The Unified Springfield Catholic School Marketing Council has been awarded a $12,000 grant from the Father Michael J. McGivney Memorial Fund for New Initiatives in Catholic Education to promote Catholic education in the see city.

The Father McGivney Fund is an endowment established by the Knights of Columbus in 1980 in memory of its founder. The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) of Washington, D.C., administers the grant program and distributes $100,000 annually. The money is divided among several projects.

Last year, the diocese put together a Strategic Planning Committee for Catholic Elementary Schools in Springfield that was facilitated by Claire M. Helm, Ph.D., vice president of the Office of Leadership Development of the NCEA.  As a result of this strategic planning committee marketing goals - along with academic, enrollment and finance goals - were recommended and the Unified Springfield Catholic School Marketing Council was formed.

In 2008, the grants were awarded to just six projects, said Barb Burris, associate director for school planning in the diocesan Office for Catechesis. "The first half of the $12,000 will be awarded in the spring, while the second half will be awarded in the fall," she said.

This is the third year of a three-year cycle in which grants have been awarded through the fund to strengthen urban schools. During the 2005-2008 funding cycle grant recipients must have addressed specific needs or concerns of Catholic urban and inner-city schools; proposed an innovative approach or design for the improvement and development of those schools; or have developed new initiatives to strengthen Catholic urban and inner-city schools on the national, regional or diocesan level.

Anne Antonacci and Kim Hoffmann, development directors at Little Flower School and Blessed Sacrament School, respectively, are co-chairs of the Springfield marketing council, which has met once thus far and is scheduled to meet again in April. The council is also made up of principals and pastors of Cathedral, Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King, Little Flower, St. Agnes, St. Aloysius and St. Joseph schools and Burris, representing the diocesan Office for Catechesis. Each school has several other representatives as well.

To quote the project summary, "The main objective of the council is to increase enrollment in all Springfield Catholic schools by highlighting the positives and intangible values of Catholic education - superior academics, service, character development, involved parents, Gospel values and a safe, structured atmosphere. ... We will emphasize that while all of our schools share common strengths, each is unique."

"We started working this calendar year and hope to implement it (the project) during this next school year," Hoffman said. "In looking at this group of schools we realized we had much more in common than we had differences. We're stronger together than separate."

"This is a new initiative in Catholic education and a unified city-wide effort," Antonacci said. "We appreciate that (the advancement staff of) Sacred Heart-Griffin High School is also involved. They have a lot of information to share with us about what they have already put into action."

"Hopefully we'll also be trying to get professional expertise in setting up a marketing plan," Hoffman said. The achievements of the marketing council will be assessed by the Springfield Strategic Planning Committee after one year of intense promotion.