WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 18, 2018 15
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK
Celebrating the achievements of Catholic schools
Since 1974, National Catholic
Schools Week, which occurs under
the auspices of the National
Catholic Educational Association
(NCEA), is the annual celebration of
Catholic education in the United States.
It starts the last Sunday in January
and runs all week, which in 2018
is January 28 through February 3.
The theme for the National Catholic
Schools Week 2018 is “Catholic Schools:
Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.”
Schools typically observe the annual
celebration week with Masses,
open houses and other activities for
students, families, parishioners and
community members. Through these
events, schools focus on the value
Catholic education provides to young
people and its contributions to our
church, our communities and our
nation.
For 2018, the daily themes are:
• Sunday: Celebrating Your Parish
— Catholic schools benefi t all year
long from the religious guidance,
prayers and support parishes
provide. Many parishes join in the
National Catholic Schools Week
celebration by devoting a Mass to
Catholic education.
• Monday: Celebrating Your Community
— A central aspect of Catholic
education is learning the importance
of service to others. When
students take part in service activities
they demonstrate the values
and faith gained through Catholic
education.
• Tuesday: Celebrating Your Students
— Schools celebrate students
during National Catholic Schools
Week by planning enjoyable and
meaningful activities for them and
recognizing their accomplishments.
• Wednesday: Celebrating the Nation
— On National Appreciation Day for
Catholic Schools, students, families,
educators and other Catholic school
supporters communicate the value
of Catholic education to government
leaders.
• Thursday: Celebrating Vocations —
By focusing on faith, knowledge and
service, Catholic schools prepare
children to use their God-given
talents to the fullest later in life.
• Friday: Celebrating Faculty, Staff
and Volunteers — On this day,
schools will honor teachers and
principals as well as administrators
and staff who support them in their
important work and thank the parents,
grandparents, alumni, parishioners
and school board members
who provide volunteer service.
Courtesy of the NCEA
• Saturday: Celebrating Families —
Parents, guardians and other family
members play a vital role in Catholic
education. Not only do they volunteer
at the school, they instill values
and expectations for academic excellence
in their children at home.
Help Catholic schools by investing in ‘Futures in Education’
BY MCGEORGE SORENSEN
For many families across Brooklyn
and Queens, sending their
children to a Catholic grammar
school may be an impossible task
because they have low incomes and
cannot afford the yearly tuition,
which runs into thousands of dollars
annually.
That’s where Futures in Education
comes in.
The nonprofi t organization operated
by the Diocese of Brooklyn and
Queens holds all kinds of fundraisers
each year to help parents across the
diocese aff ord a Catholic education for
their children. Futures in Education
also establishes partnership with
private donors and organizations
to enable schools to have updated
curriculums and the proper tools
needed to educate their students, and
to assist teachers in refi ning their craft
through training programs.
There are a litany of ways private
donors can contribute to Catholic
education through the Futures in Education.
One way is the “Be an Angel
to a Student” Program, in which an
individual can help cover the cost of a
Catholic school student’s tuition every
year starting at $1,500. Angels also get
to know the students they are helping
by exchanging notes, cards and drawings;
all Angels receive progress
reports on how they’re students are
performing in class.
Each Angel gets to meet their
students at the Angel Reception,
an annual celebration held by
Futures in Education. The Angels
are also invited to attend school
plays, recitals and graduation
ceremonies.
“We continue to be hard at work ensuring
that every deserving family requesting
fi nancial tuition assistance
receives it through our Be an Angel
to a Student and other scholarship
programs,” Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello,
vicar for development for the Diocese
of Brooklyn, said in a December 2016
letter. “However, it is not enough to
look back on only the successes of the
year. Instead, we must also focus on
those students who we were unable
to assist and fi nd additional donors
willing to join us in support of this
cause.”
During the 2015-16 school year,
Futures in Education doled out more
than $7 million in scholarships to 4,873
students.
Futures in Education also works
to connect Catholic grammar school
alumni with their alma maters, and
young executives to schools around
the diocese, to further increase support
for Catholic education.
Individual donations of any amount,
as always, are also accepted.
To learn more about the Futures in
Education program, or to contribute
to the cause, visit www.futuresineducation.
org.
Photo via Facebook/Futures in Education
