NEW ORLEANS — St. Mary’s Academy has a 157-year record of excellence in New Orleans.
NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is now recognizing the high-achieving, Catholic prep school for young black women in a big way.
“We believe that our prayers have been answered,” said St. Mary’s President and Principal Pamela Rogers.
According to published reports, Barkley plans to give St. Mary’s, operated by the Sisters of The Holy Family, a million dollars.
In a story first reported by AL.com, the sports commentator pledged after watching 60 Minutes.
The CBS News magazine featured two St. Mary graduates who independently achieved something thought to be impossible.
Calcea Johnson and Ne’kiya Jackson used trigonometry to prove the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean theorem.
WWL Louisiana first reported on the student’s accomplishments last March.
Principal Rogers is waiting to officially hear from Barkley or his team.
“We too have seen it in the media,” Rogers said. “We are extremely excited and very, very grateful that Mr. Barkley has chosen to donate to us a million dollars.”
Word of Barkley’s pledge spread quickly.
“I feel it’s a great accomplishment,” said St. Mary’s student’s father Thaddeus Greenlee. “Kudos to him. That’s really nice.”
“I appreciate him a lot because all of my grandchildren have gone through St. Mary’s, and I have one here who’s in college that graduated three years ago,” said Antoinette Toomer.
“They can use it," said St. Mary’s grandfather Juan Lumes. “They do great work in educating these girls and going to college, getting some money, scholarships, and stuff and they graduate. It’s a blessing.”
School officials say a million dollars will certainly go a long way in continuing St. Mary’s mission.
“We believe that all our students have that same potential and if we pour into them a quality education they will be able to move out and do great things,” Rogers said.
According to AL.com, Barkley also said he will donate $1 million to women’s athletics at Auburn University, his alma mater.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.