St. John’s Jesuit High School and Academy and its board of trustees have begun a Campaign for Innovation, a $15.8 million fund-raising effort focused on strengthening academics with an emphasis on entrepreneurship.
The campaign will fund a “Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship” in a stateof- the-art facility which will also serve to complete necessary stadium enhancements. In addition, a Jesuit living residence and a community center will be built on the grounds of the campus. Scholarship and endowment funding will be significantly increased.
“We’ve done our homework as an educational leader in northwest Ohio and determined that what is most critical to the growth and success of our community are graduates with intellectual skills and confidence to navigate small, start-up, or corporate entities, with an educational foundation that has developed critical thinking, business planning, and execution,” said board chair Jeff Savage, class of 1980. “In addition, we’ve got a network of successful alumni in professions of almost every kind ready and willing to help along the way.”
As a Jesuit school, St. John’s prepares young men to become innovators of tomorrow, as well as young men who desire to give back to their communities.
President Mark Swentkofske, class of 1984 noted, “The focus of the campaign is to create an academic center featuring flexible classroom and laboratory space that empowers our students to collectively experience practical problem solving in real world environments incorporating real risk, real consequences and real outcomes.”
Upon completion, the stadium will be named to honor the memory of longtime board member and business entrepreneur Geoff Lyden, who died in 2018.
Mr. Lyden was the CEO of True North Energy. Accordingly, the football field will be renamed to honor the memory of Fred Beier, a legendary coach and teacher who made an impact on thousands of lives during his 39 years at St. John’s Jesuit.
The future Jesuit Community Center will serve as a residence for Society of Jesus order priests, and a center for spiritual development such as student-led retreats, adult spiritual guidance and other small gatherings.
Through increasing the school’s endowment fund, the campaign will ensure long-term sustainability by providing significant scholarship assistance to families who desire Jesuit Catholic education but may not be able to afford the cost of tuition.
Dan Anderson, class of 1974, the campaign chair said, “We are proud to announce that we have secured $10.8 million toward our $15.8 million goal. We realize that this is bold and ambitious, and yet we are confident that we will be successful. It is critical that our community support education so that we can grow and retain talent for our local industries.”
