by Miranda Eby | Aug 30, 2024 | Alumni Spotlight
Below is a copy of a speech by CRSM Finance Director and CRSM 2010 alum Viridiana Fajardo:
Good morning,
It’s an honor to stand before you today as the Director of Finance and Operations at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, a mother of two, a wife, a student at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, and the owner of a franchise of Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant. I am also a proud first-generation college student and the oldest of five siblings, all of whom attended CRSM. My journey is a testament to the power of education and how it can transform lives, shape futures, and open doors to opportunities beyond what we might initially imagine.
After graduating from St. Martin de Porres High School in 2010, I embarked on a journey that has taken me through various stages of growth, learning, and achievement. My first step was at Lincoln Tech, where I earned a certificate as a Medical Assistant. It was a practical choice, and it gave me the foundation to start working in the medical field. But I knew that my journey didn’t end there. While working, I continued to pursue my education at the College of Lake County, where I earned my Associate’s degree. This milestone was crucial, as it represented my commitment to continuous learning and personal development.
With my Associate’s degree in hand, I went on to Robert Morris University, where I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. This was a pivotal moment in my life, as it opened the door for me to return to Cristo Rey St. Martin, this time as a professional. I started as an Admissions Coordinator, a role that allowed me to connect with students who were in the same place I once was. For seven years, I worked diligently in that department, learning, growing, and contributing to the mission of CRSM.
Education didn’t just change my career; it changed my life. It gave me the skills, the confidence, and the resilience to pursue bigger dreams. After seven years, I was promoted to Director of Finance and Operations, a role I’ve held for the past 2.5 years. In this position, I’ve had the privilege of overseeing the financial health and operational efficiency of the very institution that helped shape my future.
But my journey didn’t stop there. During the pandemic, I became a business owner, launching a franchise of Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant—a venture that taught me as much about perseverance and innovation as any classroom could. And, because education is a lifelong pursuit, I decided to push myself even further by enrolling in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where I am currently working toward my MBA, with an expected graduation in 2025.
The impact of education at Cristo Rey St. Martin goes far beyond the classroom. It instills in students a sense of purpose, a drive to succeed, and the belief that no goal is out of reach. My journey from a high school graduate to a director, business owner, MBA student, and balancing it all as a mother and wife, is proof that with education, anything is possible. CRSM didn’t just provide me with an education; it provided me with the foundation for a future filled with endless possibilities.
As we celebrate 20 years of Cristo Rey St. Martin’s mission to empower young people, I am living proof of that empowerment. Education is the key that unlocks doors, the light that guides us through the darkness, and the engine that drives us toward our dreams. I stand here today as a proud example of what CRSM can do for its students, and I am deeply committed to giving back to the institution that gave so much to me and my family.
I cannot wait to see all of you all on this stage one day, telling your story to the future generation of Cristo Rey students to come.
Thank you.
by Miranda Eby | Aug 30, 2024 | In The News
Click here to read the Chicago Tribune article about Cristo Rey St. Martin’s 20th Anniversary.
by Miranda Eby | Aug 30, 2024 | Academic, School News
With a 93% teacher retention rate, Cristo Rey St. Martin ranks number one in all of the Cristo Rey Network for this metric. Many members of our faculty and staff have remained throughout the changes in buildings, branding, leadership, and many other elements in the past 20 years. Patricia (Pati) Ferrer has been a Spanish teacher at CRSM since 2006, just two years after the school opened; the school was still called St. Martin de Porres at this point. “I remember the challenges we faced,” Ferrer recalls, “but at the moment, we just knew we would figure it out- whether it was the neighborhood, the building, or the academic challenges. And we did (figure it out).”
Pati began her career the year the school moved into the former St. Joseph’s Parish building on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave in Waukegan. “We began classes a month later than usual because we spent significant time preparing the space, and all classes for our students. We cleaned and painted classrooms, sourced tables and chairs, and selected textbooks from donated books.”
During this time of setting up the school for students, Pati Ferrer recalls that “the initial month was truly unique; it was during this time that the strong sense of community, which CRSM is known for, began to form.” Community support and engagement were what the school was known for then and to this day.
Looking forward to how far we have come today at CRSM, Ferrer remarks on how “over the past 18 years, my colleagues and all my coworkers have been one of the greatest aspects of working at CRSM… [they] have become my chosen family, and I am incredibly proud of that.”
Teachers like Patricia Ferrer, who have weathered the school’s many changes, exemplify the commitment that has defined CRSM’s community for nearly two decades. Their steadfastness not only reflects the strength of the school’s mission but also emphasizes the deep bonds that have turned colleagues and students into family. As CRSM looks to the future, this sense of community will continue to be its cornerstone.
by Miranda Eby | Aug 26, 2024 | In The News
Click here to read The North Shore Weekend article about our eight CRSM students who went on the July 2024 summer trip to Camp Owakonze in Ontario, Canada!
by Miranda Eby | Aug 2, 2024 | President’s Pen
Where did the summer go? Hard to believe that August is already upon us and we will be back in full-time classes in a couple weeks. Speaking of time just flying by, this school year will mark the 20th anniversary of our school opening in 2004. In that year, six new Cristo Rey schools opened at the same time. Not something I would ever recommend repeating! There were already four schools in operation at that time, including the original school in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. So, depending how you want to look at it, our school in Waukegan was either the 5th Cristo Rey school or the 10th or something in between.
We were going through some old photos of the opening day. The students gathered at the local Catholic Church for mass and then afterwards, paraded along the sidewalks and on the streets to the front of the building where classes were held those first two years. I was working at the Cristo Rey Network at that time and attended mass and walked to school with the students that day – never dreaming that, seven years later, I would come to lead this wonderful work and school community that is CRSM. An amazing and humbling privilege!
CRSM has been through so much – good times and tough ones. We will be celebrating our short history throughout this school year. Not very many businesses ever make it to twenty years old. What a blessing to have made it this far but we are just getting started! As we look forward to our next twenty years, it is with a faith born out of many trials and many more successes.
Speaking of successes, nothing warms the heart more than being able to check in with alumni. We have engineers, IT managers, nurses, accountants, teachers, school administrators, law enforcement, civil servants, and lawyers. I know at least one alum in medical school. What a gift to be able to see their dreams (and our dreams for them) coming true. Our oldest classes were also our smallest classes, but those first pioneers are now in their mid-thirties. Our first graduating class was only 17 seniors. Besides their budding careers, many have started families. Can you imagine how much fun it is to see them visit and walk the halls with strollers? The future is even brighter; this year’s senior class has 102 students!
Our incoming freshman class of 108 students are on campus as I write, finishing up their third week of job preparation training. Total CRSM enrollment is 429 – the largest number for CRSM ever. The reason for this increase is not that we are intentionally taking larger incoming classes but because so few students are leaving during their four years with us. Our running five-year average for retention from 9th grade through 12th grade and graduation is over 90%. No other Cristo Rey school can claim this feat and few other schools anywhere, regardless of student income, can compete. Not that it is a competition… but I think it speaks volumes about the culture our leadership, faculty, and staff work so hard to maintain – a place where students are known, valued, and can flourish.
As we look toward this school year, CRSM’s challenges are not with students and student performance. They are primarily financial. First, our Corporate Work Study Program is still experiencing a long-term COVID hangover as the five-day work week moves closer and closer toward extinction. I joked with a doctor the other day that the only organizations which appear to be open and in-person five days per week (or more) are schools and hospitals. A big part of our challenge is that, while many organizations are moving toward being in the office three days per week, the actual days they are in-person vary company-by-company and even department-by-department within some companies. Right now, only half our students are in paying jobs. The rest are spread among a large group of terrific non-profit organizations. Every student has a job but the vital income work-study brings to our school operations is down by over $1.2M annually compared to pre-COVID.
In addition, the Illinois Tax Credit scholarship program known as Invest In Kids was not renewed by our state legislature. On average, CRSM received $1M annually via scholarships for our students. Overall, our income is down more than $2.2M annually.
Thankfully, several people who gave through the program are now pledging to give the same donation amounts despite not receiving the generous state tax credits. God bless them! I am confident that we will be able to adjust to the changing workplace schedules and revive the Corporate Work Study Program. Also, we are truly blessed to have so many incredibly generous benefactors who understand our situation and value the life-changing success our students are finding at CRSM. These are challenges we will overcome.
In the meantime, I just received an email from our Admissions department. The CRSM applications portal for 9th graders starting in the fall of 2025 just opened-up yesterday. We received 30 applications on the first day! And there are only 108 seats available for that class. Our local community also clearly knows the value of a CRSM education.
Here’s looking forward to our next 20 years and beyond. Thank you for helping make it all possible. ¡Viva Cristo Rey!
