As this school year comes to an end, Principal Mrs. Julie Barthel recaps some of her favorite times and most memorable activities on the Hill this year.

This school year Barthel rolled out J- term, a brand new opportunity for the school, which allowed students to take intensive classes in January. “We had never done J-term for them before and we were very happy with the reaction of the students,” Barthel said. During the two weeks, students had many opportunities to experience diverse learning environments. Teachers also had the chance to instruct students about topics they were passionate about and upperclassmen were able to select from a series of internships they were interested in and spent two weeks learning more about them. “We were extremely pleased with the outcome and we had over 43 different sessions kids could choose from,” Barthel said.

While still having to prioritize student safety due to Covid-19, some of the fun activities and trips that Barthel had planned had to be moved. “We didn’t get the chance to travel last year because of Covid, but we had a trip to Canada planned with Br. Roberto (Jimenez) and (Mr.) Cole Hepp in January but it got moved to May because of Covid. We would love to offer more travel and many alumni have reached out to help us with the planning,” Barthel said.

While looking to next year, Barthel said she hopes to expand J-term and provide more opportunities for students. With students and teachers still wearing masks due to Covid-19, not all activities were able to be offered to students. Until Feb. 18, all students were still required to wear masks in class.

Barthel said, “We still had to take into consideration that if a student was to test positive that the people around would have to quarantine and we wanted to make sure we kept everyone as safe as possible. We hope to provide more for the upcoming school year whether that is offering more internships or more travel trips. We have many people interested in helping us out.”

This school year has been one of the first since Covid that all sports and clubs were able to fully return. “This was the first time the theater was back and live and everyone was allowed to come watch so that was really exciting,” said Barthel. “Our show choir also had the opportunity to go to the nationals this year, which was fantastic,” Barthel said.

Additionally this year students attended several all-school assemblies for the first time since Covid-19. “I loved the Winterfest this year. It was great seeing the skits, especially with the seniors, because last year the seniors missed out a lot,” Barthel said.

As she reviewed the many accomplishments and highlights of the school year that began eight months ago, Barthel said, “We just had a really awesome year and I’m extremely proud of all we got to do this year.”