Dr. Nelson’s Blog

Good evening and welcome to the Headmaster’s Dinner for the Class of 2006.

Tonight is a night to remember as a class, along with your parents, the maintenance and office staff as well as the faculty, some of the highlights of your life and times at St. John’s School.

Traditionally the graduating seniors were interviewed by the Headmaster and then a speech was crafted from the anecdotal evidence taken at the time of each individual interview. I have tried a new form for collecting data for these remarks. The seniors were asked today to complete a survey instrument after the Baccalaureate Service practice to give me a better idea of what we need to do to improve the school. I took the opportunity today to read every survey and I made a few notes from your comments. I am going to collate and publish the findings from this survey to the school community so that we can use their candid and honest thoughts to continuously improve for the betterment of all.

Let me share some of those with you now:

I think the best things about SJS are:

• the variety of cultures and ideas
• being able to leave your bag somewhere and not worry about it
• teachers take a personal interest in you
• classes and course options
• extracurricular actives
• academics
• the sheltered environment (the security feeling)
• the programs provide for future excellence (i.e., IB & AP)
• the “home” atmosphere in classrooms
• private attention/low student-teacher ratio
• variety of sports
• free intellectual atmosphere
• respect
• freedom
• the good teachers make life enjoyable
• cleanliness
• traditions – ring ceremony, freshmen initiation, senior prank
• education – from Lit to Math to manners to learning about others and yourself
• intimacy
• the quality teachers demonstrate as people
• educational opportunities not available on Guam
• individual attention from teachers (we are not only a name and grade)
• lunch privilege
• multicultural
• growing up with people
• the open environment about religions and cultures

I hear the echoing words of Jacques Yves-Cousteau’s dream of world peace through the student exchange idea coming to life in your comments – the diversity and the caring and the respect – things that many other graduates will have to search to find and experience and yet, you have lived it at St. John’s on a daily basis.

There were many good challenges for me and the rest of us here who work at St. John’s that you have identified in the survey – (for example: too much homework, slow computers, inconsistencies in air conditioners, etc.) – and those will be looked at quite carefully with the appropriate members of our school community to plan for more improvements.

Now, along with Cousteau vision, comes yet another set of ideas that I would like you to take with you on your journey. Music is a passion of mine and I enjoy listening to music and thinking about the message that musician’s create. One song written by the rock power trio RUSH has played in my mind for over many decades now and I would like to share this with you now:

In closing, last night I asked my 7 year old daughter, Aracelita, about any advice she might have for the graduating class of 2006 and she readily offered this:

“Make the world proud because we have the freedom to do everything”
- Aracelita Nelson, Class of 2016
(babysitter of Elias Nelson, Class of 2011 and Adan Rodriguez, Class of 2004)

I know that you have the ability to take on your new roles as leaders in our community, whether on island or our extended community throughout the world – the community of humanity. I challenge you to keep your visions closer to the heart because you have the freedom to do everything. And some things need heart. Make the world proud…