TEACHERS ATTEND HUETHER LASALLIAN CONFERENCE
Four teachers from La Salle Academy attended a Lasallian Regional Education Conference as participants and as break-out session presenters.
From November 17-19 four La Salle Academy teachers attended the annual Huether Lasallian Conference in Chicago, IL. The theme of the Conference was “The Good Samaritan: Confronting New Poverties in the 21st Century.” Those attending the conference heard key note speakers, attended break-out sessions, met in table “casa” discussion groups, and attended a liturgy and banquet honoring the Distinguished Lasallian Educators of each District.
Attending from La Salle were: Meghan Dillon, a Social Studies teacher and a first time attendee; Beth Cameron, a Social Studies teacher; Deacon Greg Albanese, chairperson of the Religion Department and a presenter of a break-out session (Swimming Upstream: Teaching Gospel Values Today); and Gregg DeMaria, coordinator of the Academic Resource Center and a co-presenter of a break-out session with La Salle grad and current Graduate Support Director of the San Miguel School in Providence, Manny Ortiz. There session was entitled Minding the Gap: Maintaining Community for our At-risk Graduates.
Deacon Albanese reflected the following about the conference: "The conference was affirming in so many ways. It showed me that the Lasallian Mission is alive and well all over the region of the United States and Toronto. We were all there for one purpose and one Mission: to be the best professionals we can be for the young people entrusted to our care. There was much learning and friendship and I am grateful that I was able to attend."
In a similar vein, Beth Cameron noted: “What strikes me the most about the keynote speakers, presenters, and attendees is that we are all united in our call to serve others. In a society so focused on the individual, the work of everyone at the conference goes against the grain. We had a keynote speaker who was an ambassador to Africa, and one who leads UNICEF. Breakout speakers were dedicated to helping college students, LGBTQ students, and high school students. Everyone attending was listening to find new ways to help their own students, schools, agencies, and clients. No one was worried about their own lives, but only about how we can work to help the lives of others.”
Gregg DeMaria was also part of the opening session in which he was a panel member with other Lasallians who responded to the keynote from Brother Timothy Coldwell, General Councilor for the Lasallian Region of North America (RELAN), who challenged the 300 attendees to remember four rules as they minister as Lasallians to their students:
1. Be welcoming yet challenging;
2. Talk but only after listening;
3. Live lives in the Gospel values of generosity and justice;
4. As Lasallians are driven by love, they must share in the experiences and pain of their students.
La Salle Academy is a high school rich in history and grounded in the person and teachings of Jesus and the Catholic faith, which are core to the school's life and culture. The De La Salle Middle School provides a strong holistic foundation for students to transition into high school. The high school and middle school provide students of diverse ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds, a community to foster growth in the tradition of St. John Baptist de La Salle’s ideals of faith, service, and community.
