CEF scholarship program helps students excel in the classroom and beyond
When St. Dominic school in Bolingbrook closed at the end of the 2021-22 school year, then-third grade student Carter and his family were in search of a new school.
The family settled in at St. Mary Gostyn in Downers Grove and Carter could not be happier.
As a fifth grader, he participated in basketball and cross country, which he said will be traded in for track and field, and excelled in the classroom.
Above all, Carter has made a whole new group of friends outside of his Aurora neighborhood, which he can keep up with through gaming or having an old-fashioned sleep over.
Finding a Catholic school for Carter was paramount for the family, not only because both of his parents attended Catholic schools for their entire education, but because with his dad’s schedule as a police officer, Christina was looking for a place to teach that she could bring Carter to and from school each day.
“There is something about a Catholic school and the family that it is,” Christina said “ The principal and assistant principal and the pastor know everyone by name.”
While the family wanted a Catholic education, they needed some financial help – and they found that in a scholarship from the Catholic Education Foundation of the Diocese of Joliet.
“We are incredibly grateful for this blessing, and it is difficult to express just how helpful it has been for us,” Christina said. “We are thrilled to have Carter at St. Mary of Gostyn, where he is thriving after St. Dominic closed a few years ago.
“St. Mary of Gostyn is an amazing school and we are so thankful that we ended up there. The scholarship helps immensely. It is wonderful that [the CEF] has this program and the donors that want to support Catholic education, because we find it so valuable for Carter and our family.”
Carter’s dad Mark said that value starts with the foundation a Catholic school builds.
“The kids have a good moral base,” he said.
Carter is enjoying his time at St. Mary Gostyn – in the classroom and in athletics.
“I like basketball the best,” he said. “It is fun to play for the school because all of my friends are playing with me, so that is cool.”
Being in a small school offers no-cut athletics, which Christina likes.
“No matter what skill level you are, you have an opportunity,” she said.
In the classroom, Carter, like most sixth-grade boys, loves PE class, but he also enjoys using the 3D printer in his Social Studies class. His favorite subject, however, is Religion.
“It is a serious topic,” Carter said. “Our teacher can make it fun, not sad. I can also flip ahead in my book and read about things before we get to the topic.”