Notre Dame priest gives speech

Maria High School recently hosted a reception at which the University of Notre Dame presented its new report, “To Nurture the Soul of a Nation: Latino Families, Catholic Schools, and Educational Opportunity.” More than 100 principals, pastors and archdiocesan and community leaders attended the reception. The Rev. Joseph Corpora, CSC, director of University- School Partnerships at Notre Dame, explained the Report of the Notre Dame Task Force on the Participation of Latino Children and Families in Catholic Schools.

Nationwide currently, only 53 percent of Latinos graduate from high school, and only 25 percent of Latinos aged 18 to 24 enroll in college. Also, only 16 percent of Latino 18-year-olds are considered college ready. In December 2008, Notre Dame organized a special task force to begin studying one central question: What can be done to narrow the achievement gap by extending the Catholic school advantage to more Latino children?

The Catholic school advantage shows that Latinos who attend Catholic schools are 42 percent more likely to graduate high school and two-and-a-half times more likely to graduate college than their public school peers. But in Cook and Lake counties, only one percent of Latinos send their children to Catholic schools even though Latinos are 40 percent of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s membership.

The Corpora announced Notre Dame’s partnership with the Archdiocese of Chicago in the Catholic School Advantage Campaign. The campaign will join together educators and community members from 40 schools to devise strategies for making Catholic education more accessible for Latino children. The campaign’s goal is to double the Latino enrollment in archdiocesan Catholic schools within five years.

The good news being reported by Maria High School, the event’s host, is that 39 percent of Maria’s school population is Latina. Moreover, Maria fully expects that 100 percent of the 2010 graduating class will be accepted into college. Additionally, two-thirds of Maria’s 2010 Illinois State Scholars, and two winners of the prestigious Posse Foundation Scholarship, earning full four-year college tuition, are Latina students. Finally, the most recent valedictorian, ranking first in Maria’s 2009 graduating class, was Latina.

For more information about To Nurture the Soul of a Nation, visit catholicschooladvantage. nd.edu. For more information about Maria High School, call Mario Escobedo at (773) 925-8686, ext. 116, or visit mariahighschool.org.

This is part of the March 10, 2010 online edition of The Beverly Review.

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