A local “Toonies for Tuition” campaign will ensure that young people in unfunded Canadian provinces receive a Catholic education.

On April 29, Chairperson Patrick Daly, along with secondary student council presidents from the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, presented a cheque for $29,498.45 to Marino Gazzola, President of the Canadian Catholic School Trustees’ Association (CCSTA) for the national Toonies for Tuition Initiative. Toonies for Tuition (CCSTA Charitable foundation) provides tuition assistance to Catholic students in provinces that have limited or no public funding for Catholic schools. 

Commending and thanking students, staff and parents for their generous support of the campaign, Daly explained that, unlike Ontario students “who are blessed to have publicly funded Catholic education,” students in unfunded provinces have to pay the cost of tuition out of their own pocket.

Read more: HWCDSB raises close to $30,000 for Toonies for Tuition

In late March, CCSTA President Marino Gazzola was one of about 30,000 people that came together in Los Angeles, California to connect, learn, and celebrate Catholic education around the world. The Los Angeles Religious Education Congress (RECongress) is an annual event that “offers in-service education and spiritual formation to those in catechetical and related ministries,” says Jan Pedroza, Religious Education Congress Program Coordinator. Hosted by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the congress is a Catholic-focused congress that has grown to include people from a wide variety of different vocations and faiths. It was Mr. Gazzola’s first time attending the event, and he says it was an amazing experience.

“It was certainly the best conference or congress I’ve ever been at,” he says. “It was unreal. The experience of being at a Mass with almost 10,000 people was just out of this world.”

Mr. Gazzola says they had heard such glowing reviews about the congress from Catholic educators in western Canada that the CCSTA felt they had to send a representative. He was there for the whole event, from Thursday to Sunday.

Read more: CCSTA President attends RECongress

Tony Sykora dedicated his entire life to advocating, promoting, and celebrating Catholic education in Canada. Sadly, Mr. Sykora is no longer with us; however, his outstanding contributions to Catholic education in Canada will live on for generations. For his achievements, he has been named the 2019 Higgins Award winner.

The Higgins Award is awarded annually in honour of distinguished Canadian jurist and Catholic School Trustee, the Honourable Justice James Higgins. CCSTA’s Board of Directors presents the award to a person or group that has made a long-term, exceptional contribution to Catholic education in Canada. The Higgins Award is the highest honour provided by CCSTA.

Mr. Sykora was nominated for the award by the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA).

Read more: Tony Sykora named 2019 Higgins Award winner posthumously