By Joe Nolan ’20

The memories made at Chaminade High School are sure to last a lifetime for those students who take advantage of the experiences that the school offers.   3-C Week is the first of these experiences.

Each year, the week leading up to Labor Day Weekend coincides with the arrival of the freshmen at Chaminade High School. The school’s 3-C program helps to ease the worries of these new Chaminade men who are about to embark on their journeys as Flyers. The goal of 3-C week is to instill within these rising freshmen three core values: Community, Confidence, and Commitment.

This year’s 3-C Week began on Monday, August 26th, as both the students and their parents arrived on  campus for orientation. After attending in Darby Auditorium a presentation on the many aspects of parental involvement in the Chaminade experience, the parents moved to the AAC to be welcomed into the Chaminade family, while the new Flyers were organized into their respective homerooms.

The first day of 3-C Week served primarily as an organizational day; students configured their iPads, organized their lockers, and began to familiarize themselves with the school. Most importantly, however, the incoming freshmen got the chance to meet not only their homeroom moderators but also the other members of their homeroom. Chaminade students share a homeroom with the same students for all four years of high school: one of the many ways the 3-C program strives to develop a tight bond among the young men from the very beginning of their high-school careers.

On Tuesday, the young Flyers returned for their first full day, getting a feel for  life at Chaminade High School. Throughout the day, the rising freshmen partook in preparatory classes that would assist them in acclimating to the ever-changing technology-fueled education that they are set to receive here.  These classes include study skills, time management, and iPad instructions—all of which are integral for a successful start to the new school year.

Students also got a glimpse of what Chaminade has to offer outside of the classroom. During 3-C Week, the faculty stress that if a student does not immersing oneself in the opportunities beyond the academic, one is not fully taking advantage of everything this school has to offer.  As a means of introducing the prospective freshmen to the great number of extracurricular activities that Chaminade offers before and after school, students got to tour the E.T.V. studio and publications center, both of which serve as hubs for some of Chaminade’s most popular extracurriculars: Crimson & Gold, E.T.V., Tarmac, and the Communications Club, to name a few. In addition, students were presented with the many facets of spiritual life at Chaminade by visiting the Saragossa Retreat House and the school’s Chapel of Our Lady’s Assumption.

Perhaps the most memorable moments from 3-C Week stemmed from the athletic competitions in which the various freshman homerooms faced off against one another. Whether on the field during dodgeball or in the pool during water polo, the freshmen began to build that sense of camaraderie so necessary to forging new friendships. In the end, Mr. Gregory Gerner ’10 and his homeroom, the 1C Crimson Chins, emerged victorious and took the much-sought-after 3-C Week Trophy.

The hard work and cooperation of the senior leaders is instrumental to the success of 3-C Week. Each year, dozens of seniors volunteer to spend their last week of summer vacation helping the incoming freshmen adapt to high school. Each homeroom is assigned a certain number of senior leaders, and throughout the year, these men make themselves available to the freshmen to answer any questions they may have regarding academics, clubs, sports, or anything else related to high school.

“I think I speak for all of the senior leaders when I say that working 3-C Week as one [a senior leader] was an amazing experience,” explained Sean Kelly ’20, who is serving as a senior leader for Mr. Haslbauer’s homeroom, the 1J Jabberwockys. “At one point, we were all as anxious as the freshmen currently are, so it was great to be able to do everything in my power to make sure that their transition into high school went as smoothly and easily as possible.”

3-C Week is now the first of many treasured memories for the Class of 2023. Throughout their next four years at Chaminade, wonderful memories will be made, friendships will continue to solidify, and hundreds of Flyers will be sculpted into fine young men who embody what a true Chaminade man is—one who does the right thing at the right time because it is the right thing to do, regardless of who is watching.

Good luck to the Class of 2023 as they embark on the journey of a lifetime!