Honoring Mr. Carl Wilson 'H
One of Saint John’s most beloved educators retires after 47 years of service. Mr. Carl Wilson has impacted thousands of lives in his time as a passionate and enthusiastic member of the history department. Read a message from Carl and check out this video of Mr. Wilson’s colleagues and former students reflecting on how he impacted their own lives:
Tradition, God, and Community
I recently received a wonderful letter from Brother Stephen Comeau, C.F.X., our longtime principal and presently the Program Director for the National Catholic Education Association. He related to me a prayer intention that he had for Saint John’s on December 3, 2014, the annual tradition of the celebration of Xaverian Feast Day. In his thoughts he said: “The image of Saint John’s that my prayer reflection settled upon was a vibrant and lively academic community. A community of young men of all races, creeds and colors collectively striving to be and do their very best! I saw a beautiful campus that houses a large group of talented and generous teenagers and adults (staff) who reach out to one another as brother and sister. I saw loyal and gifted people who go beyond the boundaries of a modern campus/facility and jump into the hearts of those who have less than they – God’s holy poor, the marginalized – today’s ‘Anawim’ (God with us’)”. As I move on from Saint John’s after 47 years of teaching, Brother Comeau’s image of Saint John’s reflects the Pioneers of Saint John’s that I see today.
When I started teaching at Saint John’s in 1968, it was a time of turmoil – the war in Viet Nam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the chaotic Democratic Convention and a bit later, Woodstock. Yet, in spite of so many changes in society, I witnessed a community of 25 Xaverian Brothers and only 16 lay teachers, who fostered a tradition of loyalty to their faith, their community, and the students they taught. The Xaverian Brothers were good men. They taught these young boys in the manner in which they were raised – no-nonsense, tough-minded and demanding academic standards. In 1968, Saint John’s students went through a rigorous academic schedule of six periods, with few if any electives, clubs or activities. Saint John’s had a wonderful academic tradition and superior sports teams. Simplicity, faith, and the Xaverian charism.
Nearly fifty years later, many things have changed. Yet, Saint John’s remains that same Xaverian preparatory school of “tradition, simplicity, community and faith”. In 1968 Saint John’s was a school of 740 young men who lived by the standard of “get to school on time and no thumbing on the hill”. As Brothers Plunket and Phil Neri used to say, “just show up”. Today, Saint John’s is a school of over 1000 students from over 50 communities and multiple countries. The school has evolved from a limited number of clubs and activities to over 54 clubs that vary from a very active Model United Nations program to a Mock Trial program that recreates and practices legal cases in the courtrooms of Worcester County. Where the Xaverian Brothers once provided the spiritual foundation of the school, a vibrant Campus Ministry program continues to foster the Xaverian tradition of faith, spiritual reflection, and community service and Global Encounters from the Dakotas to Haiti.
The academic program remains rigorous with numerous electives and one of the strongest Advanced Placement programs in New England. Our young men move on to some of the best colleges and universities in the country and, in many instances, gain one to two years of academic credits because of these programs.
The greatest change that I have noticed over the years is in the arts, music, and theater. Saint John’s has grown its arts program and that will culminate this year with the opening of a new arts center, Founders Hall. If any institution has fostered the arts through history since the birth of Christ, it has been the Catholic Church as witnessed in the beautiful Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals, the Sistine Chapel, and the great paintings and frescoes of Michelangelo and Da Vinci. Without the arts we suffer the fate of having nothing to look backward to with pride and nothing to look forward to with hope. It was the Xaverian Brothers who brought this catholic mission to the United States in the 19th century and today the artistic mission is celebrated in all of the Xaverian schools throughout the United States.
In the tradition of the Xaverian Brothers and the “original pioneers”, our students continue to be challenged by rigorous academic standards as well as the principles of faith. Simplicity and focus on the Christian mission of service remain fundamental to the formation of these young men who celebrate their potential and talents in a highly diverse academic community. These are the changes I have witnessed in the evolution of Saint John’s over the past half century.
These notable changes over the past fifty years are due in no small part to the contributions and support of our community. The generosity of our community has allowed our school to remain affordable for middle class families and those students from even lesser means. With your support, we have grown our financial aid program exponentially helping Saint John’s become a more diverse environment for learning and have expanded our academic extracurricular programs to ensure that all students can explore and develop their passions and interests in and outside of the classroom. This spring, I hope you will continue this tradition of philanthropy at Saint John’s with a donation to the Annual Fund to create a stronger Saint John’s for the students of today and tomorrow. As a member of the Saint John’s community, I couldn’t be more proud of what my students have gone on to accomplish and what our alumni have helped us become.
What a wonderful career this has been!
~ Carl Wilson 'H
