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06/18/2010
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 Cristo Rey High School Class of 2010: We made it! By Marty Denzer Catholic Key Reporter
For almost a decade following the closing of Hogan High School in 1998 (which reopened a year later as a charter school), there was no Catholic high school serving low-income students in Kansas City’s urban core. A feasibility study supported by the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was conducted in 2003-2004 to explore and evaluate establishing a Cristo Rey high school in the area. Cristo Rey schools, founded in 1996 in the Pilsen area of southwest Chicago, combine Catholic secondary education with a work study program through which students finance 55-60 percent of their tuition by sharing entry-level jobs at area businesses. The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth were asked to take the leadership of the new school, and Sister Vickie Perkins was chosen as its president. The old Redemptorist High School/Our Lady of Angels School building on Linwood was selected as the location. The 12th in a network of now 24 schools nationwide, Cristo Rey Kansas City High School opened in August 2006 with a freshman class. During the 2009-2010 academic year, about 320 students, freshmen through seniors, attended the school. Of the graduating class, 100 percent were accepted and will be attending colleges throughout the country. Most of those students will be the first in their families to attend college. Madalena Nak and her family came to Kansas City from the Sudan. When she first heard about entering Cristo Rey as a freshman, she wasn’t too sure about it. Now looking back, she said, “Everything— the classes, the college prep — is organized and planned out. And everybody, the teachers and staff, are all on your side.” She is glad all of her classmates are planning on attending college. It wasn’t easy. “I had to work hard,” she said, “keep faith in God and, as much as I wanted to sometimes, not give up. It feels good to know that we’re all on the same page, we all want to do something with our lives.” Madalena plans to attend Creighton University in Omaha, studying political science and international affairs. She is interested in law, a career that first attracted her when she worked for Shook Hardy and Bacon her junior year at Cristo Rey. “As I walk down that aisle and see my family and all those people looking at me, it’ll be kind of like my wedding day,” she said. “I think I’m going to cry — happy tears. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve done it.” Jesuit Father John Foley, the founder of Cristo Rey, was in Kansas City for the grand opening of the high school and for its first graduation four years later. “What’s so special about Cristo Rey, what makes it work and grow? The kids that we as teachers work with,” he said. “The kids have been thrown on their own devices, and in some environments that would be bad, but there’s goodness to these kids. Discipline is secondary to what they are doing here. There’s something unspoiled about these kids. They know the value of a good education, dedicated teachers and the support and respect of their classmates and friends. First they respect each other, followed closely by respecting their teachers. Teachers respect them. With Cristo Rey, a light goes on! ‘There’s something here that’s going to change my life.’ Kids working in an adult atmosphere; it fills them with hope for the future.” He said that the combination of class work and corporate work teaches teenagers responsibility, gives them hope for the future and shows them how to get along with people. “It amazes people that the kids are spontaneous and welcoming. They’ve learned to do that in the office.” Cristo Rey is “a concept that works,” Father Foley said. “It really does — in every sense of the word.” Sister Vickie was excited to graduate the school’s first class. “We would have never had a Cristo Rey Kansas City without them,” she said, a little wistfully. “They came as little kids and they leave us as young adults. They’re going to make an impact on the world and on Kansas City.” She enumerated the strengths of Cristo Rey:
The thing that is so incredibly special about Cristo Rey, she said, “is that it gives young people the opportunity to change their lives around; the opportunity to go to college, to learn good work ethics and habits. People are going to want to hire them in the future. It’s exciting for the kids; they didn’t know it was part of their horizon. “College becomes real and they are the proof. Future students will look at them and say, ‘I can do this, too.’” The real test of the success of Cristo Rey, Sister Vickie said, will be four years from now when these graduates graduate from college and get jobs. In his remarks during the graduation ceremony, Father Foley congratulated the students for earning $700,000 toward their high school tuition over the course of four years at Cristo Rey. “This world doesn’t work so well,” he continued. “God meant it to work better. Your job is to help it work better. It is no longer permitted to be mediocre. May you become the Risky Generation!” Awards and scholarships were presented to several graduates honoring them for academics and for exemplifying the core values of Cristo Rey High School: Integrity, respect; responsibility; partnership, and spirituality. The Mother Xavier Ross award, named in honor of the founder of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, was awarded to Diana Piseno. The St. Vincent de Paul Award, named in honor of the historical founder of the Vincentian religious orders, including the Sisters of Charity, was awarded to Eduardo Sanchez. The Cristo Rey Board of Trustees created $250 academic scholarships — one for each of the core subjects taught at Cristo Rey. The Joseph Hughes Theology scholarship, named in memory of a beloved teacher and coach who died suddenly earlier this year, was won by Eyra Betancourt, valedictorian. Amber Pickens received the English scholarship, Ciara Davis won the Social Studies scholarship and A’Meche Foster was awarded the Math scholarship. Stephany Estrada received the Science scholarship. Maria Pelaez won the Spanish scholarship and the Corporate Work Study scholarship went to Eddie Sanchez. In her valedictory speech, Eyra Betancourt urged her fellow graduates to look around. “Class of 2010, we made it! We came here as energetic young people. We leave as mature young adults. We are preparing to begin a new journey and we are prepared.” She spoke to the freshman, sophomore and junior classes who attended the graduation: “Work hard and you too will make it. Always know that God will be by your side.” After the diplomas were presented, the graduates as one grasped the tassels on their mortarboards and moved them to the right. High school was over, college and the future was just beginning. END
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