Coffee with Fr LaSalle Hallissey

Father LaSalle Hallissey, OP is our school chaplain.  In addition to being an OP, or, a Dominican friar, he is also a self-proclaimed OS.  No ... he is not an operating system, but rather, a member of the first graduating class of De La Salle High School - Concord.  This makes him an Original Spartan!  Shortly after graduation, he studied to become a De La Salle Christian Brother before following God's call to ordained ministry as a priest.  That's when he took the professed name of LaSalle in order to honor the patron saint of all teachers of youth.  When he is not ministering to the sacramental needs of our school community, he is out and about making students laugh, sharing stories of way back when to whomever will listen, or indulging in his favorite activity of running marathons.  We are indeed lucky to have him as part of our Campus Ministry team.

Though Father LaSalle has many gifts, he is sometimes not attentive to the occasional food or drink spilling on his white Dominican habit.  On one such occasion, he really goofed and spilled a whole bunch of coffee.  Ever the good sport, he consented to being photographed for this blog for posterity.

Better get that habit in the laundry before your abbot gets mad, Fr LaSalle!

Natural Organic Healthy

Vending machines are common place on any school campus.  At De La Salle, several line the corridor in the Hofmann Student Center.  Several of these machines have a curious slogan written up top.  Hmmm ...

But, upon closer inspection, something seems a little awry.

Now ... I love Welch's Fruit Snacks as much as the next person.  And, perhaps those snacks can belong on the periphery of Natural Organic Healthy. 

But, M & Ms?  Or, Snickers?  At a $1.50 a pop?  Somehow, I don't think these qualify for Natural Organic Healthy! 

Maybe this is a part of a much larger educational initiative to teach students about healthy choices. 

Wait ... who are we kidding?  These are hungry young men looking for a quick carb fix!  Just don't call this stuff natural, organic, or healthy!

Five Bucks Per Tissue

The warm weather continues outside, but inside the cold virus is beginning to make its rounds.  Sneezing, coughing, and runny noses are common afflictions amongst students (and some faculty) as closer contact through exchanges of high-fives and fist-bumps along with unwashed hands makes for a wonderful breeding ground of this seasonal annoyance.  Tissue boxes seem to be at a premium these days as classrooms are constantly running out of the necessary disposable hygienic paper handkerchiefs. 

One student decided to charge $5 per tissue after he was tasked repeatedly with having to go to the main office to replenish our class supply!

Oh Say Can You See ... Oh Canada?

I am one of three De La Salle High School faculty members (that I know of) with connections to Canada.  Two of us are native-born Canadians and the other has family who originally came from Quebec.  In fact, this latter person's first cousin was the parish priest of the parochial French Immersion school called Ecole Saint Sacrement that I attended as a youngster.  What a small world!  

I display my Canadian pride quite loudly in the Campus Ministry-Student Life Office!

Elsewhere in the Campus Ministry-Student Life Office there is a calendar helping to keep our events organized.  However ... "oh say can you see" something fishy about this particular calendar?

What's with September 25? 

Captain Picard and Commander Riker would not be happy about this ...

... I would hazard a guess that even they would know that Canada Day is on July 1st!

The Donut Aficionados of De La Salle

Club fair is just around the corner and a proposal came through for an interesting club: The Donut Aficionados of De (La) Salle, or, DADS.  Their aim is to purchase donuts from local bakers and to ... evaluate them.

Here's the evaluation form they came up with ...

... I wonder how they will assess "Effect on Stomach" on this perfect honey glazed donut!

Bananart: Creation of Adam

This work of art was produced by a student-artist who has made a hobby of etching famous works onto ... banana.  What makes this work even more amazing is that he used not a pen, but rather the edge of a ruler.  So, as he's etching he doesn't actually see the result until the image appears through the banana peel's natural bruising!

... and the original, for comparison.

... and for the record, the banana was consumed.  And, the peel?  Not spared.  But don't worry, the student said he'd easily come up with another appealing work of banana art.