Parents and Friends,

We returned to campus after a restful Easter break, poised to finish this year with the enthusiasm, recognition and emphasis on tradition that our students deserve. After a tremendous four years, the members of the Class of 2018 are getting ready to leave Jesuit and begin the next chapter of their lives. To honor their time and dedication to our school, we will host the Farewell Liturgy, Awards Ceremony, Senior Ball, Baccalaureate Mass, and Graduation.  At the same time, we are excited to announce another full Freshmen class that is now in the process of preparing to join our community.  We will host our newest families at the Class of 2022 Family Welcome next week.

As I consider our Seniors, I am reminded of the fourth week of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises when Ignatius invites us to contemplate the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. The exercises build on this fundamental human experience that, even in the midst of suffering, hope prevails.  The fourth week takes us into an examination of the future where at the end we pray the prayer we recite every Friday morning on campus:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.

And so it is that our graduates are about to leave this place behind.  This transition can be felt as a sense of loss–but there is tremendous new hope awaiting these young men. When they embrace and acknowledge the person that they have become here at Jesuit, and love generously, they will indeed be displaying the character that we hope to see in all of our graduates of Jesuit High School.

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As we all begin to wind down and think about summer break, I want to announce that Jesuit has adopted a new summer reading program for new and returning students. In an effort to promote greater depth and intention with the summer reading program, the school will be choosing a single text for each class as opposed to multiple/optional texts.  Summer reading is meant to promote the joy of reading, to keep students intellectually engaged over the summer, and to serve as a jumping-off point when school begins in the fall.  This new program will achieve these goals while also allowing students to have a common experience with a text that compliments and promotes our Jesuit mission.  The summer reading texts will be posted soon.  Please note that advanced placement and honors courses may still require additional summer work.

We look forward to the fourth quarter of the school year and a strong finish to what has been an incredible year at 1200 Jacob Lane.

Sincerely,

Michael Wood ‘99