P&G

Born in Dayton, Kentucky, a small town across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Brother David was one of eight children. “I have five sisters and two brothers,” he says. “I am actually number four, but I was the first boy in the family. Was I spoiled? Oh, I’d have to say, yes.”

Brother David and his siblings went to the parish school, St. Bernard’s, in Dayton, and he graduated from Newport Catholic High School in nearby Newport, Kentucky. He marks two important events from that period. “Newport Catholic was taught by the Christian Brothers, so that was the first time I met the Brothers,” he says. “I also went through 12 years of school — from elementary to high school — without missing one day of school. I remember getting an award for perfect attendance.”

During his senior year, while pondering how he wanted to spend the rest of his life, he met a recruiter for the Christian Brothers. “I hadn’t really thought about what I would do, but Brother Stanislaus, who would later become president of Christian Brothers College here, came to Newport to talk about vocations in general, life choices, and other matters. When he started specifically talking about the Christian Brothers, I thought I’d go visit him and see what this life was about.”

Along with some of his classmates, he visited the Christian Brothers novitiate in Glencoe, Missouri, one weekend. “I was very impressed with it,” he recalls. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but the Brothers were specifically teachers, and I thought that might be something worthwhile. I don’t know that I thought I’d end up doing it all my life, but hopefully, now it’s forever.”

Brother David first came to Memphis, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities from Christian Brothers College, with a minor in religious studies. He followed that with a master’s degree in education — specifically, the teaching of reading — from St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota. A second master’s degree in secondary school administration came from St. Louis University in Missouri.

“Initially, I thought I would teach math, but for all the wrong reasons,” says Brother David. “I was told math was hard to learn but easy to teach, since you don’t have all those papers to correct. But I eventually chose English, and I have loved teaching it.”

After a short stint as a student teacher at CBHS in Memphis, Brother David taught at Christian Brothers High School in St. Louis, then returned to his alma mater, Newport Catholic — where he taught his younger brother — St. Mary High School in Paducah, Kentucky, and La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

After that came a series of key positions in school administration. He served as principal and president of Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, worked in the development office at De La Salle Middle School in St. Louis, and then served as principal of Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis.

But he missed teaching, and seven years ago he met with the Christian Brothers Provincial to discuss his future plans, to finish his career as he started, in the classroom. “I had become friends with Brother Chris Englert, the president here,” he says. “In 2015 Brother Chris offered me a teaching job at CBHS. I taught 11th grade English, which covered British literature.”

This path through a lifetime of Catholic education ran into a temporary obstacle in 2013, when Brother David was diagnosed with cancer. A series of chemotherapy treatments put the disease in remission, until it returned five years later, and Poos underwent successful CAR-T cell therapy in Chicago. Today he says he feels fine. “I feel good now. I know many people have trouble with chemotherapy, but I had no negative reaction. I got tired during the treatments, but I can’t complain.”

He credits his recovery to three things. “First, I told my doctors in Chicago that I’m in relatively good health because of the exercise I do” — Brother David makes it a habit to walk five miles early every morning, usually starting from the Brothers Residence through nearby walking trails — “and second, I think I have a good, positive attitude about the disease.” The third reason may be the most significant, he says. “There is a spiritual dimension. I like to think I have a very active prayer life, and I know I have lots of people praying for me. When I hear that, I tell them, ‘Keep it up because it’s working.’”

Four years after Brother David started teaching here, Brother Chris announced he was stepping down, to take a position as the assistant provincial for the district.

The school formed a search committee for a new president, with Brother David as the chairman.

“I liked my classes, so I wasn’t interested in the job,” he says, “but people kept asking me if I would do it, and in a moment of weakness, I agreed.” As soon as the committee learned that he was a candidate for the position, they ended the search. Brother David Poos became the nineteenth president of CBHS in January 2019.

He laughs when he admits he couldn’t have picked a more challenging time to take over the administration of a school. He continued to teach one English class, but after a year decided he needed to devote his attention full-time to other issues. He stopped teaching because, he says, “I just had to get some things off my plate.” Covid-19 obviously had an impact on CBHS, as the school pivoted to virtual learning, then hybrid classes (some students attending remotely, others safely distanced on campus), with school administrators constantly monitoring the pandemic situation.

Another major concern was the planned demolition of the old auxiliary gym and construction of the new fieldhouse. “The board went back and forth, wondering what we should do,” he says. “The more we talked about it, the more it seemed to make sense to start for finishing the building, instead of “leaving a pile of dirt there,” he says. “By putting up a new building, we were letting people know that we’re not going anywhere, and we’ll get through this.” The McNeill Family Fieldhouse, complete with a modern basketball arena with 50 percent more capacity for guests, was dedicated in December.

That building gives Brother David a very visible reminder of what he enjoys most about his job as president of CBHS.

“Certainly one of my responsibilities is to work with the advancement staff to raise funds,” he says, “and I want to say how impressed I am with our alumni, friends, donors, and other benefactors. I think it just shows the high regard people have for the Brothers. Especially here in Memphis, people know that we are dedicated to offering a quality education.”

Attendance at parochial schools has been declining, he notes. “There are fewer kids in the Catholic elementary schools, and there are various reasons for that, including the rising cost of tuition. But years ago, we didn’t have to market or promote our school. Children who attended Holy Rosary or St. Louis elementary schools automatically came lots of time and energy on marketing, communications, and social media.”

Such efforts might be a challenge to some administrators, but Brother David says, “Actually, it’s one of the things that energizes me and makes me feel good about my job — the chance to meet with our alums and to tell the great story of our school.”

After all, a glance through CBHS yearbooks reveals a “Who’s Who” of graduates, who have remained in Memphis as business and civic leaders. “We have a great network of alumni,” says Brother David. “Many of them have done well and are very prominent people in Memphis. They may have gone to some other place for college, but they have a real affinity for this place — their high school. Very often, one of our graduates will tell us he needs to hire somebody, and he will say, ‘I want to hire a Brothers’ Boy.’”

So what does he envision for the future of CBHS? For one thing, he hopes the administration can take a fresh look at something as basic as class schedules. Students presently attend school from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with eight classes per day.

“We’re on a very traditional schedule, with each of our classes lasting 45 minutes. What can you really accomplish in such a short amount of time each day? They’re supposed to get homework from all of those classes, and if the kids play baseball or football or they’re in the band, they are expected to be here before and after school to practice.”

He worries, “Aren’t they just exhausted all the time? That just seems unrealistic to me. People are afraid of change, but I think we should look at class schedules in a more manageable way — perhaps with longer classes, but fewer periods throughout the day.” Brother David, always the educator, makes it clear that he is not advocating a sub-par education, “but I’d certainly like to see — for lack of a better word — a more humane schedule.”

The other challenge facing the future, he says, is the increasing encroachment of technology. Like many schools, CBHS has gone “textbook-independent.” No longer do students lug armloads of books to classes, but instead use materials found online. While seeing the advantage of that, he worries, “How does a teacher know what should be taught? A textbook, at least, gives you some guidance. One of my concerns with being textbookindependent is that teachers may only teach what they like.”

Despite these concerns, Brother David is hopeful for the future of education — especially for the graduates of Christian Brothers High School. “I love our tagline — Men for Tomorrow, Brothers for Life. ‘Men for Tomorrow’ means that we are not only preparing them to take their place in society, but also to make their society better. And ‘Brothers for Life’ is a reality here. There’s a special bond. I regularly hear these kids talk about ‘he’s my brother’ and they really mean it.’”

Brother David Poos sums up his positive feelings about CBHS in this way: “We’re celebrating our 150th year, and we’ll be here for at least that many more.”