Education Notes: St. Aloysius student wins art contest

Dong Phung, a student at St. Aloysius Catholic School, was recently honored for his artistic talent and was chosen as the grand prize winner in the Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s annual multimedia Youth Arts Contest.

In his seventh-grade art class this spring, Phung created a color pencil artwork that depicted four biblical scenes in modern settings, with a narrative written in Vietnamese and translated by the Rev. Jo Hien, pastor at St. Anthony’s Parish and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Phung’s piece was chosen from among 20 entries.

According to a press release from Catholic Charities, as the national grand prize winner, Phung and one adult will receive an expenses-paid trip to attend the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry gathering in Indianapolis in November. He’ll be recognized for his achievement and he’ll receive a $500 award. A local CCHD-funded nonprofit group will also receive a matching $500 award. 

Phung’s artwork will be displayed for a period of time in the Catholic Charities Family Services Center and then exhibited at the Spokane Catholic Diocese Chancery.

Number of college-bound high school grads increases

Spokane Public Schools reports that high school graduates attending a two- or four-year college in the year after graduation has increased by 12 percent since 2004, according to information from The BERC Group’s College Tracking Data Services. The recent data show that for the class of 2009, 64.2 percent attended college right after graduation.

“At every high school, the expectation now is that all students will graduate with the skills to succeed in college or get a good job,” Superintendent Nancy Stowell said in the release.