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Chicago Tribune
23-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep celebrates 20th graduation; ‘We want everyone to see what's possible'
Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan has one entrance requirement — that students come from a low-income family — and a primary goal — getting students accepted to a four-year college or university. School President Preston Kendall said that for the past six years, all graduating seniors have been accepted to a four-year school. There is also a requirement while attending the school — working one day a week at a job through the school-arranged work-study program. Some of the money earned covers tuition. 'This way, they have skin in the game,' Kendall said in August, as the school celebrated the start of its 20th year. 'Their money goes toward funding the school, and we fundraise to get the rest.' For Kedar Cortes of Waukegan, who will attend Stanford University in the fall to study quantitative finance, he hopes his job at AbbVie through the work-study program will lead to a full-time career with the North Chicago-based organization. Cortes said he will be learning how to use quantitative analysis to develop models to create profitability. At AbbVie, he worked on business technology solutions in the information technology department. 'I loved it there,' he said. 'I analyzed a lot of data. They gave me some basic work to do, and when they saw what I could do, I was working on the same things as everybody else.' Cortes was one of 101 students expected to cross the stage at Cristo Rey's 20th graduation Saturday at the school in Waukegan, as all but one — who will be joining the U.S. Air Force — go to college and hopefully fulfill the American dream. Kendall said more than 86% of the teens who applied to go to Cristo Rey were accepted. The average family has an annual income of around $45,000. The overall family income level must be 200% or less than the United States poverty level. Though Kendall said many students enter the school 1½ years behind grade level academically, by the time they finish a summer bridge program, they are where they need to be to succeed. Most are the first generation of their family to go to college. Graduating seniors Cortes, Edeline Wence, Yeili Castrejon and Cristian Martinez have different career ideas and what the American dream means to them, but they have a variety of things in common. All four are the children of immigrants, the first generation of their family to go to college — all at elite schools — they all understand hard work, both from their job through the work-study program, and all four are summa cum laude graduates. Castrejon of Gurnee is heading to Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, to study political science and eventually go to law school. She said she wants to practice immigration law. She and her three siblings have been raised by a single mother. 'I should be able to help her have some of the things she has always wanted,' Castrejon said. 'I'm very grateful for what I was able to learn here.' Wence of Waukegan also plans to practice law, but before that, she intends to study international relations with a minor in literature at American University in Washington, D.C. When she finishes law school, she wants to be a criminal defense lawyer. She said Cristo Rey has helped her define her values. 'The American dream is evolving,' Wence said. 'You should always seek to see the good in people, and to serve others.' Martinez, a North Chicago resident, said he plans to study aerospace and aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. His career goal is specific — working for NASA in its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. He credits his parents for his drive. 'My parents always pushed me to keep trying,' Martinez said. 'They pushed me to apply to top schools. If you don't try, it's a deny.' When Kendall arrived at Cristo Rey for the 2011-2012 school year, he said only 25% of the graduating class went to college. He set the goal of 100% acceptance, and has achieved that for the past six years. He credits the academic success to Principal Michael Odiotti. 'He takes care of everything (academically), so I can take care of everything else like the work-study program and fundraising,' Kendall said. 'We want everyone to see what's possible.'
Chicago Tribune
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
North Chicago Fifth Ward race to be decided by Democratic primary
Retired North Chicago water plant worker Jerry L. Gray wants to concentrate on people's concerns on small things that need attention, while Foss Park District Commissioner Kingston L. Neal wants to use his experience to help create intergovernmental synergy. Neal and Gray are two of three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the North Chicago Fifth Ward City Council seat along with Tabitha Ann Wray, who declined to be interviewed. Voters will choose between Gray, Neal and Wray when they cast their ballots in the Democratic primary election on Feb. 25 in North Chicago in a contest which will determine the eventual winner of the April 1 general election. With no candidates in the Republican primary or independent contenders running in the general election, the winner of the Democratic primary will be unopposed on April 1. Incumbent Ald. Kenneth Smith, 5th Ward, is running for mayor rather than reelection. Currently in the fourth year of his second six-year term on the park board, Neal, 56, is the managing partner of North Chicago-based Illinois Builders & Associates, a company he started 25 years ago. 'I look at development like professional people do,' Neal said. 'That's what I do. I know how to work with local businesses. I know ways to help the city work toward economic growth. I can be a community development leader.' Retiring after a 30-year career with the city of North Chicago's water department, Gray, 68, said he has looked for another way to contribute to the city and his ward. He is licensed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as a Class A operator. 'I did lab work, and I was a mechanic,' Gray said. 'I didn't do any meter reading. I did everything else.' From his work at the water plant, Gray said he learned how people complain about 'little things' which, if left unattended, can become a much larger problem. Those include neglecting property, poorly maintained sidewalks or uncontrolled pets. 'I could do a lot of good in the Fifth Ward helping people with these things,' he said. 'These are the little things I hear people complain about. They complain about too many cars parked by a house, or garbage cans in the yard.' Taking a more general approach, Neal said he can bring his expertise from the Park District to the city as a whole. Residents of the community can benefit from the city, the Park District and North Chicago School District 187 working for the benefit of everyone. 'I want to be part of the conversation for the Fifth Ward and the city,' Neal said. 'I can be an advocate for everyone working together collectively for our common interests. I can be a thoughtful partner.' As a builder, Neal said he can help as part of the conversation as the city tries to implement its master plan with a reinvigorated downtown and development at Sheridan Crossing. Public safety is paramount, and he thinks both the police and fire departments are doing a good job. Adding revenue is a priority. 'Business development will grow our tax base,' Neal said. 'If we grow our tax base, property taxes will be less of a burden on homeowners. We need to do that so we don't have to raise property taxes.' A specific issue for Gray is getting the city to hire an animal warden like other communities employ. For that, like other situations that cannot be handled with a phone call to City Hall, he will make a motion and ask for a vote. 'There are a lot of stray dogs, even in my ward,' Gray said. 'Every city should have an animal warden. There are stray cats, too.' Early voting is already underway. People can vote from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lake County Courthouse & Administration Building in Waukegan through Friday. They can vote there or at North Chicago City Hall starting Monday, according to the Lake Country Clerk's website. For those voting on election day Feb. 25, Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said they can now vote at any polling place, not just their assigned preferred location.
