Thoughts from our Head of School, Joseph Vorbach:
Today a fellow alum and good friend was in the building and I had the opportunity to talk with him about some new initiatives we have in the school. We were just outside the cafeteria when two students came down the stairs, one of whom is the son of another alum from "back in our day" and I was able to introduce him and another student to my friend. The students shared with this alum their experiences in our expanded services program and a few minutes later I was able to show him on my phone a video of the pre-game activities of our basketball club before the Saint John's game on Tuesday. (View a WUSA9 story from the event HERE.)
As we went up the stairs, we ran into another student who is a peer mentor for expanded services and she told him a little more about her personal experiences being involved. Her confidence and enthusiasm were impressive. A few minutes later, we were visiting with Ms. Desmarais and Ms. Esposito in their classroom and my friend got a full sense of the collaborative learning taking place. After tonight's boys basketball game vs. Paul VI--an event made even more special than usual by the presence of Bishop Burbidge--I had a short email exchange with my friend and he wrote: "It's amazing to see the tremendous things going on at DJO. The enthusiasm is contagious." I couldn't agree more!
This happy encounter with my friend was book-ended earlier in the week by our faculty retreat on Tuesday. A wonderful talk presented by Monsignor Pope of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC got us in the right frame of mind before we had opportunities to pray, go to confession, and engage in thoughtfully structured and executed group discussions that focused ultimately on how we can provide even better service to our students. During these sessions, the full commitment of our faculty to serving our students and helping them fulfill their potential was on display in abundance and it was inspiring to listen to the exchanges taking place. Had my friend been part of this retreat, I think he would have sent me the same sentence: "It's amazing to see the tremendous things going on at DJO. The enthusiasm is contagious." I couldn't agree more!
Mindful of our mission and our charge to pursue it diligently and with humility, we press on here at the school as the second semester begins.