At the beginning of every school year, Principal Dr. Michael Wood ’99 offers a new theme for the new year. Drawing inspiration from Psalm 139, this year’s theme is “You are wonderfully made.”

“[Psalm 139] is a reminder and an invitation that we are all known and loved,” Dr. Wood said. “If I can fill my cup and say ‘I’m worthy of God’s love I’m meant to be here, I’m in the right place, I’m doing good work, I’m capable.’”

Though you may have heard something similar at one of Dr. Wood’s class check-in meetings, the idea for this theme originated from a conference he attended in June.

“One of the things that inspired us to move this was some presentations at the Jesuit Schools Network Colloquium in Omaha this summer that about seven [faculty members] attended,” Dr. Wood said. “In one or more of the speeches [Psalm 139] was a grounding experience for Jesuit education.”

When deciding on this year’s focus, Dr. Wood felt that it particularly applied to the world outside of Jesuit.

“I think it’s a really relevant theme, because I feel that the world outside of Jesuit is trying to tell us the opposite – that we’re not worthy, we’re not good enough, we’re not capable,” Dr. Wood said. “They do that for a number of reasons – to cause fear or doubt, and oftentimes to sell you a product. And our students–even the adults–walk onto this campus sometimes questioning their own goodness, making them less capable of affirming that in others.”

As Jesuit moves into the school year, it’s important for us to remember that we are all “wonderfully made.”