The Visor

Tetelestai root of chaotic Holy Thursday schedule

April 22, 2010

Editorial Board

The school wasn’t playing an April Fool’s Day prank on the students when they said that classes on Holy Thursday were 23 minutes long. Besides, with a day that featured ten minute lunches and a full production of Jesus’ death and Resurrection that lasted over two hours, there was no time for joking around.

The wacky schedule and ultra-short periods of the day were unprecedented for Hoban in the past few years. Students are used to short days for events like Mass and early dismissal, but teachers were literally working against the clock to accomplish anything in class on Holy Thursday. Teachers couldn’t give a test on Tuesday and start a new lesson for one and a half days before break, but they also couldn’t give a legitimate test or quiz to students for 23 minutes on Thursday.

Many students were burdened with several tests and quizzes on the Wednesday before break because of the time-bind. Not to mention, a handful of students decided to skip the day entirely and the students that were present in body may not have been present in mind. The schedule was not the fault of teachers or students, however, but the lengthy performance of Tetelestai.

Tetelestai is a traveling troupe of volunteer actors and actresses. Before coming to Hoban, they had done numerous productions in other areas in northeast Ohio. In fact, their performances at Hoban were the finale for the group before the Easter holiday. They performed for a good cause – spreading the Good News of Jesus – but it was mandatory that the student body watched the volunteer play, which seems backwards in a sense.

Although the play shows highlights of Jesus’ life, the performance was one of low-lights. Songs about Jesus’ trial and sorrows were accompanied by upbeat, out of place music often heard in elevators or while on hold on a telephone. The actors and actresses fell short in captivating the audience of students, many of whom were ready to start their spring break a couple of hours before. Tetelestai performed for St. Vincent-St. Mary last year around Easter time, and even students from St. V-M agree that the play was little more than a disappointment.

Unfortunately, the religious play was nothing more than the root of all problems for Holy Thursday. Without it, the day would have been like any typical early dismissal day – a day where the whole school wouldn’t be questioning the schedule or the performance as an elaborate April Fool’s Day joke.

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