St. Joseph's Boys' Higher Secondary School

St. Joseph's Boys' Higher Secondary School, in Kozhikode, is one of the oldest educational institutions in India. The School run by the Society of Jesus was started away back in 1793. The Jesuit educators have as their aim the pupil's complete development. The school strives to make the students "agents of social change" or "men for others" so that the principles of social justice, equality of opportunity, genuine freedom, respect for religious and moral values may prevail. To give this ideal, concrete expression, the school programme includes various curricular activities

History

The present St. Joseph's Boys' Higher Secondary School was started in 1793 as a parish school. Its management passed through the Congregation of Gabriel Brothers and the Congregation of Carmelites. It is in 1884 that the School came under the present Jesuit management. In 1902 it was raised to a High School. In those days the strength of the School was just 100.Now it has more than 2000 students and about 80 members on the staff. In 1998 Higher Secondary Section with Science, Commerce and Humanities batches was started.

St. Ignatious Layola - Founder of the society of Jesus

Ignatius was born in 1491 at Loyola in Guipuzcoa. After spending some time as a courtier, he turned to a military career. In 1521, while convalescing after a wound received at the siege of Pamplona, he suddenly conceived a burning desire to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ. In 1523 he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, via Rome and Venice. His spiritual experiences during his retreat at Manresa were to provide the core of his book `The Spiritual Exercises'. In 1534 he took the vows at Montmartre. In 1537 he was ordained in Venice, and in the same year moved to Rome. There, in 1540 he founded the Society of Jesus, and in the following year was elected its first General. In every kind of apostolic work he contributed greatly to the Catholic revival of the sixteenth century and to the renewal of the Church's missionary activity. He died in Rome on 31 July 1556, and was Beatified on 27th July1609 by Pope Paul V and canonized by Gregory XV on 22 May 1622. Pope Gregory XV when canonizing Ignatius of Loyola said that the saint had "a heart greater than the world". Arnold Toynbee, speaking from the perspective of history counted Ignatius Loyola among "the greatest and most influential figures" in the field of religion, "a striking example of spiritual transformation." In a widely used book called The Doctrine of the Great Educators, Ignatius is listed among a select group of thirteen men who have had an influence on education; the others include Plato, Quintilian, Milton, Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Montessori, and John Dewey.

The Society of Jesus

Seal of the Society of Jesus. The "IHS" trigram represents the first three Greek letters of "IHΣOYΣ" (Jesus), later interpreted as "Iesus Hominum Salvator", Jesus, Saviour of Mankind, The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu, S.J. and S.I. or SJ, SI) is a Roman Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits. The Jesuits today form the largest religious order of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church, with 19,216 serving in 112 nations on six continents, the largest number being in India followed by those in the United States. The current Superior General of the Jesuits is the Spaniard Adolfo Nicolás. The Society is characterized by its ministries in the fields of missionary work, human rights, social justice and, most notably, higher education. It operates colleges and universities in various countries around the world and is particularly active in the Philippines and India. A typical conception of the mission of a Jesuit school will often contain such concepts as proposing Christ as the model of human life, the pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning and lifelong spiritual and intellectual growth.

Facilities in the School

Laboratories

Computer education is a part of the curriculum for High School and Higher Secondary Commerce classes. The School has a well-equipped Computer lab with 26 networked Pentium machines. Apart from this a Multi media system is used for demonstration classes. Educational software are made available for the students in the Lab. The lab is also connected to the Internet. High School and Higher Secondary students receive literacy instruction according to the Government of Kerala syllabus.The Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany laboratories have a capacity for 25 students each at a time. All these labs are well stocked with equipments necessary for Higher Secondary education.

Library

We have a well-stocked Library with over 10,000 books. The Higher Secondary section provides the latest books in various fields for reference. Engineering and Medical Entrance books are also made available to the students. The CD ROM section has various Encyclopedia titles and English Language learning software for reference purposes. The computerization of library is on the anvil.

Sports

Jesuit Education focuses on the overall development of the child. There is special emphasis for extra-curricular activities. The School is provided with an excellent football ground and a basketball court. Various Inter District competitions are held here.

Other Facilities

The school has an Auditorium with a seating capacity of over 1,500 students. The School Youth festival, Annual day etc., are conducted here. Apart from this an open air Auditorium serves as a place for the weekly School Assembly.School has a counsellor who guides the students. Students of all sections approach our counsellor for help. Students consider our Counsellor as a friend, guide and philosopher to the students.The School Co-operative store provides books and stationery items to the students at a concessional rate.

Notable Alumni

• Sudheesh Actor
• Sasi Kalinga Actor
• Roshan Bijlee Actor
• Raghunath Paleri Film Director