Forming Lasallian Servant Leaders at the Student Leadership Workshop: The 2005 Baltimore District Student Leadership Workshop met at New Windsor Conference Center in New Windsor, Maryland from June 21 to June 23 to focus on leadership as Lasallian Servant Leaders. Twenty-six students and eight moderators from seven district high schools came together to examine how to best serve the student-body of their schools. The students were guided in ways to best follow Jesus' servant leader model in the tradition of our founder St. John Baptist De La Sale. Each school brought their own unique gifts to the event and Hudson Catholic exemplified this with a rendition of their school song.

Many of the activities focused on how to create an atmosphere of Faith, Service and Community within our institutions. During each event the students were asked to examine methods that made all programs inclusive of the entire student body of their school.

As always time was spent in prayer to guide our endeavors. Each day opened and ended with the recollection that were in God's Holy presence followed by prayers that asked for God's guidance in all of endeavor.
^{(www.fscbaltimore.org)}

Lasallian Student Leaders Gather in California: In late July, Saint Mary’s College of California was the site of a large and enthusiastic gathering of young men and women who came from Lasallian schools across the west in order to help one another to develop the skills for effective leadership in their school communities and to gain a deeper understanding of the mission of Lasallian education.

The District of San Francisco’s second annual Lasallian Student Leaders program took place on July 17 through 22, 2005, with more than more than 150 high school students, along with faculty, moderators, and facilitators, including seven members of Lasallian Collegians. The student participants were those in leadership positions at high schools in the District of San Francisco and two high schools from outside the District. With their moderators and facilitators, they spent the week living, praying, talking, and relaxing together, working to plan programs for their school communities and to establish collaborative relationships with other school communities.

Brad Sosinksy of De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon, summed up what he had learned during the weeklong conference this way: “As a leader I learned how to incorporate the Lasallian core principles into areas of my life.” According to event organizer Robert Jordan, assistant director of the Office of Education for the District of San Francisco, “LSL has become more than just leadership training for our students. For many of them, the program creates a new awareness that as student leaders they have an inherent responsibility to live out and model the mission of our school."
^{(www.delasalle.org)}

7th Annual Lasallian Youth Assembly - Summer 2005: The District of San Francisco Office of Education sponsored the 7th annual Lasallian Youth Assembly (LYA) at Sacramento State University in Sacramento, CA, July 31-August 5. The theme was “Bread of Life, Seeds of Change.” Students and moderators spent their days in Sacramento engaged in direct service of poor through a variety of service opportunities. They also explored how the political process shapes the plight of people and our role in helping to shape policy. This included a visit to the state capitol and sessions with California lawmakers.

There was time for group prayer and reflection daily, as well as plenty of time to socialize, make new friends, and form community with other Lasallians. It was a thought-provoking week of significant learning experiences, where new skills werelearned, new friendships formed, and lasting memories created.

The Office of Education would like to thank faculty and staff from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento and Justin-Siena High School in Napa who served on the LYA 2005 planning committe.
^{(www.delasalle.org)}

Forty volunteers from Hawaii to Rhode Island gathered at Lewis University for Orientation for the 2005-2006 service year: Twelve returning volunteers helped with the planning, welcomed the new recruits and shared their experiences throughout the week, contributing greatly to the deepening of Faith, Community and a readiness for Service.

The program featured Maggie (Baenninger) and Karl Nass leading the retreat day, Br. Tom Lackey sharing Lasallian history and traditions, Br. Michael Kadow on Community, Br. Dale Mooney helping the group process Myers-Briggs profiles, Br. Phil Johnson on Prayer, Br. Armand Alcazar on the Brothers today and Mike Anderer-McClelland on the devastating impact of poverty on children and families.

Many LV Alums added to the week. Karin Anderer-McClelland, Cathy (Clarke) Gillaspie and Sarah DeMarco contributed to a panel on Community. Takiyah Olatunbosun, Colleen Bourque, and Courtney Nelson shared their experiences of the professional challenges of working with the poor. Also present were Lisa Sivanich, Teisha (Smith) and David Devine, Sarah and Angela Witt, Tad Smith and Tom Cook.

The week helped volunteers connect with each other and with the Lasallian Family, important sources of support as they embark on their challenging ministries. Orientation closed with a spirited Commissioning Ceremony with many Brothers and some family members in attendance. Twelve volunteers new to classroom teaching traveled to Philadelphia for the New Teacher Institute.
^{(www.cbconf.org)}

US East Coast Lasallian Youth Come Together to Form Peace-Filled Leaders: Goucher College in Baltimore, MD served as the location of this summer's East Coast Lasallian Youth Assembly hosted by the Baltimore District from July 24 through July 28, 2005. Over 130 students and over 40 moderators came together from twenty-two Lasallian apostolates in the city where the first De La Salle Brothers came to the United States in 1845 to start the school that came to be known as Calvert Hall College. Calvert Hall generously allowed us to utilize their campus for two of our evening gatherings. The theme for the gathering was "Lasallian Youth Forming Peace-Filled Leaders." The students were invited through the emphasis of the Lasallian cornerstones of Faith, Service and Community to look at their world and examine how they could be positive members of a peace-filled society.

The formation event afforded attendees the opportunities to share faith, serve others and build community in order to model being members of a peace-filled world. Highlights of the faith component included prayer services prepared by schools from each district, liturgy implemented by Patty Donohue and Br. Don Alger, both on faculty at Calvert Hall, and a visit from APeX Ministries who came and shared their faith stories within their singular performance. One aspect of the service component, coordinated by Mike Vogrin of Calvert Hall, gave each student a chance to serve the community of greater Baltimore at ten service sites with missions ranging from elder care to park improvement. The second aspect of service brought Ted Miles and Neal Delas of Catholic Relief Services to present on how Catholic Social Teaching calls each of us to reach out and serve one another as Christ did. The community facet comprised socials headed up by Susan Maggio of Cardinal Gibbons, free time activities facilitated by Bro. David Trichtinger of Calvert Hall, and a trip to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC to witness the perils of humanity's failure to find peaceful and loving ways to live together.

The gathering brought young Lasallians and their moderators together increase their knowledge of the greater heritage of St. John Baptist De La Salle and to bring the experience back to their schools. On the final evening Gary Meyerl, a former principal of Cardinal Gibbons, brought all the aspects together with a slide show and creative activities that summed up the event. Mr. Meyerl was assisted by Calvert Hall students Kevin Ewing and Kevin Wise who set up the PowerPoint and sound for our gatherings at Calvert Hall. Our thank you goes out to the coordinating committee members, our guest speakers, Goucher College and Calvert Hall College for making this summer's assembly a success. We all look forward to next summer's east coast gathering in the New York District.
^{(Tim Donovan)}

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