Our Everyday Work
Educators bring life to De La Salle's vision of a good teacher
By Brother Brendan Kneale, FSC,
Jacqueline Tasch, and Terri Wetter

Cecilia Powers:
Inspiring Students' Confidence to Reach for Their Potential
Sara Slakey came to Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento with a genuine interest in student government and a profound fear of speaking in front of groups. Unfortunately, running for student government office requires delivering a speech to the entire student body. "That was really hard for me to do," Sara says, but Student Activities Director Cecilia Powers "gave me the confidence to go up there."

Last year, Sara was elected to the Associated Student Body Council. Then, one day, she shared an idea of hers with Ms. Powers:

"Wouldn't it be great," Sara said, "if students at Christian Brothers High School formed mentoring relationships with youngsters at [a neighboring elementary school] Immaculate Conception?" Ms. Powers not only thought it was a terrific idea, but she gave Sara the organizational support and self-confidence to make it happen. "No one else had really done that before," Sara says. As a result, about 100 students participated in four joint programs last year, and the project, called Brother's Buddies, will continue.

Some of Sara's skills were developed in a student leadership class Ms. Powers developed three years ago. The high school was asking a great deal of elected and potential student leaders, Ms. Powers thought, "and, if we're going to require that, we need to prepare them." In her class, students learn leadership basics, from shaking hands and running meetings to giving speeches and dealing with group conflict.

Outside of class, Ms. Powers directs co-curricular activities -- school assemblies, clubs, dances, rallies -- and still finds plenty of time to talk with students one-on-one. "I ask students a lot of questions. If the right questions are asked, I find that they can be a good tool for helping students to process information and come to conclusions on their own without necessarily having to be told," she says.

Ms. Powers finds her reward in "seeing students do exciting things, helping them learn in a different arena, helping them step into being themselves." She persuades them that, like Sara, "they are needed, and what they have to contribute is important to the school and important to the community."