By Juan Carlos Ramirez ‘18
The ROUNDUP
The Xavier Fashion Show is the largest scholarship fundraising event held by Xavier’s Mother’s Guild.
Although this Xavier event is for the Xavier seniors, Brophy seniors are invited to participate with the Xavier students.
Mrs. Martha Chung and Mrs. Michelle Zachar are the co-chairs of the Mother’s Guild and overseers of the Xavier Fashion Show.
Both women describe the Xavier Fashion Show as an opportunity for students to have fun while serving a good cause.
Mrs. Chung said that it was important to note that 42 percent of Xavier students receive some type of financial aid, which makes this event imperative.
“We feel like we are not only doing this for our seniors but also for future students that wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Mrs. Chung said.
Mrs. Zachar said that this event took her over a year to plan, which elaborates on the magnitude of the event.
Both Mrs. Zachar and Mrs. Chung said that the Xavier Fashion Show is more of a show than fashion oriented, which is different from Brophy’s Fashion Show.
“Our fashion show is very different from Brophy,” Mrs. Chung said. “Even though it is called a fashion show, the focus is not on fashion or designer. It is not a retailer. The focus for us is on our seniors. We buy our own clothes from many different areas and many different stores for the performance numbers.”
Both said that the seniors will be able to keep the costumes after performance, which is different from Brophy’s Fashion Show.
Mrs. Zachar said that the reason why they invite Brophy seniors to participate in this fashion show is because they provide a versatility and play a specific role in the choreography that is only appropriate for males to do.
“The girls can do a lot, but they can’t do the dances with the boys when they’re swinging each other around and that kind of stuff,” Mrs. Zachar said.
Mrs. Chung said that they also want to be inclusive of their whole community, which includes the Brophy students.
“For us, we have found out that inviting the Brophy boys adds to the fun of the event,” Mrs. Chung said. “The Brophy boys are amazing. They bring great attitude. The girls enjoy it more … We want to be inclusive of our community, and a lot of our moms that are of Xavier are also moms at Brophy.”
Mrs. Chung added that there are 60 Brophy students that are participating in this year’s fashion show.
Andres Navas ’18 said the reason why he joined the fashion show was because he saw it as the last time that the Xavier and Brophy seniors would be in a big group for an event like this.
“I thought it would be a lot of fun to make some nice memories with them before we leave and all head off to college,” Navas said.
Justin Pasionek ’18 said that he participated in the Xavier fashion show because he was unable to participate in the Brophy fashion show.
He added that there are more Brophy guys than he expected.
“There are much more than I expected,” Pasionek said. “It’s probably half and half, actually.”
Mrs. Zachar said that they have professional choreography from Mrs. Cristina Najarn and Ms. Taylor VanArsdall who both work at Xavier.
Ms. VanArsdall works as the head of the spiritline and Mrs. Najarn as an English teacher and director of theatre.
Navas said that he enjoys the practices and the choreography.
“I think it is just a lot of fun to be honest,” Navas said. “The moms are pretty nice. They want us to do well, I think it’s still pretty relaxed and laid back.”
Pasionek said that the main component that makes the Xavier Fashion Show fun is the dance.
“It’s definitely enjoyable because I know for the Brophy Fashion Show they didn’t have practices,” Pasionek said. “One of the main components for the Xavier Fashion Show is actually a dance that we all participate in, so that is a pretty fun experience.”
Mrs. Zacher said that she encourages juniors to participate in this event when they are able to.
“I certainly believe that the juniors have heard about this event,” Mrs. Zachar said. “This is one of the last three awesome events that you will be part of with your friends at school.”
Mrs. Chung said that the Brophy students are indirectly helping the future Xavier students.
“You are helping us raise money for scholarships, which is also very important,” Mrs. Chung said. “So there is a good cause at the end of this, which is you are helping change a girl’s life for the future.”