Bishop DiNardo scholars named

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
May 13, 2004

Two high school seniors in the Diocese of Sioux City have been awarded Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo Scholarships to attend Briar Cliff University in Sioux City.

This year's recipients are Mallory Lynott, a parishioner at St. Mary's Church in Hawarden; and Angela Olerich, a parishioner at St. Lawrence Church in Carroll.

This year there were 19 applicants from several parishes in the Diocese of Sioux City.

This selective award target students with high academic performance. It requires an ACT of 24 or higher (equivalent SAT of 1100 or higher) and students must rank in the top 25 percent of their class. They must also be members of a parish within the Diocese of Sioux City.

Lynott, a senior at West Sioux High School, has a 3.92 grade point average. She helps with many activities at St. Mary's Parish. Other activities that she is involved in within her community include working at a homeless shelter, life guarding, instructing swimming lessons, visiting the county home and tutoring after school.

"I want to continue my Catholic education because I come from a strong Catholic family," commented Lynott in her application essay. "Briar Cliff will be a unique Catholic environment, it would help me spread my faith."

She noted that at Briar Cliff being surrounded by a student body that is primarily Catholic would provide a new and unique experience for her.

"Also, I hope to learn more about the religion and what sets Catholics apart from other religious groups," she explained in her application essay.

Steven Halligan, a St. Mary's parishioner and Grand Knight of Council 4132, remarked that "given the opportunity, Mallory is a success story waiting to happen. She is a wonderful representative of her church, family, school and community."

Olerich, a senior at Kuemper High School in Carroll, has a 4.06 grade point average. In her parish, she is an Eucharistic minister, altar server, acolyte and song leader.

In a letter of recommendation, her theology teacher and director of campus ministry at Kuemper, Beth Bruner, wrote, "In my classroom, I see Angela as a responsible and determined young woman. She takes her studies seriously and manages her academic life and extra-curricular life quite handily."

Olerich has participated in the Relay for Life, was the student organizer through the National Honor Society of the Blood Mobile, was part of an Alzheimer's car wash and did Christian service in a nursing home and in an elementary school, to name a few of her service projects.

"My Catholic education is very important to me because it is key to everything I do and relates to every experience I encounter throughout my life," said Olerich in her application.

She also wrote that "having grown up with religion all around me, I cannot imagine my future without my faith present in my life at all times. To not continue my Catholic education would be to tear down my whole past and forget the previous 17 years of my life. One can't erase or forget those times with God in school, adoration, church and through every aspect of my everyday life."

The DiNardo Scholars are eligible for a four-year award if they maintain a 3.25 grade point average while attending Briar Cliff University. The scholarship increases annually beginning with a freshman award of $5,000, sophomore award of $5,500, junior award of $6,500 and senior award of $8,000.

Members of the selection committee were Sister Mary Clarenita Froehlich, BVM, Sister Joan Stoffel, OSF, Kevin Vickery, superintendent of education for the Diocese of Sioux City, and Joe Puetz.