Three staff members joined an audience of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors in Prep’s gymnasium on January 31 as part of a “People of Prep” panel, an assembly organized by the Office of Student Life as part of this year’s ongoing “Prep Men in the Morning” (PM in the AM) programming, covering topics pertinent to Jesuit high school students.
The session served, in part, to introduce the student body to members of the Prep community that work outside the classroom and to shed light on the roles they play at Grand & Warren.
“Because these individuals are in your school every day, there’s always the chance that you might gain another mentor that’s not a teacher…and I think that’s really valuable,” Dean of Student Life Ms. Catherine Eppler explained, introducing Director of Educational Technology Mr. Dave Bailey, ’95, Assistant Dean of Students Mr. Pat Laguerre, and Director of Communications Mr. Mike Jiran, ’03.
Ms. Eppler then led the panel in a discussion about their career paths, their time at Prep, their responsibilities at the school, and more.
Mr. Bailey explained that his job is “performed best when you don’t notice.” As the head of Prep’s I.T. infrastructure, he noted that his role includes overseeing classroom technology and student Chromebook distribution, maintaining Prep’s Wi-Fi and internal networks, and designing new systems for the school, such as the AV setups in common areas.
In the Office of the Dean of Students, Mr. Laguerre works each day to uphold Prep’s behavioral and community standards, meeting with students, printing ID cards, and more. Additionally, he both teaches history and coaches Prep Baseball.
Finally, Mr. Jiran explained that his office helps tell Prep’s story to the outside world through its website, social media, printed materials, and more.
Throughout the conversation, all three participants offered the student audience advice gleaned from their own experience at Saint Peter’s and shared why they believe Prep is such a singular institution.
“You might end up on a different path or a more challenging path, but maybe it’s one that pushes you to be a better version of yourself, one that unlocks things that you didn’t know you could do or that you just hadn’t envisioned yourself doing,” Mr. Jiran said. “That’s fundamental to not just my life, but it’s one of the things that Prep is about, right? We can call that being open to growth.”
Mr. Bailey, likewise, encouraged the group to collect opportunities but not to “chase trains.”
“I’ve always tried to collect opportunities. Somebody invites you to go do something you’ve never done before, maybe you’re not comfortable with it, but try it anyway. You might like it,” he said. “‘Don’t chase trains’ means if your train leaves at 7:00 [and] you show up at 7:01, don’t chase it. If you wanted to be there at 7:00, you would have been there at 6:55. Don’t blame other circumstances for what you failed to do.”
Finally, looking toward Prep’s future in the next twenty-five years, Mr. Laguerre spoke of how he envisions Saint Peter’s continuing to thrive.
“I still see St Peter’s Prep as being a vibrant institution, serving the needs of young people in Jersey City and elsewhere across the state,” he said. “I think that we’ll be able to adjust to the times, whatever that may be, because the one thing that we are always is very resilient….We had the pandemic recently, we had Hurricane Sandy, but we always seemed to find a way to rally and be resilient…and I don’t see that changing any time soon. So in 25 years, I expect us to still be vibrant, serving the needs of the community and really being an example for a lot of other schools to model.”
We thank all the day’s participants for sharing their unique stories and contributing to “Prep magic” in their own way every day.