Thursday, March 30th, 2006 in Omaha World-Herald
By Veronica Stickney
Being eligible for aid from the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Omaha almost makes the Rev. Dave Korth cry.
As director of the St. Augustine Indian Mission School in Winnebago, Neb., Korth knows how much his school could benefit.
Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Children’s Scholarship Fund’s national office, the Omaha chapter will dole out an additional 75 scholarships next school year. Some of those could go to students at St. Augustine, which the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Omaha was able to add to its coverage area because of the grant.
“It’s amazing what this is going to mean,” Korth said Wednesday. At St. Augustine, 76 percent of the school’s 120 students receive free or reduced-price lunches, he said.
The Children’s Scholarship Fund provides partial tuition assistance for low-income families to send their children to private or parochial schools.
Since 1999, Omaha’s chapter has granted more than $7.5 million in scholarships. In the 2005-2006 school year, the fund helped more than 1,800 children attend 81 private and parochial schools in Omaha and surrounding rural communities. Scholarships averaged $937. Families are expected to pay at least $500.
The grant and St. Augustine’s eligibility were announced at the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Omaha’s third annual luncheon Wednesday at the downtown Doubletree Hotel.
More than 70,000 children have received assistance since the Children’s Scholarship Fund began in 1998, said Mike McCurry, a former spokesman for then-President Clinton and a member of the Children’s Scholarship Fund’s board. He was a guest speaker at the luncheon.
“What brings me to this cause,” he said, “is the fight for justice and the opportunity for educational equality. We cannot, as a country, allow schools to fail.
“This program is helping awaken America to the power of choice when it comes to improving the quality of schools.”
Six Children’s Scholarship Fund of Omaha recipients were honored at the luncheon with awards for leadership, spirit and overcoming obstacles. They are:
NaCarra Eona, a fifthgrader at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School in Omaha.
Jessica Zuniga, a first-grader at St. Leonard Catholic School in Madison, Neb.
Gabriella Reyes, an eighth-grader at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Omaha.
Thai-Son Vu, an eighthgrader at St. Margaret Mary Catholic School in Omaha.
Mary Bencker, an eighthgrader at St. Richard Catholic School in Omaha.
Luke Minturn, a seventhgrader at Trinity Christian School in Omaha.