We are excited to recognize Alexis C. for our ACCESS Academies Student Spotlight program!

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We are excited to recognize Michelle M. for our ACCESS Academies Student Spotlight program!

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#GivingTuesday is a global movement that connects individuals, communities and organizations around the world for one common purpose: to celebrate and encourage the spirit of generosity through charitable contributions and volunteerism.  Join the movement by supporting ACCESS Academies this #GivingTuesday by clicking here.

ABOUT ACCESS:
Since 2005, ACCESS has been partnered with Archdiocesan middle schools to provide critical academic, social, financial and emotional support for low-income and/or minority students for the next seven years of their educational journey. Services include, but are not limited to:

• Extending the school day AND school year in middle school to support a robust academic curriculum, homework assistance, service projects and enrichment.
• Working with middle school students to find a college-preparatory high school that fits the student’s unique personality and learning style. This includes high school visits, application support, financial guidance, and more.
• Transitioning ACCESS students from middle school to high school. This includes, but is not limited to, consistent high school visits, tutoring, mentoring, tuition scholarships, and monitoring each student’s individual academic growth and achievement through all four years of high school.
• Providing post-secondary counseling and support for ACCESS students through college tours, ACT test prep, college application and essay support, and FAFSA counseling, as well as paying for all ACT tests and college applications.

DATA:
For the 2016-17 school year, over 150 middle school students are enrolled in ACCESS middle school academies and over 200 ACCESS graduates are receiving high school tuition scholarships and guidance from our Graduate Support program. Because of the hard work of each student, dedicated parental involvement, strong partnerships, and ACCESS’s support and services:

• 98% of ACCESS students are admitted to private, college-prep high schools
• 99% of ACCESS students graduate on-time
• 95% ACCESS students are accepted to college or other post-secondary institution

Dia de los Muertos becomes new tradition at Rosati-Kain
By Jennifer Brinker | [email protected] | twitter: @jenniferbrinker

For a printer-friendly version of the story, please click here.

Next week when her friends go to Halloween parties and trick or treating, Vivian Garcia Cruz will be celebrating with her own culture’s tradition of honoring the dead.

Garcia Cruz and several of her classmates at Rosati-Kain High School last week set up an altar to celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a Mexican tradition to commemorate the lives of deceased loved ones.

The celebration is popular in Mexican culture, and typically lasts several days, beginning on Halloween and concluding on Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls.

As a senior and president of the school’s Diversity Club, Garcia Cruz wanted to share the tradition with her school community as a parting gesture. She sent out an email to other Hispanic students to enlist their help. They began setting up the altar Oct. 17 in the school’s campus ministry room, decorating it with bright tablecloths and flowers. The centerpiece is a statue of the Blessed Mother; students also set out candles, fruit and pan de muertos, a traditional sweet bread.

When she started as a freshman, Garcia Cruz was one of two Hispanic students at the all-girl school. Now as a senior, the Hispanic population has grown to about 7.5 percent. Garcia Cruz, whose family is from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, spoke of the importance of sharing her cultural traditions at school.

In Mexico, the altar for the dead is traditionally set up in the cemetery, where a celebration of the lives of the deceased takes place. “It’s different from the American perspective that the dead are scary, the dead are coming back to haunt you,” Garcia Cruz said. “Our dead are very loved, and we respect that they’re coming back to life once again. We stay all night at the cemetery and have food. There’s a lot of music. It’s a huge party.”

Mexican families living in the United States often set up altars in their homes, and place upon it photos of their deceased loved ones and symbols of some of the things they loved — food and drink or hobbies, for example.

Students were invited to make miniature Day of the Dead shrines out of shoeboxes, which will be placed on the altar. Garcia Cruz made one for her uncle, Luis, who died three years ago. Her uncle loved pizza, soccer and beer — and those were some of the items her family placed on their home altar.

Junior Paula Bautista celebrated Dia de los Muertos with her family last year in the western Mexican state of Michoacán. It was the last time she got to celebrate with her grandmother, who passed away the following summer at the age of 98. “We set up an altar, and we went to the main square and celebrated there,” she said. “We celebrate the good life that they had and their achievements.”

ACCESS Graduate Awarded $142,000 in College Scholarships as of Oct 10th

Aaron T., an Academy graduate from St. Louis the King School at the Cathedral and current senior at Bishop DuBourg High School, has been accepted to 19 colleges and offered $142,000 in scholarships as of October 10th. We are incredibly proud of Aaron, and will keep you posted as more information becomes available!

Davion F. has worked very hard this year and impresses his teachers daily with his focus on homework and in-class assignments. As a result, we are excited to recognize Davion for our ACCESS Academies Student Spotlight program!

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