Martha Reynoso

“One of my daughters was a victim of gun violence in our neighborhood when she was younger. There was a fight between some gang members near our house and she was shot.”

“Thankfully she survived and we have moved, but that trauma has stuck with us. Since then, I have wanted to keep them protected in a safe place where they could study without fear.”

“I’ve made it a priority that my children could access good educational options, so they wouldn’t turn to the streets. We’ve heard from other families about their experiences in the public schools with bullying, drug use, or lack of attention by teachers. We’ve also had several bad experiences.”

“I wanted my kids to go to a school as far away as possible from the neighborhood violence and the dangers that usually exist in the public schools such as bullying or drug use. We wanted a safer place where they are taught values like respect. Parents can teach values at home, but it’s important that they are reinforced at school.”

“Our eldest heard about Cristo Rey through a high school fair and she was interested in what they offered. They have a work-study program so students can pay down tuition. Students study Hispanic culture, and the school is bilingual, so students learn English and Spanish. It was a good school where we could acquire some type of financial assistance to afford it as compared with other private schools.”

“We told her if we could afford it, we would try it out. Thankfully we were able to afford it, and we really loved the experience.”

“Cristo Rey is a smaller school so everyone knows everyone, and the teachers pay more attention to the students and the students can focus more on their studies in that environment because they don’t have to worry about other things.”

“We loved how our eldest came out of Cristo Rey and did everything possible to have our other three go there as well. It has opened doors for our children.”

“Due to her grades, our oldest was selected as a candidate to attend Georgetown, and she attended on a partial scholarship. It wasn’t fully covered but we made it work and she graduated. Our second oldest attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and graduated with good marks. Our son is a senior at Cristo Rey and our youngest is a junior.”

“When our eldest two attended Cristo Rey the tax credit scholarships didn’t exist, but they helped to ease the burden for our youngest two. They were a huge help for our family because the same year our son was starting at Cristo Rey, we were still supporting our second at UIC. We couldn’t afford to help both at the same time.”

“Thankfully we applied and received the tax credit scholarships which covered full tuition for both of our youngest. If it weren’t for the scholarships, I’m not sure what we would have done.”

“These scholarships have helped our family immensely to ensure that they could continue at Cristo Rey, and our kids have loved it there.”

“My husband and I didn’t have the opportunity to have a formal education, so we are very proud that our kids have been able to get ahead. I really hope lawmakers choose to keep the scholarships because they have helped so many families.”

“We want our kids to have access to quality education but for one reason or another some families don’t have the opportunity or financials to do so. These scholarships make a huge difference.”

Martha Reynoso
Mother
Chicago, Illinois