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Wow – there is a lot going on!
Thu Sep 02, 2010

Things are buzzing at Detroit Cristo Rey High School!!

We wrapped up summer training today. The students have responded to the high expectations we have set and are ready to do a great job at their jobs. For the past two afternoons, many of them have visited their work sites for orientation sessions. They have been very nervous and excited about their assignments – especially the freshmen.

Tomorrow we will run through a mini academic schedule. This will be the first time this year they will speak with all of their teachers about academic coursework. At about 10 am we will meet in the gym and then process over to Holy Redeemer Church to celebrate the Mass of the Holy Spirit. It is a great way to start the school year. I am very pleased that Msgr. Tocco will be celebrating the Mass. Msgr. Tocco is from my home parish of St. Hugo’s. He has been my pastor since I moved to Michigan twenty two years ago. If I am a better Catholic in any way – it is because of him, and I am grateful.

Finally, tonight I will be watching several of our young men play football. We don’t have our own team at Detroit Cristo Rey High School. But we do have a cooperative team with a charter school down the street – Cesar Chavez Academy. So far it has worked out well, our young men needed a place to play and Cesar Chavez needed more players. Thanks to Coach K, the players have integrated beautifully. After the win last week – we are trying for a two game win streak.

Enjoy the holiday weekend.

Day 1 is Done!
Mon Aug 30, 2010

Freshmen, sophomores and juniors were all in attendance today as we began the fourth and final week of our summer training program Detroit Cristo Rey High School. It was great to see so many students in the building. The hallways were filled with students like never before, and it will take everyone a little while to get used to it – but I love it.

Today, we informed students about their job assignments for the year, which is always an exciting event. I am still a little in awe of the fact that we are sending teenagers off to work in law firms, hospitals and a wide variety of professional organizations. What is more impressive is the great job that they do. We still have a number of students without job placements, as we are tracking down the last 7 – 8 jobs. Those students without an assignment will be working around the school.

I hope everyone will be able to join us for our Mass of the Holy Spirit this Friday at 10:30 at Holy Redeemer.

Outside Experts Helping With Training
Fri Aug 27, 2010

Today we are wrapping up our third week of training for our new students. They have been doing a great job, averaging 97 – 98% attendance and being very active in the classroom. This week, we have had some outside organizations assist us in the training. On Wednesday, executives from Comerica Incorporated worked with our students on Public Speaking skills.

Volunteers from Comerica with new Detroit Cristo Rey students.

On Thursday, many volunteers from Ford Motor Company led a session for our students on diversity. I saw some of the feedback from the students and they loved the class. We also received some feedback from one of the Ford instructors that wrote me – “I was very impressed with level of participation by the students, especially so early in the morning. As the students left the second session, several of them came up to me, shook my hand and thanked me (without prompting from your staff). In this day and age, this is not a behavior most young people exhibit. You and your staff are doing the something right within the school.”

On Friday, Kelley Olin a Career Coach from the area spoke with the students about thinking about their interests and aligning them with their college and career plans. These are the types of conversations that give our students optimism about their futures.

I am very grateful from the support we have received to make this training a success.

We are all looking forward to Monday when about 100 returning students will be joining our freshman for a final week of training.

I'm Late!!!
Mon Aug 23, 2010

I went through the whole week without blogging and I know how disappointed everyone must be! My excuse is that we had a very busy week at Detroit Cristo Rey High School.

For two days last week, I spent the morning teaching a training session for our new students. Every time I teach –my respect for our faculty grows and grows. I like teaching, but it is exhausting. On one day, I reviewed with students the proper way to introduce people to each other. We also discussed the importance of practicing to improve our skills. For a contrasting view of the importance of practice – we watched Allen Iverson’s monologue complaining about practice. If you have never seen the clip, it is good for a laugh or two. The second day I was with the students, they competed for donuts by answering questions such as – in how many countries can you purchase Coca-Cola (over 200) or what is the value of Google (about $152,000,000,000). We continue to be impressed by our new students!

We are still working hard at finding new sponsors and made some progress last week. I can’t share all of the names right now – but when our sponsor list comes out, it is an impressive group.

I hope everyone has Friday September 3rd on their schedule for the Mass of the Holy Spirit. Msgr. Tocco will join us to celebrate the Mass with our students, families and friends. Mass begins at 10:30 and I look forward to seeing you there.

Hot and Busy at Detroit Cristo Rey High School!
Thu Aug 12, 2010

It is still hot at Detroit Cristo Rey High School. Four straight days of 90 degree temps and 90% humidity have turned our building into an oven! Despite the conditions, our 85 new students are doing great during the training program that began this week. After four days, everyone on the staff is still commenting on how impressed they are with the behavior and attitude of the students.

We are still busy searching for job sponsors for the upcoming year. We are in the midst of encouraging discussions with a number of organizations – but we haven’t quite gotten them to yes. It is impossible to overstate how important the job sponsors are to our school. Please keep them in your prayers.

We recently received notification from the Racine Dominicans that they have awarded a grant of $50,000 to Detroit Cristo Rey!! The Racine Dominicans have been steady supporters of our school and I am very grateful. We will be using this money for two purposes. First, we will initiate a transportation program to help transport students from the east side of Detroit to our school. I know for certain that two students are attending our school because this transportation. We will also use this money to increase our ability to provide counseling to our students. Many of our students deal with personal or family situations that make 100% concentration on academics impossible. By providing counseling, we can help our students through some of these situations.

Thanks to everyone who is supporting the students of Detroit Cristo Rey High School.

Great First Day!
Tue Aug 10, 2010

On August 9th we began summer work training for our new students. The training lasts for four weeks and I view it as some of the most important time of our school year. It is an opportunity to establish with the students the high expectations we have regarding their behavior and work. It is also an opportunity to teach them the skills they need to be successful at their jobs. You can see their confidence grow over the course of the training period.

We had 86 students participate in the first day of training – 83 ninth graders and 3 tenth graders. By way of comparison, on our first day of training last year, we had 61 students. Everyone on the staff was very impressed by the appearance and attitude of the students. They were in dress code, had enthusiasm and were eager to begin their Detroit Cristo Rey careers.

Yesterday they went through a series of sessions that including computer skills, math, review of our student handbook and the importance of attitude for business success. On Friday, we will be taking the students to an off site retreat at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center. I’m looking forward to it!

Please pray for the continued success of our new students.

Finding Jobs
Mon Aug 02, 2010

Right now the name of the game at Detroit Cristo Rey High School is finding more jobs to support our increased enrollment. Our Admissions Director is doing a great job bringing some wonderful new students into our school. Now the pressure is on to find the jobs to support the increased enrollment.

Dave McIntyre and Pam Jackson are busy in discussions with a number of prospective sponsors. There are many organizations right on the edge of saying yes. Our hard work and your prayers should push them into the win column!

The one thing I always tell prospective sponsors is that they will never be disappointed in the behavior or work performance of our students. The reviews we get back on the work of Detroit Cristo Rey students are amazing. We are really proud of them.

Tell someone you know to put a Detroit Cristo Rey student to work this fall!

Lights, Camera, Action
Tue Jul 27, 2010

Not your typical Monday afternoon! The Location Manager for a major TV show dropped by yesterday and was very interested in shooting part of an episode in the Detroit Cristo Rey gymnasium. Not sure if it will work out, but she seemed very excited about the possibility. Her idea is to convert the space into a boxing gym. If it works out – filming would be in December.

If you are not from Michigan – you might be stunned to learn that they would film a TV show in Detroit. However, the state offers a very lucrative (and controversial) tax credit to the film and TV industry. Movie shoots are actually pretty common around town.

I’m sworn to secrecy on the identity of the show – but it is actually one of the top rated shows on TV!

Missing Our Students
Thu Jul 22, 2010

A school is just not the same without students in the building, and that is true right now at Detroit Cristo Rey. Occasionally a current student drops by and it is always great to see them. I’m looking forward to August 9th when we start back up with our summer work training program for new students.

But even without students, there is a lot going on. Our Admissions Director, Melissa Gutierrez is working hard recruiting new students and it seems that I see 3 or 4 prospective students and families meeting with her every day.

Dave McIntyre and Pam Jackson are working hard on our Drive for 25 campaign for new job sponsors. We’ve had good conversations with two leading organizations in the area that seemed very interested in hiring our students this school year. Keep your fingers crossed that we keep finding companies in need of talented students to do entry level administrative and clerical work.

Sue Rowe is working hard at finalizing our academic schedule for the year. We will be making some changes this year, as we incorporate extra math class time into our students’ day. We are also adding more math skills into our summer training. Improving math scores is a top academic priority for us this year.

Bruce Brinson is supervising some building upgrades. The floors and walls will all have an extra shine when students return in August.

Please share the Detroit Cristo Rey High School story with someone today.

Working in the Salt Mines!
Thu Jul 15, 2010

Tomorrow morning I will be off to the salt mines. I won’t be working; I will be taking a tour of the mine that The Detroit Salt Company operates under our great city. I have previously mentioned what a great corporate work sponsor Detroit Salt has been since day 1. Of course the student team at Detroit Salt does not actually work in the mines. They work in the offices, with duties such as answering the phones, matching invoices for payment and pulling freight records.

This year, Detroit Salt offered to take the students for a tour of the mine and I begged them to let me come along. I am really looking forward to it. I have never been 1,200 feet underground before. I guess I will find out if I am claustrophobic or not.

Coincidentally, Time Magazine featured Detroit Salt this week.

Organizations like Detroit Salt are giving our students a bright future.

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