Welcome to the extended family of St. John’s! Our family, like any other social structure, has its own rules and regulations, promotes cohesiveness amongst its members and is value based.
The Edmund Rice Family comprises of the Christian Brothers living and working in different countries and in various cultures and all the people whose lives they touch. The Brothers recognise and joyfully affirm the emergence of individuals and groups who are inspired by the vision of Edmund Rice. They acclaim such people and are now working in partnership with them as a part of the Edmund Rice family.
A prophetic call to a quest for justice – One of the calls the Christian Brothers have been acutely aware of, is ” to proclaim Liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free” (Luke 4 : 18) – A call for social justice that was a matter of considerable concern for Blessed Edmund Rice as well.
Realising, however, that pursuing too many injustices simultaneously would be an impossibility, the Brothers chose, as a congregation, to have one focal point that they would address and speak upon. This focus would be in keeping with their identity as an international congregation dedicated to the education of the young ones of this world. The focus chosen was: the issue of the rights of children and those areas that touch on the injustices done to children globally: abuse, child soldiers, street children, indentured slavery, child pornography- the list is endless.
To effect this, there is a need to have a right relationship with God’s creation, to reflect on experiences at the margins, minister to the poor and grasp the opportunities that lie in dislocating experiences that move us beyond past methods of teaching justice.
SJOBA (St Johns Old Boys Association) is an alumni association formed by the students who passed out.It has around 3700 members. It is managed by an executive body chosen from within the community each year. SJOBA completed 30 years in 2009.
It organizes events such as blood donation camps. The year-end vocational counselling for students passing out is an annual tradition. It conducts the annual debate for students of the Senior Wing, an Annual Quiz, and sports events such as football and cricket matches between the school teams and a team of old boys.
SJOBA organises recreational events including the SJOBA Sub-Himallyan Rally(http://www.sjobarally.com) around March, SJOBA Mini-marathon around November and the SJOBA Winter Fest in December, which includes the SJOBA Treasure Hunt, Cultural Evening (plays and musical nights) and the Winterball, which is the annual reunion organiser by the alumni.
SJOBA mentors economically challenged students and contributes to school in the form of sports facilities and financial aid. A wing of SJOBA called the SJOBA Foundation www.sjobafoundation.org offers scholarships to students who show promise in the field of academics and sports.