March 2025 Junior Irish News

MARCH 2025

Irish

Athletes and

Artist

Earn State and National Honors

It has been a great winter for Father Ryan athletes, coaches, and performing artists!

Indoor Track and Field: 3 Individual State Titles

Caroline Perri '26 Long Jump

Ryan Jones '25 200M and 400M

Wrestling: 3 Individual State Titles

Tanner Tran '26 106 lbs.

Brody Gobbell '25 132 lbs.

Casen Roark '25 138 lbs., earning his 4th state title, second wrestler in Father Ryan history to accomplish this feat

Camp Ryan is Filling Up!

Camp Ryan sessions are filling fast, but there are many great camps to spark your child’s creative and entrepreneurial spirit this summer.

Register at fatherryan.org/camps for these and other fun Camp Ryan offerings.

Featured Camps of the Month:

Theatre Biz

My First Lemonade Stand

My First Craft Fair

Debate Club

Money Math

Little Inventors

Junior CEOs

My First Passport

Swim: 1 Individual State Title

Libby Helmer '27 - 1st Place, Women's 200 Freestyle, receiving AllAmerican consideration and setting a new school record

Band: 2nd Place, Pep Band Division at the 2025 Nationals

Dance: 3rd Place, Intermediate Jazz; 5th Place, Hip Hop at Universal Dance Association Nationals

A huge congratulations to our coaches for their recent accolades!

Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Doug Bontrager '81 achieved his 600th win as Head Coach and went on to win the Region Tournament for the first time since 2009.

Two Father Ryan coaches are being inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame:

Jinx Cockerham, Former Volleyball Head Coach and Girls Basketball Head Coach

Pat Simpson 74, current Irish Wrestling Head Coach

Irish Profile: Casen Roark '25

Last month, Casen won his 4th state wrestling title, the second Father Ryan wrestler to reach this impressive achievement. In the fall, Casen, a two-time National Prep All-Star, takes his steady approach to each match to West Virginia University where he will wrestle for the Mountaineers. Casen cites the connections and friendships he has made as his favorite thing about Father Ryan outside of wrestling.

“My coaches have always taught me to take every match the same. I treated every state tournament as another ordinary match. At Father Ryan, I learned that perseverance and resiliency is a mental hump that you must overcome in not just wrestling but in life as well. My coaches and teammates have inspired me to become the best version of myself, and I think I inspire them to always take a positive approach to everything they face.”

Congratulations, Casen!

Finance Club

Aspiring Fashionistas

My First Bake Sale

Future MBAs

Stop Motion Art

Shining Stars

Register Today

Congratulations to the Newest Irish!

We are so excited to welcome new students and families to Father Ryan! Welcome boxes were mailed last week to the Class of 2029.

The application for fall 2026 enrollment opens on August 15, 2025. It’s never too early to visit. Go to fatherryan.org/admissions/visit to schedule your tour today.

What We're Reading

Irish Insights: A Parent's Perspective

For this month’s blog post, we talked to four Father Ryan families with a variety of reasons for choosing Father Ryan. Read their words about the difference being Irish is making for their students and for them.

Read the Blog

House Service Days

6 Houses. All Irish. That is our often-quoted slogan for our House System, but on February 11 for our annual House Service Day, it was 6 Houses. All for Nashville.

We continue our monthly Junior Irish book reviews with two titles worth checking out.

The Anxious Generation by Dr. Jonathan Haidt

Recommended by Francisco M. Espinosa, Jr., Principal

In this 2024 bestseller, Dr. Haidt examines contributing factors in the declining mental health trends for Generation Z. No surprise: Smartphones and social media top his list. His exploration of the consequences of what he calls a “phone-based” childhood vs. a “play-based” one is fascinating. It is also worth searching for what educators and others have to say about The Anxious Generation, including Bill Gates’s review of the book and how a “play-based” childhood shaped him.

Night by Elie Wiesel

Recommended by Louisa Bateman, Theology

"This book is a memoir of a 13year old boy who survived the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. This book teaches us about the power of resilience, family, and faith during hard times. I highly recommend Night for students and parents. It’s a relatively short read and would be a great book to read together and discuss as a family.”

Students, faculty, and staff enjoyed day-long House service activities. Elliston House traveled off-campus to deliver cans and funds raised during our House Canned Food Drive a week earlier. After four collection days, our Houses collected a total of 13,372 cans and $2,853 to support local service partners in the Nashville area.

Elliston also volunteered at several organizations, including By Faith Farm, St. Vincent de Paul, Ladies of Charity, Catholic Charities, Heart of Mary House, and Thistle Farms. Members of Emerald, Immaculata, Norwood, Oak, and Trinity remained on campus to make blankets for Hands on Nashville. Students also listened to guest speaker Laura Stack, who founded Johnny’s Ambassadors, a nonprofit educating parents and teens about the dangers of today’s high-THC marijuana on adolescent brain development, mental illness, and suicide.