Billings Catholic Schools announces their year-long celebration with Then, Now, Tomorrow: 50 Years of the Billings Area Catholic Education Trust.
During the early 1970’s, Catholic School closures swept across the nation and our state of Montana. In the past 50 years, more than 50% of Catholic schools across America have closed. Every Catholic School open today is beating the odds.
Fearing the loss of Billings’ Catholic schools at that time, a dedicated Catholic school supporters responded. Their answer became a new model to bolster Catholic education in Billings, MT. Three pillars – tuition, parish support, and endowment funds – would provide the foundation needed to ensure our Catholic schools’ future.
On August 3, 1973, five prominent members of the Billings Catholic Schools community – Jack Tenge, Ralph Studer, Louis Hall, William Roscoe, and Agnes O’Leary – signed their names and reputations to establish the Billings Area Catholic Education Trust. Acronymized BACET and pronounced back it, the clarion call became “will you back it?” to save our Billings Catholic Schools.
Their actions continue to this day impacting our schools. Today, BACET serves as the endowment funds of the Billings Catholic Schools Foundation. With that first deposit of $3,000, BACET now stands over $16 million providing over $600,000 annually in tuition assistance, scholarships, mission, program, and facility funding. Through 50 years of support, BACET’s distributions to Billings Catholic Schools totals over $9 million.
As we look to the next 50 years, the growth of BACET is paramount to ensuring the future of Billings Catholic Schools. How do we do that? The answer remains the same as it did in 1973, as it does today in 2023, and as it will tomorrow in 2073 and beyond: abundant, stable funding that provides for our Billings Catholic Schools, both now and forever.
To celebrate this legacy, Billings Catholic Schools and the BCS Foundation have planned a year-long education campaign to tell the history of BACET, recognize its importance today to the students and families of Billings Catholic Schools, and inspire support for BACET’s growth to ensure the future of our Catholic schools tomorrow.
To learn more about Then, Now, Tomorrow: 50 years of the Billings Area Catholic Education Trust, visit billingscatholicschoolsfoundation.org.
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