The Viatorian Community was one of the first religious communities to support Cristo Rey St. Martin’s College Prep High School 10 years ago when it opened in 2004. Its members have served on the faculty, in administration and on its board of trustees, all while helping to financially support the school and its mission of providing a college prepartory education to students with limited financial means.
Fr. John Milton, CSV, continues to serve as a visiting physics teacher at the school, while Viatorian Associate Jim Thomas serves on its board of trustees.
In 2011, Viatorians also helped to select the next president of the school, Preston Kendall, under whose leadership the school continues to make significant progress with its work-study jobs program and financial structure.
Now, he is an award winner. At an awards dinner hosted by members of the Chicago Ignatian Volunteer Corps, Kendall was honored with the Madonna della Strada Award, whose recipients reflect the Ignatian values of direct service to the poor, and working and educating for a more just society.
One week later, Kendall received an honorary degree from Dominican University.
“The very essence of Cristo Rey is about bringing good people together,” Kendall said in accepting the Ignatian Volunteer Corps award. “That includes our students and all the other folks who make our school possible — volunteers, faculty and staff, work study colleagues and other benefactors — and letting them discover a shared sense of community, mission and faith in one another.”