Throughout the day, students may pass senior Jake Gerlikovski and junior Vince Hribernik in the hallway. Little do they know these boys have put in so much work for fun school events for the student body.

For the past few years, Gerlikovski and Hribernik have been helping with Mr. NDA among many other projects at Notre Dame.

During his sophomore year, Gerlikovski got involved with the technology in the auditorium by running the lighting for all-school Masses.  Hribernik, a freshman at the time, first had experience with  auditorium work with English teacher Mrs. Carolyn Brown and then filmed the annual St. Baldrick’s event.

They also work the sounding and lights for the fall play and musical.  Currently, the boys are doing sound design for the musical, Beauty and the Beast, by putting microphones on the performers and placing microphones in the pit orchestra.

Gerlikovski and Hribernik agreed that Mr. NDA is their favorite project of the year.

“We get to create beautiful lighting designs along with helping the contestants form their intros and talents. We enjoy working together at night during rehearsals and practices,” Hribernik said.

The duo says the job can get stressful when things are not organized. They like to be prepared when going into a job.

“It’s like working with adults.They are so professional. Both of them are phenomenal. Jake is very organized, and Vince is a genius. He is always willing to help anyone. They make the job so much less stressful,” Mrs. Julie Campbell said about her experience working with them for Mr. NDA.

Students also see Gerlikovski dj-ing the school dances with his company JD>DJ. The name stands for his name,  Jake Daniel DJ. The greater than symbol resembles a play button on a CD player.

Gerlikovski first got involved with music at an early age.

” I received my first ‘dj light’ in grade school. After that, the lights continued. Years went by and I began collecting lights. I purchased my first professional light in 6th grade,” Gerlikovski said.

His first gig was a family barbecue the same year. From there, he began to work more parties and slowly started to collect money and put it towards more professional equipment.

Gerlikovski has three employees to help him at events, including Hribernik and also seniors Nick Williams and Jake Sproat. They will usually have two employees at each event, and three for larger gigs.

Gerlikovski has been hired to work other schools’ dances, class reunions, weddings, and block parties. Hribernik and he put in a lot of work outside of school that most students do not see.

Gerlikovski also stated that he would not be where he is today without the help of his father. He taught him the basics of how sound works and how to get a crowd up and dancing. Before he had his license, his dad would drive him to a gig, help him set up, and stay around until it was over.

“My dad would spend his Friday and Saturday nights helping me achieve my dream. I do not thank him enough for what he did with all the help and advice he has given me,” Gerlikovski said.

Next year, Gerlikovski plans to attend UW-GB and major in Design Tech, while continuing to help out Notre Dame with productions.