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CTK King of Hearts 2020 - President Clem Martin

Added Jan 28, 2020 •

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Eleanor did a great job and I always ask every year if I can go first and I can feel it more effective so our behalf of our board chair Peter Brennan our school principal Temple pain faculty and staff are students and their families I'd like to begin by saying thank you your presence here tonight in support of our mission and support of our young women and men helps to make amazing things possible so thank you very much muscle especially like to thank Martian Tom Desmond our chair couple for event this evening you have walked with our students students and served as their greatest Champions since we opened our doors 12 years ago we are very grateful for your leadership and your generous support of not only this event but for all you and your family do to support the mission at Christ the King so thank you very much and it's a bonus I know times a Yankee fan so the least two of us in the building tonight so we also had a tremendous house committee their names can be found in your program books at your table they're incredibly generous and are the driving force behind this event with this group I've learned to stay out of the way and let the magic happen you continue to be insured the success of our Gala every year so thank you very much and lastly I like to express my gratitude to Sister Mary Fran not only for the homemade cookies to leave outside my office several times each year but for all you've done for our students you help to breathe life into the mission of Christ the King at the school opened its doors 12 years ago and continue today as a great advocate for students for me personally your friendship and advice you have shared the past 7 years I've made a world of difference thank you very much what am I going to do with the rest of my life I'm sure we've all asked variations of this question at some point in our lives what am I going to do with the rest of my life whether your parents who has seen your youngest child off to college a partner at a law firm has decided it's time to leave behind those 80 hours a week or a senior in college trying to find that first job we all ask what am I going to do with the rest of my life this year at Christ the King we have tried hard to fold sun and highlight our judgment Mission and identity as such what other things we did was to abandon giving Tuesday instead we celebrated our first-ever judgement Legacy Day highlighting our service programs and how we try to engrave in our students The Importance of Being men and women for and with others as a Jesuit school we are still asking for a few bucks but we wanted the focus to be on the mission to kick off the day they had we stand outside our beautiful chapel and share a message with the are ctk Community about the rich history of the Jesuits and the tradition of service to others we ask for your prayers and shared our hopes for the day almost immediately after we share this video a woman made a significant donation to The I called him a next day to say thank you is speaking with her I learned that she had recently lost her husband and two of her sons in a tragic accident in the ensuing weeks and months after the accident she kept asking myself that same question what am I going to do with the rest of my life after some time and reflection she told me that she realized she'd been asking the wrong question rather than asking what she was going to do with the rest of her life she found that the better question I asked was where is God present and working in this world and how can I help she told me that she made that donation because she felt that we were doing God's work at ctk and then this is how she was able to help right now tragedy with sorrow and loss she was still able to find God is an incredibly emotional phone call when it left me sitting at my desk in silence in my prayers over the next few weeks my thoughts were continually drawn back to that conversation I became fixated on the phrase God's work asking myself what it meant in the context of the work we're doing at Christ the King we have a mission statement we have the 10th standards laid out by the crease the right Network and we have the universal Apostolic preferences judgments all of these things help to define the work we talked about the work we talked about the school we most often talk about statistics and stories 100% College acceptance for 9 consecutive years past few class is all being stepped in to at least one four year college college graduation rates are three times the national average for a comparable demographic and increasing numbers of students we have in the National Honor Society and also the five Illinois State scholar we had this year we also share stories stories about our Posse Scholars Janelle last year and Jasmine this year we talked about Armani our first student athletes receive a full athletic scholarship we talked about CJ for the class 2012 Southern a few years later and soon-to-be graduate of the Chicago Police Academy but what makes the gods work what is the for Apostolic references developed by the judge would simply ask us to accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future for many of you here tonight the stories of success the statistics that Define progress or easy-to-understand markers of the good work that the school is doing their all signs of Hope growing up on the westside the statistics although meaningful to matter much less on the West Side the bigger questions about what am I going to do with the rest of my life can often be pushed aside by more immediate questions housing insecurity exposure to trauma and violence lack of Economic Opportunity all produce Stress and Anxiety which can a few skate the future and leave students in the day today a different question one that defines Christ the King is what are you going to do the question question is never asked aloud by any of our students is implied in his present each and every day what are you going to do when I'm failing your class what are you going to do if I get fired from corporate work-study job what are you going to do when I lash out in anger at you or one of my classmates what are you going to do when you see all my in my imperfections and my failures isn't the answer this question that we find God's work we find the beauty of Christ the King to accompany means to go somewhere with someone as a companion to be present the definition doesn't include an asterisk that stays only a scholarship award presentations or College graduations or any other joyous occasion for students that means that you are able to see them and understand them as God sees them not as how the world often judge them in the past few weeks mr. Sunday Lark college counselor was present Jasmine was recognized at a ceremony announcing the recipients of the prestigious Posse scholarships he was also present several weeks earlier when one of our alumni was standing before a judge in Family Court awaiting a verdict that can greatly impact his future students different circumstances of the same commitment occur personalis the care of the individual it is here through our actions that our students to the answer to their question it is here is in these relationships between students and the faculty of Christ the King that God is truly present and working it is in this environment filled with care filled with love and support that the immediate questions that are student confront or able to be quieted allowed are young women and men to believe in their future it is here that they can begin to Dream Big Dreams when asking themselves what are they going to do with the rest of their lives you two are companions on this journey you have walked with our students you have provided them transformative opportunities in the corporate work-study program you have shared your wisdom at career days and I'm ending our summer business training you have served as mentors and our friends you're providing scholarship funding and help families and cry do the family assistance fund you continue to open count will stores that provide Pathways to promising futures for all of our students together we are accompanying the young men and women of Christ the King in the creation of that hope-filled future and so I'll ask where do you see God present and working in this world and what are you going to do to help thank you again for coming this evening and for all you do to support the mission at Christ the King as we begin our live auction and paddle raise I hope that you see God's presence in the work we do at Christ the King and I hope that you give until it feels good together let's create a hope-filled future thank you very much

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CTK King of Hearts 2020 - President Clem Martin

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