“The last four years have truly changed my life,” said Sebastian, pictured above with his fellow classmates from Camden Catholic. “Because of the Domenica Foundation’s support, I was able to grow as a leader, performer, student and person. I will always be grateful for the people who believed in me and invested in my future.”
Fourteen recipients of Domenica Scholarship graduated last week. That represents a 100% on-time graduation rate for this cohort. Together, they earned more than $3.5 million in college scholarships and awards. Like Sebastian who will attend American University in the fall, all are moving on to post-secondary education and one will join the Air Force.
Every year, we award Domenica Scholarships to rising ninth graders who are graduating from Catholic Partnership Schools. The scholarships enable them to attend one of four Catholic high schools in the area. Our aim is to help prepare students who might otherwise languish in public high schools for success in college and beyond.
Elena Piperno, director of the Domenica Foundation, visited each school to congratulate the graduates—and to hand out T-shirts to remind them of our ongoing support. “It has been amazing to watch these students mature into the compassionate, kind, respectful, and hard-working young men and women they are today,” she said.
“The program gave me the chance to say “yes” to experiences that shaped who I am today,” said Sebastian. Over the four years, this class has taken advantage of every opportunity offered to them. For fun, they’ve gone to Phillies games, our annual hayride and end of year parties. They’ve visited more than five local universities, including Rowan University where six scholars will attend in the fall. Many even partook in a special event with Virtua Health to learn about careers in the health industry.
We are so proud of our graduates! Each Domenica Scholarship is an investment in that student and their future. The ROI, as we see it, is what they make of that future.
In her pre-graduation visits, Elena shared this pride and this vision with the students. She also shared the hope that they would stay connected with their elementary and high schools and with Camden.
“I am here for our scholars to support and guide them, but I don’t look like them and don’t have their experiences,” she said. “These graduates are the ones who can lead and inspire younger kids to be what they want to be, to see themselves as doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals.”
“Other than that,” she said, “I told them they owe us nothing but to make their dreams come true.”