Friends,

In this month, we pause to give thanks for the many blessings we have shared and will continue to share. The fall season is a natural time for this reflection. As the leaves turn, and the light dims, and the air chills, we are called in renewal to slow our pace and think deeply.

This week, we will honor the service and sacrifice of our nation's military members - and more specifically, our alumni veterans through the establishment of the of the BC High Veterans Alumni Network (BCHVAN), which you can learn more about below. Later this month, we will share in the bounty that is Thanksgiving, feasting on food - but also the friendships and traditions which were more difficult to cultivate last year.

In giving thanks, in our gratitude, we are always called back to service - toward the radical kinship and Gospel message which turns our attention back toward the margins, where our brothers and sisters may stand without the blessings we so often take for granted. This month, our students will join 14 fellow high schools in the Jesuit network from seven states in the Great Ignatian Challenge. This annual holiday food drive raises students’ awareness of hunger and inspires them to fill their local food banks, pantries, and community centers with tens of thousands of pounds of much-needed provisions. Last year, schools participating in The Great Ignatian Challenge collected and distributed over 168,372 pounds of food! BC High’s efforts will support the Boston Housing Authority and Catholic Charities again this year. Alumni are invited to help by bringing non-perishable goods to campus the week of November 15.

Lastly, we are grateful for the immediate blessings of our everyday life on Morrissey Boulevard. We are excited for the return of live events including our upcoming Hall of Fame induction ceremony and Dever Players performances of Godspell 2012. Perhaps most poignantly, we were blessed celebrate Mass in McNeice Pavilion for the first time in nearly two years on All Saints' Day. It was a fitting reminder that we do all things together, and through Christ, for the greater glory of God.

AMDG,

Grace Regan P'12

As President, one of my priorities has been to help transform our campus into more of a welcoming home for our community. This initiative has seen many highlights including the unveiling of our physical Hall of Fame display in 2018, a redesigned north entrance this summer, the revitalization of Loyola Chapel, and distinct signage and branding around campus.

We were excited to add several new touches to campus before Open House this past Sunday - our new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mission statement, a larger version of the BC High mission statement at the main entrance, our new flag pole with a marker thanking the Classes of 2018 and 2020 for their contributions to it, new art symbolizing our Graduate at Graduation traits that bring color and life to the Hunter-Fahey Commons, and an engaging piece of artwork conceived in partnership with student government across from Bulger Theater capturing the breadth of the BC High experience.

Tomorrow, alumni active duty service members, reservists, and veterans across all eras will return to Morrissey Boulevard for a day of companionship celebrating the establishment of the BC High Veterans Alumni Network (BCHVAN). This week, we look forward to honoring the service and sacrifice of all who have given so much to our country. If you are interested in joining the network, please email alumni@bchigh.edu.

Please join us later this month as we come together to celebrate some of the greatest Eagles to ever wear the Maroon & Gold - as well as our Hunter Man for Others and Cotter Courage Award recipients, who will be honored for their incredible community contributions.

They strived for years in Boston and beyond to earn your respect and pride. Now they are coming home to be permanently enshrined as leaders in the history of our school!

For many years our students have travelled down to Washington, D.C. to learn more about and advocate for pressing social issues facing those in our country and around the world. This year, though COVID-19 protocols prevented our Eagles from lobbying elected officials directly, they engaged in written campaigns to inspire positive social change. To learn more about the IFTJ, click here. Thank you to these men for and with others for being such exemplary representatives of our Jesuit, Catholic mission!

Students in the Ignatian Entrepreneurship class taught by Steve Healy '81 partnered with Joe McNamara '12, Director of the Jack Shields '79, P'06 Center for Innovation, to embark on an exploration of some of Greater Boston's innovation hubs last Friday. They first visited Sarson Funds in Quincy to hear from CMO & Cofounder Jahon Jamali '99 who, in partnership with CEO & Cofounder John Sarson '99, is on the leading edge of cryptocurrency. Later, our boys visited About Fresh, an innovative community-based organization that seeks to strengthen communities by getting fresh food to the households that need it most. Before arriving back on campus for some much-needed pizza, the class stopped by District Hall in the nearby Seaport, the world’s first free-standing public innovation center where people can work, exchange knowledge, build meaningful relationships, and make their ideas happen.

I am delighted to invite you to the triumphant return of live artistic performances on Morrissey Boulevard with the Dever Players' production of Godspell 2012!

This musical is centered around a series of Parables, based, for the most part, upon those in the Gospel of Matthew. The songs contain lyrics from traditional hymns and Christ's Passion is integrated into the conclusion of the show. In 2012, music and lyrics were updated to make the cultural references more relevant for a new generation of theater-goers.

We are excited to share that all Dever Players performances in the Gregory E Bulger '68 Performing Arts Center during the 2021-2022 academic year will be free of charge for everyone who wishes to attend.

All audience members will be required to remain masked while inside BC High, the Bulger PAC and for the duration of the performance. To that end, concessions of any kind will not be sold. Eating and drinking while inside the Bulger PAC is prohibited as usual.

Tuesday, November 30, is #GivingTuesday - an international day of charitable giving at the beginning of the Christmas season. You can make an important impact on our young men with your gift to the Fund for BC High on #GivingTuesday. All gifts, whether $25 or $25,000 are vital as BC High continues its nearly 160-year tradition of providing an exceptional education to today's students.

All members of our community are invited to participate at any level, as a gift of any size is a vote of confidence in the mission, faculty, and administration. It is going to be an exciting day of gratitude (and maybe a few surprises, too!), so we hope you will join us in making this year’s #GivingTuesday a success.

I am pleased to announce that BC High has been named a 2021 WorkWell MA award winner for exemplary worksite health promotion and in recognition of the school’s achievement in developing, implementing, and participating in employee health improvement programs that put our employees first.

 

We have been honored by the Worksite Wellness Council of MA and Healthiest Employers for prioritizing a culture of wellbeing, offering programs to meet the needs of a diverse workforce, and providing a supportive environment where our employees can thrive, particularly in the areas of financial and emotional wellbeing so impacted by challenges brought on COVID-19.

 

Judging is based on a metric that includes Culture and Leadership Commitment, Communications, Programming and Interventions. Thank you to all who helped make this possible, including the Wellbeing Committee, our Manager of People and Culture, Sue Glover, our Senior VP of Administration, Finance, & Strategic Planning, Michael J. Hoyle, Ph.D. and all of you who take the initiative to help make BC High a great place to work!

Thank you to the hundreds of families who attended our Open House on Sunday! We were thrilled to provide prospective Eagles the opportunity to explore our school and learn more about our exciting, inclusive community. For those looking to learn more - or for those who weren’t able to attend Open House - we have a number of ways to experience BC High.