VIA & MANRESA: HELPING STUDENTS FIND THEIR PLACE AT REGIS JESUIT

By Fr. Eric Ramirez , SJ DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL MINISTRIES

By Nicolette Howell '07 MARKETING MANAGER

Making the transition from middle school to high school can be an exciting, albeit nerve-wracking time in a young person’s life. The beginning of ninth grade signals change both socially and academically. Freshman students are exploring new extracurriculars, classes and even beginning to think about college; all while navigating new friendships and a new environment. The Mission, Ministry & Diversity Office saw an opportunity to reenvision the first-year student experience and excitedly launched a new program called VIA in the fall of 2022. “VIA, a Latin word meaning ‘the way,’ is a program comprised of several events and activities designed to more thoughtfully orient, include and welcome our ninth-grade students and their families into the Regis Jesuit community,” explains Dr. Sajit Kabadi, Assistant Principal for Mission, Ministry & Diversity.

Guided by the Ignatian principle of cura personalis, or “care for the whole person,” the Pastoral Ministries Office carefully crafted VIA with the intention of instilling the values of faith, friendship and formation into freshmen early on in their high school career. Mentorship is at the heart of the program and, with the help of more than 100 junior and senior student-leaders, ninth graders are lovingly guided through their first year in their VIA small groups. Students are introduced to their small groups during Compass Day and meet several times throughout the year. Small group settings are the perfect avenue for freshmen to begin establishing bonds with their classmates and provide the opportunity for junior and senior leaders to share their faith and life experiences with our new students, ensuring they find their place and home here at Regis Jesuit.

In addition to mentorship, VIA programming incorporates several events that provide the opportunity for students to root themselves more deeply in the traditions of the school. Events including Compass Day, Magis Day, Freshman Run-In and Cannonball Day (a reference to St. Ignatius’ moment of conversion) are each designed to unite ninth-graders as a class and establish a sense of belonging while encouraging ongoing connection and shared values.

VIA programming reaches a crescendo of faith and fellowship at the Freshmen Retreat. A staple of the Regis Jesuit pastoral program since 2008, this retreat is an introduction for freshmen and their families to the RJ Retreat Program. Led by juniors and seniors and supported by hundreds of other students, the boys and girls participate in separate retreats hosted in their respective divisions over two days beginning Thursday evening and ending Saturday morning. “Together, throughout the retreat, the students pray, share reflections on their faith in God and discuss the real meaning of the sisterhood and brotherhood through the gift of authentic, loving relationships,” says Dr. Kabadi. All aspects of VIA intend to point the ninth grader to the way of RJ through love of Christ. The expression of this love in all its many ways is how we love, serve, praise and reverence God at Regis Jesuit.

With the success of the inaugural year for the VIA program, the Pastoral Ministries Office is now launching a similar program for sophomores called MANRESA. Borrowing from the life of St. Ignatius, MANRESA draws the imagination to Ignatius' second big step following his injury at Pamplona that prompted his conversion. A small town outside of Barcelona, MANRESA was a stopping point where Ignatius dug deep into his spiritual experience, met new friends and started to write the first drafts of the Spiritual Exercises

Much like MANRESA for St. Ignatius, sophomore year is the next big step for our students at RJ, bringing with it a whole new host of opportunities, challenges and places for growth. The desire, like in the life of Ignatius, is to go deeper. Our sophomores have officially crossed the threshold of high school and we want to continue to help them to grow in their sense of love for themselves, for and by the community, and most importantly for and by God.

MANRESA will place a greater emphasis on senior leadership than ever before, with the intention of senior leaders meeting more frequently with sophomores for peer mentoring and accompaniment. Additionally, Sophomore Retreat is currently being reimagined. Spearheaded by Ms. Amanda Houser ’17, our Retreat Coordinator, a small committee met to discern best practices for the retreats for both the girls and the boys to present a more universal experience between the two divisions, while still seeking to uphold the benefits our single-gender model allows us to offer in a retreat setting.

Deepening the experience, the MANRESA year will include two family events: the Sophomore Convocation and the Bridge Mass. The Convocation is a family affair where sophomores and their families come together at the beginning of the school year for Mass, a special speaker and breakfast. The event is intended to help the whole family begin to focus on the needs, challenges and graces that the second year of high school brings. The Bridge Mass bookends the year and gathers the sophomores back together with their families to celebrate the halfway point in their high school experience. We hope to mark this occasion by welcoming students into their junior year with an open invitation for them to take greater ownership of our school’s life.

Through both the VIA and MANRESA programs, we seek to accompany our students more closely through their transformative high school years, providing them a strong support system in their first years on which they can build a solid foundation for the rest of their time at RJ and beyond.