By Avinash Sabnani ’27
RAMSEY, NJ – Spirit Week culminated in a grand celebration with the Feast of Saint John Bosco, bringing the school community together to celebrate Mass and a variety of enjoyable activities. Auxiliary Bishop Michael Saporito of the Archbishop of Newark visited Don Bosco Prep to preside over the Mass, marking a memorable highlight of the week.
Celebration of Mass
The opening song of the celebration was the familiar “Every Praise”, led by Jordan Reyes, setting a reverent and enthusiastic tone as the school community transitioned into Mass. During his homily, Bishop Michael shared inspiring stories from Saint John Bosco’s life and mission, emphasizing the importance of faith and perseverance. He spoke about God’s unique plan for everyone and encouraged students to trust in his guidance. Drawing from his personal experiences, Bishop Saportio shared his personal struggle of a speech impediment as a child and how he now has to speak a lot, highlighting how challenges can be used as blessings when entrusted to God. He invited everyone to have hope and trust while living out one’s faith which will allow us to receive the blessings from God.
A special moment during the Mass was the blessing of the 24 Juniors, Seniors, and Faculty members preparing to go on the Puerto Rico Mission Trip and the New Orleans Mission Trip over Winter Break.
At the end of the Mass, as a token of appreciation, Bishop Saporito was presented with a statue of Saint John Bosco, along with some DBP swag to commemorate his visit on the Feast of Saint John Bosco, 2025. In keeping with tradition, the youngest student, Freshman Michael Conway, requested the Bishop grant the Don Bosco Prep Community a day off to commemorate his visit. The student body quickly erupted into chanting and waving, “Two! Two! Two!” After a quick joke about the Bishop being an untraditional man, he said it was a great idea and granted one day off school, which was later announced to be Super Bowl Monday on February 10. The Mass concluded with the singing of the classic “Don Bosco: Friend of the Young and the Poor.”
Activities and Competitions
Following the Mass, the school transitioned into various activity stations, including lunch, Bingo, Codenames, and a team-building exercise. Each grade rotated through the stations. The Freshmen started with lunch, the Sophomores engaged in the team-building activity, the Juniors went to the auditorium for Bingo, and the Seniors went to classrooms for Codenames. In the team-building activity, each homeroom was given the challenge to split into two, take places on a line with one open place in the middle and then get students on each side to cross over to the other side one at a time. In the auditorium, there was a game of Bingo for the entire class with prizes including Amazon and Roblox gift cards. Finally, in the classrooms, each homeroom played the game Codenames. For the game, each homeroom split into a red team and a blue team, and spymasters who were in the hallway took turns giving transmitting clues for their team to guess the associated tiles.
Senior-Faculty Face-Off
The day’s events culminated in a thrilling gym showdown between the Class of 2025 and the faculty. The stakes were high: a student victory would earn the entire student body a dress-down day, while a faculty win would secure a casual day for the teachers. The theme for Friday’s dress down was Color Wars, with each grade proudly wearing its designated colors: Seniors in black, Juniors in gray, Sophomores in white, and Freshmen in maroon.
The competitions kicked off with a Pie-eating Contest, where Patrick Robbins represented the Class of 2025 against Father John Langan. After a back-and-forth messy showdown, Patrick secured the first win for the Seniors.
Next, was the Wheelbarrow Race with Luke O’Brien and Christopher Lotito for the Seniors, and Mr. Laracy and Ms. Delmonico for the Faculty. After what seemed like a close race, the Seniors pushed ahead to a 2-0 lead.
In a game of “Keep Up the Balloon”, Andrew Noveselich faced Mr. Chin. Andrew’s calm and organized strategy of keeping the balloons under control outlasted Mr. Chin’s aggressive uncontrolled tactics, extending the score to 3-0.
The entertaining Chubby Bunny Contest followed, in which participants took turns stuffing their mouths with marshmallows and saying the words “Chubby Bunny”. Eli Drivas faced Mrs. Gettler in a game of Chubby Bunny. Eli make it look easy, using only one side of his mouth to defeat Mrs. Gettler and claim yet another win.
The game of Dizzy Bat provided a comedic outcome when Brother Travis faced Antonio Valenti. During the game, both participants had to spin around a bat ten times, making them dizzy, then walk to the foul line on the other side of the basketball court. Brother Travis showed the difficulty when he took two steps, stumbled, and collapsed to the ground while Antonio easily walked to the other side as if the spinning had no effect on him.
Next, was the much anticipated rematch between three-point phenom Brady Loughlin and Coach Chevy. Brady Loughlin delivered and redeemed himself with a decisive win against Coach Chevy, tying their personal series to 1-1 and increasing the Senior’s score to 6-0 for the day.
The final event, a Dance Off, showcased impressive moves from Jairo Matos to set the stage for the Seniors. However, the Faculty had a surprise up its sleeve: Dr. McManus stunned the crowd with her amazing performance which included a cartwheel and the worm. To add to the amazing performance by the Faculty, Coach Tank also participated and revealed his dancing skills. This energetic display earned the faculty their first and only win of the day, ending the competition with a final score of 6-1 in favor of the Seniors.
The Class of 2025 showed they were more skilled than the Faculty in all aspects except in dancing and won the students a free dress down day.
Final Announcements
Mr. Wojcik took the floor to announce the results of the Coin Collection to raise money for families from the Salesian School in Los Angeles that was affected by the wildfires. The Don Bosco Prep Community had collected over $1500 to aid the two families, and the Seniors once again led the charge in the donations.
The day’s most awaited moment arrived when the overall Spirit Week Champion was revealed. In a historic achievement, the Class of 2025 became the first-ever back-to-back Spirit Week Champions.The Class of 2026 claimed second, Class of 2027 got third, and the Class of 2028 got fourth in their debut Spirit Week.
To close the day, Father Abe delivered a short passage from Saint John Bosco, followed by a final prayer. With that, Spirit Week 2025 officially concluded, leaving behind cherished memories, deepened bonds, and a sense of strong school spirit.