As we head to the final nine weeks of the school year, there was much to celebrate during the third quarter. 

As students (and quite possibly faculty even more) look forward with excitement to spring break, the Irish can look back gratefully on a historic and groundbreaking quarter. There was much change throughout the highly successful third quarter. While most students will start to glance at the calendar and check the days until the end of school and summer break, it’s important to reflect on all that happened up on the Hill in the start to the second semester.

Quarter 3 started with a new addition, it being a J-Term offering numerous courses on a variety of topics you can’t find in your average school, from hiking or learning basic survival skills, to 3D printing. The J-Term broke up the usual start to the second semester and helped ease the transition for both students and faculty into school, while providing opportunities for people to teach or learn things not typically offered. 

Many students left the experience with a new hobby, a further cultivated passion, or simply a few friends they picked up over the course of the two weeks. Teachers also benefited from the term, whether by being able to teach about a particular interest of theirs or getting eased back into the busyness of the school year.

As the third quarter moved on, the Irish shed their masks and started full steam ahead into what finally felt like a normal quarter. A few fun snow days delayed the Catholic Schools Week and Winterfest assembly, but upon returning the next week the school was treated to its first live lip-sync battle and Golden Paddle championships in a few school years. 

It seemed like the Irish were rolling in every aspect, with sports teams capturing city championships and wrestlers making state championship runs, along with exciting trips for the cheer team and rewarded performances by the Irish Adrenaline show choir.

The “Top Gun”-themed ShamrAuction raised funds far surpassing its initial goal, as students and educators worked around the clock to bring a whole new look to the school for arguably the biggest night on the Hill every year. 

February was capped off by an exhilarating and moving Black History Month assembly, in which students, alumni, and local college students alike presented beautiful poems and expressed feelings and thoughts, not to mention a rap that got the whole crowd on its feet.

Furthermore, the third quarter led to the acceptances of many seniors into colleges and big decisions, as the school prepares to send off its seniors to succeed at college campuses across the nation. While it’s safe to assume that there won’t be an underclassman not enthused about the coming end of the school year and the fun of summer, Quarter 3 sadly marks the start of the end for the Class of 2022. Teachers and seniors alike find it crazy that the same yellow lanyard-wearing students who walked through the doors of Kelly just a few short years ago are now high school seniors, ready to set out to their respective colleges or careers in just a few short months.

While stressful decisions lie ahead for many of the undecided seniors or for those who find themselves on college wait lists, the third quarter hopefully went a long way in helping wrap up their senior year and bringing back many cherished traditions to the school. 

The fourth quarter gives way to the return of many highlights, such as the Irish 500 and prom. Irish sports teams look to continue or start successful seasons of their own, and many other activities and extracurriculars will either reconvene or wrap up as the school year enters its final few weeks. While the fourth quarter marks the graduation of another valued and treasured class of students, as well as the dispersion of Irish for the summer, it’s safe to bet that if it’s anywhere near as successful and exciting as the third quarter was, it will definitely be one to remember.