Schools prepare to welcome visiting Jesuit chief
By Julia Prodis Sulek
Mercury News
Posted: 02/03/2009 06:05:14 PM PST
The Catholic school children will take their places on the altar platform of Sacred Heart Church on the edge of downtown San Jose on Thursday, ready to perform "Our Lady of Guadalupe" for a special visiting dignitary — the top Jesuit from Italy who will be here checking up on his California ministries.
They've been rehearsing for a week, speaking clearly, projecting their voices, showing off the poise and confidence being instilled each day at Sacred Heart Nativity Schools.
Funded by donations, the two schools housed in the same building — one for boys, the other for girls — is open to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders whose parents earn less than $26,000 a year. Most students live in the surrounding neighborhood near Willow and Vine streets with three active gangs in the area.
The Very Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, recently elected superior general of the Society of Jesus, will tour the church and school for just one hour before he stops in at Bellarmine College Prep and Santa Clara University. It's so little time to explain the good the school has done, from saving kids from the grip of gangs, to mentoring them after they set off to high school, and to now, finally, having its first student enrolled at Santa Clara University.
Juan Romo, a freshman at Santa Clara, was part of the first graduating class at Sacred Heart Nativity. He was one of seven of the 13 graduates in his class who finished high school —a rate on par with the national average for Latinos.
The second class of 16 students, however, is on track to have a 100 percent graduation rate from high schools ranging from Bellarmine to Mitty and Downtown College Prep. And this spring, the first class of girls, who started as sixth-graders in 2006, will finish eighth grade. They are applying to Catholic and other high schools in the area.
"Sacred Heart has always been like a second home to me," Romo said. "I grew really close to everyone there. They're always there for all the graduates for anything, whether it's academic or if we need to talk to them."
When the superior general he arrives at 11 a.m. Thursday, he will first take a 15-minute tour of the school. And as the children do with every visitor to their classroom, they will rise from their desks and greet him in unison: "Good morning, Father General."
Then the three students closest to the superior general will walk toward him, extend their hands, look him in the eye and with a firm grip, introduce themselves.
"Welcome to Nativity School," the boys will say in their black pants and green sweatshirts from their upstairs classrooms.
"Welcome to Our Lady of Grace," the girls in their black plaid skirts downstairs will say.
The eye contact and firm grips, hallmarks of Nativity Schools students, are enough to leave a strong impression. But so much more — from the fragility of the students to the devotion of the community — will be largely left untold:
There won't be time to tell the story of the grandfather who came to a student-teacher meeting early one morning to implore his grandson to do all he could to stay at Nativity School: "Look at these callouses," he told the boy. "I have to work with my hands. You can work with your brain."
And there just won't be time to explain the delight of the students when Nativity President Father Peter Pabst rewards them with trips to Baskin Robbins for ice cream, or the gratitude of the poorest school families when a Christmas Eve knock on the door from a school benefactor presents them with a tree and gifts.
Sacred Heart Nativity Schools in San Jose are two of 65 founded by Jesuits for at-risk kids across the country. The San Jose campus started as a boys school in 2001, and is funded almost entirely by donations. Parents are asked to contribute $45 a month in tuition, if they can afford it.
The combined student body — 64 girls and 57 boys — start each day at 7:30 with free breakfast at Martha's Kitchen, a non-profit whose dining hall is attached to the school. After a school day of college preparatory classes that runs until 3 p.m., homework programs and outdoor activities continue until 6 p.m. Field trips are scheduled for Saturdays.
After school for the past week, the sixth-graders have been practicing for Thursday's play. Daisy De La Torre will be playing the Virgin Mary.
By Julia Prodis Sulek
Mercury News
Posted: 02/03/2009 06:05:14 PM PST
The Catholic school children will take their places on the altar platform of Sacred Heart Church on the edge of downtown San Jose on Thursday, ready to perform "Our Lady of Guadalupe" for a special visiting dignitary — the top Jesuit from Italy who will be here checking up on his California ministries.
They've been rehearsing for a week, speaking clearly, projecting their voices, showing off the poise and confidence being instilled each day at Sacred Heart Nativity Schools.
Funded by donations, the two schools housed in the same building — one for boys, the other for girls — is open to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders whose parents earn less than $26,000 a year. Most students live in the surrounding neighborhood near Willow and Vine streets with three active gangs in the area.
The Very Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, recently elected superior general of the Society of Jesus, will tour the church and school for just one hour before he stops in at Bellarmine College Prep and Santa Clara University. It's so little time to explain the good the school has done, from saving kids from the grip of gangs, to mentoring them after they set off to high school, and to now, finally, having its first student enrolled at Santa Clara University.
Juan Romo, a freshman at Santa Clara, was part of the first graduating class at Sacred Heart Nativity. He was one of seven of the 13 graduates in his class who finished high school —a rate on par with the national average for Latinos.
The second class of 16 students, however, is on track to have a 100 percent graduation rate from high schools ranging from Bellarmine to Mitty and Downtown College Prep. And this spring, the first class of girls, who started as sixth-graders in 2006, will finish eighth grade. They are applying to Catholic and other high schools in the area.
"Sacred Heart has always been like a second home to me," Romo said. "I grew really close to everyone there. They're always there for all the graduates for anything, whether it's academic or if we need to talk to them."
When the superior general he arrives at 11 a.m. Thursday, he will first take a 15-minute tour of the school. And as the children do with every visitor to their classroom, they will rise from their desks and greet him in unison: "Good morning, Father General."
Then the three students closest to the superior general will walk toward him, extend their hands, look him in the eye and with a firm grip, introduce themselves.
"Welcome to Nativity School," the boys will say in their black pants and green sweatshirts from their upstairs classrooms.
"Welcome to Our Lady of Grace," the girls in their black plaid skirts downstairs will say.
The eye contact and firm grips, hallmarks of Nativity Schools students, are enough to leave a strong impression. But so much more — from the fragility of the students to the devotion of the community — will be largely left untold:
There won't be time to tell the story of the grandfather who came to a student-teacher meeting early one morning to implore his grandson to do all he could to stay at Nativity School: "Look at these callouses," he told the boy. "I have to work with my hands. You can work with your brain."
And there just won't be time to explain the delight of the students when Nativity President Father Peter Pabst rewards them with trips to Baskin Robbins for ice cream, or the gratitude of the poorest school families when a Christmas Eve knock on the door from a school benefactor presents them with a tree and gifts.
Sacred Heart Nativity Schools in San Jose are two of 65 founded by Jesuits for at-risk kids across the country. The San Jose campus started as a boys school in 2001, and is funded almost entirely by donations. Parents are asked to contribute $45 a month in tuition, if they can afford it.
The combined student body — 64 girls and 57 boys — start each day at 7:30 with free breakfast at Martha's Kitchen, a non-profit whose dining hall is attached to the school. After a school day of college preparatory classes that runs until 3 p.m., homework programs and outdoor activities continue until 6 p.m. Field trips are scheduled for Saturdays.
After school for the past week, the sixth-graders have been practicing for Thursday's play. Daisy De La Torre will be playing the Virgin Mary.
She's nervous to perform in front of such an esteemed guest, but she says it's good practice for the career she looks forward to as an actress.
"I feel lucky," she said "to be here."
Contact Julia Prodis Sulek at jsulek@mercurynews.com or (408) 278-3409.
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