La Salle Academy’s November Recap
Nurturing a young man’s relationship with God is important to us here at La Salle Academy. November provided numerous special opportunities for us do so. Mass on All Saints Day and prayer services just prior to Thanksgiving brought our students and teachers together. Those listed in our Book of Remembrance had a place in our prayer when we gathered during November, the month traditionally dedicated to remembering the dead. (When a benefactor makes a contribution to La Salle in someone’s memory, the name of the deceased is written in that book, which resides in our school’s chapel.) Also during November, retreats were held for our 12th graders, who enjoyed their experience at the Passionist retreat house in Jamaica, Queens, and a school-wide activity led by our Lasallian Youth Group collected food for those in need.
St. Francis College President Dr. Miguel Martinez-Saenz visited La Salle on November 8th. He met with the faculty who teach our SFC Bridge courses and he spoke with our Creative Writing and U.S. History classes. Read more about our partnership with SFC on our website.
Our cross-country team won the first CHSAA City Championship since 1977! Read more about the triumphant occasion on our website. The soccer season ended with a loss in the City Semi-Finals. The bowling, indoor track and basketball seasons are underway!
In the wider Lasallian world, national recognition came to La Salle Academy twice in November. First, a video of Carlos T. ’22 reciting a Langston Hughes poem from memory was a component of a prayer service at the Heuther Lasallian Conference in Baltimore. You can watch the video here.
Second, the current issue of De La Salle Today (shown at right) contains artwork by juniors Elijah B., Li H. and Adiyan R. Elijah’s drawing is on the front cover and also serves as the image on the Christmas card sent out by the national office of RELAN (the Lasallian Region of North America.)
Our Lasallian Youth Group, led by Campus Minister Brother Richard Galvin, collected non-perishable food items from faculty, staff and fellow students during the month of November. The group then delivered the donated items to St. John’s Bread & Life Food Pantry, where they were distributed to nearly 300 families in the area for Thanksgiving. We are proud of our young men for capturing the essence of our Lasallian mantra, “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve.”
Our Thanksgiving appeal that ended with Giving Tuesday on 30 November was successful beyond our expectations. Thank you to those who donated to contribute to a total of $27,265! For those who are in a position to send a Christmas gift to benefit our students, please consider including La Salle Academy in your year-end giving. You will be investing in a sure thing!
I wish you Advent blessings that culminate in Christmas joy that permeates the new year!
Brother Thomas P. Casey, FSC
President
P.S. AWESOMELY GOOD BREAKING NEWS: Two of our four finalists in the QuestBridge College Match heard yesterday that they were awarded all-expense paid college educations. Abiola L. will study at Colby College in Maine and Joshua R. is headed to California to enroll at Stanford University. Congratulations to these young men!
