Recreation & Reckoning

California

June 25, 2024

Students on the High School Summer Program took a break from academics after their first taste of classes Monday for some lighthearted competition in a beloved campus activity: the Section Games.

A “section” at Thomas Aquinas College is a group of about 17 students, who, for the duration of the academic year, take all their daytime classes together. The idea behind organizing classes this way stems from the College’s use of the Discussion Method. Because the method depends on open discourse — which, in turn, relies on trust — it is important for students to come to know each other well. By taking nearly all of their classes together, the members of each section achieve a sense of intimacy and come to rely on one another in their shared pursuit of the truth.

Photos: The Section Games

Teamed with their Summer Program section mates, the high schoolers took to the field under the hot California sun, while prefects stood by with water and sunscreen, cheering on the sections or joining in the competition. The students competed in a variety of inventive games, including a hula-hoop pass, an egg-spoon race, egg toss, and a contest appropriately named “Egg Your Prefect.” The Section Games ended with the prefects surprising students with a volley of water balloons and a short but energetic water fight. Then everyone — wet, laughing, and, in some cases, more than a little eggy — jumped in the campus ponds to cool off.

Photos: At the Ponds

The soaking-wet students returned to their residence halls to clean up and dry off before a dinner of steak, potatoes, and broccoli in St. Joseph Commons. After dinner, they went to the library for study hall, to find some quiet, and to read Plato’s Euthyphro, their assignment for the next afternoon’s class.

Photos: Study Hall

An hour later, the high schoolers broke into small groups in classrooms to study the first three propositions in Euclid’s Elements and prepare them to demonstrate in this morning’s math class. Students used chalkboards and scratch paper to draw diagrams and write out arguments, and prefects helped out, giving example demonstrations and sharing their knowledge, gained from working through most of Euclid’s Elements themselves in their freshman years.

Study hall concluded with an invitation to the students to join the prefects in a community Rosary in the Chapel, and students left their studying behind to recollect themselves in prayer. The high schoolers then left the Chapel for the nearby St. Patrick’s Coffee Shop, where they took their pick of strawberry, vanilla, or chocolate milkshakes for dessert. They enjoyed their shakes while they chatted with their new classmates or challenged each other to games of cards, pool, foosball, and ping pong.

Photos: Coffee Shop

At the end of an eventful day, the men and women returned to their respective residence halls and a late-night snack of buffalo chicken wings. They enjoyed some last moments of laughter and conversation before bed, then turned in to get a good night’s sleep before another full day of classes and activities — details to come this afternoon, here on the Summer Blog!