Transformative Leadership: The 2025–2026 Leadership Workshop Project

During the 2025-2026 school year, the Piarist Province of Mexico, through the Itaka-Escolapios Mexico Foundation, launched a new edition of the Leaders’ Workshop, establishing it as one of the most significant training programs for strengthening Christian leadership, social commitment, and Piarist identity among children, adolescents, young people, and staff. This project, which has been running for over fourteen years, continues to evolve as a comprehensive formation initiative that seeks to address current challenges through the charism of Saint Joseph Calasanz.

Beyond a series of training sessions, the Leadership Workshop has established itself as a network project, capable of connecting the various platforms of the Pious Schools—schools, the Calasanz Movement, the Piarist Fraternity, Juniorate, volunteer programs… — around a shared mission: to form people capable of educating, proclaiming, and transforming reality through the values of the Gospel and Calasanctian spirituality.

Throughout the academic year, various experiences tailored to each stage of formation were carried out. The Kids’ Leadership Workshop, held in Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Puebla, and Oaxaca, brought together elementary school students to reflect on care for our Common Home and promote concrete actions in favor of their reality from a perspective of faith and social commitment.

The Network Leaders Workshop, held on November 8, 2025, brought together catechists, volunteers, and collaborators from various Piarist ministries to explore synodality, shared mission, and collaborative work as fundamental elements for continuing to build community.

Subsequently, the Junior Leaders Workshop, held on November 22, 2025, offered middle school students a space for gathering around the themes of fraternity, friendship, and Piarist leadership, fostering self-awareness, empathy, and service as the foundations for active participation in their educational communities.

The training continued with the High School Leaders Workshop Module 2, held from December 12–14, 2025, in Oaxaca, where participants explored the centrality of Jesus Christ and the design of service projects with an impact on their schools.

Finally, from February 6 to 8, 2026, the High School Leaders Workshop Module 1, held in Veracruz, strengthened youth leadership through experiential activities, self-awareness processes, and activities focused on Christian and Calasanctian leadership.

The evaluations conducted reflect a highly positive outcome. Participants highlighted personal growth, the strengthening of leadership skills, teamwork, inter-school collaboration, and a deepening of Piarist spirituality. Among the most significant learnings were leadership understood as service, empathy, the ability to transform reality through faith, and the development of concrete projects for their educational communities.

While areas for improvement were identified regarding logistics, timing, the dynamism of certain activities, and strengthening the in-person component, the overall assessment confirms that the Leadership Workshop remains a transformative experience and a key tool for the integral formation of new generations of Piarists.

On behalf of the project coordination team, we wish to express our deep gratitude to the schools of the Piarist Province of Mexico for their trust, commitment, and ongoing support; to the Province for continuing to invest in processes that strengthen the Piarist identity and mission; and to all those who made each of these formative experiences possible. In a special way, we acknowledge the generous participation of the Piarist Fraternity, the Calasanz Movement, the Juniorate, the Piarist religious, teachers, volunteers, and facilitators, who shared their time, experience, and witness to accompany the participants on their journey of growth.

Looking toward the future, the Leadership Workshop will continue to strengthen its network, fostering connections between the various Piarist platforms and promoting a culture of leadership inspired by the Gospel and the legacy of Calasanz. The challenge remains to form leaders who do not seek the limelight for themselves, but who place their talents at the service of others, building more fraternal, committed communities capable of transforming reality through faith. Because when we walk together, share the mission, and strengthen our Piarist identity, we make it possible for Calasanz’s dream to remain alive in new generations.