It was a hot day in Takoma Park, Maryland, as family and friends of the Don Bosco Cristo Rey Class of 2022 filed into Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church eagerly to attend the school and work study program’s Baccalaureate Mass on June 1.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and the Eastern Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco sponsor Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park, Maryland, which provides a Catholic, college preparatory education and an innovative Corporate Work Study Program that serves mostly low-income Hispanic and Black families in the Washington, D.C. area.
Don Bosco offers a Corporate Work Study Program through the school. Through the program, students gain valuable work experience at leading Washington-area businesses, organizations and institutions while also earning money to help offset the expenses of their studies. Since Don Bosco Cristo Rey debuted in 2007 and had its first graduating class in 2011, all of its graduates have been accepted to college, and many of them are the first members of their families to attend college.
Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory celebrated the Mass and addressed, in the homily, the sacrifices parents make for their children.
“Parents, as far as it is possible, are universally willing to make extraordinary sacrifices for their children. Maybe then it is not just the persistence of young people that is so successful, but the extraordinary generous love that parents have for their children,” Cardinal Gregory said.
After Communion, the Cardinal’s Medal was given to graduating senior Keiry Segovia Campos. After the Mass, Segovia Campos said she suspected that she won the award as Jeremy McDonald started to read the introduction.
“I got it as soon as they said the church I go to, St. Bernard (in Riverdale Park, Maryland), I’m a teacher there for First Communion class,” Segovia Campos said. She comes from a family of Cardinal’s Medal recipients – her older brother has previously won the accolade.
As a catechist in her parish’s religious education program, Segovia Campos has prepared several youth for their First Communion at St. Bernard’s. While at Don Bosco Cristo Rey, she was actively involved at school as the general secretary of the Youth Ministry Team and as a student leader, assisting with retreats, liturgies, and activities throughout the year.
At her high school, Segovia Campos was an honor roll student, played on the girls' soccer team, and was named to the National Honor Society. She also worked at the law firm of Epstein Becker & Green as part of the school's Corporate Work Study Program.
In the fall, she is heading to Italy as part of a first-year abroad program through New York University, where she will be on the pre-health track studying neural science.
“It feels unreal, it’s so unbelievable, it came so quick to me, [living in New York] is exciting, I’m excited,” she said.
As for her plans in Italy, she said she’s looking forward to the change in scenery.
“The culture, I can’t wait to get to know all the new things, it’s going to be a huge, different experience,” Segovia Campos said.
According to Don Bosco Cristo Rey’s website, this is the 11th year in a row they have maintained their 100 percent college acceptance rate, along with 50 percent of the student body achieving the honor roll there and 7,680 hours spent on professional development courses.
