Our relentless perseverance to shape students of virtue in heart, soul and mind

In 2006, actor Will Smith portrayed the amazing story of Chris Gardner. In the early 1980’s, Chris, then aged 27 and a veteran of the United States Navy, along with his toddler son were homeless for a year in San Francisco. Enrolled in a low-paying training program at a brokerage firm, he didn't have enough money to raise the deposit to rent an apartment. So with custody of his son Chris Jr., Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him as part of the city's working homeless caring for his toddler son. Motivated by the promise he made to himself as a fatherless child to never abandon his own children, the two spent almost a year moving among shelters, "HO-tels," soup kitchens, and even sleeping in the public restroom of a railway station. And what little money he had was spent on putting his son in daycare so he could travel to work each day. Despite this adversity, Chris Gardner completed the training program, passed his Series 7 brokerage licensure exam and was offered a full-time job at Dean Witter Reynolds. After years of success in the finance industry, Chris Gardner’s net worth is reported to be 60 million dollars. This real life rags-to-riches story is a portrayal of one man’s love for his child, a hope filled optimism and relentless perseverance.

Last week, our school community held our second annual “Race for Education” event. Although the proceeds from this fundraiser may not have reached the status of Chris Garner’s net worth, the event nearly reached our goal of $30,000 in support of the best Catholic school in Baltimore. Each family was asked to solicit donations from friends, co-workers, fellow church members and extended family members - all with the goal of providing essential revenue for St. Agnes. On “Race Day”, our students were organized by grade level groups and completed laps around the gymnasium with a frenzied energy that would rival those runners who participated in last weekend’s Baltimore Marathon. As an included part of our “Race Day”, the students who collected the most funds received recognition for their success and were invited to announce the total money raised. As of the day of the event, we sat at less than $1000 shy of our goal. And although “Race Day” has since passed, we are still accepting donations towards surpassing our goal. So if you are interested to contributing to this fundraiser, please contact our Advancement Director, Katie Wilder at kwilder@stagnesschool.net. I would like to thank Katie and Allison Joyce for their tireless efforts in leading such a successful fundraiser.

As Catholic schools, we take great pride in being good stewards of our resources as we provide an excellent faith based education at a price tag nearly $6,000 less than the average cost to educate a child within the state of Maryland. To do so, we rely on the generous support of our community to help offset this difference.

The love we have for the children of St. Agnes, the hope filled optimism we have for their bright future, and the relentless perseverance we have for shaping students of virtue in heart, soul and mind; guides our mission as a Christ centered and academically inspiring educational program. We are truly blessed!

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