Opening Celebration
![Opening Celebration]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1723311780/jesuittampa/g2p4yxwuaxya3moxfn1i/homepage2024champscelebrationSMbaseballfullteamshotII.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1723311780/jesuittampa/g2p4yxwuaxya3moxfn1i/homepage2024champscelebrationSMbaseballfullteamshotII.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1723311780/jesuittampa/g2p4yxwuaxya3moxfn1i/homepage2024champscelebrationSMbaseballfullteamshotII.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1723311780/jesuittampa/g2p4yxwuaxya3moxfn1i/homepage2024champscelebrationSMbaseballfullteamshotII.jpg","width":1200}])
A fabulous all-school celebration provided an exclamation point to Schola Brevis on Friday (Aug. 9) as Jesuit completed preparations for the 2024-25 school.
It was an electric atmosphere inside the Tiger Palace as the entire school came together for the first time in 2024-25 to celebrate the school’s two 2023-24 State Championship teams, wrestling and baseball.
Student council president Colin Shembekar ’25 hosted the event, first handing off to County Commissioner Ken Hagan, P ’20, who gave official championship proclamations to the respective head coaches, Sal Basile (wrestling) and Miguel Menendez (baseball). The individual team members and coaches then received their championship rings one-by-one from school president Fr. Richard C. Hermes, S.J. At the direction of athletic director Terry Rupp ’84, three championship banners were unfurled in the rafters – one for each sport plus one for Jesuit’s FHSAA All-Sports title for 2023-24 – and then the teams and their families headed outside for photos at their respective sports team monuments, which had each received a new championship granite slab. Everyone also enjoyed cake and refreshments courtesy of the Jesuit Mothers’ Club.
Wrestling now has three State titles, all earned under Basile, and baseball has seven State titles, equaling soccer for the most at Jesuit. Three of those baseball titles were earned under Menendez, tying him with Basile and swimming coach Bill Shaffer for most among current Jesuit coaches.
The celebration capped off a great week of ramping up for the 2024-25 school year. The full faculty returned on Monday, and on Wednesday all students came to campus for portrait ID photos, grade-level meetings, and for new students to pick up their iPads. Thursday was Freshman Orientation, and Friday’s Schola Brevis, during which all students have a time-shortened, full -class schedule, prepared everyone for the first full day of the school year on Monday – a school year during which Jesuit, founded in 1899, will be celebrating its 125th anniversary.
For a photo slideshow with downloadable images from Schola Brevis, click here. Also check Jesuit’s primary social media accounts on Facebook (Jesuit High School of Tampa), Instagram (@jesuittigers), and X/Twitter (@JesuitTampaFL) for regular posts and photos about all of the happenings at Jesuit High School year-round, including the arrival of student on campus this week and all of the activities from this summer, including several service immersion mission trips, Jesuit Summer Bridge, AP test results, and much more.
The upcoming first full week of the school year includes Welcome Week activities during 4th and 5th period lunch each day, Clubs Open House on Wednesday (Aug. 14) morning, the first all-school Mass of the school year on Thursday (Aug. 15), the Solemnity of the Assumption, and concludes Friday (Aug. 16) evening with the first home football game of the season, the preseason game vs. Sumner.