Fordham Preparatory School - Ramview Ramview: Igniting Our Mission Through Generosity | Page 4

The Examen is the great tool and resource that Ignatius left for us to deepen
our gratitude. It invites us each day to review our experiences to find signs of
God’s blessing, grace, and goodness. One could approach the pages which
follow in this issue of Ramview as data for a year-long Examen. These pages
contain reasons for my gratitude to God who has inspired in you such marvelous
generosity and commitment to advance the mission of Fordham Prep.
Here are some of the ways in which this generosity has impacted our mission
just this year alone:
• W
 e launched our iSTEAM (Science; Technology; Engineering; Arts;
Mathematics) program. In addition to our traditional commitment in the
humanities to teach students how to read and think critically, and write
and communicate with clarity and force, iSTEAM helps them develop
21st Century learning skills to excel in college and prepare for the rapidly
changing needs of today’s workforce.
• W
 e progressed to the next phase of building a new east wing that brings
our facilities up to the standard of excellence to which our faculty aspire in
their classroom teaching.
• A
 voiding the socio-economic barbell that increasingly characterizes
enrollment at so many independent schools, we doubled the number of
middle income students who receive tuition assistance, making it possible
for them to enroll at Fordham Prep.
• W
 e sent dozens of students across the globe to participate in academic
exchanges at other Jesuit schools and in cultural immersion and scientific
research programs.
• W
 e supported several faculty members to attend professional development
programs in their academic fields and to deepen their understanding of the
Spiritual Exercises and Ignatian pedagogy.
• W
 e provided funding for students with financial need to attend retreats,
play a musical instrument in our jazz band, perform on the stage of the
Leonard Theatre, travel on field trips, and participate on sports teams.
Please accept my profound gratitude to you and my thanks for your
generosity. You have made an extraordinary difference in the lives of
individual students and in the Fordham Prep community which serves them.
In recent months, I have been reflecting on the Universal Apostolic Preferences
of the Society of Jesus, both here at Fordham Prep with colleagues and in
the wider Jesuit Schools Network through regional and national gatherings.
No matter what role we have in a school, today’s work in Jesuit education can
pull us in countless directions, with the demands of what is actually on our
calendar competing with the unanticipated challenges that inevitably come
our way. Our vocation as educators can be as complex as the times in which
we live and lead. We seek to be faithful servants and bridge builders. We foster
collaboration and guide colleagues. We protect students and care for their
safety and well being in a world often broken with violence. We seek respectful
dialogue with parents, alumni, and benefactors.
What does it mean to be an apostolic leader in our Jesuit schools today? It’s
about being sent forth to where God wants us to go and with whom God
wants us to be. The Society of Jesus envisions our apostolic works as places
“to accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future.” There are
surely many signs of hope alive at the Prep.
In this season of gratitude, I remain in awe of our students who once again
donated tens of thousands of items for our annual Hunger Awareness Month
Food Drive. As part of the Great Ignatian Challenge among seven Jesuit high
schools in four different states, our collective efforts will make an immediate
impact on the needs of families throughout the New York City metropolitan
area, and most especially for our neighbors suffering poverty, hunger,
and homelessness in the Bronx. I am inspired by the talents of our actors,
musicians, and artists in the Visual and Performing Arts, watching my own
four children wide-eyed in the audience at the tremendous performance of
our Dramatic Society in Grease. I am thrilled by the success of our athletic
teams so far this year, from personal triumphs for our scholar-athletes to
team victories in CHSAA City Championships for Cross Country, Soccer,
and Freshman Swimming and Diving. I am consoled by the presence of our
young men at First Friday Adoration in our Chapel, through their attentive
praying of the weekly Examen, and their participation in liturgical ministries
throughout the year in the University Church.
There are many reasons to give thanks at Fordham Prep this holiday season. On
behalf of so many of us here on campus with hearts filled with gratitude, we are
honored that you are a part of the greater Prep family and thankful for all that
you do to support the education of the young men in our care. May this season
of generosity and gratitude inspire all of us to share of gifts in ways great and
small in our families, our communities, and throughout the Prep. AMDG!
PRESIDENT
St. Ignatius Loyola believed that ingratitude was among the most serious sins
we could commit. The converse of this belief is that gratitude is among the
greatest virtues, habits, and attitudes we can practice, develop, and cultivate.
The commitment to cura personalis, the care of each individual student, is at the
heart of our mission at Fordham Prep. During a busy admissions season, I have
the honor of speaking with prospective students and families at Open House.
I share stories of the value our faculty place on their students’ care, safety, and
well-being in and out of the classroom. Our teachers are not just teachers: they
are mentors and counselors, athletic coaches and club moderators, retreat leaders
and liturgical ministers, companions on service immersion and global education
trips. When I reflect on the relationship between our students and faculty/staff, I
am consoled by the countless ways we accompany one another a shared journey
of teaching and learning, praying and serving, guiding and maturing.
Christopher J. Devron, SJ
President
Joseph A. Petriello, PhD ’98
Principal
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RAMVIEW
FALL 2019
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