Students of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow:

Lasallian Student Leaders 2006

By Tanya Susoev

“Teenagers.” Oftentimes society tends to associate that word with laziness, trouble, and disrespect. On July 16, 2006, however, a group of teenagers who fit a very different profile exploded through the doors of Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga. Full of enthusiasm and excitement, more than 170 students, from fifteen high schools in seven states, gathered to spend a week together on the campus of the De La Salle Christian Brothers’ premier college in the West. It was the third annual Lasallian Student Leaders conference, a summer gathering sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers’ District of San Francisco (the western province of the Christian Brothers). Each year at Lasallian Student Leaders (LSL), students work together, with their faculty moderators and a volunteer staff of Lasallian Collegians, to deepen their understanding of the Lasallian educational mission, to develop leadership skills, and to establish collaborative relationships among schools.

This year’s LSL was the largest yet, involving more than 210 participants. The week was, as always, an intense mixture of work, training, brainstorming, planning, coordinating, and executing. “At first it was hard to open up because you didn’t know anyone.” said Sarah Wright of Denver’s J.K. Mullen High School. “But I realized that we actually had something in common when we all asked Saint John Baptist de la Salle to pray for us. That made it easier to open up.”

What the participants have in common is that they are being educated in the tradition of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, founded by Saint John Baptist de La Salle more than 320 years ago. The mission of the De La Salle Christian Brothers is “to give a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor.” A popular way of expressing the values that underlie that educational mission, one widely used at our high schools, is the statement of five core principles that a Lasallian school should embody: These principles are Faith in the Presence of God; Respect for All Persons; Concern for the Poor and for Social Justice; Quality Education; and Inclusive Community. LSL gives students who hold leadership positions in their high schools the opportunity to come together to discuss how their school community is being guided by these principles and how they as student leaders can help.

Throughout the week each student attended a number of school and committee meetings, where each group was given a specific responsibility (a dance, banquet, rally, or media presentation) to coordinate. Here, the students who were strangers when they met learned how to work together positively and effectively together. Prayer and liturgy, skits and socializing, meals together and nightly mini-dances topped off by the big dance, were among the many activities that let students bond and form community. The students were also entertained and challenged by guest speakers.

Noted liturgical musician and activist Jesse Manibusan performed and encouraged the students to be aware of poverty and to work to mitigate it, calling upon the students to open their minds and hearts and to give of their time. Gina Hall, the principal of De La Salle High School in New Orleans, described to the students the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and shared the struggles their school faced as they were evacuated during the hurricane and the losses to their community and the difficulties of re-opening the school and carrying on the mission. At the end of her presentation Gina Hal was presented a check for $25,000, the latest installment of donations collected from throughout the District of San Francisco by the “Bridges to the Bayou” project under the leadership of Saint Mary’s College of California’s Campus Ministry office.

For the students, sharing these experiences allowed them to support one another more strongly within the core principles of Lasallian leadership. “It was nice to be able to know more people who were Lasallian and had the same values as me,” Lisa Wickhem of La Salle High School of Pasadena. “I’ve enjoyed making new friends and I love meeting new people with different backgrounds,” said Jonathan Kirkland of La Salle High School of Yakima.

The high schools represented at LSL include Cathedral High School of Los Angeles (CA), Christian Brothers High School of Sacramento (CA), Cathedral High School of El Paso (TX), De La Salle High School of Concord, (CA), De La Salle High School of New Orleans (LA), De La Salle North Catholic High School of Portland (OR), La Salle High School of Milwaukie (OR), La Salle High School of Pasadena (CA), La Salle High School of Yakima (WA), J. K. Mullen High School of Denver (CO), Justin-Siena High School of Napa (CA), Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory of San Francisco (CA), Saint Mary’s College High School of Berkeley (CA), San Miguel High School of Tucson (AZ), and Totino-Grace High School of Fridley (MN)

For information on Lasallian Student Leaders and other programs and activities sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers’ District of San Francisco for young people of high school age, college age, and beyond, contact Marilyn Paquette, Coordinator of Lasallian Student Programs, at mpaquette@dlsi.org or (707) 252-3895.

Tanya Susoev is a graduate of Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco and is now a Lasallian Collegian, attending the University of San Diego.