Pope John Catholic school receives national award

Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award recipients were Pope John Paul II Catholic High School, accepted by Vince Aquila, principal, Joanne Griffith, Dr. Edwin Nichols, Lisa Ramsey, and Eugene Roberts.

Pope John Paul II Catholic High School, located on Old Madison Pike, recently received a national award from the Greater Alabama Council Boy Scouts of America.

Pope John Paul II Catholic High School was one of five recipients of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Service Award.

The award was presented at a banquet held at the Marriot Hotel in February.  Dr. David Williams, president of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, was the guest speaker.  Williams spoke on leadership and the values the Boy Scouts instill in youth, while sharing some memories of his Scouting days in Scotland.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle opened the event with greetings, and Dr. Andrew Hugine, president of Alabama A & M, was also present at the event.

Vince Aquila, school principal, accepted the award on behalf of the school. The purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding services for demonstrated involvement of Young’s “dream of justice and equality for all” in the development and implementation of scouting opportunities for low-income, inner-city, and rural youth.

For more than 5 years, the high school has consistently opened its doors to North Alabama Scouting events, which has helped make Scouting accessible to all youth regardless of race, religion, economic background or creed.

Lisa Ramsey of Trinity, Eugene Roberts of Madison.