By STEPHEN BEALE
Union Leader Correspondents
 

GOFFSTOWN - Bishop Brady High School of Concord yesterday lent a helping hand to the effort to keep Villa Augustina School open.

Bishop Brady recently approached parent leaders at the Villa about the idea of doing a fundraiser to show their support for a school which each year sends about a third of its graduating eighth-grade class to the Concord high school.

Last week, students signed up for the fundraiser, buying "Believe" buttons for $2 or more. The word is the name for the grass-roots campaign under way to purchase the Villa Augustina from the Religious of Jesus and Mary, who are severing their financial ties to the school this summer.

"We pre-purchased 500 buttons and then sold them to our students for a minimum donation of $2," said Lonna Abbott, Bishop Brady's director of admissions and enrollment.

The buttons, which were worn by nearly all of the 445 students at Bishop Brady, raised $1,161 for the Villa.

A check was presented to Villa officials yesterday morning when a class of eighth-graders visited Bishop Brady as part of Catholic Schools Week.

"Our kids were all wearing the buttons as a surprise," said Abbott. "It was just great. The Villa kids had no idea we were going to do that, and they just started cheering."

So far, more than $92,000 has been collected toward the goal of $200,000, which would trigger a matching grant in the same amount, said Gary Bouchard, a spokesman for Villa parents.

But the event at Bishop Brady was much more than just another fundraiser. "It's not so much the amount as the thoughtfulness," Bouchard said. "I think it makes a difference."

Abbott said the Goffstown school is important to Bishop Brady - not so much for the 21 Villa alumni there now - but for what those students bring to the Concord campus.

"We consider them one of our strongest feeder schools, not necessarily in numbers but in quality of students," she said.

Abbott said Bishop Brady would feel "a great loss" if the Villa were to close, and Villa officials said they need and appreciate the support.

"We're absolutely enthralled by the wonderful response and support that Bishop Brady students, administration and staff is sending this way," said Jack Daniels, Villa Augustina principal.

Graduates from the Villa also attend Trinity High School in Manchester and Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua in strong numbers. The Goffstown school has maintained a good relationship with all three schools, according to Daniels.

Some students from Bedford who attend Bishop Brady were among those participating in the Villa benefit.

"We're hoping that Brady's help encourages other high schools to reach out to us as well," Bouchard said.

Union Leader staff reporter John Whitson contributed to this article.

Reproduced by the Goffstown Residents Association.