Flashback to 1967, Tradition Week, students packed the gym for everyday assemblies and dressed up in their most spirited outfits for  relay races and special games.

Although tradition week was more simplified then than it is now, students still had a significant amount of energy when it  came to representing their classes and competing against one another in a multitude of challenges.

Athletic Director, Mr. George Monica, was a senior in 1967 and having been on staff for many years, he has had a taste of the many different traditions that the Bishop Blanchet student body has had to offer.

One of the memories that  Monica had from his tradition week was the Foreign Language Olympics, where students dressed up as their foreign language and staged Olympic events at each assembly.

Although Blanchet did not carry on with Foreign Language Olympics, the many ASB groups of the years and staff members have done a terrific job at creating special games and new traditions for the Braves now and many more years to come, to follow and enjoy.

“Mr. Bocian and others have really made Tradition Week so much better,”said Monica. “In tandem,  we’ve really just had a great experience here.”

When asked what Monica has seen as similarities between prior classes and today’s students during Tradition Week, he had nothing but fantastic things to say.

“Well the kids from back then and today really get into it,” said Monica, “I think it brings out the best in our student body and they really show their spirit.”

The show of spirit and excitement during Tradition Week really portrays the real heart of the student body.

Monica seemed reminiscent about his first years back at Blanchet following his graduation in 1967.

He started as a student-teacher in 1977, 10 years following his graduation, and distinctly remembers when he came back and taught during Tradition Week.

“I remember thinking to myself, absolutely this is where I want to be,” said Monica, “that assembly itself really verified the fact that I was proud to be a student here in the past, but that I also wanted to come back and teach here too.”

With Tradition Week starting on Tuesday the 26th of January, Mr. Monica seemed excited to see another year of the Braves bringing their A game to compete against one another and exemplify the meaning of being a Brave through activities and dressing up.

“There are people who never get excited about anything,” said Monica, “but Tradition Week really gets them going.”

Although “Be True, Be Kind and Be Brave” is the motto for Bishop Blanchet, what it takes to truly exemplify a Brave seems to be much more.

Monica emphasizes on the fact that the best thing about being a Brave is how good we are to each other and how we take care of one another.

“I am a firm believer in once a Brave, always a Brave,” said Monica.

Monica is a real and clear representation of what it really means to be a Brave.

After 4 years in school at Bishop Blanchet, and many more teaching, coaching and being a director, Monica shows how one short week like Tradition Week could really leave a life- long imprint on oneself and how being a Brave is more than just a title, it is a family, home and moral guide.