From The President

Dear Lasallian Family, Recently, our De La Salle Campus Minister, Mr. Brian Barker, and I gave a presentation to our new faculty and staff and focused on St. John Baptist de La Salle and the Brothers, from our inception to the present. What struck me so powerfully was that from the very beginning, St. John Baptist de La Salle and the early Brothers responded to the needs of their students.

In the late seventeenth century, there were very few schools for poor boys and those which existed were hardly worthy of the name “school.” And so, the Christian Schools were founded. But St. La Salle thought, “What do we teach these boys who will only be with us for two or three years?” The powers that be wanted the students to learn Latin. De La Salle said that wouldn’t give the boys the practical skills needed to contribute to society. So, Latin was out, and French was in, as were Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and of course, Religion. Each of these subjects would “save” the boys from society and for God. When word got out that these Christian Schools were very successful, bishops and priests clamored for the Brothers. When the Brothers went to Calais, a port on the English Channel, they taught navigational skills. When the Brothers noticed that there weren’t school teachers in rural areas, they opened a school for country schoolmasters. When the Brothers realized that twentysomethings were underserved, they opened a Sunday school, and taught some young men to read and write, and others Drafting, Geometry, and other branches of Mathematics. St. John Baptist de La Salle and the Brothers were simply responding to the needs of their students. Shakespeare wrote that “the past is prologue.” In a sense, our Lasallian past influences and sets the context for the present students at De La Salle. What are the academic needs of our students today? First and foremost is STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. De La Salle has initiated the International Baccalaureate Program. De La Salle has expanded its engineering courses. And De La Salle has upgraded its technology, which is used everywhere - by student and teachers alike. What about those students who need extra help? De La Salle has programs for these young men under the tutelage of Brother Robert Carnaghi, Mrs. Suzanne Cusumano, and Mr. Michael Szatkowski. From our first school in Reims, France in 1679 to De La Salle Collegiate in 2013, meeting the needs of students remains the driving force in Lasallian education.

Sincerely,

Brother Thomas Lackey FSC President