Down in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a little high school called Cardinal Gibbons. The Gibbons family has some special memories: the building, the classes, the faculty, the students and the alumni. So if you are a Crusader, here are some things you might remember from that special place:
1. "Wagon Wheel" Friday
"Wagon Wheel" Friday's in the English hallway were the best. I remember the last Friday before graduation, everyone in my class started crying. We loved Mr. Friedman for making the English wing so lit every day. No matter where I am, if I hear that song I feel some tears come to my eyes. I miss those days.
2. "Funny Friday"
Everyone will admit, there were some pretty good jokes that Executive Student Council said on Friday announcements. It was the highlight of homeroom every week. Sometimes the entire class knew the answer, sometimes they didn't. Either way, everyone had a pretty decent laugh.
3. Halloween and Spirit Week Costumes
With all of the various themes that came out of spirit week, people had some insanely impressive costumes. I will never forget the jellyfish from Halloween my senior year. That was just amazing. It lit up and everything. And during spirit week there was the kid who had the exact sweatshirt from an extra in Spiderman. Way to go, dude. Also, Moses parting the Red Sea. That took so much organization, they deserved first place in the costume contest.
4. Theology Class, That's All.
Freshman theology. Sophomore theology. Morality. Church History. Foundations of Catholic Worldview. Christian Vocations. World Religions. There were so many. I also remember learning Greek or Latin during sophomore year. Also for anyone who had him: Mr. Martin and his coffee.
5. Off-Campus Lunch Junior and Senior Year.
Once you got to junior year people could no longer wait to go to the various places off campus to get food. Tenko, Stromboli's, Bruegger's, Wendy's, and Char-Grill. There were so many options. My friends and I still go get Tenko when we come back from college because it was so delicious. People could not wait to get away from campus for a half hour.
6. Lenten Soup Sales
Everyone ran to buy a ticket for Lenten soup sales just to make sure they could get a Panera bread bowl. I miss having all of the various homemade soups during lunch, although the line was a little ridiculous. Sadly they ended because people stopped sending in soups so there were no longer things to get.
7. The Great Parking Dilemma of the 2013-2014 School Year
After the new expansion to the building, the teachers got their own lot so the entire front parking lot was dedicated to students. But because of those few extra spots, more parking passes were handed out and there was no regulation. So of course, more students had parking passes than there were parking spots.
Due to this issue, students parked wherever they could. The grass. The medians. The apartment complex across the street. And worst of all, the visitor lots. Administration was not happy and told students they could not park wherever they pleased. Students refused by stating if they did not want us to park in the visitor spots then they needed to get us a bigger lot. I don't think a new lot has been added yet.
8. The Great Hat Catch During the Class of 2014's Graduation
Like most high schools, the Valedictorian gives a speech during the graduation ceremony. For my graduation, the Valedictorian had a little issue with his hat. Throughout his speech, his hat continuously slipped down his head but he kept pushing it back into place. At the end of his speech it fell completely off but he finished his last sentence and managed to turn and grab it. I think it was the best part of the ceremony. He was met with thunderous applause. Partially because of the speech, partially because of the hat catch.
9. Pep Rallies
During fall, winter and spring seasons there was a pep rally to get the athletes pumped up and the students excited about the upcoming games. The best part was always the event the Green Army had planned which varied from a skit to a competition to a choreographed dance and even a tournament among students and faculty. I will never forget my favorite one, which was a skit where some of the teachers went through a "time machine" and students played their younger selves while they went on an adventure. Throwback to when Dr. Sprague said he had forgotten his viagra over the microphone.
10. The Club for the Easily Amused
I had to include this because it is just so Gibbons. This club was the most amazing thing I have ever come across. It had a wrapping paper party where you could wrap up your friends as presents, a bubble wrap party where you could literally pop bubble wrap in any way imaginable, and a hacky-sack party where people just threw hacky-sacks everywhere. Genius! Whoever created this is a genius! I miss it so much.
11. Service Projects
These were always a great time. Freshman year you went to the daycare center. Sophomore year you went to the soup kitchen. Junior year was the nursing home. And senior year you helped build or tear down houses with Habitat for Humanity. Ms. Penny was a genius for creating these trips. Students got a day off school to help out around the community. And of course, Bojangles and Kanki were also fun additions. But I hoped that these days gave students new perspectives on what service really meant.
12. Retreats
Prism freshman year. Mosiac sophomore year. Quest junior year. And Kairos senior year. Props to Sister Laura and Ms. Anders for making great opportunities for students to meet their peers and faculty members, and also giving seniors a way to gain leadership experience and step up as the oldest class in the school. For anyone still at Gibbons, if you don't go on any of the others at least go on Kairos. It is a life changing experience you will never forget.
13. The Green Army
Anyone who went to Gibbons, even if it was only for a year, should remember the Green Army. These were the students who got other students pumped up for whatever event was going on. It is also the spirit that all Gibbons students, faculty, and alumni share. Go Crusaders!
