Principal's Message
 |
|
|
Mr. William Kopas, Principal of Canisius High School
|
|
As Principal, I am honored to be a part of the 138 years
of rich Jesuit tradition that is Canisius High School.
The founder of the Jesuit Order, St. Ignatius of Loyola,
established our first school in 1548 in Messina. Since that
time, Jesuit schools have flourished throughout the world.
Jesuit schools were founded in the United States when
Georgetown was established in 1789. Currently, there are
49 Jesuit secondary schools in the United States.
Jesuit schools have always had a strong commitment to
academic excellence. In 1973, the Superior General of the Jesuit Order, Fr. Pedro Arrupe, gave a now-famous address to alumni of European Jesuit schools which further expanded our focus. His words helped add a new dimension to Jesuit education and coined a new and important term: "Men and Women for Others." The following excerpt from this speech sums up his thoughts on Jesuit education and what a graduate of a Jesuit school, a Canisius graduate, should be:
"Today our prime educational objective must be to form men and women for others...people who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; people convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for human beings is a farce... All of us would like to be good to others, and most of us would be relatively good in a good world. What is difficult is to be good in an evil world, where the egoism of others and the egoism built into the institutions of society attack us... Evil is overcome only by good, egoism by generosity. It is thus that we must sow justice in our world, substituting love for self-interest as the driving force of society."
The concepts set forth in Fr. Arrupe's speech are paramount to all of those involved in serving Canisius High School. At Canisius, we focus on caring for each member of our school community while providing our students with the best education possible. Supported and encouraged by an enthusiastic community of parents, faculty and staff, Canisius students work hard and strive to excel both in and beyond the classroom - in academics, in service to our community, in athletics, and in a host of extra-curricular
activities.
There is a constant focus on our Mission, with specific attention paid to the Five Aspects of the Graduate at Graduation, the "Grad at Grad." Our goal as educators is to help develop young men who are loving, committed to justice, open to growth, religious and intellectually competent. When our graduates demonstrate these characteristics, practicing them in their daily lives, we have served them well.
I invite you to further explore all that Canisius High School has to offer. Examine this Web site. Spend a day shadowing. Come to a play, performance or athletic contest. Experience the excellence that is the Canisius Community. Come be a part of Canisius High School. Jesuit education for college - Jesuit education for life.
May God continue to bless you and your family.
Sincerely,
William J. Kopas
Principal
