The closing of the school year for our nearly 1,300 scholars signals the end of a year marked by an enormous amount of progress. We have set several records that, God willing, we hope will be broken again in the near future. The Aim Higher Foundation has received more scholarship applications, awarded more scholarships, assisted more families facing sudden and unexpected loss of income, gained more Facebook followers and first-time donors, and raised more money at the Night of Light than ever before.

These are seven-year records for our growing Foundation. Yet, each of them reveals something far more important, the heart and soul of our mission: the faces of the children we serve. We—you and I—are helping more children access the life-changing benefits of a Catholic education.

Reflecting on these accomplishments has led me to two undeniable conclusions. First, our mission to ensure all children, regardless of their background or circumstance in life, can attend a Catholic school is only possible with the time, talent, and treasure of each of you reading this. From our donors, school leaders, and teachers to the parents of our scholars and our friends, we could not have surpassed the milestones we did this year without your support, in whatever form it came! Please know of my deep, personal gratitude for you.

Second, and in many ways perfectly aligned with my first point, I have come to realize that this mission really is “our” mission in the collective sense. It is your mission as much as it is the mission of the Aim Higher Foundation. It is the community’s calling as much as it is the calling of our Board and staff.

The work to provide high quality, values-driven educational options to children who would otherwise not be able to access them cannot be the work of one individual or a single organization. The task is too large and the stakes are too high! These are our children. These are our schools. And you and I—we—are responsible for both. Our own future and the future of thousands of children depends on our understanding and embrace of these facts.

So, what can I say, but thank you for making this a bar-setting year for our mission. Thank you for leading our efforts to break these records with all you have done! We look forward to breaking them again with you next school year.

With gratitude,

Jean Houghton