| St. John the Baptist High School officially started the Centenary Celebrations and the Junior College its Silver Jubilee on 24 th June 2004 the birthday of our patron - Saint John the Baptist, with a Holy Mass at 9.00 AM in the beautifully decorated church, which was con-celebrated by the Chief Guest, Rev. Fr. Gregory Lobo - Secretary of the Archdiocesan Board of Education along with the Manager Rev. Fr. John Rumao, Principal Rev. Fr. John Lopes, Ex Manager Fr. Sabino D'Silva and Ex Principals Fr. Ernest Fernandes, Fr. Ivan Mascarenhas, Fr. Andrew Mukadom and 16 other priests. The church was packed with students and staff to its full capacity. A special arrangement of a large screen was made in the auditorium for the parishners. The theme of the solemn mass "We thank thee" was brought out beautifully through the meaningful liturgy. The highlight of the mass was the choir comprising of school children trained under the expert guidance of Ms. Marcia D'Cunha. After Mass there was the release of 100 balloons and bursting of crackers amidst cheers from the school children and well-wishers.
A 2-hour Variety Entertainment was held in the newly renovated school hall, which began at 11 AM sharp. The hall was filled to capacity with special invitees, press, centenary committee members, executive committee of Ex-students' Association, PTA members, Parents and students. It was touching to see a large number of retired ex teachers misty eyed with happiness to witness this event. There was the formal lighting of the lamp and garlanding of the statue of St. John the Baptist by the chief guest - Rev. Fr. Gregory Lobo. Miss Aloo Shroff presented a floral bouquet to the chief guest, while Mr. S.S. Tuscano presented the memento. On the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the Junior College two of the senior professors Mr. R. K. Halasur felicitated the manager and Mr. F.R. Navalgund felicitated our Principal. The President of the Ex-students' association Mr. Milind Ballal and Secretary Mr. Ganesh Iyer presented a bouquet to the Manager and Principal on behalf of the association The program began with 110 children from the various sections of the school singing the Centenary Song written specially for the occasion by Mrs. Belinda Willard - Vice Principal of the Junior College and put to music by ex-student Mr. Cedric Serpes ex-creative director - Lintas now residing in Goa. The Junior College students put up an excellently choreographed unique prayer dance to commemorate their Silver Jubilee. The felicitation of the Ex-Managers and Ex-Principals could not be held as they left after the mass due to prior commitments.
The rest of the program consisted of a good show of a koli dance by the extra ordinary nimble footed students of the Special School, a foot tapping western dance by the little kids of the primary section, Rain dance in Hindi and an English skit by the Secondary section against a beautiful backdrop. The program had 4 speakers, the chief guest Rev. Fr. Gregory Lobo- Secretary of the Archdiocesan Board of Education- Mumbai gave a riveting yet humorous speech, ex student Mr. Milind Ballal - Editor Thane Vaibhav spoke about the school eloquently, and the manager Rev. Fr. John Rumao a veteran in the field of education spoke on various aspects of education and the school. However it was the well-crafted welcome address of the young dynamic Principal Rev. Fr. John Lopes at the beginning, which had the entire audience spellbound. His inspiring speech touched many a heart and made a deep impact on their minds. He said, "Education is the soul of society. The heart of education is the education of the heart. We cannot prepare the future of our students but we can certainly prepare our youth for the future." Shri Anant Tare of the Shiv Sena made an unannounced entry to felicitate the Principal and Manager and waited till the end of the show. The program concluded with the rendition of the National Anthem by the school children. |
