklynettes, the cheerleading team that performs at

halftime." Then, sixteen students were given another special

opportunity to go courtside and high five the players from the

Timberwolves.

?It was enjoyable to be able to watch some basketball

with the guys and not care who won because we had a good

time," said Andrew Repak ?20, who had the opportunity to go

courtside.

It was already unique to be able to go courtside, but it

also gave that Saint Joe?s community a chance to reunite with

one of our most celebrated alumni Karl Towns, who is now a

perennial all star center. The mix of meeting Karl again along

with the other team members and the crowd's reaction made

this experience ?a once in a lifetime one,? Christian added.

When the game started, things were taken to a totally

different level of excitement. What ensued over the next three

hours was an exciting and tense battle featuring some of the

game's brightest stars. Karl played tremendously in the opener

recording a double-double of 36 points and 14 rebounds.

Kyrie Irving, however, stole the show with a stellar 50

point debut for the Nets, becoming a highest scoring debut for

player in the franchise?s history and just the seventh net in NBA

history to score 50 points in a game. Ultimately, this thrilling

showcase of talent would lead to a 127-126 overtime thriller

which left the Timberwolves on top.

Phot o by Ms. Davis

BY JAMES OLIVEIRA '20Contributor

During the last Formation Day, the Saint Joseph High

School Seniors had a different and extremely important lesson

planned. During the day-long Formation, the Class of 2020 was

able to learn about the college application process, but it was

not the focal point of the day. The class was given a

presentation, Until help Arrives: the Importance of a Bystander.

The presentation, as is clearly stated in the tit le,

emphasizes what we can do, as bystanders, to assist someone

until professional help arrives. In emergency scenarios, any and

all assistance, no matter how small, does volumes to help the

victim.

Emergency Response Personnel take on average 6-10

minutes in a city to upwards of 15 minutes in rural areas to

arrive at the scene. There is a significant amount of time before

professional help arrives, and those 5, 10, or 15 minutes could

mean life or death. This fact "puts the ball in the bystanders'

court." It is their responsibility to help until professionals arrive,

and if bystanders do not react, then the victim risks dying.

This reality may seem disturbing to some, but it does not

take much to help. Small gestures of kindness and compassion,

like reassuring the victim, holding his or her hand, and calling

911, can have a drastic effect on the outcome. Small gestures

give the victim hope, and hope can be the only thing that

prevents him or her from giving up.

After the deep conversation about what we can do as

bystanders, the seniors participated in a number of exercises to

see how attentive we were to detail and if we were able to

effectively communicate our findings to a 911 operator. Most, if

not all, of the seniors were able to pass these exercises,

demonstrating that in a time of need, we were able to take

charge and to help.

To complete the presentation, the presenter opened up

the floor to any of the students to share a time where they had

to call 911, and what happened. To our surprise, multiple

students wished to share our experiences. The conversation

ranged from someone calling in a break-in to someone

requesting EMS services to save a dying child, showing that

these events really do happen, and we need to be prepared for

them.

After the presentation, we reached out to a number of

students in the presentation, and that they all said they enjoyed

the presentation and felt that they either learned something or

were able to raise awareness to these issues.

?I thought it was pretty good. It gave me some good advice

and showed me that even the litt le things matter,? Uladzislau

Lenko ?20 said.

The Falcon Vol LIX , Issue I I Page 4

October /November in Photos

The Falcon Vol LIX , Issue I I Page 5

Soccer GMCs Br ing Back Great Memor iesBY JAMES TAMPELLINI '19

Alumnus Contributor?A lot of high school teams were not solid technically across

the field but with this team, that?s exactly what we had along

with scoring power that other schools couldn?t compete with,?

says Mr. Michael O?Boyle.

O?Boyle, a math teacher and former varsity soccer coach,

owns a special team picture that resides next to his desk on the

wall of his classroom. What makes this picture special, is that

this team was the last varsity soccer team at Saint Joseph High

School to win the Greater Middlesex Conference

Championship. This victory occurred in 2011, with two players

on the team who went on to play professionally, when the

Falcons had a 21-2 season and finished with a county tit le and

as runner-up in the state sectional tournament. Dimitrios

Vassiliadis ?12 and Brandon Allen ?12, both of whom were

juniors at the time of winning the county tit le, were keys to the

Falcons' success.

Vassiliadis went on to play for Olympiakos Lefkosias, a

professional team in Cyprus, and even had a trial with Swansea

City, a team that plays in the top division of England. On the

other hand, Allen went on to play for Georgetown where he

was named by TopDrawerSoccer.com to the Best XI

Postseason Third Team and finished his career with 50 goals in

91 appearances, making him the Hoyas? all time leading goal

scorer. Allen subsequently played professionally for the New

York Red Bulls.

However the two were not the only contributors to the

success of the team that year. According to O?Boyle, ?to say that

the team?s success was coming from just Brandon and Dimitris

would be doing the other players on the team a disservice, as

we had three other players featured in the all country team,

and if Brandon or Dimitris didn?t score, the goals came from the

other players.?

One of those other players who was named to the

All-County team was current Partner in Mission Charles Neri

?11.

?We knew going into the season that we had a talented

group of guys, but with that came some ego differences as it

showed in our 0-1 start to the season," Neri said. "Then we

realized, our talent alone couldn?t lead to to a successful year.

After that first loss, we learned to play for each other and with

each other instead of focusing on achieving individual

accolades.?

Despite the scoring power that the team possessed, the

county final was no easy task. The Falcons had taken a lead

against the East Brunswick Bears who were also having a great

deal of success that season, although the Bears fought their

way back, and the game finished 3-2 with Saint Joe's narrowly

escaping and claiming the county tit le.

The Falcons also had success in the state tournament as we

made it to the finals. We took a heartbreaking loss in double

overtime to Saint Augustine with a final score of 2-1.

Despite this defeat, the Falcons had nothing to be

ashamed of, as we did not let egos get the best of us and put

together a season with a team that was one of the best in the

school?s history. Today, students of O?Boyle are able to see the

players of this talented and memorable team as well as learn

the story that comes with the picture.

XC Team Par ticipates in Night of Lights 5KBY CHRISTIAN HAYNES '20

Editor-in-Chief

Earlier this season, our Saint Joe?s Cross Country Team

participated in the Night of Lights 5K in Westfield, NJ. The race

was organized by former Track and Field Coach Sam Tooley in

memory of his brother, Jake. The event also paid tribute to the

first responders in the community.

?I wanted to attend the event because of all that Coach

Tooley has done for us,? said Varsity Captain Austin Schuhrer ?20,

who placed fifth overall. ?He sacrificed a large portion of his day

to come help a group of kids develop themselves and their

character. I was glad to attend the event because it was for a

great cause, and next year, I will be back to win it.?

This event brought together more than 2,000 people to the

inaugural race, including 10 Saint Joseph runners. Following the

race, there were food trucks, awards, and a performance by the

Garden State Radio.

?When Tooley came to Saint Joe?s, he focused on every

single runner from the best to the worst, and that resonated with

me,? said Joshua Aguillon ?20, who placed fourteenth in the race.

?I felt an obligation to participate in this race that represents

more than just a fundraiser, but to honor his brother. I liked the

event; it was fun to hang out with the team and see Coach

Tooley.?

Proceeds benefit the Tooley Legacy Foundation, whose

mission is to provide support, financial aid, and assistance to

needy families when tragedy strikes. Although the event was a

first for Tooley, it will not be the last; he already has a date

booked for next year?s 5K race. Through the support of our

community and the dedication of Coach Tooley, the Night of

Lights 5K will continue to be a symbol of hope for years to come.

Phot o cour t esy of t he Night of Light s 5K

The Falcon Vol LIX , Issue I I Page 6

BY ALESSANDRO PUGLIESE '21Editor

On Oct ober 26, Saint Joseph High school celebrat ed our Second Annual

Hom ecom ing, opening our cam pus t o st udent s, Par t ners-in-Mission, alum ni, and

visit ors alike. The fest ivit ies k icked of f at 10:30 a.m ., where alum ni were invit ed for

food, gam es, and brot herhood on t he Great Lawn.

At t he cent er of t he event was t he Saint Joseph Foot ball Team?s m at ch-up

against Linden. The k ickof f on t he Brenner Fam ily Field proved t o be a posit ive sign

for t he Falcons as Jordan Kinsler '21 ret urned t he opening k ick for a m assive gain

t hat would set up t he Falcon?s f ir st t ouchdown of t he gam e. Unfor t unat ely, t he

Falcons st ruggled t o f ind t heir st r ide, fal l ing behind 7-6 by half t im e; however , t he

Falcons rall ied back in t he second half t o w in 21-14, which was, in par t , due t o t he

out st anding of fensive work and t rem endous defensive ef for t by Thom as Fehl '20,

who was nom inat ed by MyCentralJersey.com as a Week 7 player of t he week for t he

Great er Middlesex Conference.

Homecoming 2019

Phot o cour t esy of Er ic Am ponsah '20

The Falcon Vol LIX , Issue I I Page 7

Mr. Adu Makes an Ear ly Impact at Saint Joe'sBY KRISTIAN NUNEZ '21

Contributor

Mr. Francis Adu was hired to teach at Saint Joseph at the

beginning of the fourth quarter last year, and he has

already made a profound impact on his students. Mr. Adu,

who in addition to teaching, previously worked at Citibank,

is the chair of the Computer Science and Applied

Technology Department.

While teaching Java and other computer science and

coding classes, Adu has been working hard on getting

acclimated to his new environment.

?I like the school, and the students are great,? Adu said.

?They know when to have fun and when to work.?

Outside of the classroom, he has taken over the

extremely popular Coding Club, which meets after school

every Tuesday in Room 113. He also said that in the near

future he would like to create more technology-related

clubs.

Riley Wilkins ?20 takes Mr. Adu?s Exploring Computer

Science class and speaks highly of the Saint Joe?s

newcomer, citing his ?attitude and transcendent

intelligence? as Mr. Adu?s best attributes.

Mr. Adu?s favorite aspect about the school is that it is a

Catholic school. He can relate because he went to an

all-boys Catholic school as well: Saint Augustus in Africa.

Mr. Adu hopes to have a lengthy career here at Saint Joe?s,

and he strives to improve the Computer Science and

Applied Technology Department to help guide students into

what could be extremely rewarding careers.

BY MARCEL MILEWSKI '20Managing Editor

Who does not love a great story about Saint Joe?s

Falcons finding success outside of the classroom? We hear

about student-athletes, Boy Scouts, and now we hear

about entrepreneurs.

From our own Falcon community, a senior who decided

to do more with his summer than just relax and enjoy it

was Christian Haynes ?20, our Editor-in-Chief, who started

his own auto detailing business.

Christian?s Auto Detailing offers everything from a

simple exterior wash to a full interior and exterior service.

?What sparked my interest was when I saw a YouTube

video in my feed about auto detailing,? Haynes said. ?I first

tried it on my own car and was extremely satisfied with the

result, which was when the idea came to me of turning this

into a business.?

Christian?s Auto Detailing is only a few months old, but it has already turned out to be a success. With the help of his

assistant, Joshua Aguillon ?20, Christian provides services to customers throughout Central New Jersey. With several reviews and more

than fifty different cars cleaned, one could say that it has a bright future. Christian is optimistic about the future of his business.

?My goal is to expand my business in the coming months. I hope to build my client base and begin to offer more extensive

packages including advanced techniques such as paint correction. I also aspire to increase my range of my business to cover a greater

portion of New Jersey outside of Somerset County.?

The takeaway is that one can turn an idea into something tangible, no matter how outlandish it might seem. Whether it be a

simple service or selling a product, anything is achievable if one puts his mind to it. If one has a dream or ambition and need some

advice on how to approach it, just ask Christian because he knows how to wash away procrastination and hone in on the details.

Haynes '20 Star ts Auto Detai l ing Business

Phot o provided by Chr ist ian Haynes '20

Phot o by st joes.org

The Falcon Vol LIX , Issue I I Page 8

Follow The Falcon staff and SJ Media on Twitter!Subscribe to our YouTube channel (SaintJoesTV)!

Send us an email at sjmedia@stjoes.org!

Theology Depar tment Introduces New Vir tue Formation Program

BY GIOVANNI YOUNG '21 Managing Editor

Saint Joseph High School is

embarking on a new spiritual journey

this year. The Theology Department

is introducing our school community

to a Virtue Formation Program.

The initiative is based on the

Reform of Life practiced by many

Religious Orders. Its goal is to identify

a predominant fault in oneself and to

practice the virtue opposite to that

vice. For instance, one who thinks

himself guilty of pride would practice

humility. To help him along in this

journey, he selects a Bible verse

which exemplifies the virtue and

takes it to heart, repeating it to

himself as often as possible on a

daily basis. By often repeating the

verse, he is reminded to practice the

virtue and encouraged toward

personal reform. A reform of life can

go on for as long as one deems

necessary ? until one has made

progress in the virtue.

In our case, the Theology

Department encourages all

community members to participate

in several monthly reforms of life

throughout the school year. Each

month, our school community will

focus on a specific virtue as we

reform ourselves and support our

brothers and sisters on their

individual journeys of

self-betterment. Each week,

Monday?s morning prayer will remind

us of the particular virtue being

studied that month.

The Theology classes will discuss

the particular virtue being practiced.

As Respect is such an important and

fundamental virtue ? as well as a

central tenet of the mission of Fr.

Coindre ? two months, September

and October, were devoted to its

examination. Throughout November,

we will be praying on and studying

Honesty; we ask God to impart His

grace on us as we strive to grow in

virtue.

The Falcon Edit or ial St af f

Edit or -in-ChiefChristian Haynes '20Managing Edit ors Marcel Milewski '20

Paul Padilla '20William Sorge '20

Marco Niro '20Matthew Furnell '21Giovanni Young '21

The vir t ue of honest y for Novem ber . Phot o f rom Chr ist ian Vazquez '20.