by admin | Apr 22, 2021 | President’s Pen
On May 1 we will hold our annual Founders’ Dinner. The event will be virtual and last just over 20 minutes – but those minutes are jampacked – we have alumni, students, and others sharing uplifting stories. Fr. John P. Foley, SJ will also be joining us since 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the Cristo Rey movement; the silver anniversary of the opening of our sister school, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago – the first of now 37 Cristo Rey schools nationwide and growing.
Appropriately, the theme of the Founders’ Event is “Silver Linings” and it is all about finding bright spots of light and hope during this dark and cloudy pandemic. Not surprisingly, the bright spots for CRSM are our people. Tough times bring out the best in some people. Our Principal Mike Odiotti has been quoting the famous coach, John Wooden who said, “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” Attitude is such an important factor in our ability to endure, survive and prosper in the face of challenges or disappointments.
I am so proud of how our school – students, faculty, staff, donors, and Corporate Work Study job partners –has collectively responded to the COVID crisis. They really have embodied the term “Persons for Others,” people who turn outward to be present and assist those around them, rather than turning inward in despair.
In order to have silver linings, there must be clouds. Darkness makes any light seem even brighter. Goodness shown in bad times is valued even more, precisely because of its rarity. Our Campus Minister Jim Dippold has been and continues to be an absolute hero over this last year. He has shown himself to be one of the silver-est linings amid all the virus fallout, organizing food distribution drives with the Northern Illinois Food Bank and rallying our student volunteers. The distribution events continue every other week in our parking lot – feeding 1,000 families at a time. It is both heartbreaking because so many people are in desperate need and heartening because we can do something to help. Jim sets a wonderful example by staying focused on what we can do rather than what we cannot.
Another area where CRSM is shining is in being able to host vaccine clinics for the greater community. We are so grateful to all our donors who made our current campus possible. Without the large parking lot and the beautifully finished inside space of the old Kmart, our efforts to assist would have been greatly curtailed. Over the last couple months we hosted events that allowed 2,500 first-responders, healthcare workers, essential workers, and persons over 65 years to get both doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Starting just last week and running every weekend until August, we partnered with the Lovell Veterans Hospital and Naval Station Great Lakes to provide enough Moderna vaccines for almost 14,000 veterans and their caregivers, active duty personnel and their families, and base workers to get immunized.
A number of articles have come out recently discussing the mental health traumas that people are experiencing during the lockdown, especially teenagers. Many CRSM students are expressing feelings of increased depression, heightened anxiety, concern for their families’ health and welfare, and loneliness. They are not alone. Our faculty and staff are experiencing much the same.
Being able to make the best of COVID by serving others in need and supplying vaccines to combat the virus are a couple ways we can try to fight off the negative toll of this pandemic. They are by no means a cure but they help strengthen our mental resilience.
The Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda wrote, “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” One of the gospel readings following Easter Sunday recalls how two disciples are walking to the town of Emmaus, completely demoralized after Jesus’ crucifixion and death and disillusioned that this human manifestation of Christ died after promising eternal life. They meet a man on the road who feigns no knowledge of Jesus. As the disciples describe Jesus’ life and teachings to the stranger, the fire Jesus sparked in their hearts when he was alive is rekindled. That evening they invite the stranger to supper and, in the breaking of the bread, they recognize that this stranger is Jesus risen from the dead. As soon as they recognize him, he disappears from their eyes. We are those two disciples. COVID has brought suffering and demoralizes us but in small gestures like food distribution, vaccines events, caring for one another, we have the opportunity to recognize God at work through us, in us, and with us. In those brief moments, we are invited to rise above the suffering and remember that we belong to one another.
Yes, many flowers have been cut and, yes, many clouds still hover over us; but spring is coming, COVID can’t stop it; there are silver linings to be found; and God is with us even at this very moment – inviting us to reveal him to others in small gestures of love. God bless you and yours during this wonderful season of hope and thank you for supporting CRSM. ¡Viva Cristo Rey!
by admin | Apr 1, 2021 | President’s Pen
This week we modified our school schedule to allow students two full days per week of in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year. Freshmen and Sophomores responded very favorably to the expansion with about 60% and 62% respectively opting to come in; the response from Juniors (34%) and Seniors (16%) was a bit more disappointing. Someone asked, “Can’t you simply demand everybody come back for in-person classes and not give a full-remote option?” The question reminded me of a scene from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novella, The Little Prince wherein the title character of the famously illustrated book visits various asteroids and planets, including Earth, and whose interactions and observations become a philosophical commentary on human nature and the meaning of life. In Chapter 10, the prince encounters a king:
For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected. He tolerated no disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable…
When speaking about his authority over his subjects he counsels:
“One must require from each one the duty which each one can perform,” the king went on. “Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution. I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable.”
The little prince then asks the king a special favor – will he order the sun to set?
“You shall have your sunset. I shall command it. But, according to my science of government, I shall wait until conditions are favorable.”
“When will that be?” inquired the little prince.
“Hum! Hum!” replied the king; and before saying anything else he consulted a bulky almanac. “Hum! Hum! That will be about–about–that will be this evening about twenty minutes to eight. And you will see how well I am obeyed!”
Demanding that all students come back to school in-person at the time of our own choosing would not be a “reasonable” command.
Our Principal, Mike Odiotti is legendary for using data to drive his decision-making. His first step to create possible class schedules for the remainder of the year was to survey our student body. The results are eye-opening: 47% of Seniors, 42% of Juniors, 24% of Sophomores, and 25% of Freshmen are needed at home to attend to younger siblings while parents are working or they are working themselves to help their families. How can CRSM command students to return to school when so many play vital roles helping their families make ends meet?
Realistically, we cannot expect more high school students to return to classes until they are relieved of babysitting duties. High schools need grade schools to reopen first. Over 75% of CRSM students attended public grade schools. It stands to reason that their younger siblings attend those schools. CRSM needs public grade schools to reopen before we can expect or demand that all our students to return to us.
Talking with business partners in the Corporate Work Study Program, the timing of their various return-to-work strategies depends on schools reopening. A huge proportion of employees are parents of school-age children. Is it “reasonable” to bring employees back to the workplace before children are back in school? The press, our elected officials, and even our educators are ignoring a simple formula: grade schools need to open full-time before high schools can open full-time before businesses can reopen full-time. Let’s identify the bottleneck and take steps to open the flow. The dominoes must fall in sequential order.
At CRSM, we consulted our almanac and we will not be requiring students to return to in-person classes until… Hum! Hum! Their families can afford it and it MAKES SENSE.
Perhaps, high school students and families from more well-resourced communities can find ways to accommodate full-time, in-person instruction while grade schools and businesses are still remote, but not so for communities like Waukegan and North Chicago that struggle. This pandemic is like being in the middle of the ocean during a huge storm: some of us are in enclosed, seaworthy vessels and managing fairly well; others of us are adrift in rickety dinghies, exposed to the elements and in real danger – facing life-and-death situations. Unfortunately, a family’s economic status is overwhelmingly the primary factor determining which boat it occupies. Many CRSM families are multi-generational, with higher instances of co-morbidities, and with parents or other family members designated as essential workers. They are fighting like mad to stay afloat and they need every family member on deck, including their CRSM students.
If we are truly here to accompany our students on their journey, to help them develop their God-given talents, and to create access and opportunities for them to shape their own futures, then we must listen to them. Anything else is myopic and ineffective. It recalls another quote from The Little Prince, “Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
Our students are telling us something. The pandemic rages on. Even as we are making progress, we must be patient. The only way we can come out of this pandemic successfully is by coming out of it together – ours must be a coordinated communal effort and it must now start focusing on our children. After all, let’s not forget… they are our future!
Thank you for supporting our students and mission. The Easter season is a time for hope and you supply CRSM with just that… HOPE!
by admin | Mar 31, 2021 | Alumni Spotlight
Marco graduated from CRSM in 2012. Immediately after graduation he went to art school, studying animation graphics. He now works for a production studio in Chicago as a motion graphics artist. He has a unique and positive attitude about art and creativity – one that’s been a driving influence in his life for as long as he can remember.
I’m interested in your college decision. Was it a difficult one?
Somewhat. Financially it was tough. I applied to various schools that offered animation and motion graphics programs; DePaul, Columbia, and the University of Illinois were on my list. My counselors at CRSM helped me make the right decision – the Illinois Institute had a good reputation and offered me the most attractive financial plan, so that’s where I landed.
You were lucky to finish your Bachelor’s before the school closed in 2018.
Yes. It turned out well for me. I benefitted from the excellent curricula they offered in animation. They also recommended me for a position at a very successful production house. When I started at The Institute, I wanted to be in their games program. But they had strict GPA guidelines for freshmen entry into the program, which I couldn’t quite meet. It was suggested I start in animation and then transfer into the Games Program. I never transferred – I liked animation so much.
You mentioned your family moved quite a bit, taking care of sick relatives. How did you end up at CRSM?
It’s kind of a funny story. I didn’t know about CRSM. When I was in middle school, I managed to get along with the class bully. He kept talking about “a school that would pay you to go to high school.” Now, I knew this couldn’t be true [laughing]. And obviously, he had the whole story wrong. But it piqued my interest, so my mom and I checked it out. After talking with Ms. Cuesta, I was interested – and my mom was convinced.
So it worked out well.
Well, I really disliked it at first. I was going through a lot at the time. My dad had passed away before I started at CRSM. Mom was working 4 jobs. The expectations and requirements at CRSM were tough for me. I was constantly being told what to do. You have to go to work. You have to wear a tie. Wear dress clothes. Tuck in your shirt. Teachers were always asking more of you than at other schools. I was confused and didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was very rebellious – a troubled kid. And now that we’re talking about it, I wonder how any of the people at CRSM had any patience with me.
So what turned it around for you?
I ended up getting fired from my work study job. So I was placed in CRSM’s IT Department. I was working with another student who had been let go. He just didn’t see anything wrong with what we had done. I would watch and listen to him, and soon began to realize…that’s how I look. And I did not like it.
Meanwhile, the man running the IT Department was constantly asking me what I wanted to do. He kept putting me in positions to help other teachers with their tech problems. Then those teachers would take an interest in me. They really cared. With all that, I began to realize that I was running out of chances – that I couldn’t waste this opportunity. I started thinking, maybe there was something I could pursue, I started wanting to go to college. My grades improved steadily from then on and work study went really well.
And then you became interested in art?
I was always interested in art because of my dad. He was not a trained artist, but he painted many portraits and landscapes. I watched what he was doing. When I was able to take an occasional art class, I would wish that it was longer. My peers always encouraged my art work. I liked creating art that impacts other people. Even when I was little – I began drawing on the walls in our house. Instead of punishing me, my dad bought me art supplies.
You were rebellious and early into graffiti art!
[laughs] I guess so! It’s the cookie cutter thing…if everybody’s doing it, if it’s been done already, why do it? I compare it to jars. You don’t want to be put in one jar, where the cap gets closed and you can’t do anything else. I never wanted that. Artists want to overflow from that jar and keep on filling other jars – experimenting and seeing new things.
You’ve been at your current job for three years, it looks like you’re doing new things all the time.
At XVP Studios it’s always something new, it’s always a challenge. I know that art or animation is not for everyone, but CRSM is responsible for a confused kid believing that he could go to college and have a career using his interest and talents.
by admin | Mar 1, 2021 | Alumni Spotlight
Ryan graduated from CRSM in 2016, and received his Bachelor’s degree in 2020. He is now working with a non-profit that focuses on supporting the development, growth and success of students in under-resourced schools. He is a full-time student success coach, partnering with classroom teachers in the city of Chicago, doing one-on-one tutoring and helping students cultivate social, emotional and academic skills.
The following conversation has been edited and condensed.
First, I have to bring up your moment of fame at CRSM – the picture of you in the 2014 CRSM Annual Report.
[laughing] Wow. That was really something. People were hanging the picture around the school, taping it to my desk. It was fun. My mother framed it and hung it in the house!
Of course, a proud mom. I’m going to include the picture in the article. Was she all in for you coming to Cristo Rey?
Oh yeah – way more than me. Luckily, she made the decision that I would attend CRSM; I wanted to go where all my friends were going.
I’m sure your CRSM experience ended up being quite different from your friends.
That’s for sure. My friends and associates are always amazed when they find out about my work experience, especially my work at Takeda’s pharmacogenomic testing area.
That does sound impressive. You had good grades in all your subjects at CRSM, did you put in a lot of time?
I worked really hard. I would come home from school and take a nap, wake up and do more work, eat dinner, and then do more. It worked out well, but AP Physics…gave me fits. I also ended up in an advanced Spanish class which seemed like a mistake – but because of that, I cruised through my Spanish requirement at Loyola U. [laughing]
The work certainly paid off. You were a Schuler Scholar and were awarded a Cristo Rey Scholarship, a 4-year full ride at Loyola University.
I wake up every day grateful for that. It changed my life in so many ways. Graduating from Loyola University debt-free is just part of the gift. When I was a freshman, my mother was quite worried; she was used to seeing excellent grades – I was struggling.
What happened?
The difficulty of transitioning to college surprised me – and my time management was poor. Luckily, my group of Cristo Rey Scholars were there for support – and Loyola steered me in a new direction. I was a Nursing major. It made sense; I knew I liked helping people and there was a clear need for male nurses. Only one problem, I just didn’t like it. By chance, I happened to be in a psychology course when Loyola hired me as an Orientation Leader. That was it. I loved the job and I switched to psychology. My grades went through the roof.
So you graduated with a degree in Psychology and realized how much you like working with people; that’s how you landed at City Year?
Yes. I really love working at City Year. I have to credit Ms. Hocter in Alumni Support at CRSM. She was important in my decision to join. I spend a lot of time working with students on their Biology and English homework, I work on lesson plans and sometimes I create video presentations that help, like explaining homeostasis. I also talk with students about the stress levels that come with remote learning.
What’s next? Will you stay at City Year?
Not sure yet, some people do stay. I’m looking seriously at counseling and academic advisory careers. I’m thinking I will go to grad school to get my guidance counseling license.
As an aspiring counselor, do you have any lessons learned you could share?
Well, maybe for CRSM seniors. “You keep hearing about grit? Believe me, it will come in handy. The combination of being grateful, resilient and 100% committed made it happen for me.”
