MARY, QUEEN OF HEAVEN

 

My name is Fr. Esequiel Sanchez and I am the Pastor of Mary Queen of Heaven Church in Cicero. Mary Queen of Heaven parish is a bi-lingual community made up of about 90% Hispanic, many of whom are first generation immigrants. According to the 2005 Cicero Youth Task Force (CYTF) study, over 35% of the population in the Town of Cicero are under the age of 18. There are approximate 20,000 children are between the ages of 6-17 and of these only 3,000 are enrolled in any after-school program. The CYTF highlighted specifically as one of its priorities, the creation and support of new after-school program.

About two years ago (Summer of 2005) many parents and families in the community realized that there was an urgent need to help students with their academic achievement goals and acquisition of basic skills. According to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), only 46% of Hispanic students were proficient in reading and 63% were proficient in Math. As a community, we wanted to look into ways in which we could make a positive impact on the lives and educational attainment of the youths in Cicero. Out of numerous conversations with families and teachers in the neighborhood, we realized that what was most needed in the community was an academically oriented after-school program. We discovered that the reason why so many of our students were not succeeding in High School was because they did not poses basic skills in reading and math that would help them achieve their goals.


In the fall of 2006, as a result of all of these inquiries, the VIVA (Spanish word for “to live or to make a life”) Learning Enhancement Center was born. Concretely, it is our mission, as the parish community of Mary Queen of Heaven, to support 80-100 children and their families from grades 4th through 6th by having a positive impact on their reading fluency and comprehension skills as well as develop a culture and love for higher learning. We hire certified professional teachers from both Public and Catholic Schools who are dedicated to helping the children in this community. The model of Education we employ is “Readers Theater”, an interactive method of teaching reading fluency and comprehension through scripts and plays. The program runs from 3:00 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Last year we were able to secure $65,000 through ISBE and join in a partnership with “CREATE”, which is a co-operative between our parish, Family Focus and Northeastern University, providing quality after-school programming for the children of Cicero.

This past year we provided help and assistance to over 45 public school children all of whom showed significant improvement in their reading and comprehension scores. We also conducted mid-year and year-end evaluations with the parents of which over 90% rated the program as exceptional and highly recommended.


This year, through the grace of God, we were able to expand our partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education by becoming an agent and recipient of The 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant (21st CCLC). The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) administers this grant specifically to target schools with a high concentration of students from low-income families in order that students meet the Illinois Learning Standards and local standards in the core content areas, such as reading, math, and science. The grant provided for the efforts and services of Mary Queen of Heaven is $109,000. However, as a stipulation of this grant, we have been matched, respectively, with serving students from District 99’s Columbus West Elementary School. This is an exciting venture for our efforts and commitment to make a qualitative impact on the lives of the children in our public schools and neighborhood.



We hope to be able to expanding our program and provide more electives and services e.g.

The Viva Team and I would like to invite you to be a partner in our efforts to help support and inspire the children of Cicero. Viva is always in need of financial support and every little bit helps. Won't you please consider becoming a Viva partner by making a donation of $100.00 or more. Your donation will help us provide quality teachers as well as the materials needed to provide a quality education. The more financial support we receive, the more children and families we are able to support in achieving the building blocks needed for a successful academic career.

For more information concerning our program, or if you would like to make a donation, or if you simply would like to pay us a visit, please contact us at:

 


Mary Queen of Heaven
VIVA Program

Att: Alicia Gamboa, Director
5310 West 24th Place Cicero, IL. 60804
(708) 652-2821
E-mail: viva@maryqueenofheaven.com