October 6, 2025 • 31 mins
Ever wonder what makes a Jesuit education different? Rich Sullivan, who has devoted 27 years to Rockhurst High School as a teacher, coach, and now Director of Ignatian Identity, reveals the heart of what makes "The Rock" unique.
"Our goal isn't just to get these kids into Harvard. Our goal is to get these kids into heaven," Sullivan shares, quoting former president Father Baum. This powerful philosophy guides everything at Rockhurst, where forming "men for others" takes precedence over any single achievement.
The conversation explores how Rockhurst cultivates faith formation for both students and adults through retreats, spiritual exercises, and community building. Sullivan describes monthly faculty meetings, silent retreats, pilgrimages, and workshops that help teachers understand and embody Jesuit values before passing them on. "We do so many Jesuit things that we're not consciously aware of," he explains, highlighting how his role helps uncover these distinctive practices.
Perhaps most moving is Sullivan's reflection on the Rockhurst community itself – the dedicated mentors who shaped his own understanding of Jesuit education through their example. This spirit extends to athletics, where coaches teach students that "you're loved whether you win or lose," embodying Ignatius's teachings on detachment and finding God in all things.
For parents considering Rockhurst, Sullivan offers this perspective: "There are a lot of seeds planted here. Some grow quickly, some take time to germinate, but I can guarantee your son will be exposed to the questions that will give him meaning in life."
Join us for this insightful conversation about faith formation at Rockhurst and discover why, after nearly three decades, Rich Sullivan remains passionate about the transformative power of Jesuit education.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:30):
Welcome to Rock Talk, the official podcast of
Rockers High School in KansasCity, Missouri, where we explore
the voices, values, and vibrantlife of our Jesuit college prep
community.
Hosted by the admissions andmarketing team, each episode
features conversations withstudents, faculty, alumni, and
special guests as we sharestories of academic excellence,
faith formation, brotherhood,and service.
(00:52):
Whether you're a prospectivefamily, a proud alumnus, or
simply curious about what makesThe Rock unique, this is your
inside look at life at The Rock.
Good morning.
Today we have a very specialguest.
Mr.
Rich Sullivan, our director ofIgnatian Identity at Rockhurst.
Mr.
Sullivan, you want to tell us alittle bit about yourself and
(01:13):
give us a little bit morebackground about what brought
you to Rockers?
SPEAKER_02 (01:16):
Thanks.
My name is Rich Sullivan.
This is my 27th year atRockhurst High School.
I came here in 1999.
I went to a Jesuit high schoolmyself back in Fall River,
Massachusetts.
Then I went to a Dominicancollege.
And my wife grew up in KansasCity.
We decided to move back toKansas City after she won, and
(01:38):
we decided to come back toKansas City.
And I've been at Rockhurst eversince then.
I've served in a number ofdifferent capacities in the
building as a social studiesinstructor, as a college
counselor, as an assistantcross-country coach, as a head
tennis coach.
And my primary focus, however,is as the director of Ignation
Education.
I also had two sons who camethrough.
(01:59):
Okay.
One graduated in 2018 and onegraduated in 2022.
SPEAKER_00 (02:04):
Okay.
Now go back for me, because yousaid you went you went to a
Jesuit high school.
Where what was the name of theschool?
SPEAKER_02 (02:10):
Okay, so the the the Jesuit high school that I went
to is called Bishop Conley HighSchool in Fall River,
Massachusetts.
SPEAKER_00 (02:15):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (02:16):
It was originally a diocesan school.
However, it ran into someproblems, and they asked the
Jesuits to come in and take itover.
The Jesuits came over, came inand took it over.
And unfortunately, it closedabout three years ago.
Oh wow.
The Jesuits had not beenaffiliated with the school for
about 10 years.
(02:37):
They went back to the dioceseand the school closed about
three years ago.
SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
So that's that that's a bummer.
And then what what universitydid you go to?
SPEAKER_02 (02:45):
I went to Providence College, which is a Dominican
college in Rhode Island.
SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
I'm very I'm getting more interested.
I've said this before on thepodcast, but like I think it was
with Alan Roderman when he weretalking about how he went to
Rockhurst University.
Is that correct?
And then you know with my kids,I have daughters, but with them
not being able to go toRockhurst, I have this like,
man, I wonder if they can go toa Jesuit university.
(03:09):
So I'm like always taking notesof what colleges and
universities are out there.
But cool, cool, cool.
Our theme for the first fourepisodes of this series centers
around faith and formation.
What does that mean to you inthe context of Rockhurst and in
your role specifically?
Because you you have a veryunique role, but what does that
(03:32):
mean to you?
SPEAKER_02 (03:33):
Well, I think I think when I whenever I start
thinking about faith andformation and I think about
working in a high school, thethe phrase that comes to mind
right away is cure personalis.
And the idea I think that makesa place like Rocker so special
is that we truly, truly, trulyare educated.
I mean, we're truly interestedin educating the whole person.
(03:56):
The whole person.
You know, I I I think back towhen I worked in college
counseling and Father Baum, whowas the president at the time,
used to remind us that our goalisn't just to get these kids
into Harvard.
Our goal is to get these kidsinto heaven.
And I think that is that is whatformation is about for me at
Rockhurst High School.
That we are about forming thesekids to be good people, to be
(04:19):
men for others, to to care aboutfan friends, family, their
community, their church.
And that's uh it's kind of aspecial thing.
It involves a lot of differentsteps.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
Yeah, you have kind of a unique perspective as
someone who your real role asdirector of nation identity is
to really look at how we formour adults on campus to be good
examples of faith in theeveryday life of the boys.
And I know I've been abeneficiary of many of the
things that you do.
(04:53):
So tell us a little bit moreabout what adult faith formation
looks like on on Rockers campus.
SPEAKER_02 (04:59):
Well, uh again, I think that adult faith formation
is so important because we askso much from these boys.
You know, when you think aboutthe things that we talk to them
about, like we talked about,what does it mean to be a man
for others?
Well, if our faculty have neverreally considered that question,
(05:20):
it's going to be very, verydifficult for to get our boys to
embrace that concept.
We ask them to be, you know, thethe gratitude, which is such an
important part of what we'relooking for with the boys,
right?
You know, committed to justice,religious, open to growth,
intellectually competent andloving.
We ask that of our boys and ourfaculty need to know what we
(05:43):
mean by that.
What we well what what does thatactually mean in the context of
a Jesuit education?
And so we spend a little timegoing over what it means to be a
Jesuit educator.
Perhaps, you know, the the theJesuits have a 500-year
tradition of doing this.
And again, the idea here is thatwe're producing men for others.
(06:08):
We're producing men who are goodcitizens, who have a belief in
the common good, and so ourfaculty need to understand where
that tradition came from and howto bring out the best in
everybody.
SPEAKER_00 (06:22):
Yeah, I being new faculty or staff or whatever
whatever designation I fallunder, I was extremely I w I
would say excited, but my heartwas warmed when I got to see the
other side of the fence, myexperience, right?
(06:43):
I came through here as astudent, and I I know all the
conversations we were having, Iknow the experiences we were put
through to help us be men forothers and you know, glorify the
Lord and all of that.
But then when I got the handbookand I started to read through
the handbook, which you know, II'm a learner, man.
Like I I like learning andunderstanding what I'm involved
(07:04):
with, and to see the languagethat was in there for the
leaders in the school.
Whether you're leading aclassroom, a department, uh, you
know, whatever, I'm like, oh,that's cool.
The adult formation that I'm apart of.
I'm like, wow, that's really,really cool because I'm a big
believer of two things.
One, you know, one of my folksused to tell me this all the
(07:27):
time was, you know, there's nosubstitute for experience.
Now, and and when you you know,not everybody is Jesuit or
Catholic, but being able tounderstand the umbrella we're
all under when we're here isvery important.
It's bigger than just teachingmath, it's bigger than, you
know, let me talk to you about,you know, this event that
(07:48):
happened uh in a theology class,and then, you know, the other
one being, you know, when aleader gets better, everybody
gets better.
And having leaders that aresubject to more, you know, is
it's cool because it makes senseto me.
Oh, this is why the culture waswhat it was, is because all of
(08:09):
the teachers and you know, thestaff and everybody went, you
know, through their ownformation process.
And no matter where they were ontheir journey, you know, no
faith, deep in faith, you'reforming yourself so you can help
form and shape young men.
And I and I think that's prettyimpactful for sure.
SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
Yeah, one of the things, you know, I tell people
all the time, having worked inCatholic education for my entire
career, you know, starting inthe university level, going back
to elementary and middle school,and then coming now to high
school, is that the thing thatstruck me as so unique and
different about Rockhurst is thefact that in our professional
development, right?
It's we do the professionaldevelopment like any other
(08:50):
school.
But there is this added to me,incredibly important, added
bonus of this faith formation,this focus on not just forming
yourself professionally, butlike you said, with kind of what
Father Baum said, you know, whatwhat are our end goals?
Our end goal is to get intoheaven.
And and part of a huge part ofwhat we do here is mission-based
(09:11):
work.
You know, everyone that's at theschool is here because they
believe in the mission and whatwe do here.
But I think having a context forthat is so important.
And so our next question isgoing to be around your favorite
experience today.
But before we get to youranswer, I'm gonna tell you my
favorite adult for faithformation experience today.
(09:31):
So I've I've done quite a fewthings.
I think Rich is probably sick ofme signing up at this point.
But my second year I did thespiritual exercises, which was a
great experience.
And for those of you listeningat home that haven't heard about
it, it's a nine-month retreat.
It's an incredibly powerfulexperience.
Um our local office for the wasthe Ignatian Spirituality
(09:55):
Center.
Yes, Ignatian SpiritualityCenter is who runs it.
And so people that aren't evenassociated with the college or
the or this high school can takeon this retreat if it's
something that they'reinterested in, or even train to
become a guide for it, which Ithink is an incredibly great
ministry, but it's a greatexperience.
But my my favorite one to datehas been the silent retreat I
(10:17):
got to go on, which was niceenough to send me to Belize to
be silent, which I will tell youthere were many bets hedged at
my house between my brothers andmy parents and uh, you know,
cousins, et cetera, sayingthere's no way that she's gonna
go and be silent for a week.
And it it was a trulytransformational experience for
(10:38):
me.
I think it's probably the firsttime in my life, let alone my
adult life, that I took time toreally be fully immersed in a
conversation with God, which Ithink is really important.
And doing it in such a beautifulsetting is Blaze with the
wonderful people from St.
John's College down there.
It was a wonderful experience.
And I I tried to explain it tosome of my coworkers as I never
(11:01):
thought you could grow close toother people without speaking to
them.
And it's this kind of reallycrazy revelation that you can be
in the same space as someone fora week and feel this intimacy or
closeness to them without everactually speaking to them till
the very end of the retreat.
So it was a really neat andunique experience.
So I I'm incredibly appreciativeof that.
(11:24):
So, what what was your favoriteexperience kind of day, either
leading or going on yourself?
SPEAKER_02 (11:29):
Well, let me let me go through, you know, some of
the experiences that we offerfirst, just because I think that
gives it a little more contextor whatever.
So generally we we meet monthlywith first-year teachers, and
then we meet monthly withsecond-year teachers.
And we're using right now, we'reusing Father James Martin's
book, The Jesuit Guide to AlmostEverything.
(11:51):
We kind of use that as a basisto discuss Jesuit theology and
Jesuit spirituality so that theyunderstand what it is.
One of the things that's amazingabout to me about working in a
Jesuit school is that we do somany Jesuit things that we're
not consciously aware of thefact that we're doing these
things that make us distinctlyJesuit.
And part of my job, I think, isto help people to uncover those
(12:15):
things that they are actuallydoing in the classroom, that
they're doing outside of theclassroom, that make us unique.
And I think that that helps.
Then we also offer a newIgnation Educators retreat,
which is a fascinatingexperience because we usually
drive to St.
Louis and we meet up with schoolwe meet up with schools from the
central and southern province,which includes uh schools from
(12:39):
Dallas, Houston, St.
Louis, Tampa, New Orleans,Colorado, and sometimes on a
good day in Belize, we actuallythey send up somebody from
there.
And what happens is we gather ina room and we we go through some
of the major ideas of Jesuit,you know, spirituality, but it
(13:00):
also gives the faculty membersan opportunity to see that there
are people doing this all over,not just you know, the central
and southern part of the UnitedStates, but all over the world.
And we're all engaged in acommon enterprise.
And I think a lot of people findthat kind of reassuring.
Oh, okay, this is stuff thateverybody's trying to do, or
(13:20):
that we're all trying to do.
We've also had an opportunityfor faculty members to go on
silent retreats, uh, as as theone that you went on.
We've had faculty members whohave gone on the Camino, which
is in in Spain, which is apilgrimage that, you know, runs
throughout the Spain.
It's a walking pilgrimage.
We have had faculty members whohave attended local retreats as
(13:44):
well.
And the school also runs afaculty and staff retreat every
year as well.
I I was trying to think aboutwhat what my own personal
experience is, and there'scertain things that have helped
me in my own for faithformation.
I made the exercises, and thatwas with that without that, I'm
not sure I would be in this rolethat I am today.
But I think one of the thingsthat is so special about
(14:07):
Rockhurst High School is thecommunity.
I've been around a lot ofreally, really, really amazing
people in this building.
Amazing teachers, amazingmentors, amazing Jesuits who
have all kind of eitherexplicitly or implicitly taught
(14:29):
me what it meant to be a Jesuiteducator.
You know, I think of some of thenames, you know, I you know, in
in the words of Newton here, ifI've seen further, it's because
I've stood on the shoulders ofgiants.
And I think of some of the namesthat have been here, and and and
Steve, you might know some ofthese, and you might know some
of these as well.
But you know, I I think I thinkof I think of Father Pesci,
Father Tom Pesce, I think ofFather Gary Menard, uh I think
(14:53):
of Father Baum, Terry Baum, Ithink of uh Mr.
Tom Norman, I think of Dr.
Jerry Gobin, I think of Mr.
Andy Hagedorn, I think of CoachSeverino, all of these men and
Mr.
Ruby, so many people who shapedmy spirituality, even if it
(15:16):
wasn't explicit, right?
It was like, wait, wait aminute, these people are they're
they're giving up so much time,so much energy, so much love to
bring about sort of this, youknow, the greater glory of God.
Right.
And they do it on a daily basis.
They're here at six o'clock inthe morning and they're here
till 11 o'clock at night.
(15:37):
And they did it sometimes for 30years, 40 years.
And so I think that that's beenmy favorite experience is
working and interacting withthis community, all in an
effort, again, for the greaterglory of God.
And that's a neat thing.
SPEAKER_01 (15:53):
Yeah, it does kind of make every day in a way kind
of feel like a retreat, youknow, and when you're working
with people under this commongoal, under this common
language, which I think isreally important.
Steve, what's been I know youyou've only really gotten one
experience so far.
SPEAKER_00 (16:06):
He hasn't gone on the new teacher uh retreat yet,
but um uh I was gonna say I'mdisappointed that I'm not gonna
be able to go on a retreat thisyear.
I'm gonna have to figure it outfor next year, but I'm really
excited about it.
What was my favorite experience?
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
Yeah, so so far you've done the morning first
year conversations.
SPEAKER_00 (16:27):
I and I you well, I'll I'll speak of it like this,
because I enjoy those becausesimilar to what you just said,
there's so much to be learned,if you will, from just hearing
other people talk about how theyexperience God, how they live
their life, and I'm alwaysintrigued by that.
(16:48):
I'm intrigued by the communityas well.
Like I said, you even being ableto see the words in the
handbook, it instantly uh putyears of experience into place
for me because it's like, oh,this is why Coach Sev did this,
this is why Coach So and so didthis, this is why my teachers
(17:09):
were the way they were.
And it was always more than thegrade every time.
Every and and I and I had a veryrough experience personally when
I was here.
So that moved me more thananything was having these
interactions where I'm gettingchallenged, and what came across
(17:32):
to me as challenged as a youngman was really love, which is
like, oh, that's why, that's whyyou didn't just say, Oh, yeah,
whatever, you'll figure it outevery time.
And you know, that was probablymy when I think about Rockhurst
in the community, to what you'resaying, Mr.
Sullivan.
That is easily my mostmeaningful um experience.
(17:55):
I think back to there was aretreat that I went on and I
cannot even remember which oneit was.
Because it you know I wastalking about 20 years ago.
But I remember going on aretreat, and it had to be the
freshman retreat, maybe.
Were they off campus back then,Mr.
Solon?
The freshman retreat.
I'm trying to remember.
unknown (18:16):
Gosh, I can't remember.
SPEAKER_00 (18:17):
I remember we were in a dorm room from and it was
me.
Maybe it was the junior retreat.
Okay, so getting old, right?
But I just remember at thatpoint, you know, and this is
kind of the experience we all gothrough.
Freshman year, you're figuringstuff out, you're kinda awkward.
(18:39):
I don't I'm trying to find myplace.
Sophomore year, you got yourlegs under you a little bit.
Junior year for me was that ohthis is family.
Like these are my brothers.
This I have a deeperunderstanding of the community,
and going on that retreat reallymoved a lot of the other
posturing out of the way.
(19:00):
We got really deep, we gotreally connected, and that's
when we in my mind, how I alwayssay this, is when we started to
really see each other.
Like, I know you live overthere, and I live over here, but
oh we actually are as as wetalk, like seeing God in all
(19:21):
things.
I I see who the Lord has madeyou.
And it was a really coolexperience for me because I I
was talking to a family aboutthis the other day.
Those moments helped me realize,like, oh man, I got friends that
I never would have imagined Ihad.
And it wasn't because of thefootball victories.
I mean, that helped, but like itwas those deeper moments.
(19:42):
And so as loosely as I answeredthat question, that experience
on that retreat was somethingthat meant a lot to me.
SPEAKER_02 (19:50):
And I think it's I think that that's where the
adult faith formation comes inbecause we have those retreats,
we have those moments, and oneof the things that I think that
makes Rockhurst unique is thatwe have faculty members who are
willing to go there.
SPEAKER_01 (20:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (20:06):
Faculty and staff members who are willing to share
about their their their lives inan effort to influence and shape
young men.
And that doesn't just happennaturally.
You know, it's actually uh it'sa goal of of Rockhurst High
School.
But, you know, it I began mycareer years ago in a in a
public school, and it was atremendous, tremendous public
(20:29):
school.
It's a you know, a greatdistrict with great kids, great
families, great, great people.
But we were never, we werealmost warned not to go there,
not to share anything aboutourselves personally because if
we do that, you know, the youmight be crossing lines or you
know, you don't want to talkabout your faith, you don't want
to talk about anything.
(20:50):
And here at Rockers, we're no,no, here's here's kind of some
of the stuff that I've beenthrough.
And if you need somebody to talkto about some of this stuff,
yeah, here I am.
And I think that that's areally, really special thing
that we offer here.
SPEAKER_01 (21:03):
And I think that that that's exactly it, because
I think of, you know, I've goneon the Kairos retreat, for
example, for the last uh sevenyears since I've been here.
And each year I joke, I've I'vedone the same, same talk every
time, except my very first time.
And each time that that talkevolves a little, and I think
it's because a lot of myconversation is in that talk is
(21:27):
about how we interact with Godwhen things are tough and
difficult, uh, because it's allabout the obstacles to God's
friendship.
And I think that what the toolsthat I've received through the
adult faith formation atRockhurst is is it has allowed
me to talk about that in a wayand articulate that better every
single time I give that talk.
So by continuing to improve myrelationship, my own spiritual
(21:50):
relationship with God, I canthen share with my students how
to do that.
And I think that's reallyspecial.
One thing your office is anaffiliate of the Ignatian
Spirituality Center.
Well sign up, right?
SPEAKER_02 (22:03):
Not not really.
It's an office that's sponsoredby Rockhurst High School.
And what we've done is we'vekind of created a bridge with
the Ignatian SpiritualityCenter.
So I've had the pleasure ofworking with a lot of people
from the Ignatian SpiritualityCenter on a lot of different
things.
But they are a separate entityin a Jesuits kind of refer to
(22:24):
them as apostolates.
And there's like RockhurstUniversity is an apostolate, St.
Francis Xavier, when it was runby the Jesuits, was an
apostolate, Rockhurst HighSchool is an apostolate, and the
Ignatian Spirituality.
And what we've done is we'veprovided a kind of a bridge
between us rather than being soseparated.
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (22:40):
Let's work together and see what we can do to
accomplish things.
SPEAKER_01 (22:43):
And expand offerings, it sounds like too.
SPEAKER_00 (22:45):
So, real quick, just for the the listeners, what is
an apostolate?
It's a it's it's a mission fromfrom the Jesuits.
SPEAKER_02 (22:52):
So essentially it is it is it is a a an office or a a
ministry that is sponsored bythe Jesuit.
Gotcha.
The Jesuits.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (23:02):
And actually, a neat fun fact is that currently the
director of the IgnatianSpirituality Center, Mike Zanem,
is a graduate of uh RockhurstHigh School from 2002.
So I think that that's reallycool too, that we we have a
person in that office that'sthat's living at the mission
that is a graduate of theschool.
And I think that speaks volumesto to the work we do here.
SPEAKER_02 (23:23):
And their primary function is to bring Ignatian
spirituality to the adultcommunity.
So they will bring the the thenumber one thing that they do is
they they guide people on theexercises, which you said
earlier, which is a nine-monthretreat, but they also offer
other retreats, other workshops,classes, and a variety of
different things for the adultcommunity.
(23:44):
So if there are any parents outthere who are interested in
more, I'm gonna put a littleplug there.
But if you're if they'reinterested in learning more
about Ignatian Spirituality onthe Ignatian Spirituality Center
is a great, great, great placeto start.
SPEAKER_01 (23:57):
So you just touched on something real real quick
that the adult faith formationis specifically with parents.
And that's another thing thathas kind of really impressed me
by Rockhartst is that we engagein several activities with our
parent population.
So since I've been here, I'veseen that grow even.
So we started with uh the youknow, there there's a women's
day of prayer retreat.
(24:18):
My mom, who's an alum mom, stilleven goes to that.
You know, we have things likeFather Son Mass, mom's in
prayer.
But then I've seen now we bringin the Jesuit speaker series,
which again gives parents uh alook at people that are living
as Jesuits throughout manyprovinces, doing many different
jobs, many different ministries.
(24:39):
That's a great offering we havehere on campus.
Like you said, we have parentsthat have done the exercises.
And I've had conversations withparents that have done it and
how powerful that is.
So I think it's that we alwayssay that home is kind of the
first teacher, right, of thefaith.
And so I think the fact that,yes, we invest very heavily in
our our faculty development inthe faith area, but also our
(25:02):
parent, you know, investmentthere.
Steve, what were you?
SPEAKER_00 (25:05):
Um I wanted to ask you this question.
So you've when when I was hereand you were still roaming the
halls doing your thing, you werean assistant cross-country
coach.
Right.
You're a tennis coach now.
You've held many other seats,but specifically in regards to
athletics, how do you bring thisinto coaching when you're
(25:30):
working with young men?
And and I know a rock hurts is alittle unique because there is
such a energy and expectation ofperforming well and doing well
academically, socially, all ofthese things.
But how do you bring that intothe equation when you coach your
teams or your athletes?
SPEAKER_02 (25:51):
I think I think that when you bring it into uh w uh
and again, uh I want to win.
Everybody wants to win.
That's you know, that's that'swhy we do sports.
We want we we want to competeand we wanna we wanna we wanna
win.
But there's so much more, as youknow, as far as sports are
concerned.
We we want to compete fairly, wewant to compete to the best of
(26:13):
our abilities, we want to beable to win with class, and we
wanna be able to lose withclass.
And I think that that's thosethe Jesuits have a really,
really good way.
They they Ignatius talks a lotabout indifference and the first
principle and foundation and andsort of detachment.
(26:36):
And I think that we try to bringthat into us when we when we
when we compete in sports.
Yeah.
You know, you're loved whetheryou win or lose.
And that's a really powerfullesson, I think, for kids to
learn because they put so mucheffort into it, but to
understand that no, this doesn'tchange who you are as a person.
Right.
This doesn't change who you are,you know, your your worth in any
(26:59):
way, shape, or form.
You're loved.
Now let's go out there and doour best.
SPEAKER_00 (27:05):
100%.
And I think that's uh important,you know, I've like I've said
this before, I've coached andmentor, I still do, athletes,
and trying to get them to walkthat line of yes, you're
investing a lot of energy, yes,you want to win, yes, you're
you're there's so manysacrifices going into you doing
(27:25):
this, but at the same time, winor lose, and I love winning, I
love it, I love it, I love it.
But win or lose, when you walkaway from this thing that hasn't
altered your position or yourstature with the Lord, he loves
you because of how you've goneout to represent him in whatever
(27:46):
the thing is that you're doing,and in this case, sport.
So I was just curious aboutthat.
SPEAKER_02 (27:50):
Yeah, no, it's a it's a it is a big part of of
it, and I think that it's one ofthe things that we you know we
we do emphasize here.
We definitely want to win.
I love walking into that gym andseeing all those banners.
Yeah.
But at the same time, we alsowant to teach our student
athletes that you will losesometimes.
And it doesn't change anythingabout you.
(28:12):
Right.
As long as you know that you'vegiven 100% in everything that
you do, then God's happy, we'rehappy, your coaches are happy,
your parents are happy, and yourteammates are happy.
SPEAKER_01 (28:23):
See that Ignatian spirituality is already rubbing
off on you, Steve, because evenIgnatius himself, you know,
changed from kind of thisglamour guy that was seeking
glory and and war and to a guywho decided that glory was
better stuck, you know, pleasingGod.
And I think that that's exactlywhat you guys were both talking
about, is that at a at the endof the day, if if your goal is
(28:46):
to do your very best in honor ofGod, then you're you're on a
good path.
SPEAKER_02 (28:50):
And I think I feel that way in the classroom too,
because I still teach a coupleof classes, and again, it's the
same thing.
You know, the the kids joke, I Isometimes say grades don't
matter.
Well, of course, grades matter.
But what's more important is areyou becoming a good person?
Yeah.
And I think that that's whatmakes rockers special.
For sure.
SPEAKER_01 (29:08):
Well, you teed that up perfectly.
Our favorite close-out questionfor everybody, and don't worry,
we've asked everybody thisquestion.
As both a a teacher here, butalso a past parent of uh two
rockers tocklets.
You could tell a prospectivefamily the number one reason
they should send their son torockers, what would it be?
SPEAKER_02 (29:27):
It's for the formation.
It's for the fan formation.
There are a lot of seeds plantedhere.
You know, I I I I I'm trying tofigure out how the best way to
articulate this.
There are a lot of seeds plantedthere.
Some of them grow really,really, really quickly.
Some of them take a long time togerminate.
(29:50):
But I can guarantee your son, ifhe comes to Rockhurst High
School, will be exposed to thequestions that will give him
meaning in life.
SPEAKER_01 (30:02):
Yeah, that's great and incredibly well put.
Speaking of alumni coming back,you may have heard a little
ruckus in this this podcasttoday, but we have um our golden
(30:25):
hawklets on campus today, whichis always a Special Yeah,
special event and it'shomecoming week, lots of fun
things going on.
And kind of what's what's coolabout that is our our next
conversation around faith andformation is gonna be alumni
focused.
We're gonna bring in some of ouralumni that work currently here
at The Rock and differentcapacities that can share their
(30:49):
own perspective of how beingformed here as a student, coming
back here as a teacher, they'vecontinued to grow in their faith
and and share their faith withothers.
So we'll have a little alumnicorner next episode.
So be sure you tune in.
And as always, thank you, Mr.
Sullivan, for joining us today,taking time out of your busy
day.
I know you got your first big APtest this Friday.
(31:11):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (31:11):
In world history.
I'm already nervous.
SPEAKER_01 (31:13):
So, sophomores, I hope you're studying, but we
really appreciate you taking thetime to see us today.
SPEAKER_00 (31:18):
Well, thanks for having me.
Yeah, it's been a bless.
All right.
All right.
Welcome to Rock Talk, the official podcast of
Rockers High School in KansasCity, Missouri, where we explore
the voices, values, and vibrantlife of our Jesuit college prep
community.
Hosted by the admissions andmarketing team, each episode
features conversations withstudents, faculty, alumni, and
special guests as we sharestories of academic excellence,
faith formation, brotherhood,and service.
(00:52):
Whether you're a prospectivefamily, a proud alumnus, or
simply curious about what makesThe Rock unique, this is your
inside look at life at The Rock.
Good morning.
Today we have a very specialguest.
Mr.
Rich Sullivan, our director ofIgnatian Identity at Rockhurst.
Mr.
Sullivan, you want to tell us alittle bit about yourself and
(01:13):
give us a little bit morebackground about what brought
you to Rockers?
SPEAKER_02 (01:16):
Thanks.
My name is Rich Sullivan.
This is my 27th year atRockhurst High School.
I came here in 1999.
I went to a Jesuit high schoolmyself back in Fall River,
Massachusetts.
Then I went to a Dominicancollege.
And my wife grew up in KansasCity.
We decided to move back toKansas City after she won, and
(01:38):
we decided to come back toKansas City.
And I've been at Rockhurst eversince then.
I've served in a number ofdifferent capacities in the
building as a social studiesinstructor, as a college
counselor, as an assistantcross-country coach, as a head
tennis coach.
And my primary focus, however,is as the director of Ignation
Education.
I also had two sons who camethrough.
(01:59):
Okay.
One graduated in 2018 and onegraduated in 2022.
SPEAKER_00 (02:04):
Okay.
Now go back for me, because yousaid you went you went to a
Jesuit high school.
Where what was the name of theschool?
SPEAKER_02 (02:10):
Okay, so the the the Jesuit high school that I went
to is called Bishop Conley HighSchool in Fall River,
Massachusetts.
SPEAKER_00 (02:15):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (02:16):
It was originally a diocesan school.
However, it ran into someproblems, and they asked the
Jesuits to come in and take itover.
The Jesuits came over, came inand took it over.
And unfortunately, it closedabout three years ago.
Oh wow.
The Jesuits had not beenaffiliated with the school for
about 10 years.
(02:37):
They went back to the dioceseand the school closed about
three years ago.
SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
So that's that that's a bummer.
And then what what universitydid you go to?
SPEAKER_02 (02:45):
I went to Providence College, which is a Dominican
college in Rhode Island.
SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
I'm very I'm getting more interested.
I've said this before on thepodcast, but like I think it was
with Alan Roderman when he weretalking about how he went to
Rockhurst University.
Is that correct?
And then you know with my kids,I have daughters, but with them
not being able to go toRockhurst, I have this like,
man, I wonder if they can go toa Jesuit university.
(03:09):
So I'm like always taking notesof what colleges and
universities are out there.
But cool, cool, cool.
Our theme for the first fourepisodes of this series centers
around faith and formation.
What does that mean to you inthe context of Rockhurst and in
your role specifically?
Because you you have a veryunique role, but what does that
(03:32):
mean to you?
SPEAKER_02 (03:33):
Well, I think I think when I whenever I start
thinking about faith andformation and I think about
working in a high school, thethe phrase that comes to mind
right away is cure personalis.
And the idea I think that makesa place like Rocker so special
is that we truly, truly, trulyare educated.
I mean, we're truly interestedin educating the whole person.
(03:56):
The whole person.
You know, I I I think back towhen I worked in college
counseling and Father Baum, whowas the president at the time,
used to remind us that our goalisn't just to get these kids
into Harvard.
Our goal is to get these kidsinto heaven.
And I think that is that is whatformation is about for me at
Rockhurst High School.
That we are about forming thesekids to be good people, to be
(04:19):
men for others, to to care aboutfan friends, family, their
community, their church.
And that's uh it's kind of aspecial thing.
It involves a lot of differentsteps.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
Yeah, you have kind of a unique perspective as
someone who your real role asdirector of nation identity is
to really look at how we formour adults on campus to be good
examples of faith in theeveryday life of the boys.
And I know I've been abeneficiary of many of the
things that you do.
(04:53):
So tell us a little bit moreabout what adult faith formation
looks like on on Rockers campus.
SPEAKER_02 (04:59):
Well, uh again, I think that adult faith formation
is so important because we askso much from these boys.
You know, when you think aboutthe things that we talk to them
about, like we talked about,what does it mean to be a man
for others?
Well, if our faculty have neverreally considered that question,
(05:20):
it's going to be very, verydifficult for to get our boys to
embrace that concept.
We ask them to be, you know, thethe gratitude, which is such an
important part of what we'relooking for with the boys,
right?
You know, committed to justice,religious, open to growth,
intellectually competent andloving.
We ask that of our boys and ourfaculty need to know what we
(05:43):
mean by that.
What we well what what does thatactually mean in the context of
a Jesuit education?
And so we spend a little timegoing over what it means to be a
Jesuit educator.
Perhaps, you know, the the theJesuits have a 500-year
tradition of doing this.
And again, the idea here is thatwe're producing men for others.
(06:08):
We're producing men who are goodcitizens, who have a belief in
the common good, and so ourfaculty need to understand where
that tradition came from and howto bring out the best in
everybody.
SPEAKER_00 (06:22):
Yeah, I being new faculty or staff or whatever
whatever designation I fallunder, I was extremely I w I
would say excited, but my heartwas warmed when I got to see the
other side of the fence, myexperience, right?
(06:43):
I came through here as astudent, and I I know all the
conversations we were having, Iknow the experiences we were put
through to help us be men forothers and you know, glorify the
Lord and all of that.
But then when I got the handbookand I started to read through
the handbook, which you know, II'm a learner, man.
Like I I like learning andunderstanding what I'm involved
(07:04):
with, and to see the languagethat was in there for the
leaders in the school.
Whether you're leading aclassroom, a department, uh, you
know, whatever, I'm like, oh,that's cool.
The adult formation that I'm apart of.
I'm like, wow, that's really,really cool because I'm a big
believer of two things.
One, you know, one of my folksused to tell me this all the
(07:27):
time was, you know, there's nosubstitute for experience.
Now, and and when you you know,not everybody is Jesuit or
Catholic, but being able tounderstand the umbrella we're
all under when we're here isvery important.
It's bigger than just teachingmath, it's bigger than, you
know, let me talk to you about,you know, this event that
(07:48):
happened uh in a theology class,and then, you know, the other
one being, you know, when aleader gets better, everybody
gets better.
And having leaders that aresubject to more, you know, is
it's cool because it makes senseto me.
Oh, this is why the culture waswhat it was, is because all of
(08:09):
the teachers and you know, thestaff and everybody went, you
know, through their ownformation process.
And no matter where they were ontheir journey, you know, no
faith, deep in faith, you'reforming yourself so you can help
form and shape young men.
And I and I think that's prettyimpactful for sure.
SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
Yeah, one of the things, you know, I tell people
all the time, having worked inCatholic education for my entire
career, you know, starting inthe university level, going back
to elementary and middle school,and then coming now to high
school, is that the thing thatstruck me as so unique and
different about Rockhurst is thefact that in our professional
development, right?
It's we do the professionaldevelopment like any other
(08:50):
school.
But there is this added to me,incredibly important, added
bonus of this faith formation,this focus on not just forming
yourself professionally, butlike you said, with kind of what
Father Baum said, you know, whatwhat are our end goals?
Our end goal is to get intoheaven.
And and part of a huge part ofwhat we do here is mission-based
(09:11):
work.
You know, everyone that's at theschool is here because they
believe in the mission and whatwe do here.
But I think having a context forthat is so important.
And so our next question isgoing to be around your favorite
experience today.
But before we get to youranswer, I'm gonna tell you my
favorite adult for faithformation experience today.
(09:31):
So I've I've done quite a fewthings.
I think Rich is probably sick ofme signing up at this point.
But my second year I did thespiritual exercises, which was a
great experience.
And for those of you listeningat home that haven't heard about
it, it's a nine-month retreat.
It's an incredibly powerfulexperience.
Um our local office for the wasthe Ignatian Spirituality
(09:55):
Center.
Yes, Ignatian SpiritualityCenter is who runs it.
And so people that aren't evenassociated with the college or
the or this high school can takeon this retreat if it's
something that they'reinterested in, or even train to
become a guide for it, which Ithink is an incredibly great
ministry, but it's a greatexperience.
But my my favorite one to datehas been the silent retreat I
(10:17):
got to go on, which was niceenough to send me to Belize to
be silent, which I will tell youthere were many bets hedged at
my house between my brothers andmy parents and uh, you know,
cousins, et cetera, sayingthere's no way that she's gonna
go and be silent for a week.
And it it was a trulytransformational experience for
(10:38):
me.
I think it's probably the firsttime in my life, let alone my
adult life, that I took time toreally be fully immersed in a
conversation with God, which Ithink is really important.
And doing it in such a beautifulsetting is Blaze with the
wonderful people from St.
John's College down there.
It was a wonderful experience.
And I I tried to explain it tosome of my coworkers as I never
(11:01):
thought you could grow close toother people without speaking to
them.
And it's this kind of reallycrazy revelation that you can be
in the same space as someone fora week and feel this intimacy or
closeness to them without everactually speaking to them till
the very end of the retreat.
So it was a really neat andunique experience.
So I I'm incredibly appreciativeof that.
(11:24):
So, what what was your favoriteexperience kind of day, either
leading or going on yourself?
SPEAKER_02 (11:29):
Well, let me let me go through, you know, some of
the experiences that we offerfirst, just because I think that
gives it a little more contextor whatever.
So generally we we meet monthlywith first-year teachers, and
then we meet monthly withsecond-year teachers.
And we're using right now, we'reusing Father James Martin's
book, The Jesuit Guide to AlmostEverything.
(11:51):
We kind of use that as a basisto discuss Jesuit theology and
Jesuit spirituality so that theyunderstand what it is.
One of the things that's amazingabout to me about working in a
Jesuit school is that we do somany Jesuit things that we're
not consciously aware of thefact that we're doing these
things that make us distinctlyJesuit.
And part of my job, I think, isto help people to uncover those
(12:15):
things that they are actuallydoing in the classroom, that
they're doing outside of theclassroom, that make us unique.
And I think that that helps.
Then we also offer a newIgnation Educators retreat,
which is a fascinatingexperience because we usually
drive to St.
Louis and we meet up with schoolwe meet up with schools from the
central and southern province,which includes uh schools from
(12:39):
Dallas, Houston, St.
Louis, Tampa, New Orleans,Colorado, and sometimes on a
good day in Belize, we actuallythey send up somebody from
there.
And what happens is we gather ina room and we we go through some
of the major ideas of Jesuit,you know, spirituality, but it
(13:00):
also gives the faculty membersan opportunity to see that there
are people doing this all over,not just you know, the central
and southern part of the UnitedStates, but all over the world.
And we're all engaged in acommon enterprise.
And I think a lot of people findthat kind of reassuring.
Oh, okay, this is stuff thateverybody's trying to do, or
(13:20):
that we're all trying to do.
We've also had an opportunityfor faculty members to go on
silent retreats, uh, as as theone that you went on.
We've had faculty members whohave gone on the Camino, which
is in in Spain, which is apilgrimage that, you know, runs
throughout the Spain.
It's a walking pilgrimage.
We have had faculty members whohave attended local retreats as
(13:44):
well.
And the school also runs afaculty and staff retreat every
year as well.
I I was trying to think aboutwhat what my own personal
experience is, and there'scertain things that have helped
me in my own for faithformation.
I made the exercises, and thatwas with that without that, I'm
not sure I would be in this rolethat I am today.
But I think one of the thingsthat is so special about
(14:07):
Rockhurst High School is thecommunity.
I've been around a lot ofreally, really, really amazing
people in this building.
Amazing teachers, amazingmentors, amazing Jesuits who
have all kind of eitherexplicitly or implicitly taught
(14:29):
me what it meant to be a Jesuiteducator.
You know, I think of some of thenames, you know, I you know, in
in the words of Newton here, ifI've seen further, it's because
I've stood on the shoulders ofgiants.
And I think of some of the namesthat have been here, and and and
Steve, you might know some ofthese, and you might know some
of these as well.
But you know, I I think I thinkof I think of Father Pesci,
Father Tom Pesce, I think ofFather Gary Menard, uh I think
(14:53):
of Father Baum, Terry Baum, Ithink of uh Mr.
Tom Norman, I think of Dr.
Jerry Gobin, I think of Mr.
Andy Hagedorn, I think of CoachSeverino, all of these men and
Mr.
Ruby, so many people who shapedmy spirituality, even if it
(15:16):
wasn't explicit, right?
It was like, wait, wait aminute, these people are they're
they're giving up so much time,so much energy, so much love to
bring about sort of this, youknow, the greater glory of God.
Right.
And they do it on a daily basis.
They're here at six o'clock inthe morning and they're here
till 11 o'clock at night.
(15:37):
And they did it sometimes for 30years, 40 years.
And so I think that that's beenmy favorite experience is
working and interacting withthis community, all in an
effort, again, for the greaterglory of God.
And that's a neat thing.
SPEAKER_01 (15:53):
Yeah, it does kind of make every day in a way kind
of feel like a retreat, youknow, and when you're working
with people under this commongoal, under this common
language, which I think isreally important.
Steve, what's been I know youyou've only really gotten one
experience so far.
SPEAKER_00 (16:06):
He hasn't gone on the new teacher uh retreat yet,
but um uh I was gonna say I'mdisappointed that I'm not gonna
be able to go on a retreat thisyear.
I'm gonna have to figure it outfor next year, but I'm really
excited about it.
What was my favorite experience?
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
Yeah, so so far you've done the morning first
year conversations.
SPEAKER_00 (16:27):
I and I you well, I'll I'll speak of it like this,
because I enjoy those becausesimilar to what you just said,
there's so much to be learned,if you will, from just hearing
other people talk about how theyexperience God, how they live
their life, and I'm alwaysintrigued by that.
(16:48):
I'm intrigued by the communityas well.
Like I said, you even being ableto see the words in the
handbook, it instantly uh putyears of experience into place
for me because it's like, oh,this is why Coach Sev did this,
this is why Coach So and so didthis, this is why my teachers
(17:09):
were the way they were.
And it was always more than thegrade every time.
Every and and I and I had a veryrough experience personally when
I was here.
So that moved me more thananything was having these
interactions where I'm gettingchallenged, and what came across
(17:32):
to me as challenged as a youngman was really love, which is
like, oh, that's why, that's whyyou didn't just say, Oh, yeah,
whatever, you'll figure it outevery time.
And you know, that was probablymy when I think about Rockhurst
in the community, to what you'resaying, Mr.
Sullivan.
That is easily my mostmeaningful um experience.
(17:55):
I think back to there was aretreat that I went on and I
cannot even remember which oneit was.
Because it you know I wastalking about 20 years ago.
But I remember going on aretreat, and it had to be the
freshman retreat, maybe.
Were they off campus back then,Mr.
Solon?
The freshman retreat.
I'm trying to remember.
unknown (18:16):
Gosh, I can't remember.
SPEAKER_00 (18:17):
I remember we were in a dorm room from and it was
me.
Maybe it was the junior retreat.
Okay, so getting old, right?
But I just remember at thatpoint, you know, and this is
kind of the experience we all gothrough.
Freshman year, you're figuringstuff out, you're kinda awkward.
(18:39):
I don't I'm trying to find myplace.
Sophomore year, you got yourlegs under you a little bit.
Junior year for me was that ohthis is family.
Like these are my brothers.
This I have a deeperunderstanding of the community,
and going on that retreat reallymoved a lot of the other
posturing out of the way.
(19:00):
We got really deep, we gotreally connected, and that's
when we in my mind, how I alwayssay this, is when we started to
really see each other.
Like, I know you live overthere, and I live over here, but
oh we actually are as as wetalk, like seeing God in all
(19:21):
things.
I I see who the Lord has madeyou.
And it was a really coolexperience for me because I I
was talking to a family aboutthis the other day.
Those moments helped me realize,like, oh man, I got friends that
I never would have imagined Ihad.
And it wasn't because of thefootball victories.
I mean, that helped, but like itwas those deeper moments.
(19:42):
And so as loosely as I answeredthat question, that experience
on that retreat was somethingthat meant a lot to me.
SPEAKER_02 (19:50):
And I think it's I think that that's where the
adult faith formation comes inbecause we have those retreats,
we have those moments, and oneof the things that I think that
makes Rockhurst unique is thatwe have faculty members who are
willing to go there.
SPEAKER_01 (20:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (20:06):
Faculty and staff members who are willing to share
about their their their lives inan effort to influence and shape
young men.
And that doesn't just happennaturally.
You know, it's actually uh it'sa goal of of Rockhurst High
School.
But, you know, it I began mycareer years ago in a in a
public school, and it was atremendous, tremendous public
(20:29):
school.
It's a you know, a greatdistrict with great kids, great
families, great, great people.
But we were never, we werealmost warned not to go there,
not to share anything aboutourselves personally because if
we do that, you know, the youmight be crossing lines or you
know, you don't want to talkabout your faith, you don't want
to talk about anything.
(20:50):
And here at Rockers, we're no,no, here's here's kind of some
of the stuff that I've beenthrough.
And if you need somebody to talkto about some of this stuff,
yeah, here I am.
And I think that that's areally, really special thing
that we offer here.
SPEAKER_01 (21:03):
And I think that that that's exactly it, because
I think of, you know, I've goneon the Kairos retreat, for
example, for the last uh sevenyears since I've been here.
And each year I joke, I've I'vedone the same, same talk every
time, except my very first time.
And each time that that talkevolves a little, and I think
it's because a lot of myconversation is in that talk is
(21:27):
about how we interact with Godwhen things are tough and
difficult, uh, because it's allabout the obstacles to God's
friendship.
And I think that what the toolsthat I've received through the
adult faith formation atRockhurst is is it has allowed
me to talk about that in a wayand articulate that better every
single time I give that talk.
So by continuing to improve myrelationship, my own spiritual
(21:50):
relationship with God, I canthen share with my students how
to do that.
And I think that's reallyspecial.
One thing your office is anaffiliate of the Ignatian
Spirituality Center.
Well sign up, right?
SPEAKER_02 (22:03):
Not not really.
It's an office that's sponsoredby Rockhurst High School.
And what we've done is we'vekind of created a bridge with
the Ignatian SpiritualityCenter.
So I've had the pleasure ofworking with a lot of people
from the Ignatian SpiritualityCenter on a lot of different
things.
But they are a separate entityin a Jesuits kind of refer to
(22:24):
them as apostolates.
And there's like RockhurstUniversity is an apostolate, St.
Francis Xavier, when it was runby the Jesuits, was an
apostolate, Rockhurst HighSchool is an apostolate, and the
Ignatian Spirituality.
And what we've done is we'veprovided a kind of a bridge
between us rather than being soseparated.
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (22:40):
Let's work together and see what we can do to
accomplish things.
SPEAKER_01 (22:43):
And expand offerings, it sounds like too.
SPEAKER_00 (22:45):
So, real quick, just for the the listeners, what is
an apostolate?
It's a it's it's a mission fromfrom the Jesuits.
SPEAKER_02 (22:52):
So essentially it is it is it is a a an office or a a
ministry that is sponsored bythe Jesuit.
Gotcha.
The Jesuits.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (23:02):
And actually, a neat fun fact is that currently the
director of the IgnatianSpirituality Center, Mike Zanem,
is a graduate of uh RockhurstHigh School from 2002.
So I think that that's reallycool too, that we we have a
person in that office that'sthat's living at the mission
that is a graduate of theschool.
And I think that speaks volumesto to the work we do here.
SPEAKER_02 (23:23):
And their primary function is to bring Ignatian
spirituality to the adultcommunity.
So they will bring the the thenumber one thing that they do is
they they guide people on theexercises, which you said
earlier, which is a nine-monthretreat, but they also offer
other retreats, other workshops,classes, and a variety of
different things for the adultcommunity.
(23:44):
So if there are any parents outthere who are interested in
more, I'm gonna put a littleplug there.
But if you're if they'reinterested in learning more
about Ignatian Spirituality onthe Ignatian Spirituality Center
is a great, great, great placeto start.
SPEAKER_01 (23:57):
So you just touched on something real real quick
that the adult faith formationis specifically with parents.
And that's another thing thathas kind of really impressed me
by Rockhartst is that we engagein several activities with our
parent population.
So since I've been here, I'veseen that grow even.
So we started with uh the youknow, there there's a women's
day of prayer retreat.
(24:18):
My mom, who's an alum mom, stilleven goes to that.
You know, we have things likeFather Son Mass, mom's in
prayer.
But then I've seen now we bringin the Jesuit speaker series,
which again gives parents uh alook at people that are living
as Jesuits throughout manyprovinces, doing many different
jobs, many different ministries.
(24:39):
That's a great offering we havehere on campus.
Like you said, we have parentsthat have done the exercises.
And I've had conversations withparents that have done it and
how powerful that is.
So I think it's that we alwayssay that home is kind of the
first teacher, right, of thefaith.
And so I think the fact that,yes, we invest very heavily in
our our faculty development inthe faith area, but also our
(25:02):
parent, you know, investmentthere.
Steve, what were you?
SPEAKER_00 (25:05):
Um I wanted to ask you this question.
So you've when when I was hereand you were still roaming the
halls doing your thing, you werean assistant cross-country
coach.
Right.
You're a tennis coach now.
You've held many other seats,but specifically in regards to
athletics, how do you bring thisinto coaching when you're
(25:30):
working with young men?
And and I know a rock hurts is alittle unique because there is
such a energy and expectation ofperforming well and doing well
academically, socially, all ofthese things.
But how do you bring that intothe equation when you coach your
teams or your athletes?
SPEAKER_02 (25:51):
I think I think that when you bring it into uh w uh
and again, uh I want to win.
Everybody wants to win.
That's you know, that's that'swhy we do sports.
We want we we want to competeand we wanna we wanna we wanna
win.
But there's so much more, as youknow, as far as sports are
concerned.
We we want to compete fairly, wewant to compete to the best of
(26:13):
our abilities, we want to beable to win with class, and we
wanna be able to lose withclass.
And I think that that's thosethe Jesuits have a really,
really good way.
They they Ignatius talks a lotabout indifference and the first
principle and foundation and andsort of detachment.
(26:36):
And I think that we try to bringthat into us when we when we
when we compete in sports.
Yeah.
You know, you're loved whetheryou win or lose.
And that's a really powerfullesson, I think, for kids to
learn because they put so mucheffort into it, but to
understand that no, this doesn'tchange who you are as a person.
Right.
This doesn't change who you are,you know, your your worth in any
(26:59):
way, shape, or form.
You're loved.
Now let's go out there and doour best.
SPEAKER_00 (27:05):
100%.
And I think that's uh important,you know, I've like I've said
this before, I've coached andmentor, I still do, athletes,
and trying to get them to walkthat line of yes, you're
investing a lot of energy, yes,you want to win, yes, you're
you're there's so manysacrifices going into you doing
(27:25):
this, but at the same time, winor lose, and I love winning, I
love it, I love it, I love it.
But win or lose, when you walkaway from this thing that hasn't
altered your position or yourstature with the Lord, he loves
you because of how you've goneout to represent him in whatever
(27:46):
the thing is that you're doing,and in this case, sport.
So I was just curious aboutthat.
SPEAKER_02 (27:50):
Yeah, no, it's a it's a it is a big part of of
it, and I think that it's one ofthe things that we you know we
we do emphasize here.
We definitely want to win.
I love walking into that gym andseeing all those banners.
Yeah.
But at the same time, we alsowant to teach our student
athletes that you will losesometimes.
And it doesn't change anythingabout you.
(28:12):
Right.
As long as you know that you'vegiven 100% in everything that
you do, then God's happy, we'rehappy, your coaches are happy,
your parents are happy, and yourteammates are happy.
SPEAKER_01 (28:23):
See that Ignatian spirituality is already rubbing
off on you, Steve, because evenIgnatius himself, you know,
changed from kind of thisglamour guy that was seeking
glory and and war and to a guywho decided that glory was
better stuck, you know, pleasingGod.
And I think that that's exactlywhat you guys were both talking
about, is that at a at the endof the day, if if your goal is
(28:46):
to do your very best in honor ofGod, then you're you're on a
good path.
SPEAKER_02 (28:50):
And I think I feel that way in the classroom too,
because I still teach a coupleof classes, and again, it's the
same thing.
You know, the the kids joke, I Isometimes say grades don't
matter.
Well, of course, grades matter.
But what's more important is areyou becoming a good person?
Yeah.
And I think that that's whatmakes rockers special.
For sure.
SPEAKER_01 (29:08):
Well, you teed that up perfectly.
Our favorite close-out questionfor everybody, and don't worry,
we've asked everybody thisquestion.
As both a a teacher here, butalso a past parent of uh two
rockers tocklets.
You could tell a prospectivefamily the number one reason
they should send their son torockers, what would it be?
SPEAKER_02 (29:27):
It's for the formation.
It's for the fan formation.
There are a lot of seeds plantedhere.
You know, I I I I I'm trying tofigure out how the best way to
articulate this.
There are a lot of seeds plantedthere.
Some of them grow really,really, really quickly.
Some of them take a long time togerminate.
(29:50):
But I can guarantee your son, ifhe comes to Rockhurst High
School, will be exposed to thequestions that will give him
meaning in life.
SPEAKER_01 (30:02):
Yeah, that's great and incredibly well put.
Speaking of alumni coming back,you may have heard a little
ruckus in this this podcasttoday, but we have um our golden
(30:25):
hawklets on campus today, whichis always a Special Yeah,
special event and it'shomecoming week, lots of fun
things going on.
And kind of what's what's coolabout that is our our next
conversation around faith andformation is gonna be alumni
focused.
We're gonna bring in some of ouralumni that work currently here
at The Rock and differentcapacities that can share their
(30:49):
own perspective of how beingformed here as a student, coming
back here as a teacher, they'vecontinued to grow in their faith
and and share their faith withothers.
So we'll have a little alumnicorner next episode.
So be sure you tune in.
And as always, thank you, Mr.
Sullivan, for joining us today,taking time out of your busy
day.
I know you got your first big APtest this Friday.
(31:11):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (31:11):
In world history.
I'm already nervous.
SPEAKER_01 (31:13):
So, sophomores, I hope you're studying, but we
really appreciate you taking thetime to see us today.
SPEAKER_00 (31:18):
Well, thanks for having me.
Yeah, it's been a bless.
All right.
All right.
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