Archived Webinars

• The Importance of “Grace” in Vocational Healing (Feb. 18, 2026)
• Educating the Algorithmic Generation (Jan. 20, 2026)
• Church as Sanctuary (Nov. 5, 2025)
• Lasallian Spirituality in Sport (Oct. 21, 2025)
• 1 La Salle: A Global Movement of the Spirit (Sept. 24, 2025)
• Navigating the Generative Landscape in Catholic Schools (April 10, 2025)
• Theological Reflection: The Educator’s Journey to Transformation (March 18, 2025)
• Reflections from the Peripheries: The Leavening Movement in RELAN (Feb. 19, 2025)
• Spiritual Direction: Walking the Sacred Path, Together (Jan. 8, 2025)
• The Concentration Programs at La Salle College High School: Sparking Academic Interest in Sometimes Overlooked “Average” Students (Nov. 4, 2024)

• Fostering a Culture of Vocation: The Call of Everyone Within Our Lasallian Family (Oct. 16, 2024)
• Tradition and Transformation Through the Lens of Lasallian Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (Sept. 16, 2024)
• Integral Ecology: A New Lasallian Educational Project (April 16, 2024)
• Retired Lasallians Connect and Contribute (March 19, 2024)
• Spiritual Care for a Busy Educator (Jan. 11, 2024)
• Addressing Social, Emotional and Spiritual Learning Through Advisories (Nov. 8 2024)
• The Eucharistic Revival: Our Role in Lasallian Education (Sept. 12, 2023)

The Importance of “Grace” in Vocational Healing

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT

Speaker: Dr. Nelson Tung, chief of clinical operations, Martin De Porres Schools, Elmont, NY

This a Lasallian-inspired/trauma-informed webinar is designed to help all educators reconnect with their sense of vocation and explore sustainable self-care practices. We are all aware that education is more than a job — it is a calling, a ministry rooted in faith, zeal and the transformative power of human relationships. Due to the vast demands on educators, time, passion and dedication are all areas that can be compromised due to an array of professional and personal reasons. This webinar offers “opportunity” — opportunity to be in community with all Lasallians, to reflect, to learn, to share and to join one another to facilitate “grace.” The power of grace, especially for ourselves, is extremely healing. However, it can be very difficult to do sometimes. Therefore, this webinar explores the spiritual/clinical impact that burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary trauma stress and vicarious trauma can have. In turn, Dr. Tung provides for spiritually directed/evidence-based practices to be able to combat it. The ultimate goal is to organically allow for grace, so that the whole person is cared for, and that a renewed direction/sustainability toward vocation, as well as spirituality, is reestablished. 

Educating the Algorithmic Generation 

Premiere Date: Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026

Speaker: Michael Ratajczyk, Ph.D., program director – M.S. & B.S. business intelligence and data analytics and associate professor, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona, MN

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved from a niche technological concept to a force reshaping nearly every sector of society. From education and health care to business, art and ethics, AI now plays a visible and often transformative role in how we learn, work and make decisions. This webinar explores AI’s growing influence across society, emphasizing how today’s students are both witnesses and active participants in this technological shift. AI represents one of the most profound technological shifts of our time, simultaneously inspiring innovation, disrupting norms and challenging our understanding of human creativity and knowledge. This webinar explores the good, the bad and the ugly of generative AI (GenAI) through the lens of education and society.

Church as Sanctuary

Premiere Date: Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025
Speaker: Leo Guardado, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Theology, Fordham University, Bronx, New York  

What is the church’s role amid ongoing forced migration? What is its role amid the increasing number of deportations? In this webinar, Dr. Leo Guardado examines the controversial tradition of sanctuary that existed in canon law until the 1980s, which continues to inspire creative ways for welcoming and protecting migrants. In the 1980s during the Sanctuary Movement, churches not only provided refuge, but schools and universities also did. There is a need to continue to explore what it means to be a “community of sanctuary” for the years to come. Dr. Guardado weaves these themes with the Lasallian educational charism and invites reflection related to Lasallian schools, communities and ministries. 

Navigating the Generative Landscape in Catholic Schools

Premiere Date: Thursday, April 10, 2025
Speaker: Father Nate Wills, CSC, Ph.D., faculty of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program and director of the Higher-Powered Learning program in the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education

Amid the explosion of generative artificial intelligence tools, how should Catholic educators and schools respond? How might these tools empower Catholic school teachers to meet the needs of all learners? What’s helpful and what’s harmful? In this dynamic webinar, Holy Cross priest and education professor at the University of Notre Dame, Father Nate Wills will address the burning questions of Catholic educators regarding AI while staying grounded in educational best practices and church teaching. Learn practical ways to use powerful generative AI tools to supercharge your teaching and help your students grow. 

Premiere Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 
Presenters: Brothers Michael French and Brother Michael Phipps, FSC 

Saint John Baptist de La Salle encouraged his Brothers to see their faith formation and ministry as one — a united force of transformation, rooted in their relationship with God. A practical theologian, De La Salle’s writings provide a spiritual framework for educators to integrate faith and teaching. Theological reflection has long been a process for fostering dialogue around seeing new perspectives and making meaning of current contexts, using texts as reference points for guiding discourse. 

Employing the tool of theological reflection, we will seek to understand how the tenets of De La Salle’s spiritual program continue to inspire the transformational vocation of teacher. This webinar invites participants to explore the enriching impact of De La Salle’s theology alongside the pillars of Lasallian spirituality and to reflect on their experience of faith and ministry in their journey as an educator. 

Reflections from the Peripheries: The Leavening Movement in RELAN 

Premiere Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Kurt Schackmuth, chief mission officer and vice president for student life, Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois; and RELAN delegate to the International Council for Lasallian Association and the Educational Mission (CIAMEL)

In 2022, the General Council in Rome published “The Leavening Project: Growing Together in the Lasallian Dream.” This inspiring pastoral reflection was an opportunity for the Council to share their collective thoughts about how Lasallians worldwide can bring the commitments of the 46^th General Chapter to life in small yet vibrant ways.  

This webinar invites participants to further explore and more deeply understand the purpose, background and lived reality of “The Leavening Project,” as well as its call for all Lasallians to move to the peripheries. Participants will learn about inspiring ways “The Leavening Project” is being lived out in RELAN as well as discuss how each of us can be leaven in our own ministries and institutions.  

Spiritual Direction: Walking the Sacred Path, Together

Premiere Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Speaker: Holly Hoey Germann, Theology Teacher, Totino-Grace High School, Fridley, MN

Educators who have a deep faith positively impact the young people entrusted to their care. Often, educators will use their faith as a source of nourishment to sustain their ministry. However, many find themselves feeling “burnt out,” isolated in their faith and unsure of where to turn. Spiritual direction can be an antidote to these feelings.   

Spiritual direction, also called spiritual companioning, is a contemplative practice. It is a way to grow and deepen one’s faith, regardless of background, tradition or past experiences. It is a confidential, professional and sacred relationship between two people who journey together to discover how the Divine is moving in their life.  

Through this webinar for the 2025 year of Lasallian spirituality, Holly will explain spiritual direction as a contemplative practice. She will use Saint John Baptist de La Salle’s life as an example of someone who was committed to spiritual direction and the contemplative life as a way of maintaining his ministry. Finally, she will lead participants through a prayer experience as a glimpse into a spiritual direction conversation.  

The Concentration Programs at La Salle College High School: Sparking Academic Interest in Sometimes Overlooked “Average” Students

Premiere Date: Monday, November 4, 2024
Speakers: Brother Anthony Baginski, FSC, Associate Dean for the Concentrations Program, and Michael Sabatino, Director of Technology and Information Systems and IT Professional Concentration Coordinator, La Salle College High School, Wyndmoor, PA

The concentration programs at La Salle College High School are designed to tap into the transformative potential of tailored educational pathways. This session explores how specialized concentration programs can reignite passion and engagement among students often overlooked by traditional educational models. A significant focus of the session is on the IT professional concentration, highlighting its relevance in today’s digital age and its accessibility for many schools to deploy. Learn how schools can integrate this program with minimal resources, leveraging existing technology and partnerships to provide students with valuable, industry-relevant skills.

Fostering a Culture of Vocation: The Call of Everyone Within Our Lasallian Family

Premiere Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Speakers: Brother David Caretti, FSC, Director of Vocation Ministry, District of San Francisco New Orleans, Napa, CA, and Chris Swain, Director for the Office of Lasallian Vocation Ministry, Christian Brothers Conference, Romeoville, IL

All engaged in the Lasallian charism contribute to animating and instilling a culture of vocation – a shared mission to awaken “each person to discover how God desires them to love” and live that out as a “response to the needs of the world” (Circular 475 From Hope to Commitment: Understanding Lasallian Vocations, 2020).

This webinar provides participants with shared understandings and practical ways to invite, encourage and accompany colleagues and young people in joyfully discovering the ways in which God is calling them. Within our Lasallian charism and mission, fostering a culture of vocation is a foundational commitment that forms our Lasallian educational community and provides vision and direction to everyone in carrying out their shared ministry.

Tradition and Transformation Through the Lens of Lasallian Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

Premiere Date: September 16, 2024
Speakers: Dr. Carol Ann Gittens, Dean of the Kalmanovitz School of Education, Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA, and Alexsandra Walton, Director of Inclusion and Belonging, Saint Mary’s College High School, Berkeley, CA

One critical topic in the conversation of Lasallian tradition and transformation is Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB). This webinar is developed from the more comprehensive Lasallian Institute for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging offered in the summers of 2022 and 2023 at Saint Mary’s College of California. Building on Huether 2021, where the emphasis was on inclusion and belonging, the institute was launched. Over two years, 50 participants have engaged in this deep work for their school communities.

This presentation is for Lasallian educators who are curious about what DEIB means, who want to begin or advance their own professional development in DEIB and who want practical strategies to bring back to their ministries. The concept of belonging has been a critical element in the tradition of Lasallian schools. How do we continue that tradition today? We are committed to linking DEIB work to our Lasallian Catholic heritage and highlighting where participants can deepen their awareness and approaches of this critical topic for our times.

Integral Ecology: A New Lasallian Educational Project

Premiere Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Speakers: Brother Gus Sinco, FSC, Director, Environmental Sustainability Education Initiative, RELAN

Integral Ecology (IE) reveals that the ecological crisis is not a collection of problems to be solved, but a symptom of a deeper human and spiritual crisis. At its core this crisis is our lost connection to the natural world and our own origins. IE education is an approach to teaching and learning that seeks to understand the interconnectedness of all of creation and provide an answer to the present human and spiritual crisis. Recognizing that our spiritual needs are just as important as our physical needs, we cannot truly heal the environment without also healing ourselves. “Integral ecology is, pedagogically, one of the best generators of educational approaches that could be characteristic of the new Lasallian educational proposal” (Declaration on the Lasallian Educational Mission [2020], p. 100). IE education seeks to help students develop a deeper relationship with God through a better understanding of the natural world and the environmental impact of their actions. It also seeks to help students develop the skills, knowledge and sense of responsibility they need to protect God’s gift and live more sustainably.

Retired Lasallians Connect and Contribute

Premiere Date: Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Speakers: Robert N. Ortbal, Co-chair, Lasallian Companions, Midwest District, Burr Ridge, IL; Joan E. Williams, Busy Person Retreat Coordinator, Lasallian Companions, Midwest District, Burr Ridge, IL

Retired Lasallians in the Midwest, known as Lasallian Companions, share their experiences building community, enriching their spiritual lives, and assisting ministries. Retirement does not mean losing connection to or commitment to the Lasallian charism. Through both large group and small group gatherings, as well as individual contributions, Lasallian Companions connect and contribute throughout the year with monthly book, articles and movie discussions via Zoom, yearly in person gatherings as well as providing retreat ministries with assistance. For several years, including during COVID, Lasallian Companions remained connected with each other, the Midwest District and the larger Lasallian world by offering assistance and service to ministries and other organizations. Together, and in association, the Lasallian charism is a lifelong gift that those who have retired from active ministry can share with one another and the current Lasallian ministries. 

Spiritual Care for a Busy Educator

Recording Date: Thursday, January 11, 2024
Speakers: Brother Matthew Chiantella, FSC, Director of Student Life, San Miguel High School, Tucson, AZ; Brother J.D. Macioce, FSC, Business Teacher, La Salle Academy, Providence, RI

This session invites participants to consider their faith journeys as a lifelong experience and will touch on the importance of attentiveness to spiritual self-care in the midst of their busy daily lives. Participants will leave with an understanding of different tools that can serve as resources in cultivating a maturing faith in relation to their vocation as an educator. 

Addressing Social, Emotional and Spiritual Learning Through Advisories 

Premiere Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Speakers: Christine Buell, Assistant Principal for Student Life, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, San Francisco, CA, and Nicole Nastari, Dean of Students, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, San Francisco, CA 

While the concept of advisories is not new, we have reconfigured them to provide a vehicle by which to address the social and emotional needs that have emerged for our students from the pandemic. As current research has suggested, teenagers are more anxious than ever and in need of more support and education.

Advisories create a space that can promote wellness strategies, address social-emotional learning and deepen community connections across class levels. Throughout the school year, we as educators use the time and space in advisory to explore various topics, including diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, positive relationship strategies, neurodiversity, stress management, mindfulness and community-wide spirit activities. Furthermore, advisories create high-impact leadership opportunities that further promote the development of intellectual, social and emotional skills. This session covers the practicalities of organizing lesson plans, selecting and training student advisory leaders and community-wide involvement that make this programming so effective.

The Eucharistic Revival: Our Role in Lasallian Education

Premiere Date: Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Speaker: Brother Mark Engelmeyer, FSC, Religion Teacher, Central Catholic High School, Pittsburgh, PA

With churches having empty pews during Mass, many Catholics not having an understanding of the Eucharist, and more and more young people disaffiliating from the Church, the United States Bishops have called for a three-year Eucharistic Revival. As one of the largest Catholic high school networks in the United States, we as Lasallians have a great opportunity to play a pivotal role in helping the young entrusted to our care rediscover and grow in their love of Our Lord in the Eucharist.  

Based in the teachings of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, this session can be used as a resource for educators to effectively incorporate the Eucharistic Revival into their schools.