|
|
 Web This Site
|
RATIONALE BEHIND THE NEW SLOGAN "Learning to Reach for the Stars" The new Slogan for Saint John Catholic School essentially differentiates it as a unique educational opportunity among the area’s school choices for K4-8. It positions the school under a flagship statement of purpose, and lends most necessarily a hopeful optimistic personality to it in order to raise it above the cold bricks and mortar of what otherwise is associated most school institutions. This concept is built around a profoundly simple message. It is an expressed philosophy that issues into a lifetime of striving for being what and where God asks us to be. It points and directs upward, heavenward, from whence we came and will return. Its simple inspirational message is as instantly understood by the imagination of a child as by an adult. It is also memorable by its recognizable familiarity. It embraces the encouraging spirit inherent in every piece of parental hope and advice given to a child. It is at eye level with a parent and a child in its casual, but affirmative declaration. It begins with the verb “Learning…” as an ever-present tense expression of potential energy, a purpose certainly appropriate for a school. It continues with “…To Reach For The Stars,” which marries the resultant outcome of “Learning” to a way of being, a way of thinking. It translates into body, mind, and soul. It is foundational and a life philosophy for the whole person. Along with the seal, this approach fosters the promise that a freed imagination is superior to the routine approach of textbook institutionality. It serves the purpose of separating Saint John Catholic School’s faculty and students by philosophically and firmly situating them apart in the universe of other schools. It interprets each teacher as reaching for the star in each child and each child reaching for his stardom of realized potential. It is a disarmingly bold and refreshingly hopeful statement and symbol to those who really come to appreciate the challenges of educating young children within the choices available. The slogan and seal hearken in affirmation to the teachers and students and
the families of the students, who collectively are united in a noble commitment
to each child. It is both a “battle cry” and a promise. It echoes the Star Trek
intro of “…to boldly go where no one has gone before…” One of the most exciting traditions established at Saint John is the “Circle of Peace.” This program essentially fortifies every aspect of the school’s culture and brings coherence into the attitudes of the teachers, parents and students. The seal honors the “Circle of Peace” ritual and pledge which employs each child’s unique handprint symbolically reaching-out and carries it to the forefront of the school’s emblem. The circle is one of oldest symbols found across all cultures through history and stands for the center point from which we can gain understanding of GOD. It has no beginning or end, and no divisions, making it the perfect symbol of completeness, eternity, and the soul. The Saint John Catholic School Seal design approach communicates instantly and directly with complete innocence. It is not slick or contrived, but pure and uplifting as something lifted directly from a child’s mind. Yet beyond its simplicity, it communicates a number of pertinent and important symbolic and philosophical messages unique to Saint John Catholic School. The simple rendering of arms and hands (in a circle motif) reaching for the star, at its most elemental level, graphically illustrates the slogan, “Learning To Reach For The Stars.” – The profound promise of Saint John Catholic School. The star at the apex of the hands reaching upward has much significance without offending on both a secular and Christian level. The star and hands point skyward in a positive gesture of continuous hope beyond the limits of earth-bound obstacles. On the secular level, the star is the star of hope residing in each child’s dreams for self-actualized personhood. It is the stardom of each child’s living potential, ever growing. It is the rising sun-star at the beginning of each new day. It is happy, it is fun and it is amazingly inspiring. On a religious level, the star of Bethlehem comes to mind as the message or symbol of hope of Christ’s coming to mankind both to the “wise men” (the learned) and the shepherds (the working men) who followed that star to the foot of the manger. Certainly that Star is the hallmark of man’s new birth and redeemed potential. And in our faith-expressed, that Star continues to shine. It expresses the Christian Tradition simply without need for dogma. The overall design incorporates the School’s name and slogan into the emblem
so that the message stands unified within a single symbol. |
|
|
