by Miranda Eby | May 1, 2024 | President’s Pen
This past Saturday, CRSM celebrated our annual Founder’s Dinner. At one point in the evening’s program, a handful of seniors came up one-by-one to the podium to introduce themselves – they each mentioned where they work in our Corporate Work Study Program, what they plan to study in college, and what university they will be attending in the coming fall. They are amazing young people and really going places.
While the Class of 2024 marks our fifth year in a row having every senior accepted to at least one bachelor’s program, and, normally, 92% or so of the graduating class matriculates to a 4-year program; this year is very different and for reasons far beyond our students’ control. As the eighteen or so seniors who volunteered that evening came to the microphone about 1/3 said they were undecided as to which school they would attend. All were accepted to several schools, but they have not been able to decide where they will attend because they have not yet received their financial assistance letters from the colleges. For those of us “in the know,” it was heartbreaking to see these incredibly gifted seniors telling the audience that they wanted to study nursing or engineering or pre-law but were “undecided” about which school.
How can you decide about attending college when you do not know what it will cost? Keep in mind that our average family annual income is $45,000 and our average family size is 4.4 persons. A difference of two thousand dollars might as well be twenty thousand for our families. They just can’t even consider it.
Why don’t our seniors know what it will cost for college? In a word… not really a word but an acronym… it’s FAFSA. While FASFA is five letters long, it might as well be a four-letter word this year. FASFA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and is used by nearly all colleges and universities in the U.S. when determining what financial support a student should receive. The FASFA formulas and processes have needed an update for some time. Yet, in their great wisdom, the U.S. Department of Education rushed a conversion without building in contingencies should there be any complications moving to a brand-new system. Predictably, the resulting conversion has been a complete (with the aid of another acronym) SNAFU!
Among myriad problems, errors, and bugs, the biggest obstacle for our families has been Social Security Numbers. One of the first required fields to complete the new FASFA was to enter your SSN. All CRSM students must have an SSN to participate in our Corporate Work Study Program, but not all our parents do. Many have an ITIN instead. The IRS issues ITINs to individuals who are required to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number but who do not have, and are not eligible to obtain, a Social Security number. Essentially, these are people caught up in our dysfunctional immigration system. Many, MANY people want to enter the U.S legally but are effectively prohibited due to limits imposed on the number of immigrants the U.S will legally accept from various countries. Consider this: According to an article in the Dallas News (before COVID), if you are from Mexico AND the married son or daughter of an existing U.S. citizen, it will take you least 22 years to get a green card, the first step toward citizenship. Can you imagine how many decades, if at all, it would take for someone not related to a U.S. citizen to enter this country through legal means?
So, many of our parents have come to the U.S. unable to get a SSN and have, instead, obtained an ITIN from the government and are paying their taxes. ITIN holders are not eligible for all the tax benefits and public services that U.S. citizens and other taxpayers can receive. You could say that ITIN holders are subsidizing the tax benefits to U.S. Citizens. According to the American Immigration Council, it is estimated in 2024 dollars that ITIN holders have paid over $6.6 billion in payroll and Medicare taxes and $31 billion in total taxes.
About 70% of CRSM families have at least one parent with an ITIN. When filling out the FASFA, even if one parent had a valid SSN, the system would not accept an ITIN and the application was not accepted. As a result, up until just a few weeks ago, about 2/3s of our families could not complete FAFSA and so, colleges and universities could not give them a definite aid amount. Students were accepted but had no idea what it would cost if they enrolled.
Thankfully, the Department of Education has recently issued some “work arounds” so our students can complete their FASFA. Unfortunately, it’s very late in the process. Most colleges require a decision from students on whether they will attend their school by May 1. Our counselors have been begging for extensions.
As of today, just 5 of our 95 CRSM seniors have not completed their FASFA. That number was much higher on April 1. It is only due to the herculean efforts of our college counselors that we are here. While seniors have finally been able to complete the FASFA, their application must still be processed, then shared with the colleges where they applied, and those schools must then determine the financial assistance they will offer. So, while most of our students have finally finished FASFA, their colleges (where they have already been accepted) have not yet issued award letters. Oh, and just by the way, all our alumni currently studying in college must also complete FASFA to renew their assistance. What a mess!
Less than 15 of our 95 seniors will be able to commit to a school by May 1. We hope a majority will be able to commit by May 15. Normally, most of our students are committed to a college or university by December 1 and here we are starting the month of May!
Basically, our college counselors have been “pulling all-nighters” since Thanksgiving.
They are the real heroes here, fighting federal bureaucracy to give some talented students a chance when the chips are already stacked against them. Thank God for our college counselors – saints among us! ¡Viva, Cristo Rey!
by Miranda Eby | Apr 30, 2024 | CWSP, School News
The Hispanic American Community Education and Services (HACES) became a Corporate Work Study Partner in January 2024. HACES currently employs one student in their Marketing Department, John Paul M (CRSM ‘25).
HACES is a non-profit organization focused on providing navigational support for Hispanic immigrants as they come to the US. From the onset they have been dedicated to the professional development of John Paul. A guide to project management, a soft skills guide on professional development, and a task sheet with job expectations for each task are just a few examples of the focused time and effort HACES supervisors made to ensure our student worker was set up for success.
“I enjoy the sense of community in the establishment and the very laid-back environment. Not exaggerative, but placid and peaceful,” says John Paul.
John Paul works with his supervisor, Diana Galarza, on creating marketing enterprises and working on them using programs like Illustrator, Photoshop, etc. for HACES.
CRSM greatly appreciates our non-profit partners like HACES who encourage our students to strive for success in a work environment. We are proud to be part of a strong network of non-profit organizations in the Lake County area with missions focused on bettering the lives of those in the community, much like our own.
by Miranda Eby | Apr 30, 2024 | Academic, Admission, School News
Being a Cristo Rey St. Martin Student Ambassador is both a huge honor and responsibility for our students. After going through a rigorous application process, those who are selected to be Student Ambassadors are required to help out with at least three events or school functions per semester, and represent CRSM for prospective donors, students, and business partners. Currently, there are around 40 Student Ambassadors at CRSM, all of which are either Sophomores, Juniors, or Seniors.
If you attend any of our events such as the Elevate Festival or Founders’ Dinner, our Student Ambassadors are often greeting guests at the door, making attendees feel welcome, and promoting CRSM and the mission by giving tours of the school. The ambassadors also help out at a number of prospective student events, such as family night and admissions interviews. They are easy to spot in their blue CRSM polos, and again have the duties of overseeing the guests and making sure they answer questions about CRSM for attendees. These are just some of the functions that the Student Ambassadors are responsible for helping out at, there are many others as well such as Business Partner Appreciation, Volunteer Appreciation, Off-Campus Galas, and so much more!
Emily AB, CRSM ‘24, is the President of the Student Ambassadors organization. Elected by her fellow ambassadors, Emily is proud to represent the school, and enjoys partaking in events at CRSM. Emily remarks on how the experience has helped her grow personally and professionally, “the program has opened up a lot of opportunities for me. Being a Student Ambassador has allowed me to get to know the community more, as well as develop confidence in public speaking, and speaking with donors.”
Kyara B., CRSM ‘24, was elected Secretary of the Student Ambassadors this year. Kyara has really enjoyed speaking with our donors at events such as Elevate and Founders, as she likes “getting to know them and their values.” She is enthused that, “they are so dedicated to our studies, and it feels really nice knowing that there are people in the community who want to see us succeed.”
Thank you to all of our Cristo Rey St. Martin Student Ambassadors. Your contributions to the school do not go unnoticed, and you are terrific representatives of our school and our mission!
by Miranda Eby | Apr 30, 2024 | Campus Ministry, School News
Our story with the Clerics of St. Viator goes back to the beginning days of Cristo Rey St. Martin in 2004. They consistently send their members, the Viatorians, to help out with our Campus Ministry affiliated activities such as Northern Illinois Food Bank Distributions, other volunteer experiences such as St. Annie’s Soup Kitchen, and our retreats that each class participates in throughout the school year.
Brother Peter Lamick of the Clerics of St. Viator has volunteered with CRSM since 2014. He is currently working as the Vocation Director of the Viatorians. Br. Peter, CSV first started by assisting with the Freshman spiritual retreats. He now attends all CRSM retreats.
“Being with CRSM students, faculty, and staff is always a wonderful experience,” says Br. Peter.
Not only do the Br. Peter and the other Viatorians assist with community service opportunities at Cristo Rey St. Martin, but they also help coordinate, give sermons in, and attend our school-wide masses here on campus throughout the year.
Jim Dippold, CRSM Director of Campus Ministry, works very closely with the Viatorians for retreats, masses, and other service projects. “The Viatorians are an essential part of who we are at CRSM. They have a significant impact on our Catholic identity – encouraging us to live as a vibrant faith community that prays together and puts our faith into action by working for justice and social change,” says Jim.
Jim, who has known Br. Peter since he began in 2014, says that “it’s always wonderful to have Brother Peter with our students… We appreciate his generous commitment to the school.”
The CRSM community highly appreciates the assistance we receive from the Viatorians year after year, and is greatly appreciative to have dedicated members of the group like Br. Peter come to help out directly with the students.
by Miranda Eby | Apr 30, 2024 | Development, School News
Here at Cristo Rey St. Martin, we refer to our volunteers as “Angels Among Us”, because this is truly the case. Our volunteers help out in almost every aspect of our school from our Corporate Work Study Program to our Academics and Admissions events. That is why we as a CRSM community want to take as many opportunities as possible to recognize the hard work and dedication. On April 5, 2024 we hosted a Volunteer Appreciation breakfast in our Pavilion Entrance way to thank our volunteers for their selfless service over the years.
Volunteers of all departments were invited to join us for coffee and bagels, and talk about their times volunteering at CRSM. Some of the departments represented were Corporate Work Study, Development, Academics and Admissions, School and College Counseling, and General Support.
While serving them coffee and bagels doesn’t even begin to represent our gratitude to our volunteers, we are glad to have had the opportunity to give them this recognition at the event and in our Friday morning assembly that day.
Thank you to our volunteers new and old, you are a light in our community!
