August 25, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode, we welcome Student Government President Brendan Ortbals and Senior Class President Jack McShane for a conversation about the unique brotherhood that defines Rockhurst High School. They share insights on the traditions, values, and connections that shape the student body, and reflect on how the Freshman Experience sets the tone for four years of growth, camaraderie, and leadership.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Rock Talk, the official podcast of
Rockhurst High School in KansasCity, Missouri, where we explore
the voices, values and vibrantlife of our Jesuit college prep
community, Hosted by theadmissions and marketing team.
Each episode featuresconversations with students,
faculty alumni and specialguests, as we share stories of
(00:20):
academic excellence, faithformation, brotherhood and
service.
Whether you're a prospectivefamily, a proud alumnus or
simply curious about what makesRockhurst unique, this is your
inside look at life at the Rock,and I'm your host, Steve Redman
, Class of 2004, Director ofAdmissions and Marketing, and
(00:44):
I'm here with my co-host, who isalso a Director of Admissions
and Marketing, Beth Van Dyke,and today we got Brennan
Ortballs and Jack McShane.
Welcome to the podcast, fellas.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah, happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, we're excited to have you.
We're excited to kick off thisnew venture at Rockhurst High
School, where we are telling ourstory and doing our best to
highlight what we have going onhere, from the great students we
have, faculty staff and justthe work that we do.
So why don't you talk to us alittle bit about who you are in
(01:25):
terms of your history, grade,all of that kind of stuff, and
what you're looking forward tothis year?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
All right.
Well, my name is Brendan Orpalsand I came to Rockhurst in 2022
from St Peter's Catholic Schoolin Brookside, and so at
Rockhurst, the last three years,I've played soccer.
I've been involved in manydifferent clubs, like Stress
Busters, which help studentsfreshmen in particular get ready
for finals and kind of makesure that they have a nice
smooth transition into that time.
(01:53):
I've also been involved in theFreshman Retreat Court Team,
where we plan that special dayfor freshmen and then, as well
as the Rock Collection, aliterary collection of poems,
art, short films, a bunch ofother cool things that showcase
the artwork of students acrossschool, and I will be the editor
on that next year.
And, most importantly, myfavorite thing I've ever done at
Rockhurst is on studentgovernment, and this is my
(02:15):
fourth year this year.
I am the student body president.
In the last couple years I wasour class president and then a
rep for that, but it's truly oneof the greatest things I've
done.
So that's a little bit about me.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah, like Mr Redman said, my name is Jack McShane.
I'm also St Peter's kid.
Came in here at the same timewith Brendan Past.
Three years I've been a memberof SGA.
I've been a rep all three yearsand then this year I decided to
take that next step and now I'mthe senior class president.
I'm really looking forward andexcited about that.
I've also been a part of thebasketball team for the last
(02:47):
three years and then for alittle while, fresh from here, I
was a member of the culinaryclub, had a short little stint,
great club.
Yeah, we have a lot of funthere.
And yeah, this year I'm reallyjust excited to you know,
welcome these new guys coming in.
Keep our energy high and try tomaintain that throughout the
rest of the year, into thespring, into the end of the year
(03:08):
.
Just really enjoy my senioryear.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, exactly, that's all.
It's about making it the bestspring.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Great.
With that in mind, guys, whatare some of your goals this year
for student government?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, so one of the biggest things about student
government that we're trying tochange bring is increase in
energy and an increase of spirit.
I want to make sure studentsknow as much of what's going on,
as many opportunities as thereare for them here at rockhurst,
and make that accessible.
So you know, we're going to beintroducing these monday morning
videos every monday wherestudents are going to get a
(03:41):
student government ran broadcastand a film the week prior and
it's going to tell them thethemes for the football games,
telling them what the spiritdays are.
They might be dressed up Ifit's the Braveheart game where
you're wearing the STA or theScions, skirts, and then you're
painted in blue.
We're going to have someone walkon camera with his face painted
blue and his whole body isgoing to be all ready.
Our goal is to try and givestudents the news in a more fun
(04:02):
and exciting way, so definitelysharing everyone, telling
everyone what's going on in thebest, most rockers way possible
and, at the same time, makingsure we're able to advocate and
support all the clubs andexperience the rockers and make
as much change Like last year wechanged the shorts, we brought
back the Spirit Point Contest,so every year we're just trying
to keep bringing the energy andmaking everyone have that
(04:25):
Rockhurst experience.
That's just so incredible.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Love it, love it.
What about you, jack?
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, like Brendan said, spirit and energy is a big
thing.
I always think we start outevery year with phenomenal
energy.
That very first football gamethat Friday is always just a
great time.
Home or away game, guys willshow up.
That pep rally is always great.
You can really feel the energyin the halls.
And something I've noticed mylast three years is kind of as
we get out of the fall and gointo like the winter and the
(04:52):
spring, it kind of fizzles out alittle bit, and so one of our
goals that we've been reallytrying to work on this year is
we're trying to keep that energyalive throughout the rest of
the year.
So that's more.
You know engagement, onlinesocial media, getting guys more
aware of events that arehappening in those winter and
spring seasons, not just forsports.
(05:13):
You know anything.
If we've got a play going on,you know we want guys, we want
to pack the rose.
You know Band concert, choirconcert.
You know we want people there.
And then you know just also abig thing has just been getting
guys to stay at football games.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
So you know that's been an issue that we've been
having to deal with.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
But so we had a lot of improvement last year.
I think it was a lot ofBrendan's ideas, you know,
getting halftime events, gettingguys like reasons to stay in
their seats, you know.
You know we had a field goalkick in.
Michael Schramm did that lastyear uh we had a beanbag race
and that was a lot of fun.
That was really really welldone.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Little mention here.
Jack and I were the sameleaders for freshman retreat,
and ours won the yeah, they did.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
They won the halftime show.
Our kids did win that.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, that's cool, that's cool and our friend
brennan, who's just in theaudience.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, yeah, we got a a lot of name droppers here, so
I got a question for you guys,because this is the one thing
that I was always reallyimpressed by being here, and I
was a relatively mellow dude.
I was an athlete, I didfootball, basketball and track
but there's this overarchingtheme of tradition at Rockhurst.
(06:22):
You know whether it's, and Idon't know if y'all still do
this probably, but like Iremember the first time we had
to do the cheer as freshmen andwe didn't know what it was.
So they called everybody outand then we were just like, uh,
I don't know what to say, butwe're just going to scream
really loud Um, what is one ofyour favorite traditions, right,
(06:43):
especially as seniors?
You've been around four years.
You've seen just abouteverything there is to see
what's one of your favoritetraditions that you have at
Rockhurst.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Gosh, I mean there's so many.
But I mean I think that one ofthe things that always stuck
with me, the energy of thatfreshman retreat and you got the
football game later that nightand if it'sheart and I know I
keep going back to braveheart,but I I just got to tell you
there's an energy of when you'rewith all your brothers and
(07:14):
you're getting painted blue andyou're in and you're in the
skirt that doesn't belong to youand you're just, you're
standing up, you're at the topof the mackie field and you've
got the drumline and you've gotthe bagpipers, you've got like
that rich tradition, and thenyou have someone give the
Braveheart speech.
You just feel like you're insomething bigger than yourself
and for me that's just it makesme realize like Rockhurst is 116
(07:38):
years old now.
That is something.
That, or 100, gonna be 116.
It's just that you feel likeyou're in something much bigger
than yourself.
And so when you get to thatgame, yeah, what about you, Jack
?
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah, like Brendan was saying, that freshman
retreat a different momentreally sticks out for me with
that and that's going to be atthat very first, right after
mass.
You know it's real quiet and youknow they're going through the
schedule of the day and you knowwe put things out there and
it's okay.
We have 9 am, we're going to goand we're going to have a one
hour prayer, you know service,and then later in the day it's
(08:13):
going to be prayer reflectionand you know obviously those
things are important but that'snot really how you get kids
interested and really impactedand they're going to participate
into the day and then we turnall the lights off and then we
get the you know the strobelights going and everybody, all
the leaders, run in and kind ofget the energy back up.
(08:33):
I can remember sitting in that,uh, in the Rose Theater as a
freshman just wondering you knowwhat the heck's going on Like.
This is not at all really whatI was expecting from the day,
and then that turned out to beone of.
You know I would mark it as oneof the most impactful days for
me as a rockers person, likeBrendan said.
Just, you know, kind of cominginto one as a thing that's
bigger than yourself.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
That's really, I think, the first day where it's
like okay, you know, thesearen't just my classmates, these
are my brothers a lot and it'sthe harvest food drive and I
know that's been going on for awhile and it's the one of the
reasons like this traditionmeans so much to me is because
it's you coming together withyour classmates, raise money for
(09:13):
people, raise, like, as manycans as possible for people that
you know need it and go to thefood banks.
And we had an incredible recordthe junior class.
This year or last year, when wewere juniors, we raised I think
it was 20,000, not 20.
We had 12,000 pounds of cans,like the school total was close
to 40, like that 40,000.
I mean, that's just to me, thatwas something that was so cool
(09:35):
because you get to, you've seenvideos and pictures and like you
learn, you want to contributeto that tradition and just make
it better, and so for me thatwas something like getting to
get together and make somethingeven better and that was just a
tradition.
I think that's really powerful.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Yeah, and then with Harvest Food Drive Brandon can
attest to this.
That was our very first sort ofproject when we came on to SJ
that whole week we came intooffice freshman year as reps
that Wednesday, so we had threedays really to kind of organize
and get cans and that was kindof a whirlwind couple of days.
(10:11):
You know.
We were going to all theseacross the city buying out all
of their cans.
I remember we had a couple ofkids got their parents to give
us very, very generous donations.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
That's my Venmo.
That was crazy.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Yeah, but that was just one thing and it was kind
of like that's a great tradition, like Brendan was saying, like
right in that fall, just to kindof get kids to see.
You know this is what Rockhurstis really about.
You know we're a men for others, you know we're a community
that gives back.
And it's also a fun competitionbecause you know we like to win
(10:45):
and we win pretty often.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Hey, on that note, guys, you've segued perfect into
kind of what we're here to talkabout.
You talked a little bit aboutBrotherhood already.
I look forward to hearing moreabout that in a minute.
But specifically when it comesto the freshman experience,
that's a, like you said, jack,it's kind of a jarring
experience.
You're coming into a class thatcomes from at least 66
(11:10):
different zip codes, 65different feeder schools.
So what are some of the growingpains or maybe those
experiences that you experiencedas a freshman that were maybe a
little bit more difficult, andwho kind of did you go to for
advice on on how to move forward?
You know faculty staff,students who helped you through
that?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
You know, coming into high school, obviously, like
you know, coming from me andBrendan, we're at St Peter's, 45
kids in our class, whereas whenwe came into Rockhurst we were
225.
So that's five times as much.
So the biggest reallyadjustment, for me at least, was
kind of relearning how to putmyself out there.
You know these are whereas Iwas at school with, you know,
(11:54):
the same kids for nine years.
Now I have to, you know, kindof meet new people and re like
kind of create new relationships, and so that was kind of hard
for me at first.
That was kind of an adjustment,but not really someone that I
would go to for verbal advice,but I would just kind of hard
for me at first.
That was kind of an adjustment,but not really someone that I
would go to for verbal advice,but I would just kind of watch
kids that I knew in older grades.
You know I had goodrelationships with kids in the
(12:15):
class of 2024, just because ofolder brothers and stuff like
that, afraid to, you know, dowhat they liked and, you know,
interact with whoever they could, you know, find a new friend,
and so that really helped me.
I kind of realized like, oh, Ican be, you know, my true self,
like I can really put myself outthere and like I'm not going to
(12:36):
be, you know, shunned or madefun of.
You know I'm going to becelebrated honestly and I think
that's what's so great about ourcommunity is Mr Darby says it
every single year to thefreshmen at Rockhurst it's cool
to be good at things and it'scool to like be passionate about
the things that you're good at,and so I'd say, probably by
Christmas break my freshman year, I was really comfortable and,
(12:57):
you know, being able to putmyself out there with all my
classmates.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Yeah.
So, coming from a very similarexperience to Jack saying we
came from the same grade schoolI will say I did have a little
bit different of an experienceonce we got into Rocker.
So I played soccer here and soI was on the freshman team and
so we had practices at 6.15 amevery morning for two and a half
months and that was a lot ofbonding time with guys, but at
the same time I kind of clung tothe guys I came in with.
(13:23):
I I kind of clung to the guys Icame in with.
Like I was a little bit likewait, it's safe to be with these
guys I came with, but thoseweren't really the guys I'd
maybe really hang out with toomuch when I was back in grade
school.
So I'm like I should find mypeople at Rockers, and so you
know, I talked around trying tomeet some new guys.
But you know just, I was toomuch in my own head, and that
(13:43):
was something that I really hadto work on, because when you're
in your head too much somethingI do a lot it becomes hard to,
you know, realize what you wantand realize what's actually in
front of you, what's actuallyreal, and so I had to get over
that and I did like I met a lotof guys, I talked to a lot of
people.
I mean on student government Iwas in different positions with
different people and got to youknow, see how other people
(14:03):
worked and just it became a lotmore of me putting myself in new
environments.
That got me out of my comfortzone and so definitely by
playing soccer, being in studentgovernment and doing all those
other things got me out theremore.
But I will say I didn'tprobably feel too like settled
until the end of my freshmanyear and that's okay.
Some guys I mean maybe it wasn'tthe sophomore that I felt
entirely comfortable.
(14:24):
That's when the brotherhood, inmy opinion, is the, it feels
super comfortable Because whenyou're in sophomore year you're
down your belt, you know allthese guys are coming in and you
feel comfortable Because I meanwhen you transition from such a
big change in your life, I meanit's normal to feel scared and
not feel super set yet.
But I mean for me I just had totrust the process and I'm to
(14:48):
trust the process and I'm reallyglad I did because I mean I
wouldn't have it any other way.
So I just putting myself outthere and organizing my I I had
an older sister who went tosaint teresa's so she knew all
the guys in the senior class atrockford so they all knew me and
then they made it kind of easyso you know, they would come up
and say hi to me or like one.
I remember I was in the learningand it was dressed up in a
halloween costume so I had,let's say so that's the summer
(15:09):
top gun came out right, top gunmaverick love that movie and I
was.
I wore my top gun maverickcostume from seventh grade and
one of her friends came up me.
He was wearing the exact samecostume.
We took a picture and so it waskind of nice having like the
nice of having other older guyslike come up be friends with you
, like that.
So I think for me it was.
It was different, like that.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That's cool and it's funny hearing, you know, young
guys talk about this, cause youknow, when I was a freshman it
was really it wasn't a differentexperience, but it was
obviously innately differentCause it's a completely
different time.
You know, going was completelydifferent time.
You know, going up or growing upin a parochial you know, league
, if you will you know I wascoming in and I was going to
(15:53):
school with guys that I mean Iwon't go into it on the airways,
but our time in the parochialleague was a little chaotic.
Me and my cousin were playingand you know we would be beating
up on teams and basketballs andwhat appeared to be guys who
didn't like me very much.
Now I got to go to school withthem.
It was like, oh, I don't knowhow this is going to go, and
(16:17):
then just having sports as abuffer, having, you know, this
environment in general, thatforced us to get out of our
comfort zone.
Some of those guys.
You know one of my good friendshe just got inducted into the
Hall of Fame Jeff Coons, who wasin my class right.
Like he was a, I believe he wentto presentation.
(16:37):
So, like you know, nemesis upuntil high school and then we
ended up playing together for along time.
So let me ask you this, tyinginto that when you're thinking
about incoming freshmen, whichyou guys will be seeing here in
a couple weeks, and thenprospective students, what is
one piece of advice that youwould give an incoming freshman,
(17:01):
or your freshman self as asenior?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I've got a lot of advice for them, for younger
Brendan.
Okay, what I would say is Iknow a lot of guys do this just
don't sit on your phone, like ifyou're gonna be at lunch.
Don't just like go in thecorner and sit on your phone.
Don't just pull up the ipad togame on it.
Like have that experience, likemeet people, talk to people
like I didn't really stick to myphone too much, but it was
always kind of like, like ifsomething happens.
(17:29):
So I think for for me it'sdefinitely like you're going to
seem, it's going to seem likeevery like you're going to be,
like you're internally a littlelike oh no, these guys are too
cool.
Like I remember I playedbasketball against our current
student body vice president,henry Coppinger.
I went down for a breakawaylayup.
I shot it and he swatted medown behind, thought that guy
was going to be like I was.
(17:50):
I was like, oh, he's too cool,he's going to be and we're like
we work so well together now.
So I definitely think like,don't let your like, don't be
too scared, just kind of let theRockers experience happen.
So I think kind of just don'tassume things, just go in with
an open mind is probably thebiggest one.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Yeah, I've definitely , like you were saying, being
the parochial league, there'sdefinitely rivalries that come
out.
You know, being a St Peter'sguy, we always wanted to be
visitation and so it was reallylike I had, through club
basketball and stuff.
I knew some of those kids and,you know, I knew they were great
guys, nice guys.
But I always thought thateveryone else that I didn't know
(18:28):
I thought, oh, you know,they're just, they're those
cocky kids that are just supergood athletes, they're better
than us.
Therefore they must be badpeople.
And so I kind of kept thoseprejudices and prejudgments in
the back of my head going intofreshman year.
And then I can remember PierceFisher was a guy that he would
(18:48):
always beat up on us in footballbasketball and I thought that
kid, there's no way he's goingto be a nice guy.
And I can remember freshmanfootball, the very first day we
had our lifting and then we hadour speed work on the field and
I ran next to him and I juststarted talking to him and I'm
like wait, this guy's super nice.
(19:09):
He's.
You know, pierce is a great guy.
And so definitely something thatI would tell my freshman self
and definitely the incomingfreshman is like give everybody
a chance.
You know everybody you knowdeserves your respect, deserves,
you know, the benefit of thedoubt and you know, just if
you're thinking someone mightnot be a great person, you know
just give them a chance.
You know go up and talk to them.
You know see what they're allabout.
(19:30):
And then also, you know, don'tjudge people based off.
If they're better than you atsomething, understand they want
it just as bad as you do.
They're in the same boat as you.
So just try to be as friendlyas possible and just try to not
have your prejudices, I guess.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
I think it's kind of cool that you brought up Coach
Darby said to you guys aboutthis place kind of where we
celebrate excellence in a waythat isn't necessarily
competitive you know, it's notlike you have to be the best to
beat out everyone but we kind ofcelebrate each other's
excellence and we strive forthat as a community.
So I think both of your advicegreat and hopefully our incoming
(20:16):
freshmen will take heed that.
That advice so kind of turningthe tables a little bit.
You know so much of the workthat mr redmond and I do here at
rockers really focuses onclearly making sure boys take a
look at rockers and see if it'sthe right kind of place for them
.
But another huge audience wespeak to is prospective parents,
right, and so if you were askedby a prospective parent, what
(20:39):
is the number one reason theyshould send a Rockhurst?
What do you think that would bein your opinion?
Speaker 3 (20:45):
You know the basic answer is the brotherhood.
We're a great academicinstitution, a lot of history
here, but those are very surfacelevel kind of answers and so I
think, going deeper it's,there's a place for everyone
here.
Like you don't have to be youknow we've been talking a lot
about sports, that just happensto be you know the world that
we're in.
You don't have to just be anathlete to find your place here.
(21:06):
You know we have amazingtheater program, amazing choir
program, band, our conservationclub is amazing.
We have a room we call it thezoo, and so just the biggest
thing that I would tell a parentis like, if you're worried of
your son, you know kind of notbeing able to find this place at
a school that he's at right nowor maybe looking at, you know
Rockhurst is the place, I think,where people can find
(21:29):
themselves and find their peopleand their community.
Like you can just walk inthrough the Learning Commons
during activity period you cantell like there's so much
diversity of interest and youknow people, friend groups, and
then even intermixing betweenthose groups people can find
like that common, you know themeof.
You know we go to here together.
(21:50):
You know we're classmates,we're brothers and so I just
think the biggest like thing isyou're never going to be alone
here, really like there's alwaysgoing to be people you know
there for you, and there's goingto be people who you know have
the same goals, interests as you, so you'll be really be able to
find yourself here yeah, Ithink the one thing that parents
(22:10):
think about is the kind of mantheir son is going to turn,
because the big thing aboutRockhurst is you've got all
these incredible resourcesprograms, but the thing that
matters most is who you are whenyou graduate.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
That is Rockhurst.
They want to see you become anincredible man by the time.
That lives up all the gratitude.
And I can't tell you how muchgrowth I've had on this podcast
since freshman.
I mean the amount of justputting myself out of my comfort
zone, learning what I like,learning how to study better,
(22:48):
learning how to connect withpeople, just finding out what I
truly want to do.
I mean it's been incredible.
And then giving me theresources to practice my skills
and dive deeper into my talentshas been something incredible.
And Rocker's is not short ofanything.
I remember Rocker's didn't havethis Monday morning news
(23:11):
broadcast thing.
I simply said I want to startdoing this.
I met with teachers Boom, it'shappening, and so it's a magical
place.
I've said this so many times.
You have no idea what happenswhen you walk in these doors.
You're here, there's somethingin the air.
I was here working for studentgovernment last Monday.
I met alumni who were fundingfilm programs all over the
(23:31):
country.
There's something in the air.
I was here working with forstudent government last monday.
I met alumni who were fundingfilm programs all over the
country.
I met with five differentteachers and bounced a bunch of
different ideas off with themand just had this incredible
moment where I'm like we werealmost going to do this on a
zoom call and we're like wedidn't, because there's
something magical about when youstep in here, just you.
(23:53):
So many opportunities arise andit's just the kind of person
that you're able to become isjust incredible.
Like I said, I can't describeit because you just have to
experience it for yourself.
I looked at all the schools.
My mom made me look at everyschool that was in the round
here.
She is a very logical and veryshe knows she she's a very smart
woman.
I'll give my mom credit and soshe made me look at all these
(24:13):
schools and so.
But by the end of it, we bothknew that Rockhurst was the
place for me and now she's she'svery happy with that decision
Great.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Guys, thank you so much for joining us today and
taking time out of your lastmoments of summer break to talk
to us a little bit more aboutyour hopes and dreams here.
So again, this Jack McShane andBrendan Artworkballs our
dynamic duo that's going to beleading our SGA and also in our
audience today.
We'd be remiss if we didn'tmention we've got some other SGA
(24:45):
folks that are watching usrecord the podcast in support of
their brothers, so thatbrotherhood is present even in
this room right now.
Looking forward to our nextepisode, we are going to have
Chris Bosco, our Dean ofStudents for Student Life, come
in and talk a little bit moreabout our CURA program.
Our CURA program is a programdesigned to help boys
(25:07):
transitioning from middle schoolinto high school do the best
they can.
So both these guys, I know, areproud Cura graduates, whether
they liked it as a freshman ornot Loved every second of it,
yeah, but they are a true signof the importance of formation
moments like that, where wereally take the time to make
sure that our incoming Hockletshave a great year and a great
(25:30):
experience.
So we look forward to welcomingMr Bosco next week, and, from
Steve and I, we'd like to thankyou for listening today and look
forward to seeing you soon.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Rock State.
Rock State.
Welcome to Rock Talk, the official podcast of
Rockhurst High School in KansasCity, Missouri, where we explore
the voices, values and vibrantlife of our Jesuit college prep
community, Hosted by theadmissions and marketing team.
Each episode featuresconversations with students,
faculty alumni and specialguests, as we share stories of
(00:20):
academic excellence, faithformation, brotherhood and
service.
Whether you're a prospectivefamily, a proud alumnus or
simply curious about what makesRockhurst unique, this is your
inside look at life at the Rock,and I'm your host, Steve Redman
, Class of 2004, Director ofAdmissions and Marketing, and
(00:44):
I'm here with my co-host, who isalso a Director of Admissions
and Marketing, Beth Van Dyke,and today we got Brennan
Ortballs and Jack McShane.
Welcome to the podcast, fellas.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah, happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, we're excited to have you.
We're excited to kick off thisnew venture at Rockhurst High
School, where we are telling ourstory and doing our best to
highlight what we have going onhere, from the great students we
have, faculty staff and justthe work that we do.
So why don't you talk to us alittle bit about who you are in
(01:25):
terms of your history, grade,all of that kind of stuff, and
what you're looking forward tothis year?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
All right.
Well, my name is Brendan Orpalsand I came to Rockhurst in 2022
from St Peter's Catholic Schoolin Brookside, and so at
Rockhurst, the last three years,I've played soccer.
I've been involved in manydifferent clubs, like Stress
Busters, which help studentsfreshmen in particular get ready
for finals and kind of makesure that they have a nice
smooth transition into that time.
(01:53):
I've also been involved in theFreshman Retreat Court Team,
where we plan that special dayfor freshmen and then, as well
as the Rock Collection, aliterary collection of poems,
art, short films, a bunch ofother cool things that showcase
the artwork of students acrossschool, and I will be the editor
on that next year.
And, most importantly, myfavorite thing I've ever done at
Rockhurst is on studentgovernment, and this is my
(02:15):
fourth year this year.
I am the student body president.
In the last couple years I wasour class president and then a
rep for that, but it's truly oneof the greatest things I've
done.
So that's a little bit about me.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah, like Mr Redman said, my name is Jack McShane.
I'm also St Peter's kid.
Came in here at the same timewith Brendan Past.
Three years I've been a memberof SGA.
I've been a rep all three yearsand then this year I decided to
take that next step and now I'mthe senior class president.
I'm really looking forward andexcited about that.
I've also been a part of thebasketball team for the last
(02:47):
three years and then for alittle while, fresh from here, I
was a member of the culinaryclub, had a short little stint,
great club.
Yeah, we have a lot of funthere.
And yeah, this year I'm reallyjust excited to you know,
welcome these new guys coming in.
Keep our energy high and try tomaintain that throughout the
rest of the year, into thespring, into the end of the year
(03:08):
.
Just really enjoy my senioryear.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, exactly, that's all.
It's about making it the bestspring.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Great.
With that in mind, guys, whatare some of your goals this year
for student government?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, so one of the biggest things about student
government that we're trying tochange bring is increase in
energy and an increase of spirit.
I want to make sure studentsknow as much of what's going on,
as many opportunities as thereare for them here at rockhurst,
and make that accessible.
So you know, we're going to beintroducing these monday morning
videos every monday wherestudents are going to get a
(03:41):
student government ran broadcastand a film the week prior and
it's going to tell them thethemes for the football games,
telling them what the spiritdays are.
They might be dressed up Ifit's the Braveheart game where
you're wearing the STA or theScions, skirts, and then you're
painted in blue.
We're going to have someone walkon camera with his face painted
blue and his whole body isgoing to be all ready.
Our goal is to try and givestudents the news in a more fun
(04:02):
and exciting way, so definitelysharing everyone, telling
everyone what's going on in thebest, most rockers way possible
and, at the same time, makingsure we're able to advocate and
support all the clubs andexperience the rockers and make
as much change Like last year wechanged the shorts, we brought
back the Spirit Point Contest,so every year we're just trying
to keep bringing the energy andmaking everyone have that
(04:25):
Rockhurst experience.
That's just so incredible.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Love it, love it.
What about you, jack?
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, like Brendan said, spirit and energy is a big
thing.
I always think we start outevery year with phenomenal
energy.
That very first football gamethat Friday is always just a
great time.
Home or away game, guys willshow up.
That pep rally is always great.
You can really feel the energyin the halls.
And something I've noticed mylast three years is kind of as
we get out of the fall and gointo like the winter and the
(04:52):
spring, it kind of fizzles out alittle bit, and so one of our
goals that we've been reallytrying to work on this year is
we're trying to keep that energyalive throughout the rest of
the year.
So that's more.
You know engagement, onlinesocial media, getting guys more
aware of events that arehappening in those winter and
spring seasons, not just forsports.
(05:13):
You know anything.
If we've got a play going on,you know we want guys, we want
to pack the rose.
You know Band concert, choirconcert.
You know we want people there.
And then you know just also abig thing has just been getting
guys to stay at football games.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
So you know that's been an issue that we've been
having to deal with.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
But so we had a lot of improvement last year.
I think it was a lot ofBrendan's ideas, you know,
getting halftime events, gettingguys like reasons to stay in
their seats, you know.
You know we had a field goalkick in.
Michael Schramm did that lastyear uh we had a beanbag race
and that was a lot of fun.
That was really really welldone.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Little mention here.
Jack and I were the sameleaders for freshman retreat,
and ours won the yeah, they did.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
They won the halftime show.
Our kids did win that.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, that's cool, that's cool and our friend
brennan, who's just in theaudience.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Yeah, yeah, we got a a lot of name droppers here, so
I got a question for you guys,because this is the one thing
that I was always reallyimpressed by being here, and I
was a relatively mellow dude.
I was an athlete, I didfootball, basketball and track
but there's this overarchingtheme of tradition at Rockhurst.
(06:22):
You know whether it's, and Idon't know if y'all still do
this probably, but like Iremember the first time we had
to do the cheer as freshmen andwe didn't know what it was.
So they called everybody outand then we were just like, uh,
I don't know what to say, butwe're just going to scream
really loud Um, what is one ofyour favorite traditions, right,
(06:43):
especially as seniors?
You've been around four years.
You've seen just abouteverything there is to see
what's one of your favoritetraditions that you have at
Rockhurst.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Gosh, I mean there's so many.
But I mean I think that one ofthe things that always stuck
with me, the energy of thatfreshman retreat and you got the
football game later that nightand if it'sheart and I know I
keep going back to braveheart,but I I just got to tell you
there's an energy of when you'rewith all your brothers and
(07:14):
you're getting painted blue andyou're in and you're in the
skirt that doesn't belong to youand you're just, you're
standing up, you're at the topof the mackie field and you've
got the drumline and you've gotthe bagpipers, you've got like
that rich tradition, and thenyou have someone give the
Braveheart speech.
You just feel like you're insomething bigger than yourself
and for me that's just it makesme realize like Rockhurst is 116
(07:38):
years old now.
That is something.
That, or 100, gonna be 116.
It's just that you feel likeyou're in something much bigger
than yourself.
And so when you get to thatgame, yeah, what about you, Jack
?
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah, like Brendan was saying, that freshman
retreat a different momentreally sticks out for me with
that and that's going to be atthat very first, right after
mass.
You know it's real quiet and youknow they're going through the
schedule of the day and you knowwe put things out there and
it's okay.
We have 9 am, we're going to goand we're going to have a one
hour prayer, you know service,and then later in the day it's
(08:13):
going to be prayer reflectionand you know obviously those
things are important but that'snot really how you get kids
interested and really impactedand they're going to participate
into the day and then we turnall the lights off and then we
get the you know the strobelights going and everybody, all
the leaders, run in and kind ofget the energy back up.
(08:33):
I can remember sitting in that,uh, in the Rose Theater as a
freshman just wondering you knowwhat the heck's going on Like.
This is not at all really whatI was expecting from the day,
and then that turned out to beone of.
You know I would mark it as oneof the most impactful days for
me as a rockers person, likeBrendan said.
Just, you know, kind of cominginto one as a thing that's
bigger than yourself.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
That's really, I think, the first day where it's
like okay, you know, thesearen't just my classmates, these
are my brothers a lot and it'sthe harvest food drive and I
know that's been going on for awhile and it's the one of the
reasons like this traditionmeans so much to me is because
it's you coming together withyour classmates, raise money for
(09:13):
people, raise, like, as manycans as possible for people that
you know need it and go to thefood banks.
And we had an incredible recordthe junior class.
This year or last year, when wewere juniors, we raised I think
it was 20,000, not 20.
We had 12,000 pounds of cans,like the school total was close
to 40, like that 40,000.
I mean, that's just to me, thatwas something that was so cool
(09:35):
because you get to, you've seenvideos and pictures and like you
learn, you want to contributeto that tradition and just make
it better, and so for me thatwas something like getting to
get together and make somethingeven better and that was just a
tradition.
I think that's really powerful.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Yeah, and then with Harvest Food Drive Brandon can
attest to this.
That was our very first sort ofproject when we came on to SJ
that whole week we came intooffice freshman year as reps
that Wednesday, so we had threedays really to kind of organize
and get cans and that was kindof a whirlwind couple of days.
(10:11):
You know.
We were going to all theseacross the city buying out all
of their cans.
I remember we had a couple ofkids got their parents to give
us very, very generous donations.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
That's my Venmo.
That was crazy.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Yeah, but that was just one thing and it was kind
of like that's a great tradition, like Brendan was saying, like
right in that fall, just to kindof get kids to see.
You know this is what Rockhurstis really about.
You know we're a men for others, you know we're a community
that gives back.
And it's also a fun competitionbecause you know we like to win
(10:45):
and we win pretty often.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Hey, on that note, guys, you've segued perfect into
kind of what we're here to talkabout.
You talked a little bit aboutBrotherhood already.
I look forward to hearing moreabout that in a minute.
But specifically when it comesto the freshman experience,
that's a, like you said, jack,it's kind of a jarring
experience.
You're coming into a class thatcomes from at least 66
(11:10):
different zip codes, 65different feeder schools.
So what are some of the growingpains or maybe those
experiences that you experiencedas a freshman that were maybe a
little bit more difficult, andwho kind of did you go to for
advice on on how to move forward?
You know faculty staff,students who helped you through
that?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
You know, coming into high school, obviously, like
you know, coming from me andBrendan, we're at St Peter's, 45
kids in our class, whereas whenwe came into Rockhurst we were
225.
So that's five times as much.
So the biggest reallyadjustment, for me at least, was
kind of relearning how to putmyself out there.
You know these are whereas Iwas at school with, you know,
(11:54):
the same kids for nine years.
Now I have to, you know, kindof meet new people and re like
kind of create new relationships, and so that was kind of hard
for me at first.
That was kind of an adjustment,but not really someone that I
would go to for verbal advice,but I would just kind of hard
for me at first.
That was kind of an adjustment,but not really someone that I
would go to for verbal advice,but I would just kind of watch
kids that I knew in older grades.
You know I had goodrelationships with kids in the
(12:15):
class of 2024, just because ofolder brothers and stuff like
that, afraid to, you know, dowhat they liked and, you know,
interact with whoever they could, you know, find a new friend,
and so that really helped me.
I kind of realized like, oh, Ican be, you know, my true self,
like I can really put myself outthere and like I'm not going to
(12:36):
be, you know, shunned or madefun of.
You know I'm going to becelebrated honestly and I think
that's what's so great about ourcommunity is Mr Darby says it
every single year to thefreshmen at Rockhurst it's cool
to be good at things and it'scool to like be passionate about
the things that you're good at,and so I'd say, probably by
Christmas break my freshman year, I was really comfortable and,
(12:57):
you know, being able to putmyself out there with all my
classmates.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Yeah.
So, coming from a very similarexperience to Jack saying we
came from the same grade schoolI will say I did have a little
bit different of an experienceonce we got into Rocker.
So I played soccer here and soI was on the freshman team and
so we had practices at 6.15 amevery morning for two and a half
months and that was a lot ofbonding time with guys, but at
the same time I kind of clung tothe guys I came in with.
(13:23):
I I kind of clung to the guys Icame in with.
Like I was a little bit likewait, it's safe to be with these
guys I came with, but thoseweren't really the guys I'd
maybe really hang out with toomuch when I was back in grade
school.
So I'm like I should find mypeople at Rockers, and so you
know, I talked around trying tomeet some new guys.
But you know just, I was toomuch in my own head, and that
(13:43):
was something that I really hadto work on, because when you're
in your head too much somethingI do a lot it becomes hard to,
you know, realize what you wantand realize what's actually in
front of you, what's actuallyreal, and so I had to get over
that and I did like I met a lotof guys, I talked to a lot of
people.
I mean on student government Iwas in different positions with
different people and got to youknow, see how other people
(14:03):
worked and just it became a lotmore of me putting myself in new
environments.
That got me out of my comfortzone and so definitely by
playing soccer, being in studentgovernment and doing all those
other things got me out theremore.
But I will say I didn'tprobably feel too like settled
until the end of my freshmanyear and that's okay.
Some guys I mean maybe it wasn'tthe sophomore that I felt
entirely comfortable.
(14:24):
That's when the brotherhood, inmy opinion, is the, it feels
super comfortable Because whenyou're in sophomore year you're
down your belt, you know allthese guys are coming in and you
feel comfortable Because I meanwhen you transition from such a
big change in your life, I meanit's normal to feel scared and
not feel super set yet.
But I mean for me I just had totrust the process and I'm to
(14:48):
trust the process and I'm reallyglad I did because I mean I
wouldn't have it any other way.
So I just putting myself outthere and organizing my I I had
an older sister who went tosaint teresa's so she knew all
the guys in the senior class atrockford so they all knew me and
then they made it kind of easyso you know, they would come up
and say hi to me or like one.
I remember I was in the learningand it was dressed up in a
halloween costume so I had,let's say so that's the summer
(15:09):
top gun came out right, top gunmaverick love that movie and I
was.
I wore my top gun maverickcostume from seventh grade and
one of her friends came up me.
He was wearing the exact samecostume.
We took a picture and so it waskind of nice having like the
nice of having other older guyslike come up be friends with you
, like that.
So I think for me it was.
It was different, like that.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That's cool and it's funny hearing, you know, young
guys talk about this, cause youknow, when I was a freshman it
was really it wasn't a differentexperience, but it was
obviously innately differentCause it's a completely
different time.
You know, going was completelydifferent time.
You know, going up or growing upin a parochial you know, league
, if you will you know I wascoming in and I was going to
(15:53):
school with guys that I mean Iwon't go into it on the airways,
but our time in the parochialleague was a little chaotic.
Me and my cousin were playingand you know we would be beating
up on teams and basketballs andwhat appeared to be guys who
didn't like me very much.
Now I got to go to school withthem.
It was like, oh, I don't knowhow this is going to go, and
(16:17):
then just having sports as abuffer, having, you know, this
environment in general, thatforced us to get out of our
comfort zone.
Some of those guys.
You know one of my good friendshe just got inducted into the
Hall of Fame Jeff Coons, who wasin my class right.
Like he was a, I believe he wentto presentation.
(16:37):
So, like you know, nemesis upuntil high school and then we
ended up playing together for along time.
So let me ask you this, tyinginto that when you're thinking
about incoming freshmen, whichyou guys will be seeing here in
a couple weeks, and thenprospective students, what is
one piece of advice that youwould give an incoming freshman,
(17:01):
or your freshman self as asenior?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I've got a lot of advice for them, for younger
Brendan.
Okay, what I would say is Iknow a lot of guys do this just
don't sit on your phone, like ifyou're gonna be at lunch.
Don't just like go in thecorner and sit on your phone.
Don't just pull up the ipad togame on it.
Like have that experience, likemeet people, talk to people
like I didn't really stick to myphone too much, but it was
always kind of like, like ifsomething happens.
(17:29):
So I think for for me it'sdefinitely like you're going to
seem, it's going to seem likeevery like you're going to be,
like you're internally a littlelike oh no, these guys are too
cool.
Like I remember I playedbasketball against our current
student body vice president,henry Coppinger.
I went down for a breakawaylayup.
I shot it and he swatted medown behind, thought that guy
was going to be like I was.
(17:50):
I was like, oh, he's too cool,he's going to be and we're like
we work so well together now.
So I definitely think like,don't let your like, don't be
too scared, just kind of let theRockers experience happen.
So I think kind of just don'tassume things, just go in with
an open mind is probably thebiggest one.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
Yeah, I've definitely , like you were saying, being
the parochial league, there'sdefinitely rivalries that come
out.
You know, being a St Peter'sguy, we always wanted to be
visitation and so it was reallylike I had, through club
basketball and stuff.
I knew some of those kids and,you know, I knew they were great
guys, nice guys.
But I always thought thateveryone else that I didn't know
(18:28):
I thought, oh, you know,they're just, they're those
cocky kids that are just supergood athletes, they're better
than us.
Therefore they must be badpeople.
And so I kind of kept thoseprejudices and prejudgments in
the back of my head going intofreshman year.
And then I can remember PierceFisher was a guy that he would
(18:48):
always beat up on us in footballbasketball and I thought that
kid, there's no way he's goingto be a nice guy.
And I can remember freshmanfootball, the very first day we
had our lifting and then we hadour speed work on the field and
I ran next to him and I juststarted talking to him and I'm
like wait, this guy's super nice.
(19:09):
He's.
You know, pierce is a great guy.
And so definitely something thatI would tell my freshman self
and definitely the incomingfreshman is like give everybody
a chance.
You know everybody you knowdeserves your respect, deserves,
you know, the benefit of thedoubt and you know, just if
you're thinking someone mightnot be a great person, you know
just give them a chance.
You know go up and talk to them.
You know see what they're allabout.
(19:30):
And then also, you know, don'tjudge people based off.
If they're better than you atsomething, understand they want
it just as bad as you do.
They're in the same boat as you.
So just try to be as friendlyas possible and just try to not
have your prejudices, I guess.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
I think it's kind of cool that you brought up Coach
Darby said to you guys aboutthis place kind of where we
celebrate excellence in a waythat isn't necessarily
competitive you know, it's notlike you have to be the best to
beat out everyone but we kind ofcelebrate each other's
excellence and we strive forthat as a community.
So I think both of your advicegreat and hopefully our incoming
(20:16):
freshmen will take heed that.
That advice so kind of turningthe tables a little bit.
You know so much of the workthat mr redmond and I do here at
rockers really focuses onclearly making sure boys take a
look at rockers and see if it'sthe right kind of place for them
.
But another huge audience wespeak to is prospective parents,
right, and so if you were askedby a prospective parent, what
(20:39):
is the number one reason theyshould send a Rockhurst?
What do you think that would bein your opinion?
Speaker 3 (20:45):
You know the basic answer is the brotherhood.
We're a great academicinstitution, a lot of history
here, but those are very surfacelevel kind of answers and so I
think, going deeper it's,there's a place for everyone
here.
Like you don't have to be youknow we've been talking a lot
about sports, that just happensto be you know the world that
we're in.
You don't have to just be anathlete to find your place here.
(21:06):
You know we have amazingtheater program, amazing choir
program, band, our conservationclub is amazing.
We have a room we call it thezoo, and so just the biggest
thing that I would tell a parentis like, if you're worried of
your son, you know kind of notbeing able to find this place at
a school that he's at right nowor maybe looking at, you know
Rockhurst is the place, I think,where people can find
(21:29):
themselves and find their peopleand their community.
Like you can just walk inthrough the Learning Commons
during activity period you cantell like there's so much
diversity of interest and youknow people, friend groups, and
then even intermixing betweenthose groups people can find
like that common, you know themeof.
You know we go to here together.
(21:50):
You know we're classmates,we're brothers and so I just
think the biggest like thing isyou're never going to be alone
here, really like there's alwaysgoing to be people you know
there for you, and there's goingto be people who you know have
the same goals, interests as you, so you'll be really be able to
find yourself here yeah, Ithink the one thing that parents
(22:10):
think about is the kind of mantheir son is going to turn,
because the big thing aboutRockhurst is you've got all
these incredible resourcesprograms, but the thing that
matters most is who you are whenyou graduate.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
That is Rockhurst.
They want to see you become anincredible man by the time.
That lives up all the gratitude.
And I can't tell you how muchgrowth I've had on this podcast
since freshman.
I mean the amount of justputting myself out of my comfort
zone, learning what I like,learning how to study better,
(22:48):
learning how to connect withpeople, just finding out what I
truly want to do.
I mean it's been incredible.
And then giving me theresources to practice my skills
and dive deeper into my talentshas been something incredible.
And Rocker's is not short ofanything.
I remember Rocker's didn't havethis Monday morning news
(23:11):
broadcast thing.
I simply said I want to startdoing this.
I met with teachers Boom, it'shappening, and so it's a magical
place.
I've said this so many times.
You have no idea what happenswhen you walk in these doors.
You're here, there's somethingin the air.
I was here working for studentgovernment last Monday.
I met alumni who were fundingfilm programs all over the
(23:31):
country.
There's something in the air.
I was here working with forstudent government last monday.
I met alumni who were fundingfilm programs all over the
country.
I met with five differentteachers and bounced a bunch of
different ideas off with themand just had this incredible
moment where I'm like we werealmost going to do this on a
zoom call and we're like wedidn't, because there's
something magical about when youstep in here, just you.
(23:53):
So many opportunities arise andit's just the kind of person
that you're able to become isjust incredible.
Like I said, I can't describeit because you just have to
experience it for yourself.
I looked at all the schools.
My mom made me look at everyschool that was in the round
here.
She is a very logical and veryshe knows she she's a very smart
woman.
I'll give my mom credit and soshe made me look at all these
(24:13):
schools and so.
But by the end of it, we bothknew that Rockhurst was the
place for me and now she's she'svery happy with that decision
Great.
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Guys, thank you so much for joining us today and
taking time out of your lastmoments of summer break to talk
to us a little bit more aboutyour hopes and dreams here.
So again, this Jack McShane andBrendan Artworkballs our
dynamic duo that's going to beleading our SGA and also in our
audience today.
We'd be remiss if we didn'tmention we've got some other SGA
(24:45):
folks that are watching usrecord the podcast in support of
their brothers, so thatbrotherhood is present even in
this room right now.
Looking forward to our nextepisode, we are going to have
Chris Bosco, our Dean ofStudents for Student Life, come
in and talk a little bit moreabout our CURA program.
Our CURA program is a programdesigned to help boys
(25:07):
transitioning from middle schoolinto high school do the best
they can.
So both these guys, I know, areproud Cura graduates, whether
they liked it as a freshman ornot Loved every second of it,
yeah, but they are a true signof the importance of formation
moments like that, where wereally take the time to make
sure that our incoming Hockletshave a great year and a great
(25:30):
experience.
So we look forward to welcomingMr Bosco next week, and, from
Steve and I, we'd like to thankyou for listening today and look
forward to seeing you soon.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Rock State.
Rock State.
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