Every week, students in the Lasallian Ministry class head to their cars and drive to Lot Whitcomb Elementary. While there, they mentor students, supervise recess, and support teachers in various classrooms. 

A service-based, one-semester elective for seniors at La Salle, the class is taught by Director of Campus Ministry Mr. Carter Powers and religion teacher Mr. Dan Marcantuono. It aims to help students understand what goes into the vocation of being a teacher, identify things they are passionate about, and see what living out Lasallian principles look like outside of the school, according to Mr. Powers and World Language Department Chair and Spanish teacher Ms. Lisa Moran. 

Additionally, the class looks into students’ values and offers a space for students to reflect on their faith and spirituality. 

“The very basic goal is that students feel more comfortable and confident being a leader or a presence for a younger person in their life,” Mr. Marcantuono said. “They get exposed to being a teacher of sorts.”

In addition to mentoring, Mr. Marcantuono said that students do summative assignments such as a spiritual reflection essay on their journey toward faith and an assessment of how inclusive chosen neighborhoods around Portland are, with the choice of making a podcast, paper, or infographic to present the findings. 

He also added that, throughout the semester, the class is guided by the Lasallian core values — faith in the presence of God, respect for all persons, inclusive community, concern for the poor, and quality education. 

Much of the class focus, however, is on students mentoring their assigned “buddies,” younger students from Lot Whitcomb. Mr. Marcantuono emphasized that though workload is minimal compared to other classes, it is important that students care about the work they do. 

“It’s not going to be your hardest class, but it is something that we need to take really seriously,” Mr. Marc said. “You mean a lot more to this kid than you realize, and you have to take that seriously.” 

The class was started in 2001 by Ms. Moran, who attended Marist Catholic High School. There, 55 hours of service were required to be completed by students between junior and senior year, and one of the senior electives was solely based on service to the community. 

Ms. Moran noticed how much the required hours and elective promoted service among the students. 

“We had this culture of service already going, but what do you do with it then?” Ms. Moran said. “What are we learning from it? What are we learning about ourselves?”

After coming to La Salle, she saw how the Christian Brothers and Lasallian core principles are rooted in helping others, and in turn saw the value in introducing a service-based class such as Lasallian Ministry. She wanted it to reflect what the Brothers were promoting, and not just through words. 

“It’s not just Christian leadership, it’s Lasallian leadership,” she said. “It is ‘how do we put those banners into action every day?’” 

Though it wasn’t the goal at the beginning, Ms. Moran said mentoring students at Lot Whitcomb came about because the counselor for Lot Whitcomb at the time, Ms. Ellen Baltus, saw the need for students at Lot Whitcomb to have a high school mentor, especially as some students would often go home to an empty house and wait for their parents to finish work. 

The close proximity of Lot Whitcomb to La Salle made mentoring even easier, according to Ms. Moran. 

“They needed this mentorship,” Ms. Moran said. “They needed positive role models in the classroom, so that they could see the value of the classroom and therefore get more out of their classroom experience.”

Ms. Moran hopes that through the Lasallian Ministry class students learn that they can have an impact on other people, and that service, while important and at times challenging, can be enjoyable too.

“I do want them to see that service is fun, but fun because it makes the world a better place,” she said. 

A few weeks into the school year, after a training session with a counselor from Lot Whitcomb, Mx. Sky Wonders, students tour the school and meet their buddies prior to their first day of mentoring. La Salle students are paired with Lot Whitcomb students through a survey distributed by the counselor. 

When pairing students with their buddies, Mx. Wonders explained that they look at identity markers — such as culture, race, ethnicity, and gender — along with shared interests. 

Senior Alex Sale said he used his love of soccer to connect with his buddy. 

“We both like soccer,” Sale said. “He’s always wearing soccer jerseys, so I started bringing my soccer jerseys too.” 

Mr. Powers said working with children can involve overcoming behavioral difficulties, which is one of the main challenges of the Lasallian Ministry class and can be a learning curve for La Salle students. Mr. Powers explained he strives to make sure students are prepared to respond to all the different aspects of mentoring. 

“You’re going to mess up because that’s part of learning and no one is going to go into something like that and be perfect,” he said. “But trying to help students navigate that is also one of the challenges.” 

Another issue, according to Mr. Powers, is students being worried about perfection and success. 

While he emphasized that, as a teacher, what stands out to him is students’ successes, he acknowledges that it can be difficult to make a meaningful connection with another person, especially one who is younger and may not be ready to immediately open up. Senior Isabella Montecucco echoed this perspective.

“I’m still working on it,” she said. “I’m just trying to talk to her about her day, her life.” 

Despite these challenges, Mr. Powers emphasized that it is important to keep working and striving to help the younger kids. 

“You need to be the best version of yourself because that’s what they need,” he said. “They need, especially now … someone that’s putting forth the effort to let them know that they are a human being [and] they matter and they deserve to be loved.”

Mr. Marcantuono — currently in his first year of teaching a Lasallian Ministry class — has enjoyed being able to teach seniors and getting to see their interactions with the younger students at Lot Whitcomb. He’s especially enjoyed watching his students greet their younger buddies and seeing relationships begin to form. 

“It’s really refreshing to be encountering the joy and energy of kids,” he said. 

Sale shares a similar sentiment, and has enjoyed getting to know his buddy throughout this semester. 

“He smiles when he sees me walk through the door, so that’s always nice,” Sale said. “I think he likes talking to me.”

Montecucco said she was very excited to help mentor, but noted that while forming a relationship with her buddy, she’s found that it can be challenging to actually help her kid learn the class content. 

“It definitely takes some creativity to help someone to understand something,” she said. “Not everybody’s brain works the same.” 

Both Sale and Montecucco said that having patience is key while mentoring.

“That’s the best way to make a relationship with your buddy,” Sale said.

At Lot Whitcomb, Mx. Wonders said that having high school buddies that come twice a week is helpful for the teachers and the school as a whole. 

“We’re tremendously impacted in a positive way,” Mx. Wonders said. “When the mentors walk in … the faces and eyes just light up of our kids.”

“This year is the first time we’ve had two classes, which is awesome because our staff and our students love the mentors so much,” Mx. Wonders said. “It’s been really exciting to get to grow the program more this year.” 

Ms. Moran credits the growth both to a desire to support the needs of Lot Whitcomb and a growing interest among the student body in participating in the buddy program.

“I think it is that desire to want to connect with somebody else, and when we do that, we see a difference,” she said. “We see how … our interaction with them brightens their day and in turn it brightens our own.”

For Mx. Wonders, this connection between mentors and their buddies is the most important part, as they said the one-on-one attention is beneficial for Lot Whitcomb students. 

“Our mentors try to build relationships and support students in making good choices,” Mx. Wonders said. 

Echoing this, Sale expressed the importance of giving each child individual time and attention. 

“Leadership is not as much about getting up on a stage and telling people what to do,” he said. “It’s more about the one-on-ones.” 

Mr. Powers hopes everyone can experience mentoring and being a helpful figure in people’s lives some day. This is part of why the application for the class was waived, allowing it to expand to two sections.

“I truly believe everyone in this school can make an impact through building a meaningful relationship with someone else,” Mr. Powers said. “I want to give everyone the opportunity to learn how to do that.”

Even after they took the class, Ms. Moran said that many members of the original group of students in Lasallian Ministry continue to serve their communities today, such as. Kody Betonte Thomas ‘01 who still consistently gives back through service. 

“It’s fun to be able to see people who were in it previously and to hear different things that they’re choosing now outside of school,” Ms. Moran said. 

The Lasallian Ministry class, centered around service, is an experience Ms. Moran hopes will continue to shape student’s thinking and perhaps reach a wider audience some day. 

“One individual here at La Salle in Milwaukie, Oregon, can have an impact on something and make a change,” she said “If we were all able to do that, think of how much better our society would be.”