By Jakobi Lundy Bass Staff Writer
When people hear the word house they might think of a building where people live. In fact, the first entry in a dictionary might say that a house is a place where people live.
At Loyola High School, the word house means something else. A house is a group of students that work together as a whole. The house system includes each of the houses of students.
Loyola’s house system includes five houses. Each house is named after a past president or principal of Loyola High School. The houses are the House of Carron, the House of Evans, the House of Mastrangelo, the House of O’Reilly, and the House of Styles. Each house has colors. The colors of a student’s tie identify the house that he belongs to.
Loyola High School believes that the house system “builds a sense of tradition and loyalty to the school.”
In September students entering the ninth grade are assigned to a house with tenth eleventh, and twelfth graders that were inducted in their freshman year. That means that each house has a mix of students across the grade levels.
Loyola believes that organizing the house system this way “gives students a smaller group of peers to identify with, and spend time” that they might not otherwise.
The house system is meant to be fun too. Throughout the year, the houses participate in competitions that help them earn points to win the House Trophy.
Students can also earn points for their house with their grades. The house with the highest grade point average earns the most points. In addition, participating in the student senate, the Honor Society, and on a sports team earns points for a student’s house.
Each house has a house leader that is either alum and/or a staff member. The houses also elect a student that serves as House Prefect. The Prefect and one other student from each house make up the student senate.
One of the benefits of winning the House trophy is that the winning house is allowed one more ember on the student senate. That gives them the potential to have a controlling vote.
