It is not every day that one is 101! On Sunday August 14th, the Community at 2595, Chemin des Quatre-Bourgeois, in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, invited some guests to gather round Br. Isidore Cyr, to underline the unique event represented by his 101st birthday. Just as we say of a new-born baby: “the child is doing well”, we could say that for a man of 101 years, Isidore is doing well. The hero of the occasion was up to the celebrations which were simple, well-organised and fraternal. The Director, Br. Daniel Croteau, and all the Brothers of the Community were able to find just the right words to emphasise such a remarkable birthday. Isidore, for his part, remained true to himself. After having given an interview to the journalists of TQS some days earlier, he now found the words to thank those who had organised the meeting and his friends who were present. For someone who was only accepted into the Institute in spite of a not exactly brilliant state of health thanks to the good offices of Br. Théophanius-Léo, he remains, 85 years later, a kind of living miracle.
^{(Br. Gaston Dubé)}

Congratulations to Br. James Kimpton: This August, Br. James Kimpton of the Delegation of India received the “Best Institution Award – for women’s welfare.” The award was presented by the Honorable Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Ms. Jyalalitha on the occasion of the Independence Day Celebration at St. George's Fort, Chennai.
^{(Br. John Fernando, President)}

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)}

Lasallian New Teachers Institute Forms Affective and Effective Educators: La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA hosted the sixth annual New Teachers Institute from August 1-4, 2005. The gathering once again focused on the theme of "Becoming an Effective and Affective Teacher" in a Lasallian school. The fifty-two participants from mostly the East Coast Region were once again split into two sessions one for those new to education and one for educators new to Lasallian education. Ten mentors, two guest speakers, a panel of four educators and three staff members came together to ensure that the new teachers got the best possible start to their initial commitment to join in the heritage of St. John Baptist De La Salle.

The sessions focused on providing each participant insight into the unique teaching charism of Lasallian education for all the participants and a solid foundation to navigate the first steps of being a new teacher for those new to education. Br. Tom Lackey of the New York District opened the workshop with an overview of the life of De La Salle and the educational heritage that we have inherited from his work and the early Brothers who began the ministry. Then the group split into three groups those new to Lasallian education, those in elementary or special education, and those in secondary education. Jeff Mancabelli of St. John's College High School spoke to the experienced educators on our educational mission. The session for the elementary and special education group met the team of mentors Br. Dennis Lee, Sr. Jeanne McGowan, SSJ, Betty Williams and Br. Bill Johnson. The high school group were led in a discussion on good instruction led be Br. Martin Zewe and then went to work with their mentors Tom Barna, Br. Michael Galvin, Br. Tom Lackey, Leanne Romani, Br. Joseph Wilkowski, and Ryann Williams. Leanne Romani led all those new to education through the basics of the twelve virtues of a Lasallian educator. On the final evening, a panel of four educators Dan Cipolla, Tom Devlin, Marianne Gauss and Dan Rhoton who came to share their stories of their first years in Lasallian Education. The opportunity for those new to teaching to present a lesson plan ended the formal programming.

No Lasallian event would be complete without a spiritual component and time for community. Prayer began each day and ended formal programming each evening. Time was also taken to recognize God's Holy presence before each session. Each evening ended in with a social in the common room at the San Miguel Town homes. Finally, the New Teachers Institute ended with a commissioning liturgy. The preparation well underway, the new teachers were sent forth with new knowledge and a prayer for guidance from the Holy Spirit to begin their journey in St. John Baptist De La Salle's footstep.
^{(Tim Donnovan)}

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)}

Consecration of the chapel dedicated to Saint John Baptist de La Salle at La Salle University Pachuca, Mexico: The university chapel is and ought to be a "school of evangelical life." With these words Bishop Pedro Arandadíaz Muñoz of the Diocese of Tulancingo stressed the importance of the site that was consecrated on Friday, July 8, thereby converting that space into a chapel.
In his homily Bishop Arandadíaz said that this consecration was not something external to the university, nor was it something that was added to the university, but that it was "the classroom of the Divine Teacher, where Jesus desires to establish his teaching, where he wants to exercise his role as teacher, as a teacher of hearts, of consciences, as well as of the families of the university community." "This chapel," he said, is the place where Jesus gathers his disciples to reveal to them the mysteries of the Kingdom, the plans of his heavenly Father," and for that purpose, "it is not the only place but it is the privileged place where he wants to show his presence."
Bishop Arandadíaz pointed out the mission of the university community as he spoke of the newly consecrated chapel space: "We come here to learn the word of life, holiness, and grace, the word that not only unites us more closely with Christ, but commissions us so that later we can carry to the world the message of the Gospel so that it may become enculturated in different sciences, in different professions where that Christian spirit must be made present specifically through the disciples of Christ."

The chapel has a relic of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, a bone fragment that was presented by Brother Álvaro Rodríguez Echeverría, Superior General of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools last January during the visit which some members of La Salle Pachuca made to the Generalate in Rome, under the direction of Brother Jorge Bonilla and Sort de Sanz.
This day also included a choral presentation by the choral group made up of 18 persons including students, teachers, staff, and administrators of the university.
^{(Pedro Liedo, Rector)}

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