September 2021 President’s Pen

by | Sep 30, 2021 | President’s Pen

“The value of life does not depend upon the place we occupy. It depends upon the way we occupy that place.” – Saint Therese of Lisieux

Lately, people have been asking what it is like to be back in full-time classes at CRSM. My response is a single word, “Joyful.” It’s true. It is something more profound than happiness and is rooted in something bigger. When you walk down the halls or stop to chat with students in the cafeteria, there is a strong sense that everyone wants to be here and is ecstatic to finally be back together. Our new spaces certainly enhance being back together – the gym, the student union, and La Mesita de Martin coffee shop. At lunch, these places are teaming with students. The foosball and ping pong tables are constantly in use. La Mesita just started selling juice and snacks. (Faculty and staff are eager for the coffee equipment to arrive but even La Mesita can’t escape supply chain issues from the pandemic.) Yesterday, I wandered into the gym. There was a pick-up basketball game in one corner, a circle of students juggling a soccer ball in another, some others practicing volleyball digs and passes, and still others hanging out on the bleachers doing homework or talking with friends. If not for the masks, it was almost an archetypal pre-COVID high school moment – except, of course, CRSM never had a gym or any of these spaces before the pandemic. The fact that these scenes are now unfolding daily at CRSM is truly a gift! For so many years we did without such universal high school locales. Now that we have them, our students certainly aren’t taking them for granted.

The new space is truly a blessing and even more important now because of the deliberately gradual return-to-work timetables many of our business partners in the Corporate Work Study Program are implementing. In the program, four students job-share a full-time position at professional workplaces so, typically, 25% of our student body is out working every day. With some CWSP jobs still working remotely and others delaying their re-openings, we currently have thirty more students in the building each day than planned. Even with the new build-out, our 400-student campus was designed with the idea there would only be 300 students here on any given day. But, we are accustomed to making the best with what we have and we have so much more space than ever before! Since it is not yet consecrated, our chapel is temporarily serving as the students’ office for remote work. Having them here with us for their workday rather than staying home is a vast improvement because here they have reliable Wi-Fi, can eat lunch with their peers, and can access our own work-study staffers for any questions or issues that may arise when their supervisors are not available.

The classrooms are full, we are back to having lunches prepared on-site instead of bringing in pre-packaged fare. Faculty have returned to making “learning walks” with our Principal and Assistant Principal – visiting one another’s classes and sharing observations. There’s a welcome return to increased informal communication with one another in the hallways; it all seems so much more efficient… and fun. We may not see each other’s full facial expressions but at least we can look one another in the eye and see eyes smiling back. It feels like progress, like we are getting back into our proper orbit.

To give you an idea just how important it is to be back together, consider our September progress report. Each year at mid-month, we track the number of failures for all classes. We have four hundred students and each student takes seven classes. In 2019, before the pandemic hit, we had 90 failures out of a possible 2,800. In 2020, at the height of quarantine, we experienced 196 failures. This year, back to full-time school, we have 57 failures – fewer than before COVID! This speaks volumes about how much our students and teachers missed one another – everyone is working hard and the results show it. Old lyrics say, “You don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it.” I would add, “When you find it again, you value it more than ever.”

Which brings me back to the quote from Therese of Lisieux, The Little Flower. The only value a place possesses comes from what transpires between and among the people who occupy it. Cristo Rey St. Martin isn’t a building, it’s a community. What makes CRSM so special and effective is our culture. We respect and care for one another and that is expressed most fully when we are physically together. In 1 John, it is written, “No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us.” The key word is “us.” You cannot love alone; it’s a team sport. Love reaches its fullest expression in us… and “us” begins by being together. Thank you for all you do for CRSM!

 

Winning the COVID-19 Corporate Work Shuffle

Winning the COVID-19 Corporate Work Shuffle

by | Aug 30, 2021 | CWSP

It is no small feat, the business of keeping 400 student-workers on-the-job because many corporations are still working remotely and cannot have students come in for internships. But, through pivoting, innovating and firm resolve; 94% of students have been placed in jobs for the 2021-22 school year.

“This is a huge testament to the great work our corporate work study program team has done,” says Dr. Michael Odiotti, principal. The ranks of working students are up 40 percent from last year when the pandemic walloped the workforce.

“Pivoting and meticulous protocols were put in action from the earliest days of the pandemic,” says Brian Weinberg, Director of the Corporate Work Study. “The program continues to adapt, innovate and meet the needs of our partners and prepare our students to be flexible, agile and experience meaningful work.”

Many of the loyal standby companies, Abbott, AbbVie and Discover Financial Services, are on board again this year, along with a host of non-profits, arts centers and elementary schools who are providing jobs for the students. These include: The American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities. (AAAASF), the Evanston Arts Center and the Ragdale Foundation.

In an effort to provide onsite support to students who are working remotely, CRSM has transformed its chapel into a corporate board room of sorts with about 30 students checking in daily for their nine-to-five offsite work experience. More students are scattered in conference rooms and any available space throughout the Waukegan school.

Discover came to the school to train the more than 20 students who work with them on how to work remotely and gave them all company laptops.

“We adapted to provide a professional environment for students to do their jobs knowing from last year about that the challenges of working from home, the distractions and the limited WIFI,” says Weinberg.

Over the summer, a handful of employers including Abbott, AbbVie, Baxter International Inc., Hollister Co., Snap-on Credit, First Midwest Bank. ABIS and ITW employed 45 students full-time.

Through the Corporate Work Study Program, CRSM and Cristo Rey schools around the country operate on a unique model in which students receive a college-preparatory education and spend five, eight-hour days a month working at local corporations earning over 40 percent of their tuition. The internships take students out of their comfort zones, build social capital and experience interacting with adults in a professional work environment..

For more information on becoming a job partner with Cristo Rey St. Martin contact Brian Weinberg at: (o) 224-219-9724 (m) 847-769 -1751 BrianWeinberg@cristoreystmartin.org.

CRSM Pop-Up Food Bank Continues to See High Level of Need

CRSM Pop-Up Food Bank Continues to See High Level of Need

by | Aug 30, 2021 | Campus Ministry

At 3:30 p.m. on a recent blistering hot Thursday, a sea of more than 800 cars snaked their way through strategically formed lines on the east side of the CRSM parking lot. For the next two-and-a-half hours, the cars filled with families, waited for President Preston Kendall to welcome and wave them ahead — four, and sometimes eight cars at a time into two holding zones marked by orange cones. There, a pit crew of more than 50 volunteers wearing neon yellow vests, packed their trunks and back seats from pallets piled high with boxes of fresh vegetables, frozen turkey meatballs, milk, numerous food staples, light bulbs and other necessities.

No ID’s, no pre-registration required. Just first-come, first-serve. Any Waukegan-area friends and neighbors who need a little help during one of the most difficult times were welcome.

Since January of 2021, CRSM has partnered with the Northern Illinois Food Bank to help Lake County residents who’ve been especially hard-hit by COVID-19. The pandemic economic shutdown and continuing challenges have made hunger a harsh reality for families who lost jobs, found their hours cut and have to choose between paying rent, utilities, medical bills or putting meals on the table.

During the last eight months, the pop-up parking lot food bank, has served more than 10,000 families. The mobile food distribution will continue monthly through January 2022. About 70 volunteers (mostly students, their family members and some staff and community members) staffed the school year events and about 40 volunteers helped during the summer.

“This is such an important cause, and we’re so excited to see how many people we can help when we work together,” says Jim Dippold, CRSM Director of Campus Ministry. According to estimates from Feeding America, there are 36,400 Lake County residents living with food insecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic shined the light on basic necessities neighbors are struggling to obtain due to the economic impact brought on by the pandemic, adds Dippold.

The partnership between CRSM and the Northern Illinois Food Bank has “international roots,” and ties directly to Mexico, where many of the families living and served by the program hail from. It got its start a year ago when a soccer organization from Mexico, Alianza Contigo, contacted us to partner with them and the NIFB, says Dippold.

“I’ve been awed by the students and their commitment, their efforts, to continue coming out and serving the families in our community – in the frigid January weather, in the rain, in the heat of the summer,” says Dippold. “They always bring amazing energy and grit and represent our school in an incredibly positive way. This kind of work, especially through the hardships and struggles of the pandemic, is what we are about at CRSM.”

The next food distribution will be held on Thursday Sept. 9, 2021. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Jim Dippold at jdippold@cristoreystmartin.org

Championing Public Health: Alum advocates all people receive best medical care possible

Championing Public Health: Alum advocates all people receive best medical care possible

by | Aug 30, 2021 | Alumni Spotlight

Brian De La Cruz, CRSM Class of 2017, and a first-gen college graduate, lives by the words of Principal Dr. Michael Odiotti in his steadfast commitment to building a career in public service and equitable healthcare: “The gritty person has the ability to never give up.”

The past year was one that has brought numerous unforeseen challenges — the 22-year-old was called home to Waukegan to care for his mother, father and older brother who all were hit with serious cases of COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic. But, Brian, 22, graduated with a Business and Economics degree from Wheaton College and landed the position of Business Operations Coordinator for the American Medical Association (AMA’s) Education Center. It’s a position he strived hard for during his internship last year for the premier national medical association. The organization supports physicians, residents and medical students at every step of their education and careers.

In his role at the AMA, Brian works on the AMA Ed HubTM to provide high-quality education for physicians and other medical professionals so they can stay current and continuously improve the care they provide.

Brian is passionate about working to advance health equity and end healthcare injustices, to disrupt and dismantle the systems that aren’t working and reimagine and rebuild these systems to ensure justice. He’s already envisioning a 10-year career plan, a plan inspired by growing up in Waukegan.

“I want to elevate the needs of my community and center them in the discussion to improve their health outcomes”says Brian.

He knows firsthand about some of the challenges facing people living in Waukegan and towns where their zip codes thrust them into the crucible of racism and low socioeconomic status and produce harm and inequalities in education and deep-seated barriers to medical care.

This fact hit like a bolt of lightning during the last year when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic revealed deep-seated inequities in healthcare for the community living in the 60085 zip code and amplified the social and economic factors that contribute to poor health outcomes. It was brutal watching his parents and brother battle the virus and struggle for access to treatment. Waukegan as the sixth hardest hit town in the state for COVID-19 cases.

“I saw firsthand what happens to people with chronic disease and the brokenness of the healthcare system,” he says. “I feel the need to champion the stories behind this unfairness and continue to shine the light on them.” Thankfully, all of his family members have recovered from COVID-19.

Grabbing on to the grit bandwagon

It hasn’t been an easy road for Brian, who is the first member of his family to graduate high school and go to college. He was a “C” student in middle school. That changed when he entered high school and was embraced by a supportive community of caring educators at CRSM who pushed Brian to reach his full potential, he says.

There’s no question, he says, that his perseverance and dedication to long-term goals took root at CRSM where he maintained a 4.0 GPA all four years, was the senior class president, a National Honor Society student and president of the Student Ambassadors. Through the Corporate Work Study department, he worked in the multi-cultural marketing department at Walgreens’ corporate headquarters throughout high school. During the summer before college, he worked as a full-time intern on the development team at College Bound Opportunities, where he was also a scholar his junior and senior year.

Brian feels called to give back and to serve others through ministry and volunteerism. He’s been a youth coordinator at Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Parish and helped create the youth group at Kingdom Voice Ministry, when the church was just starting in Waukegan.

“Cristo Rey created a path for me to follow and now I want to do that for other young people,” says Brian, who serves on the board of directors for the Wheaton College Alumni Association. “I look back and think about walking into Cristo Rey and how I learned as a freshman in high school to carry on conversations with adults at work. I can’t imagine many freshmen are able to do that. And Dr. O. really inspired me that no matter how difficult things are, to never give up. As a first-generation student, the barriers to overcome were many, but with the support from CRSM and CBO, I knew I could dream big.”


Advice for CRSM students: “Dare to break the systems and barriers that get in the way of your personal journey.”

 

Anthony Ochoa Talks About Coming Back to CRSM

Anthony Ochoa Talks About Coming Back to CRSM

by | Jul 29, 2021 | Alumni Spotlight

Meet Anthony on Video…

A recent graduate of Bates College, Anthony has taken a job with Schuler Scholars* to work at his alma mater.

“We are thrilled to have Anthony joining our Cristo Rey St. Martin Schuler team. His perspective as an alumnus of both the school and Schuler will be a significant asset in the years ahead.”

Emalie Dalbke
Schuler School Director

*The Schuler program works with our high-achieving students on campus – to help them gain access to highly selective colleges, and pursue their professional aspirations.