Fifty graduates from fourth cohort of The Brother John Johnston Institute of Contemporary Lasallian Practice (JJI) are ready to live out the Lasallian mission in their local ministries. The formation program concluded in March with District gatherings where participants presented their capstone projects and reflected on their formation journey and Lasallian vocation.
Commenting on his overall JJI experience, Michael Sabatino, director of technology and information systems at La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, expressed gratitude for collaborating with other Lasallians who “helped me see that the issues we face … are not unique to us.”
“Johnston has made me feel like I am a leader in my school and that I am actively working to carry out the mission of our ministry,” he continued.
Echoing Sabatino’s sentiment, Stephanie Roybal, social studies department chair and member of the Lasallian Formation Team at Justin-Siena High School in Napa, California, spoke about the sense of rejuvenation in her Lasallian vocation from her time in the Johnston Institute.
Roybal shared that JJI has “given me the knowledge and skills I need to help guide my school community forward in a contemporary sense. I have a sense of confidence that I can see the needs of my community and have a mission-centered response that will do what is best for the students entrusted to my care.”
She added that the program “genuinely lit a fire in me for the work I do, the people I do it with and the students we do it for.”
Beginning in summer 2022, the two years of formation and studies within the Johnston Institute covered topics such as the founding story; Lasallian pedagogy; evangelization; Lasallian vocation, spirituality and association; promotion of justice; and educational service with the poor.
During the program, participants worked on capstone projects, which aim to animate the shared Lasallian mission more deeply at the local level and beyond. The capstone projects ranged from establishing programs to implementing intentional community events to furthering formation opportunities for both students and faculty within local ministries to connect more with their rooted Lasallian mission.
In the District of San Francisco New Orleans, a capstone project by Kathleen Coughran, vice principal for academics of La Salle Catholic College Preparatory in Milwaukie, Oregon, explored a partnership between her ministry and St. Mary’s College of California faculty to offer two asynchronous, dual-credit college courses per semester. This project began with conversations in fall 2022 and has since evolved into two current dual-credit courses this spring semester — Introduction to Criminology and Programming I — with plans to offer two more courses and a potential computer science certificate in the fall.
In the Midwest District, Erika Whitehead, assistant principal of Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School in Chicago, Illinois, proposed in her capstone a rejuvenated legacy team practice called Mission Moments to connect with the founding mission of Saint John Baptist de La Salle and the vision of Catalyst Schools. Aimed at both students and staff, the project selects a monthly virtue to highlight from La Salle’s “12 Virtues of a Good Teacher,” and a teacher of the month is chosen who exemplifies that virtue. The project has completed a successful trial run and is ready for course correction.
In a District of Eastern North America capstone titled “Le Passage,” Rebecca Mackisey, director of campus ministry, and Veronica Flaherty, world languages teacher, of La Salle Academy in Providence, Rhode Island, created a Lasallian formation program for a maximum of 12 juniors under the leadership of the school’s Animator. After an application process, students will gather for deeper formation with monthly themed meetings throughout the academic year. At the end of the experience, students will present a final project on a Lasallian topic and take a trip to France visiting major sites and places important to the Founder, such as Reims and Rouen.
Registration is open now for the newest cohort of the Johnston Institute through May 7. The fifth cohort will begin with a Regional gathering at Lewis University July 22-26, 2024.
Learn more about the Brother John Johnston Institute and register here