Freeport — They teach classes on art, Italian, and physical education. They provide study help and moderate after-school activities. They share experiences with a surrogate family, thousands of miles away from their actual families. It’s all in a day’s work for a Lasallian volunteer working with the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

“The brothers’ mission is simple: provide quality education to children who would otherwise not receive it,” explained Paul Avvento, 22, a parishioner of St. Frances de Chantal Church in Wantagh. “As a teacher, I found this to be very motivating.” Avvento, a graduate of Manhattan College in the Bronx, is a Lasallian volunteer teaching seventh- and eighth-graders at De Marillac Academy in San Francisco.

The Lasallian Volunteer Program connects college graduates to volunteer opportunities in Lasallian missions throughout the United States. Volunteers work and live in association with the De La Salle Christian Brothers for one or more years of service. The volunteers often serve in the brothers’ San Miguel schools, elementary and middle schools that try to provide an affordable, quality education to a population at or below the poverty level.

The De La Salle School here in Freeport, a San Miguel school run by the De La Salle Brothers, is currently host to two volunteers — Jorge Mejía, 22, from California, and Colleen Boyette, 23, from Tennessee. Carly Matsen, 24, a paid staff member at De La Salle from Tennessee, was a volunteer at the school last year. The school, which opened in the fall of 2002, educates boys in the fifth through eighth grades.

These four volunteers all attended colleges operated by the De La Salle Christian Brothers. “One of my professors talked about the program,” noted Boyette, “and I always wanted to do a volunteer program.”

After graduation, “when the time came to look for a job or decide to volunteer,” said Matsen, “I thought this would be a good transition. You have the support of the other volunteers and the brothers.”

“There were many different options to pursue,” Avvento agreed, “such as graduate school, working in New York City public schools, Catholic schools, but this was what I truly felt God was calling me to do at this stage in my life, and my parents have been telling me for a long time to take advantage of this time of my life and experience all that the world has to offer.”

The Lasallian experience does not end in the classroom. Boyette and Matsen both teach subjects such as French, art, and science. While Avvento teaches classes in religion, computers, and music, he also moderates the school yearbook and provides extra study help. Mejía, who teaches health and physical education, is also director of the graduate support system, which follows the school’s graduates through high school to ensure they keep up with the study habits and work ethic they learned at De La Salle.

Besides serving others, Lasallian volunteers receive guidance as educators from the more experienced brothers. “As a new teacher,” Avvento noted, “I saw the program as an incredible opportunity to work on my teaching skills while observing experienced teachers. Living in community with experienced teachers - the brothers - has helped professionally on many levels. Many days, after a tough day of work we’ll discuss what went wrong and what went well at dinner, and they’ll offer the advice that only an experienced educator can. This has made all the difference in the world.”

Despite complete immersion in the Lasallian world through the program, Boyette said that it’s important to try to strike a balance, “to not let the work consume you.”

It’s important “knowing how to balance school life with your personal time,” Matsen agreed. The job can be a challenge. “I love working here and being here, but it can be tough when it seems the kids don’t care and you do care.”

The challenges are worth it, though. “I love working with the kids,” she said. “No day is ever boring.”

“It’s so great when not only do they get what you’re teaching, but they want to learn it,” said Boyette.

“I’m doing what I love,” added Mejía. “I was given the chance to go to a Lasallian school and now I get to give that opportunity to others.”

“If you want to change society for the better, then this is the perfect program for you,” noted Avvento. “It offers many different roles besides teaching, but all of them offer direct service to people in need.”

Being a Lasallian volunteer “is a learning experience,” said Matsen. “You get pushed out of your comfort zone a bit. If you do the program, you’ll find out things about yourself you didn’t know before.”