This year marks a fresh start for the students of St Paul’s. On the beautiful day of August 5th, you could see the student body walk on campus mask-less. They are no longer burdened with temperature bands, one-directional halls, and different lunch schedules. You can see the new band room nearing the end of its completion, and just like the new structure, it is time for St. Paul’s to keep on making the school even better, rather than dwelling on those abnormal times of last year.

That determination to keep learning can be found in more than just the new band hall. The class of 2021 isn’t the only thing that has left this school; our own Mr. Richards, the head of the engineering department, has left the school. But in place of him, we have a new influx of teachers such as Kyle Smith, who have all recently spoken their traditional vow to teach the students to the standard of St. John Baptist De LaSalle.

There is one tradition we would have rather forgotten, those dreaded masks. While outside we are not obligated to wear them, while indoors we are expected to wear them. But no regulations can keep us from coming together outside of school and improving our character and friendships. Sports teams are reuniting over a shared joy of athletics. The band has already started to put together songs and dances for great entertainment, and countless other clubs are coming together and offering a place to be accepted in our great community.

We as a school are always improving. At the end of that August 6th day, Brother Ray implored us to live by our classic line in our end-of-the-day prayer, ” I’m sorry for my offenses and omissions of the day help me resolve to make a better day,” and with the rest of the prayer concluded it was onto the next week of the school year.