Catholic school students vie for ‘Students of Year

By CHRISTINE BORDELON
Clarion Herald

Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans have much to be proud of by having two students advance as finalists this year in the Louisiana Department of Education Student of the Year competition.

Fifth-grader Anthony Amadeo from Our Lady of Prompt Succor School in Chalmette, and 12th-grader Kathleen Rush from Archbishop Hannan High School in Covington were among 21 finalists in the state’s annual “Students of the Year” from public, charter and non-public schools.

Eighth-grader Hartley Faucheux of St. Charles Catholic High School was the regional eighth-grade nonpublic student nominee from the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

“We are very strong,” said Carole C. Elliot, associate superintendent of elementary schools for the archdiocesan Department of Catholic Education and Faith Formation. “We won two of the three categories on the regional level.”

The archdiocese hosts the nonpublic school Student of the Year competition and has a judges’ committee that selects one student for each of the three categories from local Catholic school nominations to send first to regionals.

As state finalists, Amadeo and Rush were selected for the final round, based on the electronic portfolios they submitted detailing their academic achievement, leadership skills, character and service to their schools and communities. They also submitted a writing sample and participated in an online interview to assess their “communications and critical thinking skills.”

Amadeo: Faith drives me

Amadeo was named Louisiana’s Non-Public 5th Grade Student of the Year. He has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average since first grade at Our Lady of Prompt Succor and earned the Christian Leadership Award in kindergarten, second and fourth grades, as well as the school spirit award in second and third grades.

He was a fourth- and fifth-grade Student Council class representative and also participated in yearbook, science, library, 4-H clubs, school plays, flag football and indoor ball. He also plays on a travel baseball team and other recreational sports teams. In 2020-21, he received the “Coach’s Award” for Christian behavior and sportsmanship. He has also been an altar server since second grade.

“Faith is my driving force,” Amadeo said. “Faith that Jesus endured all his suffering for humankind gives me the strength to continue on when I don’t think I can. My faith has given me the knowledge of knowing that God is always there for me. He is all-knowing, and his love never wavers. With God, all things are possible. … He gives me the strength to walk in his footsteps so that others may see him in me.”


Rush: Savor every moment
Rush, 18, who was a previous state finalist in eighth grade, is not one to toot her own horn and considers herself a “space nerd” who marvels at the grand scale of space and human’s ability to explore space. Rush ran varsity cross country at Archbishop Hannan for five years, was student class president from seventh through 11th grade and student body president in 12th grade. She also was salutatorian of her senior class.

A parishioner of Mary Queen of Peace in Mandeville, Rush was a junior counselor at the 2021 Louisiana Association of Student Council (LASC) Summer Workshops; a member of the Louisiana Youth Orchestra; earned a perfect 36 on her ACT in 10th grade; is a second lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol St. Tammany composite squadron after learning to fly at age 16; and a scuba diver certified to operate in open waters up to 100 feet.

Rush said she is excited to attend college to ask similar questions about the faith that Catholic thinkers such as Dorothy Day and G.K. Chesterton did as they grew in their faith. She hopes to live life to the fullest, like Henry David Thoreau did in his appreciation of nature. She will attend the University of Florida on scholarship, studying physics and philosophy. She attended Florida’s Stamps Scholarship summer study/service-learning program.

“(Physics and philosophy) are so fundamental and will give me skills to apply to different areas,” she said about her majors.

As she told classmates in her salutatorian speech, she hopes all students savor every moment of every stage of their life – and not just live in a hurry to get to the next stage.

Faucheux: Spiritual life key
Faucheux, who will be a freshman at St. Charles Catholic (SCC) High School this year, advanced to regionals in the non-public school eighth-grade category. She is an SCC Ambassador, has been a member of the swim team, the Stagehands Drama Club, volleyball team and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and joined the Starsteppers dance team.

She has been a Mass lector at St. Joan of Arc Church in LaPlace since 2016 and is a member of St. Joan of Arc’s CYO. She started a YouTube Channel in 2020 to bring faith and hope to others, which demonstrates her commitment to her spiritual life within her community and within her larger peer group.

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