Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep’s Gerard Cardenas Named 2019 Hal Tehan Scholar Award Winner
We celebrate excellence in Catholic education each year at the annual Catholic Foundation Award Dinner.
For the past 21 years, we’ve honored one student each year with The Catholic Foundation Scholar’s award based upon a scholarship competition among our Catholic high schools’ junior students.
This year, in honor of a man fully dedicated to his faith and community, we renamed the scholarship the Hal Tehan Scholar Award, and presented it to Gerard Cardenas, a junior (ranked first in his class) at Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep.
For the competition, each of our eight Catholic High Schools submits one nomination based on academic achievement, community and church involvement, leadership, and an essay illustrating what their Catholic education means to them.
Nominees are evaluated by a panel of Foundation Trustees and Advisory Council members. Each nominee receives a $500 scholarship for their senior year, and the winning Hal Tehan Scholar receives a $5,000 scholarship.
Hal was an integral part of The Catholic Foundation for many years as executive director and development director. He also received The Catholic Foundation Award in 1997. Hal passed away in March 2018, and our Board of Trustees felt it fitting that this prestigious scholarship be renamed in his memory.
Gerard was elected Student Body President his sophomore year and again his junior year because his peers recognize his integrity, commitment and extraordinary work ethic.
Gerard excels while remaining humble. He regularly plays drums at Mass and for his peers’ theatre and music performances. He recently co-organized the first-ever Fine Arts exhibition on campus to share and celebrate his classmates’ gifts. He is both the voice of his peers and an old soul.
His nomination letter, in part, read, “Gerard is that rare combination of academic excellence, artistic expression, faithful values and dignified leadership that Catholic schools pray all students will become. Gerard represents the pinnacle of what Catholic schools hope to accomplish.”
Way to go Gerard!