by Miranda Eby | Sep 16, 2025 | Alumni Spotlight, School News
Cristo Rey St. Martin is proud to celebrate Fernando Rufino, Class of 2021, who returned to campus last month to speak with students. A first-generation college graduate, Fernando earned his degree in Sociology from Connecticut College in May 2025 and now works as an Investment Advisor at Fidelity Investments.
Fernando shared how CRSM’s support and encouragement helped shape his path. “One of the things I really appreciated from CRSM was them not giving up on me. It has been a place where I can come back to for support,” he said. With guidance from Ms. Holdvogt, he earned both Greenhouse and Posse scholarships, which opened doors to higher education and valuable networking opportunities.
Speaking about his journey, Fernando reminded students of the importance of resources and community: “As a first-generation student, we don’t often have the resources. We don’t grow up with this information, like how to fill out FAFSA or apply to colleges. But through Cristo Rey, I was able to get these resources. Take advantage of the resources you have in front of you. They have helped get me to where I am today.”
by Miranda Eby | Sep 16, 2025 | CWSP, School News
Our CWSP Success Coaches- Mari-Lou Menezes, Keith Schoeneberger, John Simons, and Kate Kniest- play a vital role in helping students grow into confident, capable professionals.
When students receive constructive feedback at work, success coaches step in to guide them through it. Over 8–12 weeks of one-on-one meetings, they help students reflect, set goals, and strengthen CWSP’s core traits of Ownership, Communication, and Work Productivity. For those facing greater challenges, success coaches provide intensive support, including working through The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens to build lasting skills.
The results are clear. In a wonderful coincidence, coach Kate Kniest recently ran into CRSM student Cristian Garcia ’26 at his CWSP placement, seeing firsthand the professionalism she had helped him develop:
“It was so gratifying to see a student I worked with behaving in such a professional and engaging manner. It was a real treat and I was lucky to have that moment.”
Thanks to the dedication of our success coaches, CWSP students leave CRSM prepared to thrive both in college and in their future careers.
by Miranda Eby | Sep 16, 2025 | Development, School News
For 24 years, Tom and Harriet Onan have been steadfast supporters of Cristo Rey St. Martin. When CRSM moved into the former St. Joseph’s school building in 2006, their support was both personal and purposeful. Tom grew up in Waukegan across the street from St. Joseph Catholic Church, where the parish and school were part of his daily life. Later, St. Joseph’s became even more meaningful when Tom and Harriet were married there. “Education is something we care deeply about,” he shared. “We wanted to ensure that kids have access to opportunities.” His long involvement has included helping with building projects and encouraging the growth of schools that open doors for young people.
Tom especially values the Corporate Work Study Program. Having worked his way through college, he knows the lessons that come from balancing work, school, and personal life. He sees CRSM students learning those same skills while gaining professional experience. “The concept is so strong,” he said. “It’s one of the best ideas to ever happen.”
For Tom and Harriet, CRSM represents more than a school. It is a mission that transforms lives, strengthens the community, and builds a future of hope. Today, although he and Harriet live in Lake Forest, their hearts and minds remain tied to Waukegan and to the opportunity CRSM provides students and families. Their lasting support is a reminder of how deeply personal stories and shared mission can come together to create something extraordinary.
by Miranda Eby | Sep 16, 2025 | CWSP, School News
This summer marked an important milestone for Cristo Rey St. Martin. 39 students completed the school’s first Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program through a new partnership with Dominican University. Running from June 17 through August 15, the program combined classroom learning, lab work, and clinical experience to prepare students for the Illinois Nurse Assistant Competency Exam (INACE).
Classes met twice a week, with mornings dedicated to theory and afternoons in the Sim Lab on CRSM’s campus. By the end of the program, each student completed 40 classroom hours, 18 lab hours, and 40 clinical hours at local healthcare facilities, including Whitehall in Deerfield and Presbyterian Homes facilities The Moorings in Arlington Heights and Lake Forest Place.
“For these students, I always say that being a CNA is the stepping stone into healthcare,” explained Program Coordinator Cassidy Barth. “Then we actually go onsite at different clinical locations that we have partnerships with in the community, and they actually have experience, hands-on to interact with real patients in real time at real healthcare facilities.”
The experience paid off. Nearly 70 percent of CRSM students passed the CNA exam on their first attempt, surpassing the 62 percent pass rate of comparable dual credit programs.
Deigo C., a CRSM Junior, reflects on his experience with the program: “I got a lot of experience helping out and really seeing what it’s like to be a CNA. It showed me that I do want to be involved in the medical field.” Diego adds, “My career goal is to go into radiology, and this program helped me take the first steps.”
“I love the CNA program. It really showed me that in my future, I would be able to succeed in the medical field. That being said, it’s not for everyone. You see things, hear things, and you also experience bad events. You need to be strong-minded and sure that this is for you. Especially when you might get attached to a resident, and those might pass away soon. You will only be able to succeed if you have empathy but also the ability to be strong,” said Junior Abril G.
A special thank you goes to Dominican University, our facilities team, and our work study team for helping launch this program. We are proud of our students’ dedication and look forward to seeing where their healthcare journeys take them next.
by Miranda Eby | Aug 20, 2025 | President’s Pen
“We’re back at it!” Fr. John Foley, SJ used those words in a “60 Minutes” interview about Cristo Rey back in 2004 – that is the same year we opened Cristo Rey St. Martin in Waukegan. He was referencing the Jesuits’ return to educating new immigrant populations in the U.S. and their renewed focus on providing a “preferential option” to the marginalized through the Cristo Rey model of education. Those words, at least in my imagination, echo through our hallways at the start of every school year.
The first day of classes at CRSM begins with an all-school assembly. We coordinate with our Corporate Work Study Program business partners so the students who are working for that day get a late start. It is one of only two times per year that our entire school community gathers together in-person. The other is Senior Send-Off at the end of the school year.
This assembly is a chance for us to return to and refocus on our mission and values. Remember that each year, 25% of the students – the incoming 9th graders – are completely new to CRSM. For them, it is the first of many reminders and for the rest of us, it’s another opportunity to start off on the right foot. Our Principal, Mike Odiotti, does a masterful job of running the show.
As always, we begin with a prayer and, in what is becoming a CRSM tradition for the first day of classes, our students recite the Cristo Rey Credo written by John Foley. The first words of this powerful prayer are:
We all have to be about changing the way things are. Our mission is to make the Kingdom of God concrete in the here and now, in other words, not merely to make things slightly better but to effect transformational change at every level. At Cristo Rey, no one has ever taught that we should be content with doing something small. Our world doesn’t need a touch-up; it needs total renewal!
I take back what I said earlier. It’s not my imagination; Fr. Foley’s words actually do echo through our halls! They resound with a sense of conviction and urgency. I like to say that our culture at CRSM is that we treat others with the same care and respect that each of us would want to be treated. The community we create here (and re-create daily) is a vision for what we want the rest of the world to be like. Not how it currently is. We are very deliberate and intentional about it.
Before the start of assembly, returning students were asked to sit quietly and reflect on their CRSM experiences so far. During assembly our Principal asked for a student to voluntarily share a reflection. Without hesitating one of our rising seniors walked up and took the microphone. Here is what she had to say:
Hello, good morning! I wanted to start by saying thank you, to all the teachers and staff that put their hearts into our curriculum and culture, to make us feel confident to grow in the classroom but also outside in the world. Being at Cristo Rey has been life changing, seriously.
Coming into my first week of freshman training was a step forward to putting myself out there, to make new connections and learn about myself, although I come from a background where I’ve had [some] work experience [it was] not corporate.
[Over my years at CRSM], I got the opportunity to go to the 2024 SUMA Cristo Rey Network Conference, where Cristo Rey Students across the country come together and discuss ways we can make our school feel like home. I’ve learned that… as students, we have the power to do anything, create anything, and change anything. By doing so we make this place feel like a second home.
As I went to the Viatorian Youth Congress this past summer, I met Cristo Rey St. Viator students and …a physics teacher from there. He really resembled… our teachers by being our mentors to teach us how to instill agency and grit.
Having the opportunity to mentor incoming freshmen every summer [during Summer Bridge and our work-study Training Institute] has brought me joy and a reminder that we all start somewhere. Being at Cristo Rey St. Martin College prep and entering my last year here, I can say I am proud to be a student; to be a part of this wonderful community where there is diversity in our thoughts – where growth is welcome.
How much more powerful is this message because it is brought to our students by one of their peers? How perceptive and profound are her words after only three years of being a Cristo Rey St. Martin student?
It is certainly an indicator that we are on the right track. The culture and environment we hope to build at CRSM is, in reality, already here and having an impact. What’s more, the students themselves are paying it forward and spreading the word. Wouldn’t it be great if the rest of the world felt as supported and challenged and called as we do here at CRSM?
I can still hear the final words of the Cristo Rey Credo reverberating throughout the building:
Our world is awash in grace. Grace makes us excited about the future. The Kingdom is coming and we are an essential part of that dream! ¡Viva Cristo Rey!
Do you hear those words, too?
