(COVINGTON, L.a.) — Preparations for the annual summer leadership trip to California have begun for the members of the Lasallian Youth Leaders. The trip, hosted on the campus of St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., brings together the Lasallian district of San Francisco-New Orleans  for a week of leadership and faith-based training. Long considered a fantastic learning experience, the Lasallian Student Leaders (LSL) trip has not been around for long for St. Paul’s Students.

“Having been in the first St. Paul’s group to go the Lasallian Student Leaders Conference back in summer of 2007, I can say that we had no idea what type of experience what we were getting ourselves into,” Campus Minister and founding member of Lasallian Youth Leaders Jeff Ramon said. “The first trip, we tried to just soak everything in. This coming summer marks the tenth trip to LSL for St. Paul’s, so I’d say the first one was a success.”

When Lasallian Youth Leaders was founded on SPS campus in 2007, it was only a campus ministry organization that was considered a small and obscure one in the face of Student Council and the various sports programs of the school, according to early founder Jeff Ramon. However, after the first trip to LSL, the members came back filled with new ideas borrowed from other schools and their various club organizations. The first trip represented the birth of Field Day and Five Core Rally on the St. Paul’s campus.

“Most of all the conference gives students the opportunity to connect with students from other Lasallian schools in our district,” said Ramon. “It is an enlightening experience for our young men to attend so that they can see things from the perspectives of other schools. It also gives us the opportunity to share our own successes at St. Paul’s so that other schools can take our successes and adapt them in the best way that they see fit.”

The conference features keynote speakers from around the Lasallian world along with team building activities and events. Another notable feature of the event is when all the schools gather for an idea fair to share effective programs that vary from school to school. Throughout the entire week there is in-depth examination of the Lasallian five core principles along with reflection and prayer on their roles in Lasallian education.

Students looking to apply must be an active member of LYL as well as willing to complete an application for the event should see Jeaneen Schmitt with questions or requests in the main school building in Room 114.