Brian Carney Catholic School Recipient Fordham Preparatory School, Bronx, NY

From Paul Homer, Nominator:
It is a great privilege to nominate Mr. Brian Carney for the Saint Mary's Press 2006 Ambassador of Christ Recognition Award. Brian has been teaching at Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, New York for 13 years. As I'm sure is the case with all your deserving nominees, Brian is an extraordinarily committed individual who wears many hats. Brian's official titles include religion teacher, coordinator of campus ministry, director of service immersion programs, service teacher, freshman track and field coach, moderator of student government, director of the Big Brother Program, co-chair of the Ignatian Identity Committee, and member of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association's national steering committee for campus ministry.

Brian is at that enviable age when students regard him as young enough to be relevant and old enough to be worthy of respect. He is present to students at all times and in so many different forums--classrooms, chapels, retreat centers, service sites, athletic fields, and foreign countries to name but a few. Brian challenges and comforts, informs and inspires, encourages and corrects depending on the needs of the students. I asked another track coach for his impressions of Brian's impact on students. He wrote, "[Brian] leads by instilling confidence. His even manner puts nervous kids at ease and brings balance to headstrong kids. His work with the [service immersion programs] attracts lots of track kids and allows me to brag how well-rounded the Fordham Prep track athlete is. . . . He is a quiet pusher . . . and [has] pushed us all to be better."

It has been a great privilege to have been with Brian on some of his many service immersion trips with students to the Appalachian region of Tennessee and to the impoverished suburbs of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Brian typically gives up half his summer to go on up to five or six immersion trips. For about a decade now, Brian has attended to thousands of details in order to provide hundreds of students with a chance to be with and serve our sisters and brothers in need. He makes the link between service and faith explicit, which, as we know, is perhaps the most fruitful means for awakening a religious sense in young people today. He spends the year meeting with students to plan these trips, to help them raise needed funds, and to educate them and their parents about their destinations; in short, to build community grounded in simplicity, prayer, and service.

Jesuit schools use fancy terms (what a surprise!) to describe its vision for both staff and students, including "men and women for and with others," "magis" (the "greater") and "cura personalis" ("care of the whole person"). When I talk about those ideals in class, students inevitably say "like Mr. Carney." Brian is a bottomless font of energy and ideas. He will frequently start a meeting with "I had a thought. . . ." We all smile and say "Uh-oh, here we go again" and a new project will be born. Brian does everything without the slightest hint of self-reference or self-reverence, which is why he is so successful in recruiting people. He is the most genuinely humble person I know, quick to share a laugh or a smile. He is seriously committed to enabling young people to help build the kingdom of God, and is, at the same time, sensitive to the tragedies, frustrations, ironies, and humorous moments that that mission entails.

I am grateful for your consideration of Brian, Your program has not only provided an opportunity to nominate a good man for an award, but has been an occasion to recall how blessed Fordham Prep is to have Brian.