Letter from the Head of School
Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB
Embedded Files
October 12, 2021
Dear Shaw Family,
It’s a good year for growing spiritually at Shaw. We have plenty of school Masses on the schedule and we are doing the good-morning talks on camera daily. Another thing that is also helping us grow spiritually is the House system. Dividing everyone up into 4 different 'Houses' has motivated us towards a more joyful school spirit --- (like at lunch time and at pep rallies). It has made for more enthusiastic involvement in service days (like hurricane relief work) and… it's allowing upperclassmen and underclassmen to actually become friends—an intra grade-level brotherhood is occurring.
By now (it is October) everyone should know something about the saint that their House was named after. These different saints were all normal guys who strived hard to live holy lives. They worked at becoming virtuous. They fought their way against sin and temptation. They did their duties well. It is hoped that by imitating their desire for holiness all the men of Shaw could become virtuous, too. Our school model is EXCELSIOR—strive to go higher academically, spiritually, and in all aspects of maturity as a person. The household system is all about providing that opportunity.
Let me ask you a question… how well do you know the life and the virtue of the saint whose House you are in? The saints are: Blessed Carlo Acutis (the newly beatified teenager), Saint Dominic Savio (the famous student of Don Bosco), St. Francis de Sales (the gentleman bishop with a practical spirituality for all) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (the young adult of service and social action). All of these saints modeled the Salesian spirituality of: joy, a personal relationship with Jesus, a trust in the intercession of the Blessed Mother, kindness, service and the fulfillment of their duties in their state in life.
All of these saints were serious about holiness in everyday life. Are you?
God bless you
Excelsior—Go Eagles
Fr. Steve
Fr. Steve Ryan is an ordained priest of the Salesians of Don Bosco and the current Head of School of Archbishop Shaw High School. Fr. Ryan was born in Staten Island, NY in 1964. He discerned his vocation from a young age after attending Camp Don Bosco in Newton, NJ. Fr. Ryan received a M.A. in Theology from the Josephinum Pontifical College in Ohio and a M.A. in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University Chicago.
Fr. Ryan served as a teacher at Archbishop Shaw from 1986-1988 as a Brother. Fr. Ryan was ordained a priest on May 31, 1992 at Saint Anthony Parish in Nanuet, NY. Since his ordination, he has ministered in youth ministry and served as the province Delegate for Youth Ministry.
While directing Salesian ministry in Tampa, Florida, he was part of a team that founded Cristo Rey Tampa High School. He served as the Vice Provincial of the Eastern Province for three years before being assigned to the role of Head of School at Archbishop Shaw.
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