A lightsaber battle broke out during the first Star Wars movie night in honor of teacher, coach, and friend, James Forni, and his hard-fought battle with cancer. Friends and family gathered together for the first installment of the Star Wars movie nights held in the gym. The gym was filled with people laying on blankets and eating popcorn and ice cream from the Three Twins ice cream company. The event was free, and the ice cream was given to movie goers by donation, which encouraged people to give money despite the free ice cream. Junior Joseph Chavez attended and was eager to talk about the event.

    “I really enjoyed it because it was a cool way to commemorate Mr. Forni by doing something that he would have liked. I knew he was a big fan of [Star Wars] and he liked having the sense of family and the community being together,” said Chavez.

    Before the movie began, Principal Eric Backman read aloud a passage that was written by Mary Forni, Mr. Forni’s wife. Everyone in attendance sat in silence as Backman spoke kind words about Forni and about his meaning of the word, “vincero,” a mantra that echoes the halls on a regular basis. The word means “I will win” in Italian and held special meaning to the Forni family, including Forni himself. Students are seen sporting the “vincero” t-shirts every day; they not only wear them in honor of Forni, but also as a form of inspiration and motivation. Senior Max Bechtel speaks about the effect it had on him.

    “I thought that it was very inspiring in that if you’re ever going through something tough, it will inspire you to try and go find the best in it. See the good and the bad in everything,” said Bechtel.

    At the end of the night, over $500 was raised for the James Forni Memorial Scholarship; the scholarship will be given to one senior and one basketball player at the end of the year during the Senior Awards Night. Though Forni was a basketball coach, Bechtel reflects on Mr. Forni’s concern for education.

   “I think the scholarship is a perfect idea. I know Forni worked with kids if they were ever struggling; he would make sure that if a student was playing sports and his or her grades weren’t well enough to play, he would help them out. The scholarship reflects that and is still helping out kids going further in life,” said Bechtel.

   Chavez similarly remembers Forni’s special ability to enforce the important balance of education and athletics.

   “The scholarship is a nice way to commemorate him and it enforces what [Forni] would have wanted. He was big on doing things like excelling in school and not just athletics. I think the scholarship will last a while,” said Chavez.

    Forni’s legacy will continue to thrive through his basketball team and kindhearted words to students who have had him over the years. He truly touched everyone’s lives, and with every chant of the mantra “vincero,” a profound belief of determination and willfulness reverberates within every individual.