After many months of COVID precautions that limited afternoon activities, our students can now choose up to two per day from the 36 offered weekly. Among the many options are lacrosse, karate, World Explorers Geography Club, ballroom dancing, garden club, and Artnomics.

Lacrosse is being led by our fourth grade teacher, Steph Padilla. She played and coached Division 1 lacrosse, a sport rarely offered to inner city children but played at many of the high schools our students attend. Currently, eight students are in the group but many more are eager to join as soon as we can obtain additional sticks, goggles, and goals. Steph would like to have 20 players, enough to scrimmage. Eighth grader Jeremiah is a new lacrosse enthusiast: "It’s a very new thing for me, but I am pretty good at it so far and I’d like to play it next year when I go to high school.”

Karate is led by Maceo Hood, a black belt and friend of principal Dave McDonough. Maceo says karate provides a combination of mental, emotional and physical benefits that "are easily transferable to school and home." Students learn self-control through controlled movement, self-confidence through learning a challenging skill, and physical fitness through aerobic activity and muscle toning.

World Explorer’s Geography Club is offered by our social studies teacher and therapist, Dr. Douglas Faxon. He helps students see that geography is about people and history, not just the physical attributes of land and water. The students are currently learning where they are in the world: where Allegheny West is in the city of Philadelphia, where Pennsylvania is in the U.S, and where our country is in relation to the other 194 countries around the globe.

Ballroom dancing is led by K. O’Rourke from the nonprofit Dancing with the Students, with assistance from Teddy Yun, our front desk representative and administrative assistant, who is a former professional dancer. As students experience the joy of dance, they are also gaining confidence and learning manners and mutual respect.

Garden Club is led by long-time St. James Garden Committee head Donna Stone and Head of School Dave Kasievich. Students learn hands-on in their own vegetable, herb, and flower gardens.

Artnomics, led by our science teacher, Natasha Greene, combines different forms of art. Students recently completed their interpretation of Van Gogh’s painting, "Starry Night." Now they are learning to thread needles, master various types of hand stitching, and soon will make and cut out patterns.

John Macon III, a graduate from our class of 2017, recently said, “Students only know what they experience.” At St. James, we are making sure that our students experience as much as possible!

Lashay (second from right) with the rest of The Loquitur editorial board

I am enjoying the amount of time I spend on campus. I took on the role of being the first podcast editor, which is a swing from our newspaper called The Loquitor. The podcast is called Talk 59. I’m also creating content for a social media agency called Social Nexus. I’m working a lot. My days here go from 8am to 10pm. It’s a challenge but I love both producing the podcast and working as a social media consultant.

An email on October 8th from our interim president basically stated the news broken by the Philadelphia Inquirer that a lot of positions at Cabrini were dropped, but there is now a three-year plan to get the school out of debt. There were a lot of layoffs between professors and our provost. The student-run newspaper took the initiative to cover the breaking news. A lot of students are worried. They don’t know if their degree can be completed here, they are scared the school might shut down. As a newspaper on campus, we’re making our best priority to provide the correct information so students are not scared by rumors coming from the outside.

Coming into Cabrini, I thought I wanted to be a social worker, which I still do, but the community that’s in the Communications Department, it just brought me in. It was my minor at first, but being able to create content revolving around issues that are important to me made me more excited. Right now I still want to get a master’s in social work after I graduate. I feel like I’ll be able to take the love for sharing the stories of others, and telling stories that matter, and try to combine it with issues involving kids and families who are victims of domestic violence. I want to connect the two in a way.

It’s like they’re always there to check up to make sure I’m okay, to make sure I’m understanding everything. Just recently I talked to Mr. Todd [Director of Graduate Support] and he was like, it’s time to start getting ready for that post grad. I left that school in 8th and I’m about to graduate college, and to see that they still care, they still want to be a part of my life afterwards — it’s just amazing.

I want to be known as the one that a lot of people can turn to. Recently I found out that a lot of students who graduated from St. James are here at Cabrini so I’ve been a helping hand to the younger students. I want to be a mentor.

I just want to stay thank you to everyone at St. James because definitely the confidence I have, the work ethic I have, would not be here without the support and the constant reminder that I can do stuff. I was not the most motivated person, so looking at my 5th grade self and my about-to-graduate self, it’s like two different people. St. James played a huge part in that.

Brian – I was working for myself, running a handyman business, and Dave Kasievich called me to do a few projects around campus. I remember being excited about the opportunity. I drove past the property for years thinking it was a really cool looking building and I wanted to see inside the church. I started coming once a week in 2019 and this year became full time.

Tee – Before I was a 5th grade special ed teacher. My mom (Ms. Dee – our bus driver) told me about St. James, how fun it was, and always bragged about the trips and events she was able to go on. It seemed energetic and an exciting place to be.

Brian – I do a little bit of everything to keep the building working, fixing things when they break, and keeping things running smoothly.

Tee – It truly depends on the day, but summed up, I provide coverage and support for all teachers and am part of the Wellness Team. I lead two girls’ groups: One is called “I am Powerful,” which is helping students turn negative emotions into power, and one is a self-esteem group focused on positive body image and how to be a leader.

Brian – I am really excited about the new building opening and learning all about it. It will also be fun to see all the ways the current space will be repurposed.

Tee – I am excited to have time to build relationships with students.

Brian – I am usually hanging out with my dog and my friends, and riding motorcycles or dirt bikes in the Pine Barrens.

Tee – I am a dog mom. My dog Honey goes everywhere with me. I like hiking and cooking as well.

Brian – I loved science, especially all the experiments.

Tee – Reading!

Brought to you by the St. James School Young Professionals! Sign up today and spread the word! You can use discount code “THEWORD” for a $20 ticket.