Dear Students, Staff, Parents, Alumni and Friends of JMC,
Greetings from the Heights!
As we come to the end of the second and penultimate month of the term, I am filled with gratitude to each and every one of you for the progress of our collective journey made amidst harrowing hardships. I am indeed grateful for your unwavering support and commitment to the JMC project in all ramifications.
Unlike January before it, February witnessed a beehive of activities designed to further advance the mission of the college and deepen its identity as a community of scholarship, prayer, and service. The month began with the Phoenixes taking their First Continuous Assessment (CA1) Test of the term accounting for their learning leading up to the test. The three-day exercise went well and produced commendable outcomes. I applaud the Phoenixes who continue to apply themselves tenaciously to their studies while urging those less tenacious in this regard to fan into flame their quest for academic excellence and character formation.
Next up in chronological sequence was the long awaited Entrance Examination into Jesuit schools in Nigeria. The maiden joint exam took place in centres across the nation on the tenth day of the month and was well executed. That said, I would like to sincerely thank all Parents’ Associations for their invaluable support on the day of the exam. Your generous coordination of persons and movements at the various centres are highly appreciated. In the same vein, I offer a depth of gratitude to the Phoenixes who proctored the exam at the Heights thanking them for their act of selfless service; a testament to their depth of understanding and witnessing to the spirit of Ignatian generosity, of “giving without counting the cost.” We wish all the candidates the best of luck as they await the release of the examination results.
Adding to the excitement of the Entrance Examination weekend, for some of the Phoenixes whose siblings and relatives took the exam, was the first Visiting Sunday of the year and term, which took place the next day. Having been away from home since the beginning of the New Year, the visitation of parents/guardians to the college on the eleventh day of the month was timely as it afforded our excellent Phoenixes the opportunity to reunite with loved ones, and be rejuvenated for their academic endeavours. I applaud all parents/guardians who keep the sacred obligation of visiting their children/wards every Visiting Day, and doing so exceedingly well by making out time to interface with those responsible for the education and formation of their children/wards.
As their time at the Heights gradually draws to a close, some Phoenixes of the Class of 2024 are hard at work completing college applications while some others wait anxiously to hear the decisions of the respective colleges to which they have applied. Wherever these our Phoenixes may be on the spectrum of the college admission process, I wish them the best of luck and charge them to be as hardworking as ever, especially as they take their final internal examination of senior school, the second Senior School Certificate Mock Examination (SSCE-MOCK II). That said, I would like to congratulate those who took the Aachen University of Applied Science Entrance Examination on the twentieth day of the month and were subsequetly shortlisted for interviews on the twenty-sixth. May the outcome of their respective interviews bring greater joy to them and their loved ones.
In the same spirit, I commend the determination of the Phoenixes who, on the eighteenth day of the month, took the final exams in Mathematics and Science for the International Stem Oympiad, for a place in the Grand final, scheduled for July 10-16, 2024, in the Hague, Netherland. Their doggedness gives credence to the quality of Jesuit education and its robustness. As they await the release of the examination results, I wish them the best of outcomes while thanking all who facilitated the exams here at the Heights.
Looking ahead, I would like to remind us of the upcoming college events scheduled for the second weekend in March: Open Day and Parents-Teachers’ Association Meeting on Saturday, March 9, and Visiting Day on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Kindly mark your calendars and endeavour to be punctual, especially for the Open Day exercise, which affords parents/guardians the opportunity to interface with the academic and non-academic staff of the college for the ultimate good of our excellent Phoenixes.
To conclude, permit me to introduce to you the top ranked Phoenixes on Honour Roll in the six classes of the college in the first regime of the term. We applaud their academic feat and recognise them as our Phoenixes of the month.
I hope to see you all soon at the Heights, and I commend your journeys to God for peace and safety. Meanwhile, I entreat your fervent prayers for the our excellent Phoenixes as they give account of their learning this term in the days and weeks ahead. May the good Lord be propitious to them in their quest for excellence in character and learning, and may He grace us with the wisdom and courage to accompany them accordingly for His greater glory, and for the good of humanity.
Fr. Alexander E. Irechukwu, S.J.
Principal