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January 21, 2020 | The Valley Catholic
COMMUNITY
First-Ever Catholic Impact Scholar Award Winner
By Marie Galetto-Dugoni
The Catholic Community Founda-
tion of Santa Clara County awarded
the first-ever Catholic Impact Scholar
Award to Ian da Silva of Bellarmine Col-
lege Preparatory. This award is given to
a junior who exemplifies the impact that
a Catholic high school education has on
a student’s future goals and view of the
world around them.
Each of the local Catholic high
schools was invited to nominate one
junior student to write an essay answer-
ing the question, “How has my Catholic
education prepared me to contribute
to engage with and improve my com-
munity and the world?” The winner of
the award receives $5,000 toward their
senior year tuition.
Five of the local high schools submit-
ted a nominee for consideration.
“It was extremely difficult to select
just one winner,” said Bertha Minnihan,
Chair of the Grants Committee. “Each
student had a unique perspective on the
essay prompt. It was inspiring to read
about all of these accomplished young
people who are the future of our faith
and our community!” After careful
Ian da Silva
Bellarmine College
Preparatory
Daisy Villaseñor
Cristo Rey San José
High School
consideration, the committee decided
on Ian da Silva as the award recipient.
Ian’s activities and accomplishments
at Bellarmine include participation in
robotics and track (long jump), planning
liturgies in Campus Ministry, serving
as Vice President of the Black Student
Union, lecturing at his parish and work-
ing toward becoming an Eagle Scout.
In his essay, Ian discussed his faith
journey and the role that his high
school classes, community, and campus
ministry activities, namely the Kairos
retreat, played in that journey. While he
had always felt close to God growing
up, during his freshman year he began
feeling his “connection with God slowly
DIOCESE OF SAN JOSÉ
WORLD DAY OF THE SICK
SPONSORED BY THE ORDER OF MALTA
Join us for a special Mass for the Sick
Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 10am
Celebrated by Bishop Oscar Cantu
In honor of
OUR LADY OF LOURDES
St. Christopher Church
1576 Curtner Avenue
San José, CA 95125
*Church and parking accommodate handicapable access*
v Anointing of the Sick and Blessing of Caregivers
v Refreshments after Mass
v Receive Lourdes water, a holy medal & card
v Submit prayer petitions to be hand carried to Lourdes in May
Connor Martin
Archbishop Mitty
High School
weaken.” He continued attending Mass,
taking religion classes in school, and
participating at his parish; however, the
close connection he previously felt with
God and his faith began to fade.
He always enjoyed going on retreats
and so decided to attend Bellarmine’s
Kairos retreat for junior students. This
is when everything changed for Ian.
“Kairos taught me how to appreci-
ate the things and people that God has
put in my life,” said Ian in his essay. “It
was on this retreat that I developed my
current image of God: a perfect person
who created us in his image, knows all,
and can do anything.”
Ian felt that the community of stu-
dents and staff at Bellarmine were key
in bringing him back to his faith. “The
rigorous academics at Bellarmine have
prepared me to be successful in life,
while also teaching me that the best
way to use this success is for the good
of others,” said Ian. “Realizing that
my life is not just my own, but for the
world, helps me to see that we are all
needed to carry the love of God to oth-
ers...My faith inspires me to give people
hope in their hard times and be a friend
in their loneliness.”
Missy Scott-Flórez, Director of
Campus Min istr y at Bellarmine,
wrote a glowing review for Ian which
described a driven and compassion-
ate young leader. “In this valley, it
Maya Diaz
Notre Dame
High School
Olivia Jennings
Presentation
High School
sometimes seems like people are
gripped by fear, feeling that if they
do not do this mysterious and illustri-
ous something, they might miss out
on a good future,” she said. “So, they
sometimes end up walking around
touting the many things they do, like
the shield that enters the room ahead
of them to prove why they are wor-
thy or powerful. While Ian is a busy
person with a full life...he does not
present this as his façade. I think he
knows that there is something deeper
to orient one’s life toward.”
Among the other nominees were:
Maya Diaz, Notre Dame High School;
Olivia Jennings, Presentation High
School; Connor Martin, Archbishop
Mitty High School; and Daisy Villaseñor,
Cristo Rey San José High School.
The Catholic Community Founda-
tion is proud to award the inaugural
Catholic Impact Scholar Award to Ian
da Silva and knows that each of this
year’s exceptional nominees has a
bright future ahead of them.
Marie Galetto-Dugoni is the Market-
ing Manager for the Catholic Community
Foundation of Santa Clara County. To learn
more about the Foundation, visit cfoscc.org.
Ladies of Charity to Host
Annual Meet the Author Event
On February 10, the
Ladies of Charity will
host its Annual Meet
the Author event at
Saint Thomas of Can-
terbury’s Becket Hall.
Doors open at 9:30 a.m.
Mary Jo Ignoffo and presentation be-
gins at 10 a.m.
This year’s author is Mary Jo Ignoffo.
She is the author of “Captive of the Lab-
yrinth: Sarah L. Winchester, Heiress
to the Rifle Fortune.” In this tell-all
book Ignoffo lays out her research and
findings, and she shares the biggest
deceptions surrounding one of Cali-
fornia’s top tourist attractions.
Morning refreshments will be
provided and a $40 donation per
person.
Proceeds benefit Sacred Heart
Nativity Schools. The mission of Ladies
of Charity is to raise monies to benefit
education for low-income youth.
For more information, contact Cathy
DeMaria at [email protected].