Principals, presidents and board members from 38 Lasallian high schools in the USAT Region gathered in St. Augustine, FL, February 27-March 2 for the annual conference of the Lasallian Association of Secondary School Chief Administrators. The event provided participants with the opportunity to interact with their peers and share experiences in school administration, meet with District leadership, and gain valuable insight from presenters on how to introduce change and improvements in their schools.
Presenters inspired and challenged attendees with historical and contemporary perspectives on “Innovation in Lasallian Schools.” Bro. Gerard Rummery, who travelled from Australia for the event, described the challenges De La Salle and the first Brothers faced during the early years of the Institute. Through their creativity, they established a proto-type which was adopted by all teaching brotherhoods and became the fastest growing movement in the Catholic Church in the mid-nineteenth century. The Brothers of the Christian Schools successfully establish schools around France and eventually throughout the world.
Alex Cirillo, former vice president of 3M, spoke about the role of innovation in education and gave attendees two take-home messages on innovation: “first, something cannot be considered innovative unless it is transformational. Second, innovation does not occur by accident. It is driven by a system of principles and practices which support and encourage the coupling of systems and creativity to solve problems.”
Raymond McNulty, president of International Center for Leadership in Education, spoke about preparing students for the 21st century and how chief administrators can be effective agents of change. “Schools need to have the ability to engage in online learning, develop strategies to engage the mind and develop higher literacy skills,” he said.
Presentation materials are available on https://lasallian.info/index.cfm/lassca-conference-2011.
The LASSCA officers in 2011 are Julie Michels, president; Lorca Barnes, vice president; and Bro. Dennis Cronin, past president.