Students Succeed Thanks To Business Support
When Cristo Rey High School opened its doors four years ago, it embarked on a unique program – and with a unique request to the community.
Cristo Rey recruited students of limited financial means who had a goal of attending college. Beyond that goal, the students agreed to embrace an innovative work-study program that would help pay for private Catholic high school education that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for their families to afford.
Among the key ingredients, of course, were the organizations that would partner with Cristo Rey and put the school’s students to work as part of the work-study program.
On June 2, 53 of the school’s first students graduated, culminating a journey that began rather inauspiciously in a modest former elementary school facility in South Sacramento.
As you would expect, parents, extended families and friends came together for the celebration. But they were joined by the students’ co-workers – people who had seen these once-shy 9th graders transformed into capable and confident high school graduates.
It’s not uncommon to hear high school students talk about their classmates as being like family. But many of the Cristo Rey graduates talk about their co-workers as being like family, taking the time out of their days and nights to work with them, provide counsel – and then admire their accomplishments.
Despite the challenges of the Greater Sacramento area’s economy in recent