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Center for Catholic Education at UD

Lalanne's Legacy -- Service, Community, Leadership

Shawn Dorsten (Lalanne 2001-03, Detroit Community)

My wife, Joy, and I live in Sunbury, OH (north of Columbus) with our 5 children:  Grace, Clair, Christian, Isaac, and Levi.  I have been teaching 6th and 7th grade math in the Johnstown-Monroe Local School District since 2008.  Having five kids, my wife and I have definitely incorporated the community aspect of Lalanne into our family.  Through prayer, family dinner, and using our faith to make sense of our day-to-day life we are helping to polish each other into the people God intended us to be.

Emily (Dull) LaForge (Lalanne 2006-08, Indianapolis Community)

I have been so lucky to work in many different jobs within the field of education since graduating from Lalanne!  I love being in the classroom and I also love working with students one-on-one, so I did a graduate program in School and Clinical Mental Health Counseling at DePaul University in Chicago.  Since then, I have taught and been in counseling positions in a high school and a community college and am now the Director of Advising in the College of Health Professionals at Northern Kentudky University.

Former Lalanne Director, Brother Ed Brink, SM, said to us during one of our meetings that if we were in Education/Lalanne to save the world that we were in it for the wrong reason.  The person said that doing something "to change the world" was a selfish, un-Christian attitude.  Our job as educators is to serve our students and do good to glorify God -- not because we want to make a lasting impact on the world, which is really about US.  I have never forgotten that and will never forget that, and have even shared it with many people!

Luis Guerra (Lalanne 2005-07, Cleveland Community)

I served in Cleveland OH, at Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School.  Our community lived in a former convent on the west side of the city and it was a glorious time.  Today I'm a husband, father of 1 (with another one arriving in March 2018), and Dean of Students at Chaminade College Preparatory High School in West Hills, California.

Participating in Lalanne and serving at VASJ forged the foundation for my ministry as a Catholic, Marianist Educator.  The greatest lesson I learned as a young teacher in Lalanne wasn't about pedagogy or action research, but the power of forming solid relationships in my community and school.  The most effective educators know that reaching out beyond your comfort zone to make connections with students, colleagues, parents, and members of your community in general, provide the basic building blocks for a strong family spirit and a great school.

I thank the great mentors (Br. Ed, Jacinta, Bill Raddell, Barb, Dr. Hunt, and the countless others that impacted me) of this program that modeled this important trait for us all.

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