Bishop Gorman teens are embracing their Catholic identities by joining the Holy Spirit Core Team, helping middle and high school students learn more about their faith and prepare to receive the sacrament of Confirmation. 

The Core Team helps to lead the youth groups offered at Holy Spirit. As explained by Breanna Cross ‘26, “Core Team is a close knit group with many adults and teens that are all striving to grow in their faith.” 

Run by Louie Latina, who students may recognize as the guitarist at school masses, the Core Team has a way of teaching teens in the confirmation group, referred to as Upper Room, about God and helping them grow in their faith, while also making their weekly meetings fun.

The weekly Sunday night sessions, called Life Nights, have a way of keeping the teens engaged through games, music, and by making the lessons, referred to as proclaims, speak to teens in a way that a class in school cannot. Purpose sessions, which are specified to years ones are year twos, and XLTs, which parents can come to, are nights that are so beneficial in truly understanding who God really is. 

One Core Team leader, Riley Hermenegildo ‘26, who was not confirmed at Holy Spirit said that seeing her friends truly enjoy the process made her want to be part of the team that makes that all possible. “I love the program because they make it enjoyable and the kids truly look forward to coming every week,” she added. 

Each Life Night, there is a time when the teens and leaders get to come together in small groups to connect on a peer-to-peer level and reflect on what they heard in the proclaim that night. Charlie Wilson ‘26 shared, “My favorite thing about small groups is the vulnerability of my teens as they feel comfortable to express their feelings with me and my two other leaders.”

Payton Umphress ‘26 said, “It is so nice when the teens put thought into their responses, as it allows me to see their opinions on our faith and where they are in their faith journey.”

Small groups also allow the leaders to meet teens who they may go to school with and get to connect people who they may not have met otherwise. Juliet Lefebvre ‘25 shared, “My favorite part of leading small groups is having the opportunity to get to meet new people. It’s also such a blessing to be able to build strong relationships with confirmands and help them grow through their confirmation journey.” 

Since many of the Core Team leaders are in high school themselves, they can help the teens through relatability. Lily Simmons ‘26 shared that, “leading younger teens when I am also a teen is a very compelling experience because they are only a couple years younger than I am, and in some cases, there are teens in Upper Room who are older than me.” 

When it comes to leading them, she and all the Core Team leaders approach the teens as their peers, as some of them are their schoolmates, rather than viewing them as students that they have authority over. Simmons said, “I think that my approach is just understanding that they are my peers and other individuals who are in the same place as I am, so I am able to understand some of the things they are going through.” 

The main goal of Core Team leaders is to help teens on their spiritual paths. William Lefebvre ‘26 said that the leaders played a big role in his faith journey and are partially responsible for his decision to join the Core Team. “They helped me on my process to confirmation as they were there for guidance, really explaining why and how it is a benefit to give yourself to God.” 

The Core Team also hosts a middle school group on Wednesday nights called Edge. 

One Edge leader has a unique standpoint. Reagan Millbern ‘26 is currently a year one in her confirmation process. “Being on the Edge team helps me go through Life Nights with a new perspective that the kids at Edge bring to the table,” she said. She added that the participants in Edge are more positive and that helps her grow more in Life Nights, trying to approach them as the youth in her Edge small group do. 

Alana Moore ‘25, who leads Edge and Upper Room, tries to lead the two groups slightly differently. “The middle schoolers definitely have a more lighthearted environment since the usually aren’t difficult topics, and I like to keep things simple since a lot of things we discuss can become a little overwhelming.”

On the other hand, for high schoolers, Moore tries to keep the environment enjoyable and comforting, “while still taking the discussion seriously and encouraging kids to open up.” 

Many current leaders were inspired to join the Core Team around November of last year. Markie Modafarra ‘26 said, “I was inspired to join Core Team during the Alpine retreat when I really realized I enjoy being with my friends to praise God.” The Alpine confirmation retreat is for year twos, typically sophomores, who will be confirmed in the spring. In fact, the retreat this year is coming up quickly, with the teens and leaders leaving this Friday. 

The Alpine Retreat is not the only thing that inspired leaders to join the Core Team. Simmons explained that she decided to join the team “because of how much Upper Room has helped me grow in my faith journey over the past two years in Confirmation.” 

She said that coming to Life Nights every week helped her understand God on a new level, and she wanted to be a part of that in someone else’s life. 

In the beginning of August, the Core Team went on their annual retreat to Zion National Park  to take time to get to know each other as a team and to spend time with God in his natural creation, and unpack this year’s theme, Sanctuary. 

While in Zion, the Core Team had the opportunity to participate in many activities in the mountains of Zion, including a hike through the Narrows. 

Umphress shared that the hike not only helped her grow in her faith, but connect with the other Core Team leaders on the retreat with her, “it really bonded us. Helping each other through the slippery rocks and appreciating the beauty of Zion that God created made the hike so amazing.” 

The retreat allows the team to make connections that cannot be made with the distractions of day-to-day business.

However, Core Team is more than just Life Nights, Edge Nights, or retreats. They are a family and a faith community. Moore shared, “Having this community united under God has brought me an amazing support group and relationships that will last a lifetime, as well as a safe space to explore my relationship with God.”  

Cross shared, “Core Team is a safe space for everyone and we hope to help other people open up and mature in their journeys as well as find a relationship with God.”

Wilson explained, “Core Team is all about working together to make worshiping God fun and comforting no matter what you have experienced that day.” 

Gianna Latina ‘28, who is the daughter of Louie Latina, grew up around the Core Team. She is currently a leader on the Edge Team and a year one in her confirmation process. She said, “I know that the Core Team is a group of people that I can go to who will support me and love me no matter what.” 

Latina also has had the unique experience of getting to see the Core Team grow and change throughout the years. She said, “Each year’s Core Team has been filled with a different group of people with different personalities and gifts which make every year’s Core Team unique and special in its own way.” 

All in all, the Core Team is centered around God and the passion the leaders have for spreading his message to other people. Having a group of people coming together every week to be able to express that, whether it be for a meeting or for a Life or Edge Night, is a blessing from God himself.As Hermenegildo said, “Being in a room with so much love for each other and God is such a peaceful and amazing experience…We like to have fun, but at the end of the day we can come together as a team and work together to make the faith journey of everyone a better experience.”