LTIP: January to May, 2009

Are you a male Education major who is just starting college? Are you looking for a unique and adventurous way to pursue your teaching career? Then this is the program for you!

The Lasallian Teacher Immersion Program (LTIP) is a special program sponsored by the Christian Brothers Midwest District and run through the association of Christian Brothers University, St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, and Lewis University.

Beginning the second semester of freshman year, you will live, study, and work for three weeks in the Holy Family Catholic Worker shelter in Kansas City, Missouri. Each day will begin with a class in which you learn about the plight of the poor and the gospel response. Then you and the other program participants will prepare food and serve up to 200 homeless guests each evening. Your morning schedule will also alternate with an inner-city day-care center and a medical clinic. After completing your time at Holy Family Catholic Worker, you will spend time processing the experience of living among and serving the poor as well as completing the required academic work.

You will then move on to the next site, the inner-city of Memphis. In 2000, the Christian Brothers of the Midwest District opened their first elementary school for at-risk students. In this area of the city, the crime rate is particularly high. For the next three weeks, LTIP students will live in a community with Brothers and teachers. A typical weekday will include a university class in education, observation, tutoring, and assisting the faculty and staff with classroom and extracurricular activities.

This is followed by a three-week immersion experience at San Miguel Middle School of Minneapolis. Here again, LTIP students will live in community and work with at-risk students—the majority of whom are Latino.

The next immersion experience is at a secondary high school in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Christian Brothers College High School (CBCHS) is the oldest Catholic high school sponsored by the Christian Brothers of the Midwest District. The school is now considered one of the finest schools in the Midwest. LTIP students will live off-site about 30 minutes from the school. Each day will begin with a formal class in education followed by a drive to the school. Once at the school, LTIP students will have apprentice-like activities with students, faculty, and staff both in and out of the classroom.

The semester immersion experience will conclude with a one-week experience in which LTIP students will process their time together in the context of a retreat. Time will also be provided for completing academic requirements.

Between the sophomore and junior year of college, you will spend five weeks in Antigua, Guatemala. The first three weeks will be spent studying Spanish one-on-one and living with a Guatemalan family. The remainder of the time will be spent on a guided educational tour by Christian Brothers (from the United States) who have lived and worked in Guatemala. The purpose of this immersion experience is threefold: 1) to familiarize LTIP students with the global Lasallian network; 2) to develop an appreciation for the people and culture of a developing country; and 3) to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking students and families in the United States.