Insights
(This article originally was published in the 2017-18 President’s Report.)
I may not have graduated from Belen Jesuit, but I am a proud alumnus who attended the school when it was in Little Havana. My father had always wanted my brother and me to attend Belen, but our financial situation at the time made it challenging. The Jesuits, however made it possible for both of us to attend and provided my family with a scholarship. I believe wholeheartedly that my time (grades 7th to 9th) at Belen made a huge impact on my life and definitely in my future.
My wife and I made sure that our three sons and oldest grandson - Rodolfo Hernández (‘93), Daniel Hernández (‘97), Gregory Hernández (‘04), and Adrián Hernández (‘17) - attended and graduated from Belen. They each have gone on to represent the ideals and values set forth by the school.
We are proud of the “legacy” our family is building at the school. So much, that when we find out that someone in the family is having a boy we announce it by saying, “another Belenite”.
Over the years, my wife and I have enjoyed countless activities with the boys and their friends. Meeting other parents and becoming involved in school activities such as Tombola and the Belen Youth Missions cemented our bond to the school. For us the most important takeaways have been seeing them grow, becoming professionals and continuing to remain friends and close to each other. They along with many of their Belen brothers give back to the school in their own way.
Our family is eternally grateful to Belen and the community it has created. In the effort to show our gratitude, we were proud to help create the Hernández Family Field and the Hernández Family Foundation with the intention of giving back to organizations making a difference, and Belen Jesuit could not have been a better place to start. I see it as our responsibility to help the school grow and to continue to be a tool for educating the leaders of tomorrow.
I encourage you to do what you can to help ensure the future of the Belen Jesuit we all love so much. May God guide and bless you in your support of Belen.
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.