Bryant Jones came to visit Saint Martin this spring; it was his first time back in the building since he graduated with the class of 2009. It was adorable watching Mrs. Lewis, Dean of Students, fawn over how much he had grown in the short time since he left Saint Martin and started school at the University of Toledo. The day Bryant visited, I met him in Ms. Vogel’s office, passed him in the hallway as he visited teachers, hung out with him in the CWSP office and even saw him in the parking lot as he was leaving. “You’re everywhere!” he laughed, and he was right. “Being everywhere” should be in my job description because it’s the only way I can manage to track all of our alumni in college, as well as build relationships with our 75 current seniors who recently hit that 100% college acceptance goal. We continue each year to enhance our college-going culture at Saint Martin and are proud that our graduates have a higher direct enrollment rate into college than any other school in the Cristo Rey Network, at 83%! In addition, 88% of our students have attended college at some point after leaving Saint Martin, and in the Fall 2010 semester, 72% of our graduates were enrolled in college. These are impressive numbers, especially when compared with other first-generation, modest-means college students.
“Being everywhere” also means that I get to set aside the number crunching to fill in as a party planner, coffee date, Facebook friend, and community reporter. We understand that it is a combination of many efforts for a student to succeed in college and we try to cater to as many positive influencers as possible. Giant Eagle gift packages, a Frosty from Wendy’s, a Facebook shout-out, a campus visit, and a birthday postcard can go a long way.
“Being everywhere” is keeping our students in college, and working hard every day towards that diploma.
Veronica Favela is our first Director of Alumni Outreach, beginning her tenure in July 2010. Veronica graduated from California State University, Chico and fell in love with Cleveland during her time as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. In addition to serving our 190 alumni (soon to be 270 alumni!), Veronica also works with Director of Admissions, Monica Lawson, ushering prospective students and parents through our admissions process.
