Celebrating Catholic Schools
Each year, as a kickoff to National Catholic Schools Week, the Diocese of Austin holds a special evening to celebrate our most dedicated stakeholders. This year the 11th Annual Celebrating Catholic Schools Awards Dinner will be held on Saturday, January 19, 2019 featuring Curtis Martin, CEO of Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS).

This annual semi-formal dinner honors the “unsung” heroes at each of our 21 Catholic schools and raises much needed funds for Catholic school families who wouldn't otherwise be unable to afford a Catholic education for their child.  Over $1 million has been returned to schools to increase accessibility to Catholic education for so many families.  We are so appreciative of the generosity and look forward to this year's celebration.  

I am proud to announce that the honorees for this year’s event are Phil and Mary Ann Everett. Phil and Mary Ann have been strong supporters of St. Mary’s Catholic School for years. Some time ago, at a teacher’s bequest, they created a garden on the school grounds and have worked with our students tending to the garden and teaching them, including the Junior Master Gardeners, Level 2, for Middle School.

Two years ago Phil and Mary Ann began the Learn-Grow-Eat-Go program with our 4th and 5th grade students. Not only did our students learn the fine art of gardening, but they studied the items they grew and created food dishes with their products. The garden has now become a Monarch Butterfly Way Station and this year the job of tagging the beautiful butterflies has become yet another activity our students will be able to take part in.

Through the Central Texas Master Naturalists Phil and Mary Ann give of their time to educate our students about Texas, its animals and habitats, and have invited others to help our students become more aware of their environment. Phil and Mary Ann have also been instrumental in the foliage upkeep on the school grounds, always looking toward the beauty of the school.

Phil has joined our Consultative School Board and has given many hours of his time in support of our mission.

Phil and Mary Ann Everett have given unselfishly of their time,talents and treasures to St. Mary’s Catholic School, for many years and are quite deserving of this award. Please join us in honoring such wonderful stakeholders in the life of St. Mary’s Catholic School.
For more information please contact: Jill Holmaas at (512) 949-2497 or visit this website to reserve a spot: https://www.csdatx.org/celebrating-catholic-schools . Please indicate you are with St. Mary’s Catholic School in Temple so we can all sit together.