Greg Kopra
This past August, members of the San Francisco New Orleans District Office of Education conducted a series of Lasallian Mission Orientations for new faculty and staff members from District schools.
District Director of Formation for Mission Greg Kopra and District Office of Education-Covington Director Charles Legendre planned and facilitated the gatherings, which involved first-year faculty and staff members from two middle schools and 13 high schools. In several instances, entire faculties and staffs were in attendance.
The one-day Orientations are designed to introduce participants to the life of Saint John Baptist de La Salle; the story of the founding of the Lasallian Schools; the Lasallian Family at the District, Regional, and Institute levels; and Lasallian core principals and how they inform the work done in Lasallian ministries.
Charles Legendre
Charles Legendre led orientation sessions for new teachers of New Orleans-area schools. He was joined by guest presenter Brother Louis Welker, FSC, from the Saint Paul’s School Brothers Community. At De La Salle High School, 15 teachers new to the De La Salle, Archbishop Rummel and Saint Paul’s high schools faculties and staffs attended. A session at Christian Brothers School’s Saint Anthony of Padua campus included five new faculty members from the City Park Campus and the entire faculty from the Saint Anthony Campus – a total of 42 Lasallian educators. Legendre introduced the teachers to Lasallian prayers and the larger Lasallian world, while Brother Louis shared his vocation story and emphasized the distinguishing marks of Lasallian education.
At Camp Ghormley in the Cascade Mountains, Legendre led the entire La Salle High School of Yakima, WA faculty and staff in a reflection on evangelization and the Lasallian school. According the Legendre, “Teachers, administrators, and staff members shared their paths to La Salle and reflected upon the role of the entire school community in the faith formation of young people.”
Focusing primarily on the west coast, Greg Kopra welcomed 91 new teachers and staff to Orientations that he facilitated in August. The schools he visited included:
- San Miguel High School, Tucson
- Justin-Siena High School, Napa (joined by 4 new De La Salle Institute staff
- De La Salle High School, Concord (joined by De La Salle Academy)
- De La Salle Academy, Concord (full faculty/staff formation)
- Christian Brothers High School, Sacramento
- La Salle High School, Pasadena (joined by Cathedral High School, Los Angeles)
- De La Salle North Catholic High School, Portland
- La Salle Catholic College Preparatory, Milwaukie
- Saint Mary’s College High School, Berkeley
Br. Louis Welker, FSC
Throughout the numerous sessions, Kopra was struck by how, each year, a particular element of the Lasallian charism and heritage rings true to many who participate in the Orientations. “This year,” he said, “a recurring theme in the reflections of many new faculty and staff was the central place of ‘journey’ in our Lasallian heritage. So many people’s life stories resonated with De La Salle’s experience of God working with him little by little, one step at a time, gently and wisely, patiently, one commitment leading to another.”
Both Legendre and Kopra plan to follow-up on these Orientations in a variety of ways throughout the school year. For Legendre, this will include a New Orleans-area fall gathering for “a Lasallian conversation” around this year’s Lasallian Reflection, “One Call, Many Voices”, as well as planning for a continuation of the area convocations of school faculties and staffs, an event that was launched this past school year. Kopra will continue his practice, started in 1999, of returning to schools to facilitate after-school retreats for new faculty and staff, revisiting core principles to put them in dialogue with the lived experience.
Story contributed by Greg Kopra and Charles Legendre.
