First funds from Sponsor-A-Student distributed

Intermountain Catholic

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Saint Catherine of Siena/Catholic Newman Center celebrates the annual Mass on the Grass Aug. 28 on the University of Utah campus. Among those who attended were U of U Interim President Lorris Betz and his wife, Ann.

SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time, the Utah Catholic Schools office was able to distribute funds from its Sponsor-A-Student program, which provides scholarships to students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to receive a Catholic education.

The program was started three years ago; the first donor was the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City. Wells Fargo, which contributed $12,500, was the largest donor, said Holy Cross Sister Catherine Kamphaus, superintendent of Utah Catholic Schools.

For the 2011-12 school year, $22,000 from the fund was distributed to six of the 16 Catholic schools in Utah. The recipient schools were chosen by their existing tuition forgiveness and total revenues. The six schools were Saint Andrew in Riverton; Saint Olaf in Bountiful; Saint Marguerite in Tooele; and Judge Memorial Catholic High School, Our Lady of Lourdes and Kearns-Saint Ann in Salt Lake City.

One of the scholarship students is a senior at Judge Memorial. His mother has died; his father works two jobs to support the family. Every morning, "Jacob" (not his real name) makes breakfast for his younger brother and sister, then takes them to school. After school, he helps his siblings with their homework, prepares dinner and then does his own homework. According to Judge officials, Jacob is an excellent student and will graduate in 2012 with the help of the Sponsor-A-Student program.

At St. Andrew, one of the students to benefit from the Sponsor-A-Student grant is "Jose" (not his real name.) Since he enrolled at the school two years ago, his parents divorced and his time is now split between two households. Despite the turmoil, he has kept up his grades and made the honor roll each quarter. He also has been awarded a Virtue of the Month award, and serves Mass on Sunday. He participates in the parish sports teams and, according to administrators, he shows signs of being a leader as he moves into high school.

Donations to the Sponsor-A-Student program may be made to Utah Catholic Schools, 27 C St., Salt Lake City, UT 84103.

For the 2011-12 school year, preliminary figures show overall enrollment at the 16 Catholic schools in Utah has returned to their 2009 numbers. Some individual schools gained students and others lost enrollment (see chart), but the schools have regained the 100 students they lost last school year.

Two schools – St. Andrew and St. Marguerite – have eighth-grade classes this year for the first time. St. Marguerite also boasts a new building for grades pre-K through 3rd; the older grades will remain in the church basement this year while the new building is expanded to accommodate their classrooms.

Other changes in the schools this year are administrative. When J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School in Salt Lake and Saint John the Baptist Elementary School in Draper complete their WCEA accreditation this spring, all the local schools will be accredited with this organization.

No overall curriculum changes are planned this year, said Holy Cross Sister Catherine Kamphaus, Utah Catholic Schools superintendent. However, her office is working to attract more Hispanic students: The Diocese of Salt Lake City is about 80 percent Hispanic but the school population is about 16 percent Hispanic.

"We want the school population to reflect the population of the diocese," said Holy Cross Sister Genevra Rolf, Utah Catholic Schools assistant superintendent, adding that, in many Spanish-speaking countries, a private school education is beyond the means of the middle class. "But that’s not true in this country," she said. "We’d like Hispanic families to come and bring their children and feel welcome. You don’t have to be rich."

Last year, Arturo Chavez, president and CEO of the Mexican American College, presented to school administrators a workshop on how to welcome people of different cultures. A similar workshop is planned for later this year.