The event brought together a total of 18 people with positions of coordination and responsibility in Salesian school education from 16 provinces of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Salesians of Don Bosco and the Daughters of the Divine Saviour in 13 countries where the Salesian charism animates educational centres that educate children, young people and adults.

The central theme of the meeting was: ‘Pathways for the future: planning for the next five years and implementation of the Salesian Significance Document in schools’. During the meeting, the key objectives for strengthening Salesian education in the region were discussed:

- Developing the strategic planning of the region.

- Organising the regional educational stages, promoting the discussion and implementation of key actions related to Strategic Planning and the Salesian Significance model.

- Advancing in the Pathways of the Future, implementing the Document of Significance.

The meeting was opened by the regional contact persons, Sister Eva Doris Meza (FMA-CAM) and Fr Carlos Alberto Montoya (SDB-MEG), who together with the local contact person, Jessie Arroyo (CAR), welcomed the participants. Afterwards, Fr René Santos, Vice-Provincial of the host province, Sister Runita Borjes, and the representatives of the FMA Sector and the SDB Sector for Youth Ministry - Sister Ivone Goulart Lopes and Father Claudio Cartes, respectively - offered their greetings.

In the first addresses the participants were invited to ‘keep in mind all the schools that exist in our countries in order to make a serious commitment to developing the Strategic Plan of the Region’, with guidelines inspired by Pope Francis; furthermore, the theme of the Strenna for 2025 was addressed, noting that ‘our hope is a journey towards Christ and that is what we offer to young people and the people who accompany us’. The current challenge of ‘fostering an encounter with the Lord in the school’, being ‘pilgrims of Hope’ in the specific area of schools, and thus also offering ‘a school of hope’, was thus highlighted.

The formative and organisational sessions had as their central content:

- Strategic results, Salesian identity and significance (Sr Christian Jiménez)

- Strenna 2025 and Jubilee Year (Fr Carlos Montoya)

- Dimension 4: Management of significant results (Sr Laurens Torres)

- Digitalisation and evangelisation (Sr Kirce Veras Quezada and Jose Ramón Concepción)

- Model of meaningfulness and motivation - Salesian leadership (Sr Patricia Parraguez)

- Dimension 2: Evangelising pedagogical management (Fr Claudio Cartes)

- Dimension 3: Animation and pastoral accompaniment in the school (Jessi Arroyo)

- Guidelines from the Vatican Dicastery of Education and other relevant central bodies - OIEC, UISG-USG, CIEC, Central Commission of the Salesian School Conference in America (Sr Ivone Goulart Lopes)

- Evaluation of the Strategic Plan of the Salesian School in America 2024-2029 (Fr Claudio Cartes).

During the gathering, reflections and dialogues were held on the situation of each congregation and institute and on the evaluation of the Strategic Plan, identifying in the conclusions the projects and challenges for the Salesian school.

In addition, the participants were able to share a cultural evening in an atmosphere of Salesian fraternity, and shared a very special moment, visiting the ‘Sor María Romero’ Social Works house.

The meeting reaffirmed the Salesian schools' commitment to the integral formation of children, young people and adults. Through strategic planning, educational innovation and the strengthening of the Salesian charism, the paths towards a meaningful and transformative future until 2029 were traced.

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