Greetings!
The De La Salle School welcomed its first class in September 2002. This past June we celebrated the completion of our Twentieth year and seventeenth graduating class We are very proud of the 239 young men who have received a diploma from our school and the 62 students who are currently enrolled and are pursuing that same goal. Over three hundred young men have had their hearts touched, minds challenged, and lives transformed because The De La Salle School exists. The Lasallian legacy continues as the vision for our mission continues to provide HOPE to the young men that God has guided to our door and whom He has entrusted to our care.
An important component of our history and mission is the Graduate Support Program. Our Graduate Support program continues to offer all of our alumni moral, social and emotional support and financial assistance to those attending Catholic High Schools. I am so heartened to see how successful this program has been in providing a gift of HOPE to these very gifted and talented young men. This past weekend, Ms. Gina Spohr, the Graduate Support Director and I, accompanied a group of our alumni to Albany. The trip was made possible through a grant from the Mother Cabrini Foundation and it offered these students the opportunity to explore various colleges and universities, visit their Open House and see first-hand the programs that these schools are offering. It was truly a great adventure and opportunity for these students.
Today, Mr. Patrick Aristhene, former teacher and alumnus from the first class of 2006 joined us for morning assembly. He was joined by his good friend Mr. Jean Phillipe Day. They both spoke to the students about the importance of education and the value of perseverance and trust in God’s guidance. They delivered this very powerful message with stories from their own personal experience and conveyed to the students the struggles they may be challenged with in life.
Mr. Aristhene explained that he recently celebrated his 30th birthday. It was for him a milestone that he wanted to celebrate by acknowledging the “LOVE” that he had received from his De La Salle family. Wanting to “pay it forward,” he organized a birthday fundraiser for the Graduate Support Program. During the assembly, he presented to me a check for $2,150.00 raised during his birthday celebration. What a great witness and tremendous role model for the young men of our school.
As we move forward with our twenty-first year, please be assured of our continued efforts to provide all our graduates as well as the young men of The De La Salle School with the moral, social and emotional support so that we may continue to remind him that he is a unique and talented creation of a loving God and that he has a Lasallian community who will support his efforts in order to achieve his dreams.
LIVE JESUS IN OUR HEARTS….FOREVER!!!
Wishing all a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!
Mr. William L. Gault
Executive Director
