To My Boys: September 1, 2020

Fr. Willie ‘87  
Good morning!
 
Fr. Richard Hermes, S.J. is the President of Jesuit High School in Tampa and a very close friend. He runs our closest brother Catholic-Jesuit school. Last week, Fr. Hermes held a convocation for parents where he gave them the “state of the school” address. It was held in their beautiful new chapel and I was very impressed as I heard him mention all the achievements of the last academic year. You can tell he was very proud of his students, and rightfully so since their accomplishments are many. 
 
At one point, he mentioned that he was very excited to announce that their athletic program was ranked the second-best academic team program in the state by the Florida High School Athletic Association. It was then nice to hear him follow that up by stating who was ranked number one: Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami.
 
Like Fr. Hermes, I too am very proud of our scholar-athletes. Sure, they win districts, regionals, and even state championships, but I am not going to lie. Having them rank first in the state as the academically best prepared and smartest is truly an outstanding feat. Knowing full well how these young men are held to the same academic standards as every other student at Belen, only strengthens my admiration for the work they do. We all see the value in sports at such a critical time in our students’ formation. Sports motivate them to be disciplined, to manage their time more efficiently so they are able to accomplish both their academic and athletic responsibilities. The school holds their feet to the fire making sure all academic requirements are fulfilled before they take a single step onto the field of play. The key is to have clarity of vision. While sports hold a very important part in the life of the school and the overall formation of our students, it is academics that rank supreme.
 
During this whole COVID-19 pandemic, the need for physical activity has taken on a whole new meaning. Sports help assure that our young men are not stationed constantly in front of a screen. Physical activity has taken on a whole new significance and the start of practice for our fall sports has opened the door to get the blood flowing and to leave behind, at least for a while, the confines of a desk and chair. But all of this is necessarily done in conjunction with the expectation that every Belen athlete can just as easily quote Shakespeare or solve a mathematical equation as he can throw a football or stroke an oar. While we look forward to adding more state championships to the long litany of athletic accomplishments for Belen Jesuit, we should cherish even more our continuous ranking as the top scholar-athlete program in the state.
 
Auspice Maria
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BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain.  The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline.  In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty.  The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow.  Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.