All School Chapel

The entire student body, faculty, and staff gathered in Liu Court Friday morning for the annual All School Chapel. This year, the service was planned, organized, and led by members of the SJS Community and Inclusion Unity Council. The opening statement was given by Matthew Yekell ’20 and Warda Mohamed ’19. Next, Shelby Wilson ’20, Natalie Brown ’21, and Shehryar Jafry ’21 read the Statement on Community and Inclusion that was unanimously approved by the St. John's School Board of Trustees on September 8, 2018. Click here to read the full statement.

The chapel speech was given by Upper School English teacher Clay Guinn ’92, one of the main authors of the Statement on Community and Inclusion. As both an alumnus and current faculty member, Mr. Guinn spoke about the efforts the School has made to ensure "every member of the St. John’s community will be known and loved", an initiative he credits to Headmaster Desjardins. Mr. Guinn feels the School has come a long way on instilling this doctrine since he was a student at SJS.

The Unity Council then showed a video in which they interviewed students and faculty from all divisions on the feeling of belonging at St. John's (see featured video to watch). Finally, the service closed with a special performance by Joshua Wilson ’20. The song Just Love was written by Joshua's father, Grammy-nominated Brian Courtney Wilson. It was the perfect message for students on how to treat others with love and respect. Click here to watch a clip from Joshua's performance.