Hope for the Future Names 2015-16 Burziks’ Brightest Scholars

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Catholic News Agency

At a recent luncheon, Hope for the Future (HOPE) awarded 20 Catholic high school students $5,000 scholarships for the 2015-16 school year, thanks to the generous support of the Catherine and Francis Burzik Foundation. The students, known as the Burziks’ Brightest, were awarded scholarships based upon financial need and students’ academic merit. Cathy and Frank Burzik are staunch supporters of Catholic school education and believe in its mission. Frank Burzik shared that HOPE was one of the first organizations to receive a grant from their foundation and they created the twenty $5,000 Burziks’ Brightest scholarships. They are dedicated to providing adequate funding for Catholic high school students, “We want it to be enough money for the family to be able to choose Catholic school for their child,” commented Frank at the recent luncheon.

The 2015-16 Burziks’ Brightest recipients are as follows:
• Belia Camarena, Incarnate Word High School • Raymond Davila, Central Catholic • Destiny Garcia, Providence Catholic School • Austin Gonzalez, Holy Cross of San Antonio • China Hale, Our Lady of the Hills Regional Catholic High School • Chrishanna Salas-Jones, St. Gerard Catholic High School • Sarah Krotzer, St. John Paul II Catholic High School • Clara LaLonde, St. John Paul II Catholic High School
• Noelle Lowry, Incarnate Word High School
• Jon-Michael Maldonado, Holy Cross of San Antonio
• Corpus McKay, Our Lady of the Hills Regional Catholic High School
• Tristan Ornelas, St. John Paul II Catholic High School
• Charlotte Packard-Vallery, Antonian College Preparatory High School • Cesar Pena, St. Gerard Catholic High School
• Isabella Rivera, Antonian College Preparatory High School
• Gabriella Ruiz, Providence Catholic School
• Santos Salinas, St. Gerard Catholic High School
• Corey Smith, Our Lady of the Hills Regional Catholic High School
• Jessica Traxler, St. Anthony Catholic High School
• Edward Zamora, St. Anthony Catholic High School

During the luncheon, Cathy shared a few words that she hopes will resonate well with students, “We wish you a lot of success. We know each of you will work very hard. The only thing we ask, is that someday, you can find other students that you can help along the way…please ‘give back’.”

One such student who plans to give back, and has directly benefited from the Burziks’ generosity is St. Gerard Catholic High School 2015 graduate, Emily Cervantes. Emily was a stellar student. She kept up her grades, participated in extracurricular activities at St. Gerard, and even took on an internship her senior year. With the financial assistance she received, she graduated from St. Gerard and is now on her way to Texas A&M University with a full academic scholarship. Emily plans to study biomedical engineering and put herself in a position to give back to those who helped her along the way, such as Hope for the Future and Cathy and Frank Burzik.

Emily’s success and that of all the Burziks’ Brightest, is a direct result of the financial assistance received, and is a living testimony to why supporting Catholic school education is critical in today’s world. Hope for the Future, it’s Development Board, and HOPE students are blessed and humbled to have faithful supporters such as Cathy and Frank Burzik, and others like them.

Please offer up prayers for the selected students and all Catholic school students and ask for the Lord’s blessing for a successful 2015-16 school year.