St. John's College, Belize
President Mirtha Peralta | | |
Students | 2,267 | |
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Address | Princess Margaret Drive , , Belize 17°30′45″N 88°11′55″W / 17.51250°N 88.19861°W | |
Campus | Urban | |
Patron saint | John Berchmans | |
Colors | Navy and white | |
Nickname | St. John's, John's, SJC | |
Website | www | |
St. John's College (abbreviated as SJC, and locally known as St. John's or John's) is a
For management purposes, St. John's is organised into three divisions:[1]
- St. John's College High School, Belize (oldest, established 1887)
- St. John's College Extension (established 1957)
- St. John's College Junior College (established 1964)
Key centres and institutes within the university college are the Belize Centre for Art Education and Cultural Understanding, the Institute for Workforce and Economic Development, the Belizean Studies Research Centre,[2] and the Counseling Centre.[3]
History
St. John's College was founded in 1887 with the establishment of the “Select School” for young men at the Catholic
The school grew quickly. In February 1896, it moved into a newly constructed building on the cathedral grounds. Its name changed from the Select School to St. John's College, under Fr. William J. Wallace. The enrollment continued to expand and included boarding students from neighboring Central American republics such as Guatemala and Honduras. This steady expansion forced a second move, to seafront land supplied by the government to the south of town. On July 17, 1917, the faculty and students moved into spacious wooden buildings with wide verandahs and windows open to the sea breeze. The campus was called Loyola Park.
More construction followed including a gymnasium and chapel. By 1929 there were 90 students at the college.
August 1921 saw an outbreak of
On September 11, 1931
The new campus is named after the Central American poet and renowned scholar
St. John's College pioneered adult evening education with the inauguration of its Extension School, in September 1947. The press release for its opening described its purpose: "One of the most valuable educational techniques of our day, co-operative search for truth, gives adult learners an opportunity to meet together, face a problem in common, think it through as a group, and solve it if possible." Initial courses were “The Art of Thinking”, “Effective Speaking and Parliamentary Practice”, “Capital and Labor”, and “Business Ethics”. The first class of 55 men and 27 women began a program aimed at providing leadership training for people who had finished high school and wanted post-secondary education that was unavailable in Belize at the time. The roster of students in those early days included the names of men who went on to lead Belize's
In 1957 economics, bookkeeping, and arithmetic were part of the syllabus. In 1965 under Fr. Jack Stochl, S.J., it began offering high school equivalency courses for young men and women. The Extension Department is now in its fourth location, still in the center of the city, accessible to the students who work during the day and study at night. It features a computer lab to facilitate courses in business and accounting. Around 700 students, 70% women, take Extension courses, which requires only a grade school background of applicants. Classes are also provided for refugees from the neighbouring countries.
Early in 1952, in response to the growing need in Belize for higher levels of academic training, St. John's College expanded its traditional four-year high school program, offering a limited number of post-secondary school courses under the direction of Fr. Robert Raszkowski, S.J. This expanded into what in the British tradition is called
In the mid-1960s, in an effort to provide wider opportunities for further education to graduates of the Sixth Form, St. John's College broadened the program of studies so that it met the requirements of the associate degree awarded by junior and community colleges in the United States. It received membership in the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges.[1] This afforded St. John's College Sixth Form graduates a choice of further studies. They could enter Commonwealth universities, which require Cambridge “A Level” certificates, or United States universities as transfer students into the third year of a Bachelor's degree program. Over 200 graduates of Sixth Form have received scholarships from the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States to finish their bachelor's degree tuition-free. Many accepted the offer to remain as teaching fellows and so finished their master's degree.
St John's College High School
St. John's College High School | |
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Address | |
Landivar Campus, Princess Margaret Drive Jesuit | |
Patron saint(s) | John Berchmans |
Established | 1887 |
President | Jorge Espat |
Headmaster | Fidel Pol |
Faculty | 50 |
Gender | Boys |
Enrollment | c. 600 (2010) |
Campus | Urban |
Color(s) | Navy and white |
Yearbook | The Mangrove |
Website | www |
St. John's College High School is a
Characteristics
The school is operated by the Jesuits as a preparatory high school for boys and is based on the British model of secondary education. The average class size is 32 boys and enrolment is 170 new boys per year. The school selects students for admission based on an 80 per cent school average of the last two years of primary school, and on a favourable recommendation from the Standard Six (8th Grade) teacher and principal.
There are approximately 50 teachers and two counsellors serving in the following departments:[5]
- Language Arts
- Math / Vo-Tech
- Information Technology / Business
- Natural Science / Physical Education
- Humanities / Social Science Education
Landivar campus
The main campus of St. John's College is named in honor of Fr. Rafael Landívar, S.J. (1731-1793)[6] and features a bust of him in a very prominent area of the campus. Rafael Landívar was born in Guatemala October 27, 1731, entered the Jesuits in 1750, and taught philosophy and theology in Guatemala. Banished from the Spanish colonies, he retired to Italy and wrote a five-volume Latin poem, Rusticatio Mexicana, that has made him the national poet of Guatemala. He died and was buried in Bologna, but at the demand of students, his body was moved to Guatemala. Landivar made an etching of Bishop Payo Enriques de Rivera, the original of which is in the Jesuit residence in Madrid. It has appeared thirteen times on Guatemalan postage.
Patron saint
St. John Berchmans was born the eldest son of a shoemaker on 13 March 1599 in Diest at Brabant, which is located in Belgium.[7] At a young age he wanted to be a priest, and at thirteen became a servant in the household of one of the cathedral canons at Malines. After his mother's death, his father and two brothers followed suit and entered religious life. In 1615, he entered the Jesuit college there, becoming a novice a year later.[8] In 1618 he was sent to Rome for more studies, and was known for his cheerfulness and his effort to find perfection in all the little details of his life. His father was ordained that year, and died six months later. John was so poor and humble that he walked from Antwerp to Rome.[9] He died at the age of 22 on August 13. Many miracles were attributed to him after his death. He was canonized in 1888, and is the patron saint of altar servers.[10]
He longed to work in the mission fields of China, but did not live long enough to go there. After completing his course work, he was asked to defend the entire field of philosophy in a public disputation in July, just after his exit examinations. The following month he was asked to represent the Roman College in a debate with the Greek College. "John opened the discussion with great clarity and profoundness, but after returning to his own quarters, was seized with the
Notable alumni and staff
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. (June 2021) |
Prominent graduates who entered government service and had attended some division of St. John's College include
.Prominent personages who taught at SJC include Bishop David F. Hickey, S.J., Bishop Robert L. Hodapp, S.J., Edward J. O'Donnell. S.J., later president of Marquette University, William "Buck" Stanton, S.J., biology teacher and prominent naturalist, and Jack Stochl, S.J., who received Belize's Meritorious Service Award for 60 years of service to his adopted country.
Prominent graduates in other disciplines include, Professor Robert Kent Trench (see, Robert K. Trench)
See also
- Catholic Church in Belize
- Education in Belize
- List of Jesuit schools
- List of Jesuit universities and colleges
References
- ^ a b c "SJC History". St. John's College. Retrieved 19 June 2015.[self-published source?]
- ^ "Belizean Studies". SJC. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
- ^ "Counselling Center". SJC. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
- ^ Woods, Charles M. Sr., et al (2015). Years of Grace: The History of Roman Catholic Evangelization in Belize: 1524-2014 (Belize: Roman Catholic Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan), passim.
- ^ "High School Departments". St. John's College, Belize.[self-published source?]
- ^ Chamorro G., Faustino (2001). Rafael Landívar, Rusticatio Mexicana (in Spanish) (Edición Crítica Bilingüe (2.ª edición) ed.). Guatemala: Universidad Rafael Landívar.
- ^ Berchman, St. John (2014). "The Life of St. John Berchman".
- ^ Online, Catholic. "St. John Berchmans - Saints & Angels". Catholic Online. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. John Berchmans". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ "ST. JOHN BERCHMANS". www.catholictradition.org. Retrieved 2022-10-18.