Tag: Scholarship

Nicholls Student Remembered with New Scholarship

To honor the memory of Kennedi Foret, a former Nicholls State University student who was the victim of a fatal car crash in December 2021, the Nicholls State University Foundation is establishing a new endowed scholarship, according to a press release issued by the university.

The Kennedi Foret Marine Biology Undergraduate Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to female graduates of Lafourche Parish high schools majoring in Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology. Recipients can be sophomores, juniors or seniors with a 3.0 GPA and will receive a $500 scholarship broken down into two $250 per semester awards.

Foret’s mother Amber Pitre said, “This scholarship is just one way that we can let Kennedi’s light continue to shine and her love for Nicholls continue to show. To give young ladies a similar opportunity to learn about marine biology like Kennedi had at Nicholls means the world to us.”

Foret passed away on in December of 2021 following a fatal car accident. Foret’s accident followed shortly after three Nicholls State University students were killed on the way to a birthday dinner in late November of 2021. Police reported that a driver hit a car with three Nicholls State students inside, all of whom had graduated from the same high school in the spring of 2021.

Louisiana set a new record in 2021 with 914 highway crashes and 997 deaths. According to the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission’s recent Louisiana Highway Safety Plan there was a 10% increase in car crashes within the last five years and 40.6% of all fatal car crashes that occurred in 2019 were related to alcohol impairment. Governor John Bel Edwards said that these statistics were “alarming” and lamented, “The fact that there are an average of three deaths per day on Louisiana highways is unacceptable.” Impaired and distracted driving are other notable causes of highway deaths.

Across the United States, car accidents are the number one leading cause of death among 13- to 19-year-old females, and one of the leading causes of deaths for both male and female college students. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cites several reasons for these startling statistics including distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving, driving with peers, and general inexperience. No matter the reason, when a teen is involved in a serious automobile accident, the outcome can be devastating for the families of everyone involved, particularly if injuries in teen car accidents are fatal.

Foret’s family and friends wish to make a difference for others, raise awareness and preserve Kennedi’s memory by starting the endowed scholarship. Nicholls State University also honored Kennedi’s legacy by inscribing her name into a brick near the eternal flame in the quadrangle of campus.

Nicholls Foundation Executive Director Jeremy Becker said the university has started strong in raising money for the endowment scholarship in honor of the Nicholls student, however, they have not yet met their goal. Becker hopes that the scholarship will encourage women in Louisiana to pursue a career in marine biology to help with preservation and restoration efforts along the state’s coast line.

“To have Kennedi’s name associated with recruiting future students to come to Nicholls and possibly do marine biology research in the Coastal Center that will live on our campus is something special,” Becker said. “I’d love to see solutions to some of our coastal restoration problems come from a recipient of this scholarship in her name.”

Contributions are welcome and encouraged to help meet and surpass the scholarship’s goals, to enrich the lives of women in Louisiana, and to honor the legacy of Nicholls student, Kennedi Foret. To support this scholarship, visit nichollsfoundation.org/memorial-scholarships/ or contact Jeremy Becker at 985-448-4006.

For more education-related information, click here.

New Scholarship Awards Nicholls’ Upperclassmen

This month, Nicholls State University is receiving a new scholarship from Mike and Christine Bourgeois to benefit upperclassmen, as reported by a Nicholls Press Release.

The Bourgeois family donated $30,000 to the Nicholls State University Foundation to create the Michael C. and Christine P. Bourgeois #4 Endowed Upperclassmen/Alumni Scholarship, making this the fourth scholarship created by the family. Their precious scholarships were aimed at benefiting first-generation students and those enrolled in the School Psychology Specialist program.

Mike and Christine Bourgeois wanted to give back to those students often overlooked by financial aid and scholarship opportunities, the upperclassmen, stating, “so much money is geared toward freshmen, but what happens in the years after that? We want to help those students finish school, so that’s why we brought in juniors and seniors with this scholarship. Nicholls has opened a lot of doors for us and prepared us for successful careers. This is a way we can give back.”

Applicants wanting to benefit from this scholarship must be graduates of any Lafourche or Terrebonne high school and be enrolled at Nicholls as a junior or senior with a cumulative 2.0 GPA or be an enrolled graduate student with a cumulative 3.0 GPA. Up to three students meeting those requirements will be awarded $200 per semester.

The Executive Director of the Nicholls Foundation, Jeremy Becker, commented, “Mike and Christine are alums that are not only supportive of Nicholls, but also concerned with creating opportunities for students to be successful. By creating their now fourth different scholarship opportunity for Nicholls students, they are leaving a legacy that is admired by the university, the Nicholls Foundation and the community.”

Though, the scholarship from Mike and Christine Bourgeois isn’t the only effort Nicholls is making to make the financial stresses of its students less menacing. Due to the restrictions placed on the campus as a result of Covid-19, the annual Sponsor A+ Scholar Wine and Food Tasting Extravaganza will not be held in person, but it will instead be a rolling donation drive over a two week period. Peoples Drug Store in Houma is the headline sponsor for this year’s event.

In November, alumni, community members, and more are invited to donate to the scholarship fund, and donors with gifts of at least $75 will receive a limited edition set of wine glasses bearing the Nicholls logo, while supplies last.

This annual event has been greatly impactful on the university’s campus, as 159 scholarships worth $125,500 have been awarded over the past decade. These scholarships are awarded each fall to full-time Nicholls student leaderswho have a 2.5 GPA or high school students actively involved in their communities who hold a cumulative GPA of at least 2.50 and a minimum ACT composite score of 21.

Monique Crochet, who earned a Bachelor’s of Science from Nicholls in 1998 and a Mastery in Education in 2000, is the executive director of external affairs. Crochet lamented on the pivoting of the scholarship drive from an in-person event to an ongoing virtual one by saying, “while we are sad that we cannot host the A+ Scholar Food and Wine Extravaganza in person this year, we are excited about the opportunity to continue to raise much-needed scholarship dollars for our students. Now more than ever, scholarships are a necessity for our students so that they may continue to pursue their dreams of a college degree.”

For more information on the Michael C. and Christine P. Bourgeois #4 Endowed Upperclassmen/Alumni Scholarship applicants can visit Nicholls’ Office of Financial Aid’s dedicated scholarship listing, and those wanting more information on the Sponsor A+ Scholarship fund can visit this information hub.

For more education related information, click here.

Louisiana High School Seniors Earn National Merit Scholarships

An article from The Advocate announced recently that thirty-four of the forty Louisiana scholarships awarded so far as part of the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program are on their way to some very deserving high school seniors from the New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas.  These winners were announced Wednesday, May 13, 2020 joining the other seven who were announced April 21.

Additional winners for the National Merit Scholarship program are expected to be announced June 3 and July 13. At the culmination of this year’s competition, over 7,500 students nationwide will have won National Merit Scholarships.  The 2020 competition will award students with scholarships totaling more than $30 million.

The most recent round of National Merit Scholarships were for $2,500 each, and all but one was financed by the organizers of the National Merit scholarship program. The scholarships that were announced on April 21 were funded by corporations and ranged anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 per year.

Two New Orleans high schools, Jesuit and Ben Franklin, led the way statewide in scholarships in the first two rounds, at six and four recipients, respectively.

Baton Rouge found three of its high schools tied for three scholarships each – those schools being Catholic, Baton Rouge Magnet, and St. Joseph’s Academy.

Two Lafayette area schools, Ascension Episcopal School and Southside High, are home to one recipient each.

The winners of this year’s National Merit scholarships were drawn from a pool of 16,000 semifinalists and 15,000 finalists.  This pool came from the over 1.5 million high school juniors who took the PSAT in October 2018.

Details on all the Louisiana winners are below – congratulations and we wish you all the best in the future!

New Orleans Region National Merit Scholarships:

Dominic T. Allain, Salmen High in Slidell; Christopher N. Barron, Northshore High in Slidell; Andre R. Bourque, Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in Natchitoches; Tomaso H. Dire, Ben Franklin High; Olympia R. Baldwin Edwards, Ben Franklin High; Mary Grace Foster, Lusher Charter School in New Orleans; Charlotte L. Fowler, Ursuline Academy in New Orleans; Emily C. Gibbons, Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy in Westwego; John M. Gunaldo, Jesuit High; Salma Ashraf Heram, Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy in Westwego; Thomas S. Levy, Jesuit High; Milan Mardia, Jesuit High; Hayes T. Martin, Jesuit High; Christian T. Nguyen, Jesuit High; Amanda L. Phillips, Fontainebleau High in Mandeville; Dominic J. Stoner, Jesuit High; Hayley E. Sumich, Mt. Carmel Academy in New Orleans; Joseph V. Wagner, Ben Franklin High; Charlotte C. Williams, Isidore Newman School in New Orleans; and David Y. Zhang, Ben Franklin High.

Baton Rouge Region National Merit Scholarships: 

Sophie K. Faircloth, Denham Springs High; Nicholas M. Fanguy, Catholic High; Celia A. Kiesel, Episcopal High; Joshua J. Langlois, Catholic High; Sara G. Mayeux, St. Joseph’s Academy; Krishna R. Pochana, Baton Rouge Magnet High; Adam Lowery Reid, Episcopal High; Shreya V. Reshamwala, St. Joseph’s Academy; Stewart A. Roeling, Catholic High; Amy E. Ruckman, Baton Rouge Magnet High; Thuc Nhan N. Tran, St. Joseph’s Academy; and Cindy Y. Zheng, Baton Rouge Magnet High. Nine are residents of Baton Rouge. Of the other three recipients, Faircloth lives in Denham Springs, Mayeux is in Prairieville and Reid is in Gonzales. All but Faircloth attend schools in Baton Rouge.

Lafayette/Acadiana Region National Merit Scholarships:

William W. Brien, Ascension Episcopal School; Dylan C. Davis, Southside High.

For more education related information, click here.

 

 

Arlen Benny Cenac Jr. Foundation Funds Vandebilt Scholarship

The 2017-2018 school year at Vandebilt Catholic High will be the first of many years for the Arlen Benny Cenac Jr. Sacred Heart Scholarship Fund. As stated by the Houma Times, the donation of $50,000 per year is directly provided from Arlen Benny Cenac Jr. and his foundation, The A.B. Cenac Jr. Foundation.

The Sacred Heart scholarship is inspired by Fr. Andre Coindre who established schools for the poor children in Lyon, France. He later founded the Brothers of the Sacred Heart to run the schools he began. Fr. Coindre showed concern for the dilemma of orphaned children by making available to them the education that theirs families could not give them as well as provide them with a trade. The goal of the Sacred Heart Scholarship is to offer quality Catholic education to children from families that might otherwise not be financially able to afford one.

Father Andre Coindre was born in Lyon, France, in 1787. Devoting his life to the restoration of the Church following the Reign of Terror at the end of the French Revolution, his chief mission became the moral, intellectual, and religious development of young orphan boys left in distress by the consequent disintegration of family life.

Father Coindre had envisioned a community of brothers trained to work with the poor through the establishment of schools; in 1821 that dream became a reality with the formation of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. After Father Coindre’s death in 1826 and at the end of Father Francis Coindre’s administration, Brother Polycarp, the first Brother Superior General, assumed leadership of the struggling community. His tenure was marked by a period of tremendous growth. By the time of his death in 1859, the Institute had grown to over 400 Brothers in 70 schools. For obvious reasons, Vandebilt was inspired by Father Coidre and this scholarship has been a wonderful addition to the Vandebilt repertoire.

The amount of $50,000 will be dedicated towards tuition assistance of children from families in financial need. The awards will range from $1,000 to the total cost of tuition per year and may extend multiple years while a student is enrolled at Vandebilt Catholic High. The criteria for being eligible for this grant will be based on need, desire, recommendation and selection.

“Because of generous donors like Mr. Cenac, we are able to witness the true mission of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart lived out today within our school,” said Melanie Prentice, the advancement director at Vandebilt, in a recent interview with a Houma Times reporter. “The impact that this scholarship will have is immeasurable in assisting a student’s financial need to continue their Catholic education. We cannot thank Mr. Cenac and his foundation enough for this blessed gift.”

For one reason or another, these households are unable to afford to send their children to Vandebilt Catholic High but through Mr. Arlen Benny Cenac Jr’s gracious impact he has helped nine families change their lives forever, just this year. We look forward to seeing the impression this scholarship fund has in the years to come. “The influence of a great education is something that cannot be replaced. I want to make sure I am doing my part in helping these young adults achieve greatness along with building strong core values of integrity and excellence,” said Cenac.

For more information on the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, click here.  For more information on Benny Cenac’s philanthropy work, click here.

Benny Cenac Jr Provides Scholarship

Benny Cenac Jr, Houma Philanthropist, recently made  a donation that will make the 2017-2018 school year at Vandebilt Catholic High the first of many for the Arlen “Benny” Cenac, Jr. Sacred Heart Scholarship Fund. The donation of $50,000 per year is directly provided from Arlen “Benny” Cenac, Jr. and his foundation, The A.B. Cenac Jr. Foundation.

The Sacred Heart scholarship is inspired by Fr. Andre Coindre who established schools for the poor children in Lyon, France. He later founded the Brothers of the Sacred Heart to run the schools he began. Fr. Coindre showed concern for the dilemma of orphaned children by making available to them the education that their families could not give them as well as provide them with a trade. The goal of the Sacred Heart Scholarship is to offer quality Catholic education to children from families that might otherwise not be financially able to afford one. Benny Cenac Jr,  Houma Philanthropist and CEO of Cenac Marine Services, has long been a supporter of local education.  He believes investing in the education now, means a brighter future for our area in the future.

The amount of $50,000 will be dedicated towards tuition assistance of children from families in financial need. The awards will range from $1,000 to the total cost of tuition per year and may extend multiple years while a student is enrolled at Vandebilt Catholic High. The criteria for being eligible for this grant will be based on need, desire, recommendation and selection.

With this generous contribution, students are already being rewarded with the ability to receive or continue receiving their Catholic High School education. Tears of joy along with heartfelt thank you cards have been received by the foundation from the families of these young men and women. For one reason or another, these households are unable to afford to send their children to Vandebilt Catholic High but through Mr. Cenac’s gracious impact he has helped nine families change their lives forever, just this year. We look forward to seeing the impression this scholarship fund has in the years to come. “The influence of a great education is something that cannot be replaced. I want to make sure I am doing my part in helping these young adults achieve greatness along with building strong core values of integrity and excellence,” said Benny Cenac Jr, Houma Businessman and supporter of local education efforts.

Fr. Andre Coindre

Father Andre Coindre, founder of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, was born in Lyon, France, in 1787. Devoting his life to the restoration of the Church following the Reign of Terror at the end of the French Revolution, his chief mission became the moral, intellectual, and religious development of young orphan boys left in distress by the consequent disintegration of family life.

Father Coindre had envisioned a community of brothers trained to work with the poor through the establishment of schools; in 1821 that dream became a reality with the formation of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. After Father Coindre’s death in 1826 and at the end of Father Francis Coindre’s administration, Brother Polycarp, the first Brother Superior General, assumed leadership of the struggling community. His tenure was marked by a period of tremendous growth. By the time of his death in 1859, the Institute had grown to over 400 Brothers in 70 schools.

In January of 1847 at the request of Bishop Portier, five missionary Brothers of the Sacred Heart arrived in Mobile, Alabama, to begin charitable and educational work. With a presence in the United States, the congregation began its transformation into a worldwide institute, spreading throughout North America in the South, New York and New England areas and into Canada.

The Brothers live by their Sacred Rule of Life #13:  To be a member of the institute today is to be believe in God’s love, to live it, and to spread it. It is to contribute as religious educators to the evangelization of the world particularly through the education of youth.

The Brothers of the Heart of Jesus will also frequently remember these words of Jesus Christ: “I have come to bring fire to the earth. How I wish it were blazing already.”

For more information on the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, click here.  For more information on Benny Cenac Jr, Houma Philanthropist, and his work, click here.