Teen Leader Honors Lisa in a Written Portrait

Steven B., a Teen Leader at the House of Peace, attends The Marquette University High School. He was given an assignment in his expository writing class to interview a person, and create a portrait of that person by fusing together the elements from the interview questions and other information.

Steven chose to write about Dr. Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart.

A Dying Hope

By: Steven B.

Five months ago, Dr. Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart received life altering news.  In early June of 2009, doctors diagnosed her with stage IV lymphoma; continued testing revealed bile duct cancer of the liver.  Bile duct cancer acts aggressively and does not respond well to traditional treatment.  In an attempt to defeat the cancer, Chemo-embolization was tried and failed.  In late October, doctors told her that she had about six months to live. 

Lisa says, “I am totally at peace.  The way I am dying is wonderful.”  Lisa’s unique outlook on life has allowed her to come to terms with her impending death.  Over the course of her life, Lisa has had many wonderful experiences; though this chapter of her life is over, her memory will live on through others. 

Lisa impacts so many lives though the programs of Tomorrow's Present.  Recently her ability to perform her job to the fullest has been hindered by the cancer.  Before cancer, Lisa's responsibilities ran deep: she raised money, planned and executed the programs, she also found young people to run the programs and others to participate in the programs.  Tomorrow’s Present encompasses several programs, including the Teen Leader program – the reason behind this article.  Lisa sought out financial support for Tomorrow's Present though the generosity of donors.   The central theme of Tomorrow’s Present is the education of young people; Lisa dedicated her life to educating young people about leadership.

One undergraduate degree in Psychology from Holy Cross, two masters’ degrees: Pastoral Studies from Loyola University and Education from Lesley College, and a Doctorate in leadership from Cardinal Stritch University… what does someone do with an education of this nature?  Well the answer is obvious -- work with teens from Milwaukee!  When asked why she chose teens she said, “I was a kindergarten teacher…but there always seemed to be a shortage of people that wanted to work with teenagers, so I figured that I would go where there was a greater need.”  Lisa moved to Wisconsin and became a youth minister and eventually became the director of Tomorrow’s Present at the House of Peace.

The Teen Leader program is composed of sixteen high school students from Milwaukee.  The group meets monthly to prepare for two full day middle school youth workshops, called “Hope is Something You Do.”  The workshops teach middle school youth non-violent conflict resolution strategies.  Lisa hopes that through teaching her teen leaders the concepts and skills of the workshop and having them present the skits and teaching points themselves, they will then become leaders of tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s Present involves hard work and dedication.  Lisa raises funds to support the Teen Leader program and to pay for her salary.  Fighting cancer and a tremulous economy are major factors which make raising money that much harder.  Lisa finds motivation through her love of people, “To work at a place that is willing to help every person that walks through the doors in any way possible is just amazing and I am so proud to be apart of its ministry.  I just love it there.”  Lisa works to improve the lives of others, “I think all people have something to discover about themselves. God did not create one person that is not amazing.” Lisa finds motivation in the success of others.

Lisa’s unique situation has allowed her to deeply reflect on her life.  Lisa holds seven values in high regard: people, relationships, forgiveness, peace, honesty, integrity, and celebration. 

Of people, she says, “I love how people are, the uniqueness of people and how they are amazingly different.”

Regarding relationships, Lisa celebrates God’s creation and aspires to help people find what is special about themselves. 

Concerning forgiveness, “You might not trust someone but you can still forgive them.” Second chances are important, Lisa does not shame her teenagers when they forget a line or are not prepared.  From experience, she knows it is important to move on and not hold grudges. “You give someone enough support and they will do the right thing.”

On Peace, “the world is so full of misunderstanding and unnecessary violence; I just think we need to do a better job.” 

Two others are honesty and integrity. “Doing what you say and meaning what you say.”  When working with her teenagers she make sure celebrate there achievements and short comings too. 

Finally, the topic of celebration.“I think people don’t celebrate enough; they don’t take enough time to appreciate and enjoy what they do, even if they mess up.” 

These seven pillars have guided her actions and have given her hope for our world’s future leaders – today’s teenagers.

Lisa’s life has been an inspiration to everyone she meets.  Throughout her life she has accomplished so much. She has written 20 books, 7 leadership training manuals, over 50 articles on youth minister and family ministry, and currently she writes two magazine columns. She just finished her first novel.  Lisa has had a full life and has accomplished many goals.  Reflecting on her life she accomplished almost everything she ever wanted to do for her career.

 In the past she supported Tomorrow’s Present with all her heart and soul and although she knows that she no longer can devote her whole self to her programs, she can rest easy knowing that she gave it all she had.  It would be a disservice to her great legacy if her hard work would come to a halt, since such a mission is never completed.  Paving the way for future leaders has been accomplished by Lisa.  Now it is Milwaukee’s turn to continue her work. 

Lisa will always have hope because, “What is Hope? Hope is Something You Do!”   

Click here to read his notes from Lisa’s interview questions.