While BSM holds events and meetings every day to ensure students have a positive and constructive high school experience, on October 21, it will be the BSM staff’s turn to have a positive work experience. A new Lasallian gathering, an event for staff and faculty of the Twin Cities Lasallian schools, and the first one to date, will be held at BSM.

Lasallian schools are a vast network of schools that extends across the country. There are six schools in the Twin Cities area. Cretin Derham Hall, Totino Grace, Holy Family, DeLaSalle, BSM and St. Marys University are the schools that will be attending the gathering.

The objective of the gathering is to meet other staff members and administrators, to participate in a deep prayer, to eat dinner together, and to discuss an important topic that will be addressed in the school curriculum. Dr. Sue Skinner will be attending the event to represent BSM and to make use of the rare opportunity. “I think of it as feed the soul for adults. They don’t have to be in charge of it. They can justs come and enjoy each other’s company,” said Skinner.

The Lasallian gathering is a new idea, and this is the first meeting open to all staff members. “We’ve had meetings where principals and presidents attend the meeting, but this is the first time doing something like this so we’re thinking we’ll have about 25 people,” said Skinner. Before the end of the year there will be three events that will all involve the same concepts but with a different discussion topic.

A large portion of the gathering a discussion of ways address a topic in school. For the first gathering, sex trafficking will be the topic of discussion. Each day in Minnesota 8,000 to 12,000 people are involved in human sex trafficking which makes it a valuable topic to discuss in the classroom. “We know that sex trafficking is a pretty big problem in Minnesota in particular. We thought it would be a good topic for the adults to talk and learn about so we can integrate it into our school,” said Skinner. The leader of the discussion and the person who will educate the attendees on human trafficking will be a local expert on the topic who works for Catholic Charities.

It costs $5 to attend, and there will be childcare provided for staff members who have children. “The big thing is that it’s a way for faculty and staff to take time for themselves, to come and pray together in our chapel,” said Skinner.
All staff members are encouraged to attend the event to enrich their spiritual and intellectual experiences.