The Nashville Catholic Business Women’s League awarded three $17,000 scholarships to Nashville’s three Catholic high schools recently to support one girl student at each school.
The League works each year to raise money to provide the scholarships, and this year was able to award the largest amount in its history to students at Father Ryan High School, Pope John Paul II Preparatory School and St. Cecilia Academy.
The organization also is donating $5,000 to start an endowment for the planned St. Michael Academy through the Advancement of Catholic Education. St. Michael Academy, located in Nolensville, will start as an elementary school and eventually expand to include a high school.
The recipients of the scholarships are Naomi Mejia at St. Cecilia, Mia Picchietti at Pope Prep, and Tatiana Morales at Father Ryan.
The scholarships, which are a centerpiece work for the League, were established 23 years ago. They are named for 1951 SCA graduate Aurelia Varallo Mariani who died in 1998.
The League set up a memorial scholarship fund in her honor to support a deserving and financially needy student at St. Cecilia through all four years of her high school education. Since then, the scholarships have expanded to include one female Father Ryan student and one female student at Pope Prep.
The scholarships are funded by the annual Pearls of Wisdom event. This year it was a brunch held in September at Richland Country Club. Thanks to one of the most successful fundraising events, the League raised $55,704 in net proceeds, overcoming the ongoing pandemic.
Nikki Moreland and Patricia Vance served as co-chairs for the successful event.
The NCBWL represents women of all ages, backgrounds and professions. The League offers women a chance to network monthly with meetings and events. More information can be found at ncbwl.org.
