When Ethan Toles of Holy Angels School, Woodbury, learned last month that he was one of five eighth-graders in the Diocese of Camden to receive the Black Catholic Ministry Commission’s 2023 Taylor-Woodson Memorial Scholarship, the 14-year-old was excited for the opportunity to continue his Catholic education and “practice my faith [and] pursue my dreams and goals,” which include becoming a mechanical engineer someday.
“All my hard work paid off,” said the budding engineer, who is an active member of Holy Angel School’s Sea Perch program, which integrates underwater robotics with problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. He has also been a part of the school’s track and field and baseball teams, as well as a member of the National Junior Honor Society for the past three years.
Each year, the Black Catholic Ministry Commission recognizes eighth-graders who will be entering a Catholic high school in the Diocese of Camden. They receive a $1,500 scholarship based on criteria such as academics, recommendation letters, parish activities and community service. Scholarship funds are raised, in part, through the commission’s annual Afternoon of Jazz.
In addition to Toles, this year’s honorees are Max Romain and Obinna Udunni of Saint John Paul II Regional School, Stratford; Chinwe Chukwueke of Saint Joseph Pro-Cathedral School, Camden; and Olivia McNamara of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Berlin. All will attend Cherry Hill’s Camden Catholic High School in the fall.
Recipients McNamara and Udunni are both active in their school and parish communities, and thanked their parents for their influence and support.
Udunni, 13, is vice president of Saint John Paul II Regional’s Student Council, has been an altar server at the Parish Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe since fourth grade. He also volunteers at a local food pantry.
“My parents have always pushed me to study hard, and be a good person; this scholarship will help them,” he said, adding that being a scholarship recipient is “humbling.”
McNamara, 14, thanked her mother and father for “sacrificing for me and my brother, Conrad [a rising senior at Camden Catholic]. I want to help them” defray the cost of a Catholic education.
She is active with various ministries at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, including the youth ministry’s once-a-month Sunday gatherings for the parish community; the book collection for needy families; and sandwich-making ministry for visitors to Cathedral Kitchen.
The young artist, already proficient in pencil, watercolor and charcoal, hopes to “use my God-given talents at Camden Catholic, in the theater program,” possibly as a set artist, she says.
She sees the scholarship, too, as a chance to grow and strengthen her Catholic faith that has already meant so much.
“I need to continue my journey with God, to be a better person and the best version of myself, and this scholarship will allow me to do that,” McNamara said.
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