Schools

Crespi Principal Leaving School After 11 Years

Father Paul Henson becomes the Western Vocation Director for the Carmelites of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in Darien, Illinois.

The following is a press release from Crespi Carmelite High School:

After eleven years of service, two years as a religion teacher and nine years as the Principal, Father Paul Henson, O.Carm., will leave Crespi Carmelite High School, Encino, California on June 30, 2013, to become the Western Vocation Director for the Carmelites of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary headquartered in Darien, Illinois. During these years of service, he assisted at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Saint Bernard in Glassell Park, Saint Bridget of Sweden in Van Nuys, Saint Mel in Woodland Hills, and Saint Martin of Tours in Brentwood, as well as local high schools, elementary schools and other parishes.  

Thinking about his beginning, Father Paul Henson said, “When I was ordained on June 1, 2002, I remember prostrating just below the main altar of Saint Raphael Church in South Los Angeles, and thinking ‘what’s next?’  What will it mean to be a priest in the classroom and on the altar?  How will I go from a baby priest to a mature priest?”  

Mentors such as Father Gerry McSorley, Monsignor Liam Kidney, and more recently Monsignor Kevin Kostelnik, have shaped his priesthood. Churches like Saint Bernard and Saint Bridget of Sweden were significant in Father Paul’s formation as a newly ordained. He baptized newborn babies and presented babies to God at the foot of the altar. He witnessed the marriages of multiple couples and buried the faithful. Young ones and older ones received their first reconciliation and first communion from Father Paul. Latino Quinceañeras and Bodas were uniquely special and popular. Saint Bridget of Sweden and Saint Bernard taught him to pray and preach, be pastoral, listen with concern, and administer reconciliation. On his ordination prayer card, the words “Laboring to Build the Body of Christ” reflect a commitment to love Christ by being present to the needs of the Church.       

The opportunity and challenge to be a lifelong learner, productive and mature, and moral and spiritual became a 24/7 experience at Crespi Carmelite High School in 2004. Facing seven other Principal candidates, the selection committee and the President offered the Principal position to Father Henson.  Soon after that, Father Thomas Schrader, O.Carm., was named the new President. Work began immediately on marketing and building the Crespi Man by inaugurating the Fine Arts Building in 2008. 

Showcasing Crespi High School by strengthening, supporting and developing competencies in the staff, faculty and administration which focused on teaching young men how to succeed was a top priority. Concomitantly, solidifying the Catholicity of the school through intentional focus on body, mind and soul was equally a top priority. New and signature programs include the TAIKO curriculum, Academic Game Plan, Broadcast Journalism and Character Formation. 

Over the years, Crespi has increased its curriculum offerings in all departments, renovated and repurposed offices to increase classroom space, maintained top quality teachers, matriculated students to the best colleges in the country and mentored three staff members to Administration. 

“I am so grateful to the Board of Members and the Board of Directors in 2004 for placing their trust in me. I will miss Crespi,” says Father Henson. “I believed and professed for most of my life that my life’s goal was to be a high school Principal. I thought it would end there. Well, my brother Carmelites have offered me so much more than that. They offer prayerful support, encouragement, challenges and love and I am grateful to be in their company,” Father Henson said.


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