David Parrish

He had a vision for life. It was all pasted up on his “vision board” – words like family, opportunities, genius, world’s greatest, climbing the corporate ladder, starts with a single step.

When did you get your first job? Ask that question to students at the Christ the King College Preparatory School on Chicago’s west side, and their answers will be roughly the same.

Along with typical childhood concerns about schoolwork, family and relationships with peers, the children of Chicago’s West Side also have to deal with gun violence. So far in 2016, there have been 267 homicides in Chicago, compared to 489 homicides citywide in all of 2015, according to the Chicago Tribune.