Concord Resident to Helm Global Education Summit Next Week at BC High

The following announcement was provided by Boston College High School.

Concord resident William Kemeza, president of Boston College High School, is at the helm of a historic global summit coming to Boston next week.

The International Colloquium on Jesuit Secondary Education is the first-ever international gathering of high schools in the 450 year history of the Jesuits.

“The enormous challenges to Jesuit education today require our best efforts in order for us to serve the mission that has been entrusted to us,” said Superior General Adolfo Nicolas, SJ, head of the Jesuits. “By gathering as a global body of Jesuit secondary schools for the first time we can begin to establish ways of collectively preparing our students and school communities to address the … welfare of the entire world and its development in a sustainable and life-giving way.”

The Jesuits run more than 400 schools across the globe. To date, 371 educators from 61 countries on six continents are registered for the event. The response, many involved with the massive undertaking will note, has been tremendous. The summit seeks to strengthen the global network of Jesuits schools by providing a venue to share ideas, discuss common strengths and challenges, examine our Jesuit mission and identity, and focus on how Jesuit school educators can prepare students to become global leaders.

“BC High is the Jesuit High School of Boston, and our work reflects that mission, but we are also a part of an expansive global network,” said Kemeza. “By strengthening the bonds within that network, we are able to give our students vastly expanded opportunities to become global citizens, to participate in an education that goes far beyond the classroom. As BC High looks to embark on its 150th anniversary celebration, we look to our aspirations for the future. Engaging a global network of schools, as we are doing with this Colloquium, best prepares us to give students an education reflective of our Church and world in the 21st Century.”

By strengthening the global network, BC High sees expanded opportunities to enhance the education of its 1,600 students. In seeking to educate its students about the world, BC High’s goal is to put them in that world. Currently, the school offers 6 international exchange and service immersion trips to places like China, Ireland, France, Argentina, and El Salvador.  

“We see the Colloquium as an opportunity to increase international opportunities available to students,” said Dan Carmody, BC High’s Director of International Programs and coordinator for the Colloquium.  “It gives students the chance to experience the world as part of their high school education. But it goes beyond travel. With our technology, students can engage with students in Jesuit schools around the globe through video conferencing and the internet. A global network dramatically enhances our teachers’ ability to expose students to worldwide issues.”