Faculty Member Shortt, ‘04  Attends Buttimer Institute

For two weeks earlier this summer, De La Salle Collegiate faculty member Mike Shortt, Class of 2004, attended the Buttimer Institute, an intensive three-year educational program for faculty and staff members in Lasallian schools. Shortt was in the first-year Buttimer group. 

Running from June 26 - July 8, the program was conducted at Manhattan College in the Bronx, NY; participants stay in college-owned, off-campus housing. 

Shortt and over 20 others in his group studied the life, work, and spirituality of St. John Baptist de La Salle, as well as interacted with others who were in the second and third years of the program. Shortt said the program also included “some free time to be a tourist.”

A teacher in the DLS Social Studies Department, Shortt said that the program covered “the big picture.” 

“We learned about world history, then French history, and then about St. John Baptist de La Salle and his life,” Shortt said. “As a history fanatic, I found it very interesting.”

DLS President Larry Rancilio, ‘86, was attending the Buttimer program for the second year. He said, “The Buttimer Institute is an invaluable program for nurturing the Lasallian spirit among faculty and staff, and renews our faith in the vocation of teaching as an act of love and service.”

Rancilio added, “The program ensures that each educator becomes a vessel of this sacred mission, fortifying De La Salle Collegiate’s role as a leader in shaping the minds and hearts of young men for generations to come.”

During the second year of the program, participants study La Salle’s educational vision. The third year is devoted to La Salle’s spiritual vision. 

The Buttimer Institute began in 1984, named in honor of Brother Charles Buttimer, FSC, (1909-1982), the first American Superior General of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

After serving as a long-term substitute teacher, Shortt joined the DLS faculty in 2013. He teaches Economics, Personal Finance, Psychology, and Advanced Placement Microeconomics. 

Shortt is also the moderator of the Model United Nations Club, the defensive line coach for the DLS Varsity Football team, and the assistant JV Golf Coach. 

He attended Central Michigan University, majoring in History. 

Shortt cites past faculty members Mike Jolly and Jon Nicoloff as strong influences in his life, and key to his decision to pursue a teaching career.

Shortt and his wife Sarah, a nurse, live in St. Clair Shores.

Faculty Member Shortt, ‘04  Attends Buttimer Institute
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