Magis: The More, The Greater. –St. Ignatius of Loyola
Whenever I hear someone mention Jesuit, the first thing that I think of is the above two-syllable word “Magis”, a term that, at its very core definition precisely expresses Jesuit’s unceasing care for its faculty, students, and surrounding communities. Thus, one of the many merits of attending Dallas Jesuit is that each member constantly strives to serve the greater glory of God, and as a result, countless community service and social justice organizations have sprouted, one of which being the MAGIS Mentoring program, lead by Mr. Erik Burrell.
The MAGIS Program began originally as a summer program, called Higher Achievement Program (HAP), where Jesuit students and teachers could be involved in providing hands on learning during the summer as teachers and teachers’ assistants, but it quickly developed into much more. The HAP program set the foundation for what was soon to become the MAGIS program that so many students and faculty members hear of at Jesuit today. The HAP program specifically focused on middle school students who did not come from the traditional feeder schools like St. Rita or Prince of Peace; rather, these students originated from schools in South Dallas like Saint Mary of Carmel and Our Lady of Perpetual Help, providing a 3-4 week enrichment program where students could receive a first hand look at what the academic rigors were like at Jesuit. Although a great success among the students from these schools, Mr. Burrell thought the program was still lacking, “The students were here for only three to four weeks and then that’s it. Communication gets cut off”, and for Mr. Burrell, this defeated the entire purpose of the program. The following question now arose, to Mr. Burrell and his fellow community service and social justice faculty members: “How can we get these students up to Jesuit during the school year, so they can experience what it is like when there are actually students here, so they can see more of the activities and meet more of the guys?” The answer was simple, MAGIS.
Playing off of Saint Ignatius’ word, MAGIS is an acronym for Mentoring And Guiding Ignatian Students. Currently, the seven year old 
program hosts an impressive number of 56 Jesuit student mentors, ranging from sophomores to seniors, and an even more amazing 81 mentees who have enthusiastically volunteered to participate in the program. In addition to providing prospective middle school students with an opportunity get an Ignatian educational experience, the program partakes in at least four separate activities, outside of the classroom, during the school year, one per quarter or nine weeks. According to Mr. Burrell, “The program strives to get them different views, by having mentors take their mentees to a sporting event, hosting a designated homework help day, tutoring, and attending a band concert in May. Additionally, our mentors are required to call their mentee(s) at least once a month.” Obviously, the program relies heavily on the big brother-little brother complexion that is constantly visible throughout the halls of Jesuit, and even though mentors may only get to see their mentees four times a year, that is just the minimum amount. Hopefully, more and more students take the initiative to create deeper connections and lasting friendships with their mentees. Some Jesuit students have already gone above and beyond, like senior Trey Russell, who has been an active member in MAGIS for three years now. Last year, Trey’s mentee could not attend one of the Jesuit events scheduled because it was his birthday, and Trey decided to make it up to him, taking him to the Avengers movie premiere the next week. When asked why he went out of his way for his mentee, Trey explained that “MAGIS is my favorite thing to do; I did it all three years. And from the very beginning, I thought it was one of the best service programs that I have done while at Jesuit. I really enjoyed the time I had with my mentee.” Furthermore, Trey believes that “MAGIS is really reflective of the Jesuit characteristic of being Open to Growth, because a lot of these students are from different backgrounds than the students from Jesuit, and it is always interesting to see and hear about their lives and see how different they are from your own. “
These are the stories that Mr. Burrell loves to hear from the students in his MAGIS program, but one of Mr. Burrell’s all-time favorite memories occurred a few years ago when, top baseball prospect Josh Bell ’11 was a member of the MAGIS program. Mr. Burrell recalls that Josh was “paired up with a guy who was interested in baseball too.” They really hit it off with each other, and they started coming to each other’s baseball games. First, the student came to Josh’s game, and then, even after Josh had signed a major league contract, Josh went to his mentee’s baseball games. Mr. Burrell, still impressed, explains that, “When guys really take it upon themselves to embody what the Jesuit mission is about…it fulfills our end goal: to make sure that kids receive the Jesuit experience and to get further motivation for them to realize that one day they can be here, for them to see Jesuit students that look like them, or share their same interests, to recognize that this could be a school for them. To reach out to kids that hadn’t known or considered Jesuit as a possibility and help them see that this is a place for them to attend and be successful.”
Amazingly, at least 90% of those students who had the opportunity and visited Jesuit through the MAGIS mentoring program end up applying and getting accepted into Jesuit. Numbers as strong as this, call for reinforcement around the Jesuit community; Mr. Burrell hopes that more and more outreach and encouragement can be done for these students, to have full representation of kids who wish to have better opportunities, but unfortunately, don’t know how to obtain them. Thus, for those looking to join, senior and three-year veteran Jose Rivera says, “Definitely do it! You learn so much about middle school kids and about yourself. You not only help your Mentee grow, but you grow along with him as you spread the message of Ignatius.” MAGIS is a way for students to become role models, not only in Jesuit, but also outside of Jesuit, which exemplifies our theme of being the 29th acre. Many may have heard Mr. Knize’s motivating words of respecting the 28 acres that Jesuit rests on, but as all Jesuit students have recently seen at the beginning of the school year Prayer Service, the 28 acres is not enough. We must go the 29th acre; meaning, we must represent Jesuit outside of the school and share our motto in becoming Men for Others with the rest of the community, and the MAGIS Mentoring program embodies this belief. Ultimately, Jose summarizes the essence of the MAGIS Mentoring program, “We are acting as the role models for the kids we are mentoring, just like the male influences here at Jesuit are role models for us. And by acting as a figure of love and service, we are installing the kids a mentality of being men for others.”
So, if you see any Jesuit students accompanied by enthusiastic and excited 8th graders on campus wearing t-shirts that carry the words “MAGIS Mentoring” this Friday, September 11th, 2015, be sure to say hellow and introduce yourself. These students may be here for a football game against Strake Jesuit, but they are also in the process of trying to decide their future.
