St. John’s School in Sekondi in the Western Region is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a look at its past performances and finding ways of further improving on them. The school was founded in January 1952 through the vision and courage of a then Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cape Coast, Most Rev. William Thomas of blessed memory of the Society of Missionaries to Africa (SMA). He arrived in the Gold Coast in 1933 from Nigeria where he had been the General Manager of Catholic schools and giving hope to the young ones. St. John’s School was named after Rev. Fr. John Beenker, SMA, with the Beloved/Apostle as the patron saint for his contribution to humanity and development. The young institution operated in two classrooms which were available at the Catholic Middle School located at Anaafo, on the premises of the then St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral Fr. Beenker, who fell seriously ill shortly after assuming duty and had to return home to The Netherlands where he later passed on. Rev. Fr. Francis Kwame Buah, who was then pursuing his postgraduate studies in Ireland, was recalled to take over the running of the school from Rev Fr. Donnelley, SMA, who was assigned temporary responsibility as head of the school. The school started with three masters, the two Rev. Fathers and a Layman, Mr John Quansah. The pioneer students numbered 47, who had the discomfort of sharing classrooms with the elementary school pupils. The founding fathers set themselves three goals of education at St. John’s, in consonance with its motto: Viam Parantes; meaning preparing the way. Currently, the school can boast sound, moral values based on the fear of and service to the Lord in addition to strong academic laurels. St. John’s later became an “assisted” secondary school qualified for public funding alongside four other newly established Catholic secondary schools in the different dioceses in the country. The first batch of 11 students for the Cambridge School Certificate Ordinary Level examination in 1955 wrote their papers as school candidates with much pride. Among them was the late Prof. Paul A.V. Ansah, who emerged the best candidate country-wide. He won an award from Elder Dempster Lines, a shipping company, to travel to London for six weeks in 1956. To produce more of such students of Prof. Ansah’s calibre and live the dreams of the founding fathers; a large stock of teaching and learning materials were procured and the recruitment of qualified staff resulted in improved academic laurels at the school. Work on a second dormitory, Archbishop Porter Hall, and the chapel started in 1965. The dormitory was ready for use in 1966 while the chapel was blessed in 1969. The school needs a number of facilities, notably among them being well-resourced science laboratories, since the current one is ill-equipped. For a popular science school, this state of affairs leaves much to be desired, the school authorities lamented. The school’s administration block and the staff common room have been renovated. Both structures now have tiled floors and are properly furnished with modern furniture. There has been vast improvement in the teaching and learning and this was reflected in the results of 2010/2011 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE). The old boys (Old Saints) are currently very active in the affairs of the school. Over the years, St. John’s has contributed thousands of old boys who hold very sensitive and responsible positions in the Judiciary, Security Agencies, Public Service Organisations, Medical Institutions, Industry, Business, Politics, the clergy and other professional disciplines; this is not only limited to the country but cuts across the globe.