Four Utah Catholic Schools students win essay contest

Friday, Dec. 25, 2020

SALT LAKE CITY — Four Utah Catholic high school students will hit the slopes with new ski equipment this season thanks to a unique scholarship. Three have been skiing since they were children and one began the activity last year, but they’re not being rewarded for their athletic prowess. Instead, each has been recognized for the essay he or she wrote about the service they’ve performed. 

The Gifting Back…Skiing it Forward Steward Scholarship is the brainchild of Beau Parent, a ski enthusiast and Catholic school parent who wanted to acknowledge the service that many high schoolers provide to their community.

Each year for the past eight years, Parent has invited 50 high schools along the Wasatch Front and Park City to apply for the scholarship. Usually about 12 to 15 schools respond; all three Utah Catholic high schools participate, he said. Schools must indicate what they are doing in terms of community service and stewardship, along with how they are helping vulnerable students. From among the applicants, Parent and a small committee choose the winning schools whose students are then asked to write essays on what they do for community service, how they help their school and how it affects them.

This year, there were six winners, four from Utah Catholic Schools. Juan Diego Catholic High School students Alea Pindat Kahele and Jaidan Malloy, and St. Joseph Catholic High School students Matthew Gough and Alexis Brown, along with two Riverton High School students, received the ski equipment. The prize package valued at more than $2,500 included skis, bindings, a helmet, goggles, accessories and other ski swag.

Each of the chosen students’ essays reflect their love of skiing, stewardship and their families. 

Skiing has allowed Malloy to spend time with his father Albert, made more precious because of a recent cancer diagnosis.

 “I always took skiing with my dad in the best snow on Earth for granted, until last year when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, creating more complications than before, and giving him only a few years to live,” Malloy wrote in his essay. “We treated the previous season as the last, as it likely is. I cherished every second I had with my dad. From my adventures of growth through skiing and volunteering, I have learned that even the tiniest actions can go a long way, never to take for granted the gifts given to you, and to cherish time spent with the people you love.”

Gough also appreciates spending time with family while enjoying the great outdoors.

“Skiing has become a way to reconnect with my family after a hard week of school and work,” he wrote. “A way to hang with friends. A way to enjoy the beautiful outdoors and experience nature. I’m overwhelmed with joy and appreciation that I’m able to take part in such a great activity, and understand how blessed I really am.”

Spending time on the slopes motivates both Brown and Pindat Kahele to connect with other people and to work to protect the earth.

“Every activity that I partake in brings me closer to the community that surrounds me,” Brown wrote. “Between sports, clubs and student government, I can connect with people from all walks of life. By building ties with the community, I have become a happier person.”

“The slopes are such a cherished place for me, and spending time outdoors is a privilege I’m lucky to have,” Pindat Kahele wrote. “I believe, because of skiing, I’m hyper-motivated to help save our earth. Skiing has influenced my stewardship activities because it taught me to persevere, be resilient and keep my sportsmanship-like spirit.”

Usually Parent and his nominating committee select just two students to receive the scholarship, but this year all of the recipients from the three schools were so exceptional they could not choose between them, he said. It meant going back to the sponsors to get four additional ski packages but they all stepped up, he said.

The JDCHS students received their ski equipment in a special presentation on Dec. 10; the St. Joseph students received theirs Dec. 14. Normally they would do so in a schoolwide assembly but because of pandemic precautions, only parents and school officials were present.