NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION

							          NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION
           1077 30th Street, NW, Suite 100, Washington, D.C. 20007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       Contact Information
October 1, 2009                                             Barbara Keebler
                                                            Brian Gray
                                                            Phone: (800) 711-6232
                                                            Fax: (202) 333-6706
                                                            E-mail: communications@ncea.org


Serra Catholic High School Student Asia Harris Receives Seton Scholarship
Junior Attends School in Diocese of Pittsburgh

Washington, D.C. – Six Seton scholars have been named by the National Catholic Educational
Association (NCEA), among them Asia Harris, a student at Serra Catholic High School in
McKeesport, Penn.

The Seton scholarships are given every year in conjunction with the Seton Awards, NCEA’s
highest honor. Seton Awards are given in recognition of significant philanthropic, leadership or
service contributions to Catholic education, and each honoree designates one student as a Seton
scholar. Ms. Harris is the Dean and Mary Calland Seton Scholar. The award and the scholarship
are named in honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821), who is regarded by many as the
founder of the U.S. Catholic school network.

Asia Harris is active at her high school and volunteers at her Catholic grade school. She has a
passion for dance, reading, math and science, and has received many awards for competitive
dance and poetry. She is a member of the National Honor Society and the French National Honor
Society, and hopes to study psychology, anesthesiology or law in college.

Ms. Harris will receive the Seton Scholarship during the 19th annual Seton dinner and awards
ceremony on Oct. 5 at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

Seton Awardees Dean and Mary Calland are generous supporters of the Crossroads Foundadtion,
where Mr. Calland is the president of the board. The foundation is dedicated to helping at-risk
inner-city youth in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Through the foundation, the Callands have made
significant personal donations to provide four-year scholarships for students to attend Catholic
high schools.

The NCEA, founded in 1904, is a professional membership organization that provides
leadership, direction and service to fulfill the evangelizing, catechizing and teaching mission of
the church. NCEA members include elementary schools, high schools, parish religious education
programs and seminaries.

                                              -end-
Note to editor: See Asia Harris bio below.
Asia Harris
Dean and Mary Calland Seton Scholar
Serra Catholic High School, McKeesport, Pennsylvania

Asia Harris is a junior at Serra High School, where she is an outstanding scholar with a
passion for dance, reading, math and science. She attended the Bayer Foundation Science
Bayer Summer Sustainability Exploration camp this past summer and was one of only five
students from the US in the program. She was inducted into the National Honor Society
in her sophomore year. Asia is an ambassador in her high school, assisting with new
student orientation and peer tutoring. She also gives back to her grade school, helping
with fairs, fund raisers or general needs of the school. Asia is one of six children and her
younger sister, London, is in her first year of high school.

Asia’s many honors include achieving the highest grades in history and science, becoming a
member of the French National Honor Society, receiving a Junior Achievement Award,
being selected as Diocesan Honors Choir member and receiving numerous awards in
competitive dance and poetry. Asia’s career aspirations include the fields of psychology,
anesthesiology and law. She hopes to attend the University of Southern California, the
University of Pittsburg or Pennsylvania State University.