Malcolm Villarrubia and Mike Begg are recipients of the 2016 Profile Award.

Two Jesuit High School teachers were recently honored as recipients of the 2016 Profile of a Jesuit Teacher Award, an annual recognition of faculty excellence during the school year.

This year’s recipients were Mike Begg and Malcolm Villarrubia whose profiles below provide a glimpse into why these faculty members were nominated and selected for this year’s honor.

Teachers are nominated by their colleagues against the standard of being Open to Growth, Religious, Loving, Intellectually Competent, Professionally Competent, and Committed to Justice. In addition to a commemorative plaque, each teacher received $5,000.

Profile Award Honorees

Mike Begg

When Mike Begg joined the Jesuit faculty four years ago, he made an immediate impact on student formation on several levels. In the classroom, Mike is an excellent English teacher — well prepared, creative, comfortable using a wide range of technologies, and, despite being a seasoned veteran, always looking to improve. The result for his students is an engaging and dynamic educational experience.

Mike’s concern for his students extends well beyond academics, however. During junior interviews, when students are asked to name the teacher who has had the biggest impact on them, a frequent, quick answer is “Mr. Begg.” Mike shows a deep concern for his students. They know him as someone they can talk to, someone they can trust, someone who cares about them.

Mike also takes an active interest in Blue Jays’ spiritual formation. He is a fixture of the Kairos program, chaperoning and helping lead multiple retreats each year.

Professionally, Mike is an exemplar of collegiality and humble service. He has mentored young faculty members, using his easy-going, approachable manner and his experience of many years in Catholic education to smooth the transition for new teachers. In the English Department, he generously takes on department duties; and he has a knack for gently offering opinions or asking questions that thoughtfully advance the discussion.

Also, Mike serves on the Ignatian Identity Team, for which he has spent a great deal of time reading Jesuit documents, diligently trying to understand, model, and implement Jesuit ideology and pedagogy.

In short, across all of his work at Jesuit, Mike displays the hard work and “care for the whole person” that is at the center of being an Ignatian educator.

Malcolm Villarrubia

Malcolm Villarrubia has worn many hats during his career at Jesuit High School, but they all have been the same color, in some respects, identifying him as a model of servant leadership. In his long tenure at Jesuit, Malcolm has served as English teacher, English Department head, director of summer school, moderator of the National Honor Society, and director of faculty development.

As summer school director, Malcolm guided students through five long weeks of summer study as he himself once experienced, helping them to prepare for the next year of study.

In his current role Malcolm organizes the mentoring program, pairing new faculty with a skilled veteran teacher to ease the transition to our campus. He also provides professional guidance through the first year teacher meetings, with resources and strategies to guide new faculty though the tests and trials we all face.

His tireless championing of Resource for Better Teaching exemplifies his determination to have us all be the best we can be as Jesuit High School teachers. No less important are his diligent tracking of logistical details for the Title II professional development program, the acute and thoughtful classroom observations he writes on a daily basis, the long hours he spends after school with ACT/SAT prep courses, and his effective teaching of AP English for many years.

For many years Malcolm served on the Profile Award Committee, helping define and administer the award even though under the initial guidelines he was himself ineligible. With the recent revision of the guidelines, he received this well-deserved honor.