by Miranda Eby | Feb 28, 2024 | President’s Pen
At CRSM, we are celebrating Lent. How do you celebrate Lent? How do you celebrate a period of the liturgical year that starts with ashes on your forehead and a reminder that, “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.”? A priest friend of mine describes Lent as an annual tune-up, a time to take stock and check your alignment with God. Are we focusing on those things that bring us closer to God – people, nature, actions, habits that make us more loving persons – and prioritizing them? The old dust-to-dust refrain is really just a reminder that we have an opportunity in the here and now to use our talents to make a difference in the lives of others. But that time is limited. This earthly part of each of our spiritual journeys has an end. In Latin America, they have a saying when it’s your birthday, “Un año más, un año menos.” One year more, one year less. Ouch!
Back to celebrating… Our Ash Wednesday service followed a Taize prayer structure that originated in 1940 in Occupied France. It is a combination of repetitive, almost mantric songs interspersed with scripture readings, petitions, and prayers. Just before the final song, there is a five-minute period of complete silence. FIVE MINUTES! Have you ever tried to sit still and silent for that long? How about in a large cafeteria with 419 students and 60 or so faculty and staff? Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Miracle or not, the entire CRSM community sat together in just such an extended period of silence without fidgeting, without nervous coughing, or clearing of throats. There was something mesmerizing about it. We were all connected to one another in the pure quiet. The quietness was its own kind of presence among us, a strong feeling we were all part of something much bigger than any of us. When the first note of the last song was struck, I swear there was a collective desire for the silence to just keep going.
What does it say about our students that they can pull this off – to be so reverent and contemplative? I truly believe our young people hunger for instances like this when we can slow down, disengage from our devices, and seek peace. I also think it says much about the sense of community and belonging we work so hard to build at CRSM. When we talk about practicing cura personalis (care for the individual) and being “persons for others” and striving for collective success and being committed to justice, we are really sending an overt message that we recognize students as spiritual beings and encourage them to make the most of their human experience – for themselves and others.
Our students know how to seize an opportunity. What makes CRSM so different from the other schools in our area is that everyone wants to be here. Who wouldn’t?
- Our students are going places. With college acceptances still coming in, 100% of the Class of 2024 have already been accepted to at least one Bachelor’s program. That’s the fifth class in a row!
- Our students are making a difference. Weekly community service trips to the food bank and soup kitchen continue while another group of students starting a Big Sisters/Big Brothers program at a local grade school.
- Our students will build a better world. A panel of three alumni were in this week talking about careers in Healthcare: one was a Physical Therapist, one was a Registered Nurse, and the third is starting Medical School in the fall.
As I watched our students file back to class this past Ash Wednesday with smudges on their foreheads, I was reminded of a quote from Carl Sagan, “…the nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” And we are on our way to becoming new stars. What a privilege it is to spend time among them – they are stars reaching for the stars! That’s a Lenten celebration to be sure.
by Miranda Eby | Feb 28, 2024 | CWSP, School News
“The students are such an impressive bunch of people- I am amazed at how prepared and motivated they are. They have so much talent to offer,” says Catherine Sazdanoff, a volunteer of almost 10 years, about our students.
Since 2014, Catherine Sazdanoff has been a committed volunteer with our Corporate Work Study Program. She has participated in almost all the events we offer throughout the year from student bus drop-off volunteering, to speed networking, and our professional development days. Catherine enjoys coming back and volunteering at CRSM because it’s “rewarding for [her]”, and beneficial for the students.
Catherine speaks highly of the synergetic nature of the CRSM volunteer events by stating how “it’s a real collaborative experience”, and an overall “great experience because the CRSM staff and students create a very supportive environment” for the volunteers, and ultimately one another.
Catherine recalls a time during one of her bus volunteering mornings, (when volunteers accompany students to their Corporate Work Study jobs on the first day of school), in which “students were helping one another get to where they needed to be.” She could not believe how supportive and encouraging the students were to one another, and how they were helping each other through this often scary experience, alongside her as the bus volunteer.
Catherine Sazdanoff’s decade-long dedication to our Corporate Work Study Program epitomizes the heart of volunteerism. Her admiration for our students shines through her words, reflecting their remarkable preparedness, motivation, and abundant talent. Thank you Catherine for your commitment, you are truly an angel among us!
by Miranda Eby | Feb 28, 2024 | Development, School News
Larry and Sheila Marshall are like Godparents to CRSM: donors, ambassadors, business partners, and friends for Cristo Rey St. Martin from our very beginning. Larry’s business, L. Marshall Roofing and Sheet Metal Inc., is one of CRSM’s original business partners in the Corporate Work Student Program giving students jobs every year since 2004 until the present. Larry also served on the Board of Trustees for 8 years.
Now, almost 20 years later since they first became involved with CRSM, Larry and Sheila continue their support by sponsoring our annual Founders’ Dinner being held on Saturday, April 27th. Their generous contributions and dedication to our students allow us to continue our mission of getting our students to-and-through college, and helping them transform their community.
“The mission of the school still remains close to the hearts of Sheila and I… Our reason for supporting you and the future leaders of Waukegan and America is one of Hope and Service to Others. We see dreams becoming reality at your Prep School.”
We cannot say thank you enough, Larry and Sheila Marshall. We are truly grateful for your on-going support, kind words, and professional partnership.
by Miranda Eby | Dec 28, 2023 | President’s Pen
Christmas break rushed in quickly this year. Why does it always seem to take us a bit by surprise? With mid-term exams finished, the school’s hallways stand empty and quiet as students spend Christmas and New Year’s with their families.
Our Principal often says, “Coal under pressure turns into diamonds.” CRSM students embrace that. We never want stress to be so great that it overwhelms, but a manageable amount can motivate and energize. Our students appear to have found that sweet spot. I remember exam week when I was in school: hallways littered with the pages of post-test outlines and notes, snack wrappers, and general jetsam from emptying lockers before break. Not the case at CRSM. The hallways were remarkably clean and students (for the most part) smiling and friendly, as usual.
While we sprinted through that week, our students impressed us not only with their composure under the stress of finals, but also with their determination to continue community service work right up to the holidays. Each afternoon, our Campus Minister would come on the intercom and announce a bus leaving for some local non-profit – St. Anastasia’s Soup Kitchen, Northern IL Food Bank, Feed My Starving Children, etc. – encouraging students who signed up to get aboard. No difference from any other week of the school year, the buses were always filled.
Just a week earlier, led by their peers from our National Hispanic Honors Society, students celebrated “Las Posadas.” In Latin America, Las Posadas is a popular component of Advent – a song-filled, call-and-response retelling of Mary and Joseph going from inn to inn seeking shelter. Caesar Augustus had little regard for what it meant to call a census and force everyone in the empire back to their hometowns! It’s a beautiful experience, traveling with the Holy Family for the evening, being rejected time and again, only to finally experience the joy and relief of finding welcome… even if that welcome was a humble corner in the barn out back. We rejoice with the final innkeeper who said, “Look, the best I can do is a dry place with the animals, but it has a roof and some modicum of warmth.” The travelers (our saints pregnant with God by the way!), exhausted and desolate, didn’t ask for much – just some basic human charity.
Still, the other innkeepers deserve a little compassion. Think of the stress. They were likely feeling very much stuck in their circumstances. “We ‘re full-up. It’s more than we can handle. There’s too much going on. We couldn’t possibly take any more. We’re exhausted!” Sound familiar? Especially during the holidays?
All it takes to change the world is for one or two people to think beyond their present circumstances, to be motivated by the troubles of someone in front of them and get a little creative. Having the perspective to think outside of ourselves and prioritize the needs of others is no easy feat. If the Nativity means anything, it is a message of God’s desire for us to practice “radical hospitality.” We are called by faith to welcome the “stranger.” In particular, the vulnerable, the homeless, migrants and refugees. These unfortunate people did not create their situations. To vilify those caught in the middle of war, violence, economic and political upheaval and oppression, is to deny our faith… to deny that in their eyes are the eyes of Mary, and Joseph, and Christ in our world. We are in this boat together and we cannot all stop bailing until someone fixes the leak. Waiting for that, as necessary as it is, sinks us all. We somehow must find a way to do both simultaneously.
When the world is too much with us, it is really a call to find perspective, to find our humanity, to love. Our students are one little example of that – maintaining a sense of belonging to one another and the world at large despite personal stress; continuing to seek out ways to give hope to the desolate, care for the hungry, and welcome to the stranger. Even when our own worries and responsibilities try to distract us, we are called to focus on our one, true purpose in life: to love one another.
Merry Christmas! God is with us! Viva Cristo Rey!
by Miranda Eby | Dec 27, 2023 | CWSP, School News
At the age of 15 Samantha (Sam) Bahena began her journey as a student intern with Advanced Resources. And today at the age of 24, she has risen to the role of Director of Recruiting for that company. In Sam’s sophomore year at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep she was placed in a CWSP job at one of our CWSP business partners, Advanced Resources, a leading staffing and recruitment firm in the northern Chicagoland area. Little did she know that this internship would foster not only professional growth but also a lasting, impactful relationship between mentor and intern, transforming a school requirement into a career-defining opportunity.
The 2016 Emmy Award Winning video, A Day in the Life of a Cristo Rey Student- Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep followed Sam throughout the day as she prepared for work at Advanced Resources. During the feature, Sam says she felt like her work was meaningful to the company, even at her young age. She states that CRSM students like her “go to work to pay our tuition, but the companies actually want to give us a chance to have an experience”. Advanced Resources opened the doors to an intern experience that would stick with her for life.
While working for her supervisor, Dina Fiorelli (also featured in the video), Sam found not only a mentor but a friend. Dina, now the President of Advanced Resources, lauded Samantha’s capabilities as a student intern. “Initiative work ethic, competence, those are just a couple of words to describe her”, says Dina in the Day in the Life video. “We have no problem saying she’s an intern, she’s here with Cristo Rey, and she’s fantastic. We always have to remind ourselves that she’s only 16.”
After Sam’s high school graduation in 2017, Dina and Samantha continued to collaborate, even as Samantha pursued higher education. Samantha worked towards her bachelor’s degree and her career simultaneously, with Dina’s encouragement to stay on part-time at Advanced Resources. Their connection strengthened over the years, evolving into a friendship that Samantha deeply cherishes. Sam expresses her gratitude to Dina during her most recent interview, and says that “she’s been a part of every milestone in my life, and I’ve been honored to witness her milestones, like recently becoming a mother of two… She goes above and beyond as a boss, mentor, and friend. She’s a genuine, good person, and very successful in her career. I feel so incredibly blessed to have learned from one of the best people in our industry.”
Their professional relationship transcended time and titles. Dina’s support remained unwavering, allowing Samantha to grow both personally and professionally. “I had the most incredible experience working with Samantha Bahena… Her drive and professionalism were over and beyond all expectations. Ten years later, I sit side by side with her, where she now works as a full-time, permanent employee. I am extremely grateful for the CWSP program to introduce the two of us. She is an absolute pleasure to have on the team, and I have enjoyed watching her grow personally and professionally.”
7 years after graduating, Samantha emphasizes the significance of the work done as a CRSM student, highlighting the positive impact of early professional exposure. “I would advise every (CRSM) student to be a sponge. Take in every opportunity and have the ambition to want to learn more,” says Samantha. “The work that you do as a CRSM student is so important because you are given these opportunities before you even graduate high school, let alone college.” The CWSP’s success is not just in preparing students for college and life but in shaping lifelong careers and relationships, as demonstrated by the enduring collaboration between Samantha and her mentor, Dina Fiorelli.
Thank you Advanced Resources and Dina Fiorelli for being the outstanding Business Partner you are, and for helping Sam grow and develop into the professional she is today!
