#EvertoExcel: CRSM Tops Network in AP Coursework

#EvertoExcel: CRSM Tops Network in AP Coursework

by | Oct 31, 2022 | Academic

 

With 100 percent of CRSM seniors accepted to 4-year college and university bachelor’s programs the last three years in a row and on track for the fourth year, students also are leading the Cristo Rey Network in Advanced Placement courses. Of the 10 AP subject offerings, CRSM exceeded the Cristo Rey Network average in eight subjects.

“I truly believe that exposure to rigorous coursework, like our AP curriculum (and also in our non-AP coursework), is the most important element to prepare students for academic success once they leave us,” said Mike Odiotti, principal. “When compared to our national network, we are leaders in this domain.”

CRSM exceeded the Cristo Rey Network average in eight subjects. These benchmarks include:

  • Ranked at the top of the Network in the AP Literature benchmark, with 36 students passing the course exam
  • In eight out of 10 subjects, ranked in the top three of the number of students earning a three or higher on an exam.
  • Ranked first in American Government, Physics and English Literature
  • Ranked second in Calculus, English Language, Spanish and Spanish Literature
  • Ranked third in World History

Odiotti pointed out that CRSM offers all students access to AP courses, compared to some other Network schools that are more restrictive in deciding who takes these accelerated courses.

 “We do know that our students that go on to study STEM are much more successful in college if they accessed AP coursework while in high school, even if their performance on the exam was not high enough to earn them college credit,” said Odiotti.

 

Students Return to the Classroom and Workplace to Kick off 2022-23 School Year

Students Return to the Classroom and Workplace to Kick off 2022-23 School Year

by | Aug 22, 2022 | Academic

It is Monday morning and the first day of school at CRSM. The entire community of 406 students, including the new freshman Class of 2026, and about 100 faculty, staff and volunteers gathered at 8:15 a.m. in the cafeteria for a kick-off assembly.

“We want you to do well, do your best, and think about how everything we do here is in caring for others,” said President Preston Kendall.

Several current students and alumna Daniela Sanchez, a Class of ’19 graduate and junior at Lake Forest College, shared tips and advice for incoming freshman and for the entire student body as they head into the 2022-23 school year.

“You are very lucky to be part of a network of teachers, work partners and a community that cares for you so deeply and is here to help you, not just in high school, but in college and the workforce,” said Sanchez. “Make sure you take advantage of all the opportunities that are here for you.”

Principal Mike Odiotti reminded those gathered that this assembly is only one of two times in the year (because of the work-study program job commitments) that the entire community meets together. He shared the inspiration his mother gave him early on. While a student at Northwestern University, his mother was told “Women can’t become doctors.” Instead, his mom became a nurse, but always regretted not being able to pursue her larger dream and shared with her son: “Never let someone else define your reality.” Dr. Odiotti recalls those words and said to students: “Let this remind you that despite whatever challenges you may face, you can take charge of your destiny.””

Summer Reads: Principal Mike Odiotti’s Top Picks

Summer Reads: Principal Mike Odiotti’s Top Picks

by | Jul 7, 2022 | Academic

Grab a book and your beach bag! Principal Mike Odiotti’s top summer reads!

For the fourth year in a row, “Dr. O” is sharing his favorite books of the summer (thus far). “Read, read, and read” is the mantra he’s always sharing with students, staff, and faculty “both for school and for your own enrichment and growth.” Here he shares his first five page turners. Stay tuned for more.

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

On one hand, this is a simple, magical story of a boy stranded on a boat after a shipwreck with a Tiger, a zebra, a hyena, and an orangutan. On the other hand, the story is much more than the boy’s tale of his adventures at sea after the shipwreck and raises questions of truth, spirituality, and our role in the world. The author writes, “The world isn’t just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no?”

2. Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

This dystopian sci-fi novel by Native writer from the Metis Nation of Ontario explores themes of humans’ relationship with nature, trauma, family, loss, the power of language, climate crisis and dreams. She writes, “And I understood that as long as there are dreamers left, there will never be want for a dream. And I understood just what we would do for each other, just what we would do for the ebb and pull of the dream, the bigger dream that held us all. Anything. Everything.”

3. The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

This novel explores the stories of two sisters, identical twins. One sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other sister secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person’s decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the reasons people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

4. Teacher Toolkit Guide to Memory by Ross McGill

The Teacher Toolkit Guide to Memory provides clear, visual explanations of how memory works, including short-term and long-term memory, working memory, semantic memory, and episodic memory. Ross presents a wealth of original ideas for incorporating this theory into day-to-day classroom practice, with proven methods for aiding knowledge retention and testing recall, to boost learning, support revision and motivate pupils.

5. One Good Question: How Countries Prepare Youth to Lead by Rhonda Broussard

Rhonda Broussard – an expert in pedagogy, international education, and racial equity – uses conversations with education leaders from eleven countries to try to answer her one good question. A question that she couldn’t answer on her own, a question that could inspire different truths based on context, a question that could bring clarity in complexity. This book provides ample fodder for how you might define your own one good question. What Broussard finds along the way is even more valuable: these conversations led to more provocations than answers. This book contemplates questions like Who should really go to college? What voice should parents have in their children’s education? How is the economy limiting education access worldwide? One Good Question gives new ways of thinking about the education problems we face today and how they connect us across the globe.

 

Keeping Schools Open During COVID-19 Has Been Challenging — But CRSM Proved It Can Be Done

Keeping Schools Open During COVID-19 Has Been Challenging — But CRSM Proved It Can Be Done

by | Jan 31, 2022 | Academic

The past two years have brought many challenges and CRSM educators have worked tirelessly to keep students healthy and learning in the classroom and at their corporate work-study jobs.

Recognizing the critical role that CRSM plays in student’s lives — academically, socially, and emotionally —became more and more evident as CRSM focused on reasonable steps to stay open safely beginning in June of 2020.

For Principal Mike Odiotti, part of his role over the last two years has been monitoring IDPH and CDC data as leadership planned the approach to school operations. With data indicating that the latest COVID-19 surge is ebbing away as quickly as it ramped up, Odiotti says, “I am hopeful this continues and that in upcoming months we will be able to do away with some of the mitigation strategies we have had to employ since reopening our classroom doors in June of 2020.”

When COVID-19 closed schools across the country, CRSM teachers and staff adapted, inspired by students who reminded them that we are a community of “grit” determined to succeed.

It’s been no small feat, the business of keeping 400 student-workers in school and on the job because many corporations are still working remotely and cannot have students come in for internships. But, through pivoting, innovating and firm resolve; 100% of students have been placed in jobs for the 2021-22 school year.

During the first year of the pandemic, CRSM modified its school schedule to allow students two full days per week of in-person instruction. In September last year, the entire student body returned to full-time classes. The all-school assembly, held at the beginning of this academic year, marked the first time in two years that students, teachers and staff were able to gather as a community. Although everyone was wearing masks, “everyone’s eyes were smiling,” said President Preston Kendall. “The air crackled with excitement – it just felt right, like a giant step toward normalcy.”

Despite the pandemic, CRSM students had many achievements:

  • 99% of students earned a GPA of 2.0 or greater in the first semester of the 2021-2022 school year.
  • 81% of students are at or above 3.0 or higher and are on the honor roll for the same period.
  • We are again on-track for 100% of our seniors to be accepted into either a four-year college or university or to Arrupe College (a two-year program from Loyola University Chicago preparing students to eventually earn a four-year degree).
  • 95% of our work-study partners expressed satisfaction with student performance, despite the challenges of remote work for many.
  • Students and staff donated almost 1,000 community service volunteer hours during this fall semester: each monthly drive-up food distribution with Northern IL Food Bank serves over 500 families, in addition we pack thousands of meals weekly with the food bank and Feed My Starving Children and more.