Tiger Leadership: Junior Extension of Tiger Blast

Over recent years, St. X has had a lot of success with implementing field days for different grade levels within the St. X community. The freshmen have Tiger Blast, the sophomores now have Tiger Strong, and the seniors have a senior celebration at the end of the school year.  

However, there might be a missing link to the construction of the full St. X student in this scenario. The freshmen focus on community building. The sophomores learn how to be a men built for others. Finally, the seniors have a culminating day that puts everything together for a day of fun celebration.

As a junior myself, I noticed that my class wasn’t represented in this discussion. The junior class is the missing piece from this equation. It would be extremely beneficial for the juniors to hone in the skills needed to lead the student body as rising seniors. We will have to fill the shoes of the Tigers that walked before us and this field day would provide us with the necessary experience to do so.

“Junior year is tough. From the homework to midterms, the first semester of classes is challenging,” senior Landon Gaines said. “As a senior this year, I firmly believe the juniors need an event to not only cut loose a little bit, but also grow in their leadership as they prepare to lead the school next year. I know I would’ve have appreciated that last year.”

The mastermind behind the preparation and execution of Tiger Strong and Tiger Blast is Coach Glaser. He agrees with an idea like this and believes that it can be put into action. However, the event would need a theme for the day that can be applied within the halls of St. X and the community in general. Coach Glaser suggested the theme of leadership for the event. He suggested that we do it around the Junior Ring Ceremony which takes place on Thursday March 16. It would be a great idea to do this on the following day, which happens to be a Friday. This would allow for a good flow into the weekend and allow juniors to apply what they learned on the Monday coming back.

Junior year is full of firsts for many people. For many athletes, it’s the first year they will be making an impact on the varsity squad. For many students, this is the first year their course loads are very tough with many AP classes being available for them to take. For students in St. X theater productions, they will be taking big roles in their performances. And finally for those involved in clubs, they may be taking a big leadership role in their clubs or activities. One can see how this may cause a large amount of stress within the junior class.

“I think having a junior field day would be a great idea,” junior Will James said. “Junior year is a tough year and I feel like it would be a great way to relax at the end of a long school year.”

With stressful college entrance exams and some of their hardest classes, junior year is one of the most important years in regards to one’s academic future. This is a time for juniors to really find themselves and realize what their long term goals are. A day of fun could be just the thing that the junior class needs in order to get their minds off of their St. X commitments inside and outside of school. The St. X community has seen over the years how much a day like this can impact students in a positive manner. The success would be similar if not better than the other events put on by St. X. 

This proposition will be presented to the administration in the coming weeks and and its feasibility will be explored with the hopes of implementing in the spring for the junior class. If anyone has any suggestions for the name of the event or activities, please submit here.