Article appearing in the Spring 2003 Scarlet & Grey magazine

The Fitzpatrick Library

What would you answer if someone offered to name something after you?  And why would you select what you did?  Such was the situation presented to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Fitzpatrick and it wasn’t difficult for them to come up with an answer.

Returning to the Washington area late in the summer of 1964 from St. Louis, their first concern was to enroll their seven children in school.  The four youngest were admitted to the parish elementary school, St. Jane Frances de Chantal in Bethesda.  The three oldest needed a high school.  Jim was going into his senior year, Michael into the junior year and Bob was just entering high school.  Even though the two older boys had been enrolled in the Jesuit High School in St. Louis, it was St. John’s and not either of the Jesuit high schools in the area that was selected for their schooling.  And as the years progressed, the two younger boys, Terry and Tom followed in the footsteps of their brothers and became SJC alumni.

Enrollment was only the beginning of Millie and Joe Fitzpatrick’s involvement with St. John’s.  They were intent on providing all of their children with the educational opportunities that would satisfy the varied talents and abilities of each of the children.   Insistence in involvement in academic and extracurricular activities that were both athletic and non-athletic resulted in five graduates who were well prepared for and admitted to outstanding colleges and universities. Attention to their schoolwork was of utmost importance; and developing their God-given talents was paramount in their deriving full benefit from the many opportunities that were presented to them.

The Fitzpatricks firmly believe that growth involves the whole person and not  just academics.  And that academic growth does not take place solely in the classroom.  As parents, they saw themselves as the primary educators who would walk in a supporting role with those trained professionally in the various academic areas.  And while they realize the necessity of “pencils, books, and teacher’s looks” they are keenly aware of advances in the field of technology and the importance of training the mind to think, to discover, to explore.  Growth cannot be limited to textbooks; teachers challenging the students to broaden their perspectives through research provide opportunities for the growing adolescent to further his or her expertise through the creative use of the many advances in technology.

The library must be the center of academic growth.  Even though the heart of education has been reading and the place for reading has been the library, calculators and computers are now a sine qua non for even those in early childhood programs.  Education is not static.  The value of printed materials on library shelves cannot be denied; the benefit derived from the use of the internet has become increasingly important, not only in the life of a student, but also in the day-to-day activity of people in all walks of life.

The library at St. John’s is one of the many opportunities available for a student’s growth in excellence.  It is the hope of the Fitzpatrick family that in selecting the library at St. John’s to be named in their honor, it will continue to serve the students well as an invaluable tool in their preparation for the future.