Awards will enable students to pursue academic dreams
Michael Shipley and Cierra Hall
By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Michael Shipley of Annunciation B.V.M. School hopes to be an electrician when he grows up. Cierra Hall of St. Thomas Aquinas School plans to be a pediatrician.
As Josephine C. Connelly Achievement awardees, both students — who will graduate from their parish elementary schools in June — are getting a jump start on their goals through a scholarship that pays 33 percent of their tuition at an archdiocesan Catholic high school of their choosing. [See page 14 for a complete listing of awardees.]
The scholarship is renewable each year of high school. As a new feature this year, if the recipients rank in the top 10 of their class, the scholarship will increase to cover half the tuition in their junior and senior years.
Michael is going to SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School in South Philadelphia. His dream of becoming an electrician can be traced to his toddler days, when he was fascinated with construction toys such as Legos and K’Nex.
“I’ve been into that stuff since I was about 3 years old,” he said. “They started me with everything.” Two years ago, Michael received a free computer, which he disassembled then reassembled.
“All that stuff is pretty cool, plus it will be useful for the rest of my life,” he said. “I thank God every day for giving me the gifts that I have,” he said. “I’m so appreciative of it. It will be useful for the rest of my life.”
Academics are a priority for Michael, who has ranked top in his class for the first through seventh grades. On graduation day, he’ll learn if he has kept that ranking in the eighth grade. He said math is his favorite subject.
Michael said he loves learning at a Catholic school. “It helps me with my faith. If I’m in a bad situation, if I turn to God, He’ll help me always.”
“You learn many virtues,” he added, “kindness and generosity” among them.
At Annunciation, Michael is an altar server and member of the newspaper and yearbook staffs. Outside of school, his hobby is karate; he holds a first degree black belt.
“I’d like to thank the Connelly Foundation for picking me to receive the scholarship,” Michael said. “It’s a great honor.”
And he said the award is a relief to his parents, Arthur Sr. and Carol Shipley, who are also paying Catholic school tuition for Michael’s older brother, Arthur Jr., who is a sophomore at Neumann-Goretti.
As Cierra Hall looks ahead to attending John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School in the fall, she is thankful for the quality Catholic education she’s received at St. Thomas Aquinas. “I love this school,” she said. “I’ve worked really hard. I just put my whole effort into whatever I do.”
She credits her Catholic schooling for helping her grow closer to Jesus. “I give Him 100 percent devotion.”
Cierra said she couldn’t believe it when she was told she was one of the achievement awardees. She, too, is thankful to the Connelly Foundation, and pleased that her scholarship will provide a financial boost for her parents, Joseph Gonzalez and Michelle Hall. Her younger sister, Jacqueline Woods, is a seventh-grader at St. Thomas Aquinas School.
Outside of school, Cierra volunteers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, where she recently completed a pediatric program for babysitting certification.
“As a Catholic student, I think I should give back,” she said.
And give back she does. Cierra reads books and plays games with the hospitalized children after school hours and in the summertime. “I just love them,” she said of the children entrusted to her care. “They’re so wonderful.”
Being a doctor has been Cierra’s goal since she was a small child. “I loved playing doctor and all that,” she said.
For now, though, she’s ready for high school, thanks to the education she’s received in elementary school.
“I can’t wait.”
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine may be reached at (215) 587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.
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