California
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July 23, 2024
Attendees at the California High School Summer Program closed their books after a Monday morning spent wondering about straight lines and human happiness to turn their attention to rest and recreation. Prefect Patrick Daly (鈥26) organized the men for a game of baseball on the athletic field, while in the Pope St. John Paul II Athletic Center, programmers went swimming, scaled the climbing walls, or played basketball in preparation for that night鈥檚 prefects vs. students game. In the art room, students worked on pieces to display in Thursday鈥檚 art show. And many high schoolers attended a dance practice, pairing up to learn some more swing moves, such as 鈥渢he pretzel鈥 and 鈥渇loor sweep,鈥 before the farewell dance on Friday.
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Since students are headed to Los Angeles today to take in the beauty on display at the and a at the , they prepared for the experience by attending an afternoon talk: 鈥淎rt and Beauty,鈥 by Tutor Dr. John Nieto.
Dr. Nieto spoke about what beauty is and its power over the soul. 鈥淓verywhere else you experience activity, but when you鈥檙e experiencing the beautiful, you just want to see it,鈥 Dr. Nieto observed. 鈥淲e experience beautiful things and just want them to be what they are.鈥 He told the students that they should look for integrity, clarity, and proportion, the three properties of the beautiful, in truly masterful works of art. He accompanied his talk with a slideshow, using some of his favorite artwork as examples, including some pieces that the high schoolers will be able to see for themselves at the Getty Center.
The programmers left the talk for a dinner of beef burritos, then attended Study Hall in St. Bernardine of Siena Library to continue reading The Consolation of Philosophy or their Euclid propositions. After an hour, they then broke into small groups led by prefects and moved to the classrooms, where they used the chalkboards and scratch paper to practice demonstrating the first three propositions in Euclid鈥檚 Elements. They will be called upon to present the proofs for these propositions in this morning鈥檚 math class, so the students practiced explaining the steps of Euclid鈥檚 arguments in their own words and drawing the accompanying diagrams.
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Following Study Hall and the nightly Rosary, it was time for the students to face off against their prefects on the basketball court. Each match opened in prayer, and then it was game time!
Photos: Students v. Prefects Basketball
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The women鈥檚 teams played first, competing fiercely while onlookers cheered and shouted encouragement. In spite of the students鈥 enthusiasm, the prefect women won the game. Afterward, in an energetic and hard-fought battle, the prefect men鈥檚 team, coached by Program Chaplain Rev. Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem. (鈥94), also emerged victorious. Despite their losses, the students鈥 spirits remained as high as ever as they returned to their residence halls, talking over the games. There they snacked on chips and seven-layer dip before turning in for the night.
Today, the students only have only their morning Euclid class before their trip to L.A.. Come back to the Summer Program Blog later today to read about the students鈥 first Euclid demonstrations!
