“Together and by association” is a familiar tenet in the Lasallian world, but it is visible in a unique way in the husband and wife team of Noel and Mary Hesser. Both are principals of Lasallian schools in the San Francisco District—a first in the District’s 148-year history. Noel has been in the office at Justin-Siena High School in Napa for three and a half years; Mary is serving as Interim Principal at Christian Brothers High School, Sacramento, where previously she has been a guidance counselor for thirteen years.

The Hessers’ arrival to Lasallian education has involved individual examinations of faith. Separately, they followed similar paths of Christian study that eventually led them both to the Catholic Church.

In their vocations as school administrators, Noel and Mary find that their experience in searching for a religious home gives them an understanding which speaks to students’ own soul searching. Says Noel, “I feel like I can offer guidance to young people and instill in them a high value of faith using my own life’s stories of both joy and sadness as an example of how faith is a vibrant part of leading a rewarding life.”

The full story that appeared in Justin-Siena High School’s Avanti magazine can be read here.