The Brother Martin community gathered to celebrate the final Liturgy of the 2016-2017 school year with Brother Louis Couvillion, Ordained Brother of the Sacred Heart, presiding. The entire Brother Martin community was called to leadership for the upcoming school year. All of the athletic and extracurricular teams, clubs, and organizations presented symbols of their group that provided visual proof of the extensive involvement of the students at Brother Martin. Bro. Louis ask the students to look at those symbols and recall all that happened in the their respective clubs, teams or organizations this year, and for each person to commit to continued involvement next year. Bro. Louis called the newly elected Brother Martin Student Council President Colby Coulon ‘18 and current Student Council President Ben Wisniewski ‘17 for the symbolic transfer of the gavel, and Colby Coulon ‘18 indicated his willingness to serve the student body of Brother Martin.
The Class of 2018 Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (all 50 of them!) were also commissioned and served the Brother Martin Community for the first time. We also witnessed the Band and the Chorus perform without the leadership of the seniors, and there is no doubt, by the example of the beautiful music and song, that we are in the capable hands of the rising underclassmen. Brother Martin’s newly appointed Principal Mr. Ryan Gallagher ‘00 called on the rising senior class to affirm their commitment to be servant-leaders of the school, and then Mr. Gallagher called the rest of the student body, faculty and staff to be ‘All In’ next year as well.
Finally, the Brother Martin President, Mr. John Devlin, and the School Administration: Mr. Greg Rando ‘77, Mr. Ryan Gallagher ‘00, Mrs. Deborah Broussard, Mrs. Gabrielle Macaluso, and Mr. Carlos Bogran ‘99, honored Bro. Louis Couvillion and Bro. Carl Bouchereau. Both Bro. Louis and Bro. Carl will be ‘answering the call’ elsewhere in the Brothers of the Sacred Heart American Province. Bro. Louis will be the Director of a new Brothers’ Community in Metuchen, New Jersey and will be working in campus ministry at St. Joseph High School. Bro. Carl has accepted the role of Director of the Brothers’ Community in Pascoag, Rhode Island. The Pascoag Residence is the largest in the United States Province with over 25 Brothers in retirement and semi-retirement in the community. Both men have long been serving the Brother Martin community with their kindness, wisdom and enthusiasm; both men are glowing examples of the Charism of our Founder, André Coindre, and the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. They will each be remembered fondly because Brother Martin has flourished due to their leadership, guidance and love. And there is no doubt that Brother Martin will move forward as a better place because of their long-term presence.