by Mary Beth Sammons | Apr 20, 2023 | CWSP
For 30 years, Mari-Lou Menezes worked with client companies to develop and implement strategic plans to support their working capital needs and growth including their access to capital markets. As an executive director for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in downtown Chicago, her end goal was to drive sales growth and produce successful outcomes for her clients.
These days, the retired Northbrook resident spends two days a week hunkered down over her computer in a cubicle in the CRSM Corporate Work Study Department. There, she helps grade and coach students on their writing styles for their work-study time card reports. Some days Mari-Lou also mentors students who are either struggling at their current job or who have been removed from their work-study assignment. She and a team of CWSP coaches use the book Seven Habits of Highly Successful Teens as an outline for these talks.
“I see my role as helping students turn their dreams into reality,” says Mari-Lou. She has been volunteering for CRSM for the last two years. Mari-Lou is one of four CWSP members of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) Chicago, who volunteer for the work-study program. IVC is an American-Catholic volunteer service which matches volunteers with charities and nonprofits.
“Mari-Lou is very good at encouraging and working with our students,” says Brian Weinberg, Director of the Corporate Work-Study Program.
A native of India, Mari-Lou spent her early career years teaching English in her native country. When she moved to the United States as a young adult, she pursued advanced studies and graduated from DePaul University’s Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.
“Mari-Lou brings a unique cultural experience for our students, showing them how she created her own success journey, and they can relate because she too is a person of color,” says Brian. “She’s very good in establishing strong one-on-one relationships with them.”
Mari-Lou says: “I am continually amazed and inspired by how much the students have on their plates to juggle. It seems overwhelming, yet they push through and work hard to achieve. I am honored and grateful to work alongside them.”
CRSM is blessed and truly grateful for volunteers such as Mari-Lou, who give of their time and expertise, and make a significant contribution to our students’ success!
by Mary Beth Sammons | Apr 3, 2023 | Academic
It’s hard enough being a teenager on a good day. But the conditions that accompanied the social distancing of the COVID-19 pandemic seem to have exacerbated the painful parts of adolescence. National statistics reflect a steep rise in teen mental health issues during the last few years. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows 57% of teen girls in the U.S. felt “persistently sad or hopeless” in 2021.
That’s why CRSM is especially grateful for the volunteer work of Gina Dahiya, a licensed social worker who is volunteering her time to help CRSM’s two-person counseling staff meet the growing needs of students. They provide a safe, caring and supportive environment for students in need of social and emotional support.
Every Wednesday and Thursday, Gina meets individually with students in a private conference room to help them create coping strategies for emotional difficulties such as depression, stress, grief, and family problems. She arrives armed with a toolkit of anxiety and stress-busters, which she spreads across the table for easy access: coloring books, colored pens and rainbow-colored pop-push fidget toys.
“Mostly I feel that I just listen and validate their feelings,” says Gina, a mother of four high school and young adult children. “Many of them will state from the get-go ‘I don’t need advice. I just really want someone to listen.
Gina, who completed her Masters of Social Work just as the COVID pandemic hit, says she is very impressed by the students, faculty, staff and greater CRSM community
“I’m learning how resilient teens can be,” she says. “They are at a time in their lives when there is a lot of stress worrying about getting into college and all the things that are going on in their lives. Yet, I’ve really come to witness the strength and courage these students have.”
Her work is appreciated by staff and students alike!
“We are seeing a rise in depression and anxiety,” says Christina Dippold, CRSM counselor. “Here in Waukegan, there are fewer resources to meet the growing needs of our students.”
At CRSM we recognize this is a growing need that requires growing support. Starting next year, the school will bring in a part-time therapist to work with students to help them find balance in their busy lives.
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!
