Supporters of Partners in Education raise funds and awareness for scholarship program

Sarah Attenoukon, 12, is quick to admit she likes to talk.

As a recipient of a Partners in Excellence scholarship, Sarah appreciates the opportunities she has been given as a seventh grader at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School in Baltimore and is planning her future around her ability to gab.

Sixth grader Izunna Onubogu, center, and seventh grader Sarah Attenoukon, right, students at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School, lead attendees in the Prayer of St. Francis at the Partners in Excellence (PIE) Scholarship Breakfast Sept. 24, 2024, at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore as emcee Mark Viviano joins the prayer. (Christopher Gunty/CR Staff)

“I would like to study journalism.I want to share my talent and share the news,” she said, proudly, after the PIE breakfast Sept. 24, where she and fellow schoolmate Izunna Onubogu, 11, a sixth grader, led the opening prayer.

Since its beginnings in 1996, the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Partners in Excellence scholarship program has awarded more than 30,000 scholarships totaling more than $40 million to children in Baltimore City.

“This is not a drama or a fairy tale, it’s real life,” said Mark Viviano, PIE board member and emcee of the event, speaking to a crowd of about 150 donors, students and families gathered at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore. “We can have a profound impact when we come together.”

Viviano, retired sports director of WJZ-TV and a Catholic Review columnist, told the Catholic Review he went to Catholic schools in his native Missouri.

“I had a Catholic education through high school,” Viviano said. “In our city with all the challenges facing education, that we can offer a Catholic education to young people, there is no question about the significance of that.”

The back-to-school event also marked the start of PIE Giving Day with the goal to create 60 new scholarships, Viviano said. Members of the PIE board would match each gift up to $25,000 – a goal that was met that same day.

Archbishop William E. Lori addresses the Partners in Excellence (PIE) Scholarship Breakfast Sept. 24, 2024, at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore. (Christopher Gunty/CR Staff)

PIE organizers later announced that a longtime PIE supporter offered an additional $15,000 matching opportunity.

Adriana Mendoza de la Cruz, a freshman at The Catholic School of Baltimore, was the featured speaker at the breakfast. A PIE scholar since she was in pre-K, Mendoza-De La Cruz said afterward that the scholarship “definitely impacted my life in a great way.”

“I didn’t know any English, now I am superfluent,” Mendoza de la Cruz said. “I appreciate everything they have done for me.”

The Lockhart-Vaughan Foundation was recognized at the breakfast for its generous support over the years. Kate Rawson Powell, executive director, accepted the award.

“We believe every child deserves a quality education,” Powell said. “We play a very small part. We have the easy job. The hard work is done by our school leadership, staff and the students.”

Archbishop William E. Lori thanked the sponsors for providing students a “very, very bright future,” noting that graduates of Catholic schools have a “proven track record” of being productive in the community.

Musical groups from local Catholic schools provided entertainment throughout the event, Guests were greeted by a student bucket drum band from Archbishop Borders School in Highlandtown and the schola (choir) from Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore. Trumpeters Emmanuel Rodriguez and Thomas Cudjoe II, seventh graders at Mother Mary Lange Catholic School, performed.

“It is a day to celebrate the achievements of our students, and our schools and our educators,” Archbishop Lori said, afterward. “And the wonderful generosity of our partners.”

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org

To view more photos from the Partners in Excellence breakfast, click through the slideshow below: