Students, supporters recognized at Adopt-A-Student

By Tanya Connor  | The Catholic Free Press

WORCESTER – Two men who helped Adopt-A-Student raise millions of dollars and change lives were honored at this year’s recognition event.
Robert R. Pape, called a champion of the Adopt-A-Student program, who died Aug. 21, 2022, was honored posthumously with an award, a tribute and prayers. A scholarship fund also has been created in his memory.
Robert J. Kenney, who worked alongside Mr. Pape in promoting the Adopt-A-Student program, received a diocesan award for his dedication.
The 34th annual Adopt-A-Student Recognition Reception was held Tuesday, after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s presentations were accompanied by a reception at St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School.
Over the years more than $4.2 million has been raised for the Adopt-A-Student program, to assist families who would otherwise be unable to send their children to diocesan Catholic schools, Bishop McManus said in a letter in the program booklet. Currently those schools are St. Paul’s and St. Peter Central Catholic ElementaryThis was the last year for students at St. Bernard’s High School in Fitchburg to be included in the program. The once central Catholic high school opened as an independent Catholic school for the 2020-2021 academic year. Linda Anderson, principal, told The Catholic Free Press that “it was a wonderful act of generosity” that the program continued to assist St. Bernard’s students through their senior year, even after the school ceased being a diocesan school.
“I think this program is one of the best programs ever,” Susan Kenney said after her daughter Lily, a St. Bernard’s Adopt-A-Student scholar, received the Paul & Dorothy Kervick Award for Leadership. She said the program helped tremendously; she has three other children in Catholic school too.
Much is expected of those who receive much, and Lily “did her job” to fulfill that, she said.
During Tuesday’s presentations Lily also received a four-year, full-tuition scholarship from Assumption University.
“We are proud to adopt you as a student,” Assumption President Greg Weiner told her.
“It’s hard to believe,” Mrs. Kenney said, adding that her husband, Nathan, recently received the news, but they didn’t tell Lily.
“I’m very grateful,” Lily said. “It was a great surprise.”
Also expressing gratitude was Isabella McLaughlin, a St. Peter’s seventh-grader, who received the Bill & Kay O’Brien Award for best exemplifying the values of the Adopt-A-Student program.
“I just wanted to say, ‘Thank you,’” she said.
She also won the $500 cash bouquet raffle for the Robert R. Pape Memorial Scholarship Fund – and gave $100 of it to the Adopt-A-Student program – said her father, Brandon McLaughlin.
Other students receiving recognition awards from Bishop McManus and David Perda, superintendent of Catholic schools, were Yenzel Remigio, a St. Paul’s junior, who got the Wilfred and Bette Iandoli Award for Service, and his classmate Maria Kelly, who received the Charles and Beth McManus Award for Academic Excellence.
Bishop McManus gave the diocesan Saint Paul Award posthumously to Mr. Pape, presenting it to his widow, Delphine Pape, and their daughter Delphine Soucie and her husband, Matthew. This recognition, which is not one of the Adopt-A-Student awards, is given periodically by the diocese to those assisting with the church’s mission.
Mrs. Soucie spoke about her father being educated in Catholic schools and gaining a love of learning, service and community. His faith influenced all his actions, she said, and he would want Adopt-A-Student scholars to gain similar values.
Bishop McManus also presented the Saint Paul Award to Mr. Kenney.
Bishop McManus said both men suffered serious health problems, but never forgot their dedication to this program.
In the invocation Father Donato Infante III, St. Paul’s chaplain and director of the diocesan Office for Vocations, prayed that God would welcome Mr. Pape into his eternal home.
As a tribute to Mr. Pape, a 2011 video clip was shown of him talking about the Adopt-A-Student program.
In Adopt-A-Student alumna remarks, Franchesca McMenemy told of her gratitude for the Catholic education made available to her through the program.
She moved to Worcester from Ecuador at age 8. In seventh grade she entered Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School. Her father died when she was 13, and her mother couldn’t afford the tuition, she said.
Because of the Adopt-A-Student scholarship, she got a Catholic education that kept her grounded after the loss of her father, she said. At Holy Name she found a second home and teachers who helped her. She worked hard and graduated with high honors in 2013.
She went to Assumption College, then Massachusetts School of Law, from which she received her juris doctorate degree in 2021. She is currently a paralegal at the Ravosa Law Office in Worcester.
She expressed thanks to Adopt-A-Student benefactors, saying, “You didn’t know you were changing a life; without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
 
– Donations are still being accepted online to support more scholarships at adopt-a-student.net.

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