Ariana Garcia knows the halls she walks today are preparing her path for tomorrow.
“No matter what I do, I’ve always said I want to make a positive difference in someone’s life,” said Garcia.
“She’s going to set the world on fire,” added Dani Ray Barton.
But before Garcia does that, you’ll likely find the high school senior carefully organizing flammable materials in the newly renovated Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics (STEAM) Center at Cristo Rey Fort Worth College Prep (CRFW) in Texas. Garcia serves as a lab tech for freshmen biology and senior environmental science classes.
“We were recently growing bacteria, doing enzyme testing and working with fishtank water for an ammonia experiment,” she excitedly shared. “We truly find joy in it.”
Regions Bank’s New Markets Tax Credit team helped support CRFW’s STEAM expansion, which added 12 new classrooms and labs and will allow the school to grow its current enrollment of 300 by 100 students. And Regions’ Community Engagement team and Fort Worth market joined forces to surprise CRFW students and teachers with a $22,000 donation supporting the STEAM conference room and student fund at a ribbon cutting last November.
Garcia and Barton, Cristo Rey Fort Worth’s president, witnessed that day in awe.
“The new STEAM Center is amazing,” said Garcia. “We now have lab coats and aprons. The students say, ‘I feel like I’m a doctor; I feel like I’m a scientist.’”
Barton will tell you helping CRFW students manifest those career aspirations was the goal from day one.
“When we built the school in 2018, we wanted a place our students and families deserved,” she said. “This reflects what we want for our students and staff. It’s really about pride and the spaces reflecting that as much as possible. We’re grateful to everyone who’s contributed to those spaces in the STEAM Center, including Regions.”
Julie Cottongame and Kyle Sederstrom, both Commercial Banking relationship managers with Regions in Fort Worth, have felt that gratitude.
Cottongame while attending the ribbon cutting.
“Several students spoke about how the new classrooms and labs will enhance their learning experience,” she said. “After previously being in small classrooms without windows, they were excited to have natural light in the classrooms. This new space is helping to better prepare them for college and their future careers.”
Sederstrom, who initially plugged in with CRFW in 2024, now serves as a board member and leads the organization’s Jobs Committee focused on expanding its Corporate Work Study Program.
“Cristo Rey Fort Worth provides incredible opportunities to students of limited economic means to pursue higher education and the prospect of a brighter future,” said Sederstrom. “My volunteerism with the school is about much more than just being involved in the community; it allows me to help be part of providing a measurable impact and watching our students thrive. It gives me hope the American Dream is still alive and well.”
Cristo Rey Fort Worth provides incredible opportunities to students of limited economic means to pursue higher education and the prospect of a brighter future.
Kyle Sederstrom, Regions Commercial Banking relationship manager
Meaning, when the dream to create a first-rate science incubator at CRFW began, Sederstrom was all-in.
“I met Kyle when we were working through the question, ‘How do we make the STEAM Center a reality?’ recalled Barton. “Kyle is very much a facilitator. He immediately stepped in to help because he’s really committed to our Work Study program. He’s always talking with people in Tarrant County about the school.”
Just like Ariana Garcia.
“I always say Cristo Rey feels like my second family,” she said. “It’s a safe, inspiring, supportive and faithful place.”
That uplifting environment is empowering Garcia – CRFW’s National Honor Society president, varsity basketball team member and an elementary school student mentor – for her next step of attending college to study nursing. She’s weighing several campus options.
“Nursing has always been something I wanted to do,” she said. “I want to be there to help people – not just during sad times, but also during times of excitement and joy like pediatrics and labor and delivery.”
I always say Cristo Rey feels like my second family,” she said. “It’s a safe, inspiring, supportive and faithful place.
Ariana Garcia, CRFW’s National Honor Society president
Observing Garcia and more discover – and achieve – what’s possible regularly inspires Sederstrom.
“The transformation of our students from freshmen to seniors is incredible,” he said. “Yes, they’re excelling at academics, but they’re also maturing as people – and they’re already making an impact in our community.”
As Garcia begins thinking about marching to “Pomp and Circumstance” in May, she is incredibly grateful for her Cristo Rey experience – including the recently added STEAM Center enhancing it.
“Our teachers are truly supportive; they’re always there for us through academics, extracurriculars and personal support,” she said. “And the resources we now have that can seem so little are really big to us.”
All precisely what the Cristo Rey Fort Worth team is committed to delivering to students.
“The best part of my job is seeing what they do when they leave our doors,” said Barton. “We’re here to help prepare them for that. Ariana is a very motivated young lady. She’s compassionate and she very much wants to be a good human being. She’s also a very hopeful young lady. She really hopes for a lot for herself, her family and her school.”