East Boston Central Catholic School had some special visitors last Thursday afternoon as part Catholic Schools Foundation’s (CSF) annual Inner-City Scholarship Fund Bus Tour.
New England Patriots Hall of Famer Andre Tippett joined Peter Lynch of Fidelity and Marc White of J.P. Morgan Chase, to meet EBCCS students they support through the Inner-City Scholarship Fund. The tour provide an opportunity for some of the city’s most prominent businessmen, like Lynch and White to hear from Tippett and school staff about why they supports Catholic education.
Tippett, whose son, Coby Tippett, attends Xaverian Brothers High School and plays football like his dad, said he has been nothing but pleased with his son’s Catholic education.
“My son Coby is going into his senior year and my wife and I chose to send him to Xaverian due to many factors but mostly due to the value based education that the school offered,” said Tippett. “I have not been disappointed yet and the school makes it a priority to have the young men advocate for themselves and their school and there is a real sense of community and family similar to what I see here at EBCC.”
Tippett said when he was growing up in New Jersey he saw a lot of his peers get the opportunity to receive a Catholic education–an opportunity he wished he had when he was younger.
“Everyone that I saw get that opportunity all came back successful,” said Tippett. “This is why we are here because educating kids without the means to afford a Catholic education is vital for our communities and our business community. The statistics are proof with things like a 98 percent graduation rate it is no wonder so many top businesses support the CSF in our endeavors.”
After addressing the crowd Tippett presented autographed footballs to student representatives for their stellar community service.
EBCCS Principal Maryann Manfradonia thanked the donors to the CSF in attendance for their commitment to supports schools like Central Catholic.
“Your philanthropic efforts keep Catholic schools like EBCCS not only surviving but thriving,” said Manfradonia. “You folks are champions of Catholic education through your donations that directly help the students at our school.”
Manfradonia then turned her attention to the students of EBCCS.
“It costs your parents thousands of dollars to provide you with a quality Catholic education,” she said. “Sometimes your parents may struggle to give you this type of education. But with the assistance of the CSF we are able to give more children in our communities the education their parents are looking for.”
The Inner-City Scholarship Fund is the signature program of The Catholic Schools Foundation. Through this fund, thousands of children in need receive partial scholarships to attend Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Boston. Scholarships are given primarily to students in high poverty neighborhoods and are awarded without regard to race, religion, national origin or gender.
New England Patriots Hall of Famer Andre Tippett presents an autographed football to student representatives for their stellar community service at East Boston Central Catholic School as part of Catholic Schools Foundation’s (CSF) annual Inner-City Scholarship
Fund event.
CSF awards grants to qualifying schools along with guidelines for distributing the money. Using its funding level and the guidelines, each school manages its own scholarship application process. Typically schools have a committee that reviews scholarship applications and communicates each student’s financial aid package