By Paul McMullen and Erik Zygmont
Catholic Review Staff
March’s installment of Names and Numbers encompasses distinctive students, honors for three teachers, and a solemn observance in Carroll County.
$9,250
Total in scholarship awards received by the speech and debate team (pictured) at St. Louis School in Clarksville, which participated in the Speech Scholarship Competition March 5 at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney. St. Louis eighth-grader Lourdes Nguyen took first place; Uzoma Elekwachi finished in third; Austin Jameson and Thomas Gido received honorable mention accolades. St. Louis faculty members Barbara Hession and Debbie Rosenberg coached the students.
706
Number of the State Senate bill on behalf of which Juan Reyes, pictured below at left, testified on March 9 in Annapolis. The junior at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore spoke on behalf of the Maryland Education Credit, which would allow businesses that donate to nonprofit student assistance organizations – which assist students at nonpublic and public schools – to receive tax credits equal to 60 percent of their donations. Per the bill, which has passed the Senate and will be heard March 31 in the House of Delegates, students and prospective students at nonpublic schools would receive tuition assistance.
300
The approximate attendance at the second annual Drug Overdose and Prevention Vigil March 10 at St. John Parish in Westminster, where Monsignor James P. Farmer, pastor, has established himself as a Carroll County leader in the field. The priest, pictured with Deputy State’s Attorney Edward Coyne, left, and State’s Attorney Brian DeLeonardo, gave the opening prayer and remarks. Monsignor Farmer began a 12-step meeting at the parish to address the local heroin addiction crisis, which grew to the point where it was moved to a local recovery club. To read about last year’s vigil, click here.
10
The educators welcomed into the 2016 Sarah D. Barder Fellowship Program administered by The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY), including three from Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Constance Cordell teaches grades 6-8 at St. Margaret School in Bel Air;
Linda Judson teaches grades 6-8 at Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in Arbutus; and
Erin Moore teaches fifth grade at The School of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore.
All three were nominated by CTY students, and were inducted at an annual conference for fellows in San Francisco.
6
The weeks eighth-graders at St. Joseph School in Fullerton spent learning about financial literacy through the Junior Achievement program. Students learned about credit, renting vs. owning a home, bank accounts and loans, then were assigned a salary and family situation, and tasked with learning how to live within a budget. The annual program includes a visit from St. Joseph School parent Karla Hermosa, who works in the banking industry. She is pictured with Patrick McDonald, left, and Glenn Andreasik.
3
Number of mayors – from Emmitsburg, Thurmont and Taneytown – who participated in a school-wide “read-in” March 2 at Mother Seton School in Emmitsburg, in honor of Read Across America Day. Representatives from Mount St. Mary’s University and the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, both in Emmitsburg, also participated, as did the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and pastors and representatives from local parishes. The leaders – including Rebecca Corbell, pictured, director of worship at the Seton Shrine – read the children their favorite books by Dr. Seuss, whose birthday was also that day.
