by admin | Jul 8, 2022 | President’s Pen
Summer slows most schools down to a near halt. Everything runs in a lower gear so people can catch their breath before the next school year begins. At Cristo Rey St. Martin, summer marks the straightaway where things shift into an even higher gear. As soon as one year ends, we are already knee deep in the next. Our incoming 9th grade class has been with us daily since the first week of June. Final exams for older students ended the week of Memorial Day and the following Monday the 2023 school year began. No time to rest on our laurels – there’s work to be done!
Sure, 2022 marked our third year in a row of having 100% of our seniors being accepted to at least one bachelors’ program… Yes, 90% of the class of 2022 who started with CRSM on the first day of 9th grade graduated with a CRSM diploma (only the second highest retention rate in CRSM history and the second highest in the history of the entire Cristo Rey Network of schools)… Of course, we ended the year with more students than ever before earning a 3.0 GPA or higher – 81% of the entire student body…. We had our first student accepted to Stanford and more students going to Washington University, Holy Cross, NYU, and Brown… But it’s a new year and 2023 is already asking, “what have you done for me lately?”
In addition to our 9th graders participating in Corporate Work Study job preparation training and the Academic Bridge program, regular summer school is in full swing. This year features a dual-credit Statistics class, meaning our students get high school credit from CRSM while simultaneously earning college credit for the course through Loyola University Chicago. We also have a Physical education class for rising sophomores so they can free up a period in the fall to take AP World History. How about that? Giving up part of your summer in order to set yourself up for a more rigorous course load in the first semester? With that kind of work ethic, you know our students are going places!
The gym alternates between voluntary soccer camp and volleyball camp for boys and girls and the fitness center is open every morning with a dozen or so students using it at a time. Looking at the wonderful new spaces available on our campus, one thing is certain: our students are making the most of the resources available to them.
CRSM is also leveraging its resources to benefit others. The school recently hosted a weeklong STEM-oriented IBIO camp for grade school and middle school girls using our science labs and the monthly food distribution events in our parking lot with the Northern Illinois Food Bank continue without a break.
Most people only hear about Waukegan on the news and the image is seldom good. Environmental issues, crime, and poverty monopolize headlines. It probably doesn’t help that we are the “county seat” and all high-profile criminal cases in the area are tried at the courthouse here. But, if you scratch beneath the surface, there is tremendous talent and potential here. Young people just need opportunities and access to surprise everyone with what they are capable of accomplishing. Cristo Rey St. Martin is doing just that, and hope is palpable!
Come visit CRSM anytime and you will witness a place abuzz with intentional, hopeful activity – figuratively and literally. Figuratively in the sense of all that is going on, even in the summer. Literally because I forgot to mention that our Environmental Club has two beehives up and running in the pollinator garden behind our school. Did you know each hive holds 10,000 bees? students are coming in regularly, donning the apiary suits and bring the smoke, to check on them throughout the summer.
It’s amazing to watch the hustle and bustle, the comings and goings with so much purpose and productivity. Hard working individuals who, together, make up an incredible community doing something good for themselves and for the community beyond their walls.
Wait a minute… are we talking about CRSM students or bees? Come and find out!
by admin | Jul 7, 2022 | Campus Ministry
Last month, five recent CRSM grads traveled to the southernmost border section between Mexico and the United States to witness first-hand the plight of asylum seekers and to better understand the humanitarian crisis at the border.
The goal of the annual trip is for recent CRSM grads to immerse themselves in the issues at the border by meeting with people intimately involved: human rights activists, Christian leaders, border patrol. There was a lot of dialogue with people who are living the reality of the border crisis every day. Underneath the educational surface, the trip “created powerful spiritual lessons for the students and guides,” said Jim Dippold, Director of Campus Ministry.
Students from CRSM traveled June 9th through 13th with their peers from St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights to Nogales, Arizona and across the border of the wall, a 25-foot fortress that separates the U.S. and Mexico.
There, they walked the migrant trails in the desert, visited several asylum sanctuaries, and trekked along the wall. They also listened to stories about the violence along the border from faith leaders, founders of the sanctuary movement and volunteers.
“We saw how unsafe it is for immigrants,” says Maritza. “It hit close to home and was very emotional for me because my mother crossed there and was caught once but tried again and made it. She was 18, my age.”
“The students observed the trail of human suffering,” says Lori Felix, college counselor who accompanied the students on the trio. She says she and her peers couldn’t help but “be heartbroken” by the bewildering U.S immigration system that often diverts desperate seekers of asylum into detention lockups to fend for themselves.
“The desert was littered with shoes with no soles, discarded backpacks, clothing and water bottles, all the signs of people who were so close to their hopes and dreams but most likely didn’t make it,” says Felix.
At one of the sanctuaries, the students prayed with asylum seekers. Each student was given a rosary that belonged to a failed asylum seeker so they could pray for the immigrants seeking new lives. “You realize that the rosary you are holding held all the hopes and dreams of someone,” says Charlize.
All the students on the trip said they plan to find ways in college to advocate for better treatment of asylum-seekers and a broader understanding of what seeking asylum is all about. They also would like to inspire people young and old to advocate for changes to our immigration system.
One of the key learnings, says Daisy, was that people seeking asylum are not here “illegally,” but are following U.S. laws established decades ago to protect people fleeing violence in their home countries.
“I know that I will look for opportunities in college to create more awareness of the immigrant crisis,” says Daisy.
by admin | Jul 7, 2022 | Alumni Spotlight
Since her freshman year at Cristo Rey St. Martin 16 years ago, Esmeralda “Esme” Silva has been determined to be of service to others. Dedicated to paying her life forward and amplify the voices of victims of violence, the 30-year-old works to end human trafficking in several Wisconsin counties. A Class of ’10 grad, she also is the first CRSM alumna to be named to the Board of Trustees.
“I am extremely honored to be seated at the table with leaders who will make such a difference in the lives of students like I once was,” says Esme, a community resource specialist for Children’s Hospital in Wisconsin. “As a student, I didn’t really realize that there was such a dedicated group of people who cared so deeply about us and worked so hard to make the school successful.”
She says her compassion and passion for helping others was born in the hallways of CRSM, where she was the first person in her family to attend high school: “I learned to become dedicated, goal orientated and have a positive work ethic. Now, I feel my life is coming full-circle. I have a rewarding career that lets me help others, but now I get to really make a difference in the lives of students who remind me of where I came from. I hope to inspire where they can go.“
Esme’s career path has melded her interests in criminal justice and social services. Her experience includes working in victim advocacy, domestic violence, sexual assault services, and child abuse and neglect. She’s determined to grow as an advocate for victims in the legal, public policy and government systems.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University in 2014 and a master’s degree from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2017. Prior to the Children’s Hospital, Esme was a crisis counselor for A Safe Place in Zion.
Esme is married to her CRSM high school sweetheart, Jose Nunez, Class of ’11.
“Our foundation and the values and friendships we made at Cristo Rey helped form both of our passion to give back to the community,” says Esme.
by admin | Jun 1, 2022 | Alumni Spotlight
Inspired by Cristo Rey’s commitment for students to become people for others, three alums from our first and early graduating classes, are embodying the mission to give back and help fellow immigrants and neighbors in Waukegan through several high-profile non-profits in town.
The trio, all under 35 — Amanda Diaz-Bahena, along with her brother, Rameses Diaz, and Miguel Nuñez (their cousin) — recently brought the Ballet Folklorico Tayahua troupe of dancers to entertain the audience at the May 19th evening of Hispanic Culture at CRSM. The Waukegan non-profit dance studio is located in downtown Waukegan. It celebrates the rich diversity of Mexican and Mexican-American cultural heritage through dance and music, to pass the legacy and culture on to future generations, said Diaz-Bahena, President of the organization founded by her mother, Lupe Muñoz. Both Diaz-Bahena and Nuñez are graduates of CRSM’s second classes in 2008 (Formerly St. Martin de Porres).
In addition to the deep spiritual and cultural commitment of the dance ensemble, Diaz-Bahena and Nuñez also work days “trying to return the help people gave to our families when our immigrant parents first came to Waukegan,” says Nunez, vice president of the dance school.
Amanda Diaz-Bahena, President of the ballet troupe, is a victim advocate for the Family Advocacy Program at the Naval Station Great Lakes. The program is responsible for the prevention of and response to child abuse and neglect and domestic abuse/intimate partner violence in military families. Miguel Nuñez, VP of Ballet Folklorico, is Program Supervisor at The Community Center of Catholic Charities (formerly the Gary Graf Immigrant Center) in downtown Waukegan. It’s a first-stop resource center for immigrant families. Diaz-Bahena’s brother, Rameses Diaz, also works as the Development Director for the dance ensemble and was a Class of ’11 CRSM graduate.
Both Diaz-Bahena and Nuñez say they were inspired to seek careers in helping others from their high school days. They are especially grateful to Jim Dippold, Director of Campus Ministry, who was new at the school at the time.
“Mr. Dippold just radiated the love of God and went out of his way to help me and believe in me,” says Amanda. “We learned the power of volunteering and reaching out to help others was very important and it inspired us to pick the careers we have.”
Cristo Rey changed the course of their lives.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but if it hadn’t been for St. Martin we could have gotten involved with the gangs and drugs that we saw many of our peers get into at the time,” says Diaz-Bahena. “I always say that I was a ‘nobody,’ that by the grace of God was picked to be a ‘somebody.’
Nuñez adds: “When my parents first arrived in the late ‘70s there was no help for them,” said Nuñez. “They couldn’t speak English and it was very difficult for them to navigate. It was great to bring the dancers to Cristo Rey, and was like a homecoming to see Mr. Dippold and realize all he and the school inspired in me. I knew in high school I wanted to someday help people like our parents. Our dance group too, is a way to honor our parents and make sure our Mexican culture doesn’t get lost in the assimilation.”
by admin | May 31, 2022 | Development
From Brown University and Northwestern University to other prestigious institutions such as Stanford, Boston, Fairfield and St. Louis universities, 100% of the Class of ’22 has been accepted to four-year colleges.
On Friday, April 29, the seniors celebrated National College Decision Day, submitting their acceptances to the colleges and universities of their choice.
When Evelyn G. joins her classmates to walk across the graduation stage May 28, she will have plenty to celebrate. The 17-year-old will be the first in her family to attend college, when she joins a select cohort of five students awarded Loyola University’s Cristo Rey Scholarship. The scholarship covers most academic and living expenses.
“I’m excited to join another Cristo Rey family,” says Evelyn who will begin a 5-year bachelor’s and master’s program in social work. “I learned so much here through volunteering at the food bank, the vaccine clinic and soup kitchen about helping others and want to have a career helping others who struggle.
Other colleges and universities CRSM graduates will be attending include: Boston, Carthage, Grinnell, Holy Cross and Lake Forest colleges, and Johns Hopkins University Boston University and the University of Illinois.
“Today was especially exciting because we haven’t been able to host a celebration in three years,” says Lori Felix, College Counselor. “It’s fun to see the students hang out with their friends and enjoy the last few moments of their time together. We’re especially proud because so many of them are going to their dream schools. Affordability is always at the forefront, so we’re blessed that they are getting the backing to go.”
