It’s the second week of school for Regis High School freshman Lucas Contreras.
As he and his fellow classmates rush to class, he takes it all in.
For Contreras, just walking through these halls is a gift.
“The community has been very welcoming and my teachers are very kind and friendly so I’m excited for what’s to come,” Contreras said.
Contreras recently graduated from Holy Child Jesus Catholic Academy in Richmond Hill.
He was able to attend the school thanks to Futures in Education Angels, private donors who helped his parents with tuition.
But long before graduation, Contreras had his sights set on Regis, one of the best schools in New York City.
“It was definitely a hard experience going through this whole process,” Contreras said. “I had to write essays and take multiple tests and then I had an interview and that was really nerve-wracking but I got past that and now here I am at Regis. I’m proud of myself and I’m proud to know my parents are proud of me.”
Since fifth grade, Contreras has been participating in the REACH program, coming every Saturday to Regis to take advanced classes, build leadership skills, and get in touch with his spirituality, preparing him to go to one of REACH’s seven partner high schools.
“They just wanted you to get to learn more about not just yourself but how the world works, we learned a ton of different things everything from Algebra 2 to geometry and that has helped now that we’re actually in high school because we’re a bit more ahead of our peers in our work and it’s much easier for us.”
At Regis, money is no object. Every student here is on scholarship. REACH program director and Regis alum Russell Quinones said even in this pool of students, Contreras and his fellow REACH alumni are special.
“Our students first off are incredibly motivated to succeed,” Quinones said. “They come in hungry to learn and hungry to grow both academically and to grow in what it means to be young men for others.”
For Contreras, his education is a point of pride for his family. Setting an example for his younger brothers is what matters most.
His education in the Diocese of Brooklyn has proved invaluable. He sits in class as a freshman prepared, putting his best foot forward.
“Going to REACH really helped me,” Contreras said. “It felt like it’s a gift not only when I grow up will I have such a good education I’m also going to know what is right and wrong because of the classes I’m taking on morals and theology. I’m being a man for others.”
“At REACH and at Regis we know that talent is distributed equally and opportunity is not and at REACH we share a mission of using that gift of education and turn it into giving back.”
With a strong Catholic faith and a school that has his back, for Contreras nothing is out of reach.