“We have to open new avenues where our Lasallian partners can start the inspiration that they already have in their minds and in their hearts.” These were Br. Armin Luistro FSC’s words of encouragement and challenge for the participants of the third LEAD Online Community (LOC) Gathering held last 2021 January 22nd.
Taking the more casual format of a question-and-answer (Q&A) activity, the gathering featured some questions solicited from Lasallians all over the District upon pre-registration to the Zoom meeting. Among the 150 responses upon enrolment about what are the major themes that Lasallians in LEAD consider as significant for the next 10 years:
(A) Accompaniment and nurturing relationships among Lasallians to promote the vitality of the Lasallian charism (46.3%), (B) Lasallian Education beyond the classroom and its sustainability (17.1%), (C) Challenges to Lasallian educational communities (17.0%), Promoting Human Fraternity in plural societies (9.5%) and (D) Care of the earth and Lasallians’ role in it (7.3%).
A whole new batch of questions was entertained real-time in the second half of the program, which was dubbed Ask Me Anything. This time the questions, not necessarily falling under any of the categories, were taken from the comments in the Zoom chatbox. Special thanks to Br. Marvin Sipin FSC for being the moderator for this gathering.
In between the two Q&A segments, a break-out session was inserted to give the attendees the opportunity to meet Lasallians from other parts of the District. Since the one-hour engagement was not enough to address all of the queries that were raised, the meeting extended for a bit longer so the Brother Visitor could listen and respond to a couple more questions. Peaking at 113 attendees during the actual Q&A, the gathering is unarguably the most well-accepted by far. As in the first two LOC gatherings, the program was hosted by Ms. Martha Mina, an alumna and faculty of De La Salle Santiago Zobel School (PH). (Text: Br. Emong Viroomal FSC; Photos: Br. Dennis Magbanua FSC)
