Celebrating a visionary
April 7th marks the day to celebrate the contributions of Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, the individual whose efforts would impact us all, centuries after he began his mission to provide education for all.
The French educator of noble birth, who was ordained in 1678, was the founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the de La Salle Brothers, the first Roman Catholic congregation of male nonclerics dedicated to education through teaching and learning.
He at first became involved in establishing schools for poor boys but eventually renounced his privileged position in society to focus on providing equal education to all. John Baptist de La Salle is heralded as being a pioneer in founding training college for teachers, reforms schools, technical schools as well as secondary schools.
John Baptist de La Salle passed away on April 7th 1719, which has been marked as Feast Day of St John Baptist de La Salle who was canonized in 1900, a day to commemorate the life of one whose vision for education has since grown into a global movement.
In Malaysia there are 44 La Salle schools – the oldest being St. Xavier’s Institution in Penang, the first school set up by the de La Salle Brothers in Asia. La Salle PJ was set up in 1959, when Brother Lawrence Spitzig, put in a request to build six classrooms in Petaling Jaya to accommodate the growing population. Those classrooms became known as the “old block” and it was from there that La Salle PJ, our alma mater, began.
La Salle PJ secondary school had four heads who were from the de La Salle Brothers – Reverend Brother Cronan Curran (1963-65), Reverend Brother Philip Callaghan (1965-67), Reverend Brother Lawrence Spitzig (1967-75) and Reverend Brother Felix James Donohue.(1975-88).
This week the school celebrates Founder’s Week in conjunction with Feast Day. The launch was conducted via an online assembly. Various activities are being conducted to highlight St John Baptist de La Salle’s contributions. These include completing a puzzle for lucky draw and creating artwork that will be published in the school magazine.
