Talent is like electricity,” the poet Maya Angelou once said. “We don’t understand electricity. We use it.”
But unlike produced electricity, true human talent sometimes goes untapped — a valuable resource and gift from God that goes unused. There is a faith-based school on the near East Side of Cleveland that is changing that.
St. Martin de Porres is a Catholic, co-educational high school located in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood. Its students come exclusively from families with limited economic means.
“St. Martin was founded 16 years ago as a part of a group of nationwide schools called the Cristo Rey network,” says Chaz Napoli, president of the school. “There are now 40 Cristo Rey schools across the nation, and there are several characteristics that make us unique.”
The first is that Cristo Rey schools are typically located in the heart of an urban area, near the neighborhoods and communities the schools serve. Each school is also predisposed for college preparatory academics.
“Our goal is to help our young adults and partner with them to get into college,” Napoli says. “We have a rigorous college credit plus curriculum and overall college prep program.”
But the school also has a unique corporate work/study program. Working one day a week from freshman through the senior year, a student can earn nearly 30 percent of the cost of their education, while building an impressive resume and developing a strong professional network — before they ever walk through a collegiate door. The school partners with more than 120 companies in the Greater Cleveland area, with names that read like a Who’s Who of businesses.
“We also have very strong student life services, not just in activities and sports, but we have extensive college guidance and on-site emotional counseling, so we can really make sure our students remain focused on their path while here,” Napoli says. “Lastly, we are faith-based. We are not owned by the Catholic Diocese or a religious order, but we do bring a Golden Rule faith to our community, making sure our students know that God loves them, that we love them and that they should love each other, take care of one another, forgive each other and include each other — that’s what makes Cristo Rey and St. Martin so unique.”
Know a Tree By Its Fruit
St. Martin graduates are already impacting the colleges they attend and, ultimately, the organizations where they are hired. Take Naudia Loftis, a senior at John Carroll University, as a case in point. Returning to her alma mater, Loftis can’t walk down a hallway without someone calling out or running up to say hello.
“She was not only an outstanding academic scholar, but is so involved in the community and in challenging others in our community to elevate their game, both as human beings and as partners with each other,” says Napoli. “It’s not just her combination of intelligence, rigor and academic excellence, but how she cares for people in our community, and she lives that out in a variety of ways.”
“St. Martin has always been like a family to me,” says Loftis, who grew up with her mother and father and four siblings in Cleveland’s Kinsman neighborhood and attended Cleveland Public Schools prior to her freshman year. “When I first applied here and then shadowed, I was very intimidated.”
Cleveland Public Schools were not as intense, nor as academically demanding. In addition, Loftis had to make an arduous hour-and-a-half commute by bus to and from school every day.
“That first year really toughened me up,” she adds. “A lot of times, you get projects in high school you think might be meaningless. But, a lot of the projects they gave us here, from our wellness fair to the art walk, are all things I am doing right now at John Carroll. I had to write a 10-page paper when I was in school here, and now I am writing 20-page papers in college that seem like nothing because they prepped me for it here.”
“But I ended up coming back my sophomore year because I had built so many relationships with people here,” says Loftis. “They were the reason I stayed.
Loftis graduated from St. Martin in 2016 and is now a senior at John Carroll University majoring in communications and digital media with an “A” average. But perhaps more importantly, she is an advocate and agent of social change focused on seeking an end to gun violence.
Loftis is a member of the Arrupe Scholars Program, an academic scholarship program training students with the skills and abilities to be leaders for social change and advocates for justice. In the aftermath of the shooting death of 12-year-old Clevelander Tamir Rice, Loftis got involved in efforts to create new safe spaces for youth and is currently interning with the Tamir Rice Foundation. Fighting against gun violence is an issue that is especially important to Loftis.
“My family was impacted by gun violence in various ways,” she says. “September marked the 10-year anniversary of my cousin’s death from gun violence, and last year was the 10th anniversary of my aunt who got killed. My uncle was a victim, and my siblings have also lost a lot of friends. So it is something that has touched my family and also my community, so I really want to do something about it.”
Today, Loftis works closely with Tamir Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, to develop the Tamir Rice Afrocentric Cultural Center, which will serve youth in Cleveland, advancing juvenile rights through cultural and educational programs.
She currently serves as a student liaison through John Carroll’s Center for Service and Social Action, where she leads other JCU students in weekly service placements, facilitates reflection and strengthens community
partnerships.
Clearly, Loftis has already distinguished herself as a remarkable campus and community leader. And, she is diligently working for positive change.
“As we look to our school’s future, our vision is to be the leader within the Cristo Rey Network and Cleveland for our families, students and their futures,” says Napoli. “But we are not done yet. Our work continues to address the ever-changing physical and programmatic needs that will best serve our students.”