Giving Tuesday – Cicero Prep

Next year Cicero Prep will celebrate its 10th year since its inception in 2013, along with the graduation of our third class of seniors. From the two graduating classes we have had so far, we already have 3 graduates who have returned to Cicero to pay forward the virtues they fostered during their tenure here as students. We are so fortunate to have them back on campus to share their talents with our staff and scholars, and we celebrate them today in honor of #GivingTuesday.

Kristin McMahan, Cicero Prep graduating class of 2021

Kristin transferred to Cicero Prep from another small, local charter school which was shut down due to a lack of funding. She came at a challenging time for any student to transition – during her junior year of high school, and after school had already been in session for 2 weeks, making the transition that much harder. Add to that the fact that she came to a liberal arts school from a STEM school, and you can imagine the difficulty to acclimate to the demands and focus of Cicero Prep.

“During my first few weeks at Cicero, I saw students having deferential discussions that were far beyond anything I had ever experienced. The questions asked consisted of ‘what is wax?’ in Chemistry, and ‘what is the difference between divine justice and human justice?’ in Humane Letters. During this period, I was intimidated. Once I realized that I needed to let go of what others would think of me, for not knowing an answer I started to succeed. I participated by asking any and all questions that came to

mind. I worked hard and tried to make sense of the ideas that were being presented to me. These lessons provided the tools I needed to have a deeper understanding of the world around me.”

“After a few weeks, I finally got my footing and started to see what Cicero was really about: learning to love the path of discovery.” Additionally, she says that “this school has shown me there is a whole world of discovery and learning ahead of me. This education has taught me to pay attention to the little things, because this is where discovery happens. This school trains students to think and discover for themselves so that they can understand the world around them.”

Kristin returned to Cicero as a Teacher’s Assistant in the science department and “is blessed to be part of and see students going through the same transformation of discovery that I did. I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled around the world, and I’ve never found a place or community like Great Hearts Cicero! The teachers and staff are a family whose main goal is to encourage, challenge, and mentor their students. They teach their students not only their subjects, but also what it means to find beauty within them.”

On this Global Day of Giving, we applaud Kristin who gives back to our Cicero Prep community every single day. (You can read the stories of all three of our Cicero Prep alumni students working at Cicero in our social media content today!) Will you join us in our efforts to give back and raise $13,000 today to support Cicero Prep? By joining the movement, you are ensuring our classrooms continue to provide a tuition-free private school caliber education in a public school setting. Additionally, your name will be entered into a drawing to win a package of gift cards and events valued at $800 when you donate on #GivingTuesday!