The Class of 2013 Preparing for College and Life Success

Over 130 young men and women descended on Saint Martin August 4-6 and August 10-14 to participate in Transition Week and Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) Training. The members of the community who worked with the Class of 2013 described them as curious, motivated, engaged, sincere, nice, and funny. The adults who facilitated the session on Microsoft Excel also noted that the members of the Class of 2013 really enjoy Skittles!

Transition Week and CWSP Training are designed to prepare students to take advantage of all the opportunities provided at Saint Martin. Two recent Saint Martin de Porres High School graduates, Una Ilisinovic ‘09, who will attend Miami (OH) University this fall and Santino Montanez ‘09, who will attend John Carroll, encouraged the new students to take advantage of these opportunities. Una and Santino set a very positive tone for the members of the Class of 2013, who now begin their Saint Martin journey together.

In addition to benefiting from Una and Santino’s presentations, new students participated in seminars on identifying and developing gifts, building community, and preparing for college success. Students also participated in prayer services and toured St. Vitus Church and our community garden. An ice cream social concluded a great three days.

The following week, during CWSP Training, students prepared for success at their corporate job. Students learned about presenting themselves in a professional manner and began developing skills that will enable them to provide value for their corporate partners. (Skittles, by the way, were a tool used during training to explain the creation of pie charts.)

The Class of 2013 is off to a great start and its members are well-prepared to take advantage of the opportunities which Saint Martin will offer them.

Theology Teacher Leaving Saint Martin “For the Greater Glory of God”

After four years of service to the Saint Martin de Porres High School community, Pete Range has been called to continue his ministry in a different way. Pete has been accepted into the Society of Jesus by the Detroit Province.

Pete originally came to Saint Martin as a volunteer through the Sisters of the Humility of Mary. During his volunteer year, Pete served as our Service Coordinator and eventually stepped into the role of the Admissions Director, ushering in the Class of 2010.

Following his volunteer year, Pete officially became a full-time member of the team when he became the Freshmen Theology Teacher. He taught Freshmen Theology for three years, led the St. Francis Tutoring Program, and became a favorite teacher of many students and an admired and valued member of the community.

Pete believes that Saint Martin offers hope and that his experiences here, among many, served to call him to the priesthood. He will miss the “incredible teachers, caring staff, and amazing students” of Saint Martin and is thankful for his four years here, saying that these years have been “graced with a thousand smiles from students, to parents, to friends, to strangers. I saw Christ in the laughter, in the learning, and in the smiles of everyone around me.”

The journey to becoming a Jesuit is a long one. Part of Pete’s first year will be spent participating in a 30-day silent retreat following Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises. He will also work with HIV patients and will teach the Bible to first graders during his first year of formation.

Our community will be in Pete’s prayers as he will be in ours. Good luck, Pete!

Saint Martin, Network Leaders Educated at the Kellogg School of Management

President Rich Clark, Executive Vice President Tom Bennett, and Principal Mary Ann Vogel participated in a week-long program at the Center for Nonprofit Management at the Kellogg School of Management this June. The three school leaders studied financial statements, participated in case studies, and discussed strategy, benchmarking, and metrics alongside peers from other Cristo Rey Network schools.

The Kellogg School of Management is consistently ranked as one of the top business schools in the world and this partnership reflects the Cristo Rey Network’s commitment to effective and efficient leadership aimed at impacting the lives of our students and our communities. Presenters included Dean Emeritus, Don Jacobs, and author and lecturer, Jason Saul.

Jacobs, who is an expert on corporate governance and issues of risk, drew on the words of Napoleon in reminding his audience that “a leader is a dealer in hope.” Saul is the author of Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Manage, Measure and Improve Performance, which was awarded Best Business Book of the Year in 2005 by the Independent Publishers Association. He called on school leaders to focus on impact, outcomes, measurement, and data in measuring performance.

Saul also provided the Saint Martin team with a new framework for understanding our current world and market conditions. The world is VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Given this current state, institutions such as Saint Martin must be led accordingly – with vision, understanding, clarity, and agility. Additionally, this framework affirms the approach to education that Saint Martin takes. Our students are being educated to develop habits such as critical thinking skills, curiosity, an ability to collaborate, and an ability to adapt to change that are necessary for success in the VUCA world that awaits them.

The Cristo Rey Network plans to continue this partnership with the Kellogg School of Management, and Saint Martin will continue to send leaders to participate as we maintain our commitment to developing a team that is preparing students for college and life success.