Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation scholarships made Catholic education accessible for Connie Rushing’s four children
Connie Rushing is approaching an important parenting milestone.
In May, her youngest daughter, Kyle, will graduate from Holy Infant School in Ballwin, marking the conclusion of more than two decades of Catholic education as her four children grew up.
“It’s given them a good foundation of what’s right and wrong. In the decisions you make, you make those based on what you’ve learned about what’s wrong and what’s right, you know?” she said. “It gives them a good foundation in their life, and when you get into your teenage years and you’re not sure what to do, you go back to your roots and your foundation.”
This year, Kyle is among more than 5,600 students receiving scholarships through the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation. The foundation provides need-based scholarships to students attending private and parochial schools throughout the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It is supported by the Annual Catholic Appeal, individual and corporate donors, grants and funding from other local foundations.
Catholic education has been a priority for Connie since her oldest, Carley, reached kindergarten age. Connie, who was baptized Presbyterian but didn’t practice as an adult, was moved to explore a closer relationship with God after Carley was born. She had attended Mass at Holy Infant several times with a neighbor growing up.
“And I just loved the Catholic Church. I loved all the rituals, I loved what everything stood for. Everything had a meaning,” she said.
She participated in Christian initiation at St. Joseph Parish in Manchester; she was confirmed, and Carley was baptized.
When it was time for Carley to start kindergarten, “I was involved (at St. Joseph) at that point, and I loved it,” Connie said. “I loved the school; I loved that she could go to church. I loved that it was a little community within our community.”
Financial assistance from St. Joseph Parish and TTEF made it possible for Connie to continue sending her children to Catholic school as she went through a divorce and navigated life as a single mom, she said. All four of her children — Carley, Kennedy, Caden and Kyle — attended St. Joseph School in Manchester. When the school closed in 2020, Caden and Kyle transferred to Holy Infant.
The Catholic communities at St. Joseph and Holy Infant have also been a huge support as the family has navigated a tragedy. In 2023, Kennedy died of a heart condition at age 19.
“It’s so important to have that faith in your life. When you go through something like losing a child — I don’t know where I would be without it,” Connie said. “And my kids have that and can lean on that as well. So my decision (to choose Catholic education) was for a reason.”
As her children have dealt with the grief of losing a sibling, “they can talk to God, write to God, pray to God, and it’s not awkward to them,” she added. “That’s why this Catholic education, and being part of the Church, is so important. It’s so important to have that foundation.”
This January is the first time in many years that Connie is not filling out a TTEF application for the following school year. She wants other families to know: It’s OK to ask for help.
“There’s no shame in it. I think a lot of people don’t want to get financial aid — no one loves to do that, no one loves to go and ask for help,” she said. “But for your kids, there’s no shame in it.”
“What TTEF gave me was a peace of mind, that I mattered, and my kids mattered. I can never repay them enough for what they did for us. It wasn’t a huge amount of money, but to me, it was everything, because it helped me get my kids where they needed to be.”
Apply for scholarships
The Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation, with its partners, the Roman Catholic Foundation of Eastern Missouri, the Annual Catholic Appeal, the Office of Catholic Education and Formation and others, offers $9,621,000 in scholarships and financial aid to families each year.
Last year, more than $980,000 was raised at the Archbishop’s Gala, which enabled the foundation to provide 489 children with scholarships this school year. The foundation’s next gala will be held Thursday, April 24, at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis. For more information, see ttef-stl.org/archbishops-gala.
The scholarship application window for the 2025-26 school year opened Jan. 21. Families may apply for scholarships to attend any elementary school in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, any Catholic high school and any private elementary school in the City of St. Louis.
Families have the opportunity to apply for scholarship assistance through a unified online application, which is used for all scholarships funded by The Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation and its partners. Online applications are available at www.ttef-stl.org.
