This article is part of a series focused on this year’s motto of Unum: Engage, which highlights how students engage as one in different groups across campus. 

At first glance of CCHS, you see the usual chaos of a normal school day, but beneath the chaos is so much more. The Options Program here at Cathedral Catholic builds life-changing connections. Our school provides a program where students with intellectual disabilities and/or delays can truly engage with the Cathedral Catholic community, ensuring that our school lives out its motto of unum or one.

As the official school website states, “The Options Program is not only beneficial to its students, but to its peer mentors as well. It teaches the mentors qualities that can’t be learned from a book: patience, character, tolerance, compassion and respect. Living out these values encourages the rest of the student body to follow the example that the Option Program sets. Applying these traits prepares mentors and the Cathedral Catholic High School student body for a world beyond high school.”

An Options Mentor here at Cathedral, Cate Tran ’26, gives more insight into the amazing experiences she has had being a mentor and witnessing a student’s progress:  “I help her with her math, and at the beginning of the year she really struggled with math and writing down numbers. Just recently she started to write the numbers by herself. She took a practice test and got 100% without my help. It was super rewarding to see her progress.” As a mentor, supporting and being there for the student you work with is a very important aspect. Not only academically, but on a personal level as well.

Not every day as an Options mentor is an easy one. Tran also explains important qualities in being a mentor: “Patience and compassion are key,” she expresses. “You have to love being a mentor. There will be hard days, but if you love what you do, then it is worth it.”

Ms. Day, the teacher who facilitates the Options Program, shares more about the importance of this part of our school: “There are so many rewarding things being a part of this program!” she exclaims. “Looking back and seeing how students start as a freshman and the growth that I see by the time they graduate as a senior. The growth of not only my students in Options, but going hand and hand with the growth of the mentors as well. Seeing authentic relationships, and authentic friendships occur just by getting to know the student you are supporting is amazing to witness.”

The program creates a place where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and feel included. An Options Student here at Cathedral, Aubrey Alido ’26, expresses her experience with having a mentor: “It is amazing. They help me with my work! They make me feel happy and they are my friends!” she states. “I like to help my friends, and I love all of my teachers, especially Mrs. Falo, Mrs. Hallare, and also Ms. Day!” Aubrey highlights the value of the program as she builds strong relationships with each of her mentors. The program creates a place where all students know they are welcome.

This program is truly something special. How can you engage with it? The Peer Mentor Program is a year-long course where selected students have the opportunity to work with the students enrolled in the Options Program and the Academy Program. Connections are being built, growth within every individual part of the program is visible, and the supportive environment it fosters extends far beyond the classroom.