Jesuit Alumni Volunteer Program

Jesuit Alumni Volunteer Program Mission

We, the Jesuit Alumni Volunteers, strive to become men and women for others through our service to the family of Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School and Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, our dedication to living simply in an intentional faith-based community, and our commitment to spiritual/personal development.

Our Program at a Glance

The Jesuit Alumni Volunteer (JAV) Program connects men and women who wish to serve as educators in a low-income community with the opportunity to work in an innovative educational environment.  Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School was established to provide working families of Chicago’s West Side with the opportunity to provide their children with a Jesuit, college preparatory education. 

Now in its eleventh year of operation, the JAV Program was founded in response to the extensive needs and limited resources of our sister school, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School (CRJHS), opened in 1998 and serving the Southwest Side of Chicago.   At CRJHS, it has grown to be a vital part of delivering quality, affordable education to our students, and at CtK, the program has begun serving the students and families of the Austin neighborhood.

Our volunteers are alumni/ae of Jesuit and Catholic universities from throughout the US.  They demonstrate a commitment to social justice, spiritual and personal growth, and intentional community living – all tenets of our program.  Our volunteers give of their gifts and talents to serve the students and families of Cristo Rey and Christ the King in many ways.  They live in intentional community across the street from CRJHS and benefit from lives committed to reflection and action.

Why Choose to be a Jesuit Alumni Volunteer?

Members of the JAV program serve Christ the King for two years. The JAV program offers a life-time worth of memories, meaningful relationships, and the opportunity to impact lives.  JAVs truly live out the Ignatian motto, “For the greater glory of God.”  How does it all happen?

Hearing the Call to Serve
Volunteers perform a variety of services for Christ the King. The goal of the program is to match the needs of the school with the interests, gifts, and talents of the volunteers. Volunteers help drive students to their Corporate Internship work assignment in the morning or afternoon. Volunteers each teach an average of two and a half sections, and typically are assigned two different content areas. Volunteers at Cristo Rey have taught social studies, English, technology, drama, civics, economics, expository writing, math, art, science, U.S. history, music and religion. Volunteers have also extensively worked with the Corporate Internship Program, the Development Office, Campus Ministry, Retreat Programs and the Counseling Office. Almost all volunteers coach sports or moderate extra-curricular activities like Student Council, the Drama Club, the Cristo Rey Spring Break Service Trip, the Tufts Model UN program, and the school choir.

Living in One Community
Volunteers live in intentional community with other members of the program and embrace a lifestyle of simplicity during their tenure.  Such a commitment to community life involves mutual respect, an attitude of service, and consideration for all areas of community life.  The Jesuit Alumni Volunteer House is located on South Wolcott Street across from Cristo Rey.  The volunteers split the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, and maintaining the volunteer residence.  Intentional community, however, means much more than this.  JAVs share their daily triumphs and failures at community meals, they work together on projects within the school, and they build relationships between one another through community activities, retreats, and reflection times.  Intentional community living is a profound, unique, and challenging way to approach service with and for others.

A Commitment to Simple Living
The primary responsibility for simple living rests with the volunteer.  It is a clear objective of the JAV Program that all aspects of the volunteer’s service be charged with a commitment simple living.  This has been defined as seeking an understanding of sustainability in one’s own life and the life of the community, as living within one’s means, as making concerted efforts to conserve and reuse, and as actively engaging in the discernment process to make such determinations.  While it is clear that this is no simple task, it is our hope that the community can engage in their struggle to live simply as a community and its members can explore what it means to live simply in the context of Christian spirituality and the volunteer experience.    

Growing Spiritually & Personally
Life at Christ the King and Cristo Rey is about much more than education.  As a school in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition, Christ the King, Cristo Rey and the Jesuit Alumni Volunteer Program encourages each volunteer to find ways to embrace a personal and communal spirituality that is life giving.  Volunteers may choose to engage in communal prayer times, community Mass, spiritual direction, and retreats as they come to understand the ways in which God calls each one of us into deeper relationships. 

Many Diverse Ways to Serve CTK

For the 2012-2013 School year, we are looking for volunteers eager to share their gifts with our students. Specifically, we are looking for candidates in the following areas:

• Corporate Work Study Program Student Coach and Outreach

• Christian Service Coordinator

• Librarian

• Substitute Teaching

• Academic Programs Assistant

• Wellness/ Health Instructor

• Science Lab Assistant

• Religious Studies Teacher

Benefits

The Jesuit Alumni Volunteer Program is more than just an interlude before graduate school or a career.  JAVs make important contributions to the lives of our students and, in the process, are changed through their service to the community.  However, the decision to give so completely of one’s self is not always an easy one.  After all, you have bills to pay and plans to consider.  Here are some things to keep in mind as you make your decision:

• A professional, supportive work environment
• Mentoring by experienced teachers
• An intentional community of others committed to service
• Opportunities for professional development
• Opportunities for spiritual and personal growth
• Two-year loan deferment and/or forbearance
• Eligibility for Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards of $5,000 each, valued at more than $10,000 over two years which can be credited to existing or future educational loans or tuition
• HMO Health Insurance
• Full Dental Coverage
• Full Room & Board
• Personal Transportation
• Monthly living stipend of $300.00

If you have additional questions, please contact Mr. Adam DeLeon, SJ adeleon@ctkjesuit.org

Meet our Current JAVs

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