It’s 7^th and 8^th Grade like you never imagined

The St. John’s Jesuit Academy is an experience. “It’s certainly not just books,” says Academy Principal Chris Knight. “We know boys this age need to experience learning, experience group dynamics, experience the joy of living.”

And that attitude has brought the five-year old Academy acclaim. Winning a variety of academic contests and having students compete in prestigious contests has honed the skills of these young men who go on to excel in high school and beyond.

But ask an Academy student and you might not hear about classes. You’ll hear stories of going to Space Camp, having fun at the Father/Son Camp out, or splashing down the Maumee River in a canoe. “Research shows that boys at this age level grow from experiencing challenges and active learning,” says Mr. Knight who has done extensive study on the needs of the junior high boy.

Always innovative, this year a new addition has been a logic class, which focuses on problem solving. “I think most of us assume logic is somehow innate or cultivated by other areas of study, but that may not be the case,” explains teacher Jason Huther. The new logic offering provides a semester of focused studies in logic and problem solving to improve every student’s basic principles of correct reasoning and techniques of argument.

And more than brain challenges, the physical component of learning is not ignored. In the fall, students were able to scale a portable mountain trucked to campus. Coming next month, as a highlight to the winter Olympics, a bobsled racetrack will find big brothers from the high school hitting the hill on campus with their Academy little brothers. Activity is key in the Academy.

Academy Information nights are scheduled for Feb 10, 2010, and 24 at 7 p.m. Test dates for admission are Feb. 10 at 5 p.m., Feb. 15, at 9 a.m. and Feb. 27 at 9 a.m.

Director of Admissions Rita Hayes reminds people of the way St. John’s makes tuition affordable. “We award more than $3 million in financial assistance. More than 70 percent of our students receive a tuition grant. Our goal is to help families who want their sons at St. John’s.”

For details go to sjjtitans.org or call 419.865.5743.