Jesuit Down Under

Twenty-one students from Jesuit-affiliated Loyola College in Australia visited Jesuit High School on Friday (Sept. 25), engaging the student body in science labs, in St. Anthony’s Chapel, in a panel discussion, and out on Alumni Field where they learned American football first-hand.

Tonight the Aussies will cap off their visit to Himes Ave. by experiencing their first live American football game, as Jesuit hosts Pasco at Corral Memorial Stadium at 7:30pm.

The high school-aged Australian contingent is from the city of Melbourne, and is on a two-week educational excursion to the United States during what is the rough equivalent of their Spring Break.

The students arrived in Seattle on Sept. 17 and have been in Florida since Saturday (Sept. 19). They are staying in Orlando right now and arrived at Jesuit at 9:30am, whereupon assistant principal Debbie Pacheco welcomed them in St. Anthony’s Chapel.

From there the Australians engaged in a panel discussion with Jesuit students, interacted in science labs, including AP Biology and AP Psychology, sat in on a Latin class, took a campus tour, and received a lesson in American football from Jesuit's JV football coach, Matt Kaiser.

Their trip, titled “From Microchip to Spaceship,” has included a visit to the Seattle Space Needle, an interactive tour of the Boeing plant, a tour of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Center, two days at the Kennedy Space Center, visits to the Orlando Science Theatre and to Epcot, and many other highlights. This weekend they’re taking an airboat tour in the Everglades and making a manatee dive in Crystal River. They depart the United States on Sunday, will lose a day crossing the international dateline, and arrive back in Australia on Tuesday.

View a photo slideshow below of Loyola College's day at Jesuit High School, or click here: