St. Agnes Academy has honored a graduating senior with the Veritas Award since 1981. In 2004, the Alumnae Board established the Alumnae Veritas Award for life achievement, service, courage, and leadership. An Alumnae can be nominated by a friend, classmate, co-worker or volunteer, Nominees should meet four or more of the below criteria to merit nomination:
- Professional Achievement
- Community Service
- Academic Achievement
- Contributions to St. Agnes - Time and Treasures
- Diversity Activities
- Leadership
NOMINATIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE 2012 VERITAS AWARD RECIPIENT THROUGH MARCH 27.
Nominees will be considered by the St. Agnes Academy Alumnae Board and the winner will be honored at the Annual Reunion Reception on Saturday, June 9.
NOMINATE HERE
VERITAS AWARD PAST RECIPIENTS
2011 - Charla Ward Trader '64
2010 - Mary Ann Chambers '57
2009 - Debbie Sieck '87
2008 - Kathy Kokas '73
2007 - Janet Kingham Greenwood '57
2006 - Sister Therese Warden, O.P. '51
2005 - Eileen Antill '51
2004 - Calista Schneidau Herbert '69
2011 VERITAS AWARD RECIPIENT - CHARLA WARD TRADER '64
Treasured St. Agnes Academy memories are among what is most valuable to Charla Ward Trader '64 (above, center, with Head of School Sr. Jane Meyer, O.P. and Alumnae Association President Rosalie Montalbano Brandino '64), the 2011 Alumnae Veritas Award recipient. As an alumna from the first class to graduate from the Academy's 9000 Bellaire Blvd. campus, her favorite moments as a student involve her friends and the people who are part of the St. Agnes family.
"I have all of these wonderful friends from my days at St. Agnes," she said. "We still get together once a month! The biggest gift St. Agnes gave me was the friendships I still hold very dear today. And my education was excellent; I'm so grateful for it."
She fondly recalls the long commutes from downtown, after the campus first opened on Bellaire in the fall of 1963. "Initially, it was like going from hell to heaven (moving to the new campus)," Charla said. "It took us a lot of effort to get there. I can remember carpooling from downtown with a classmate who had a stick shift and we kept getting stuck on the overpasses along (highway) 59."
Charla was an Academy cheerleader, she worked on The Columns, the school newspaper, and the Veritas yearbook. But her connection to St. Agnes did not end on her graduation day. As a longtime volunteer, Charla was a two-term board member for the St. Agnes Foundation and a regular Career Day speaker. She was an active volunteer while her daughters Shannon Beirne Wiesdeppe '90 and Kelly Beirne Stephens '93 were Academy students. At St. Cecilia Catholic School, she was a library volunteer and a room mother, and was equally supportive at St. Thomas High School where her son, Martin, was a student. Charla's granddaughter, Nicole Doré, graduated from St. Agnes this year.
Charla is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas, where she received degrees in business and social work, and attended Spring Hill College. She's been involved in the real-estate industry for 38 years and is currently a broker with Keller-Williams Metropolitan. Her true passion is travel and, as a true Academy woman, Charla continues to visit places off the beaten path. Her favorite city and the site of a recent trip is Barcelona. "I'm addicted to traveling and seeing new places all around the world," she said. "It's something everyone should do! Don't put it off. Just do it!"
For her ongoing dedication to her alma mater, as well as her professional achievements, leadership, passion for community service, and her thirst for learning, the St. Agnes Academy Alumnae Association is proud to present the 2011 Alumnae Veritas Award to Charla Trader.
"I'm so grateful for this honor," she said. "But I'm also so undeserving. St. Agnes has given me so much and that is what I am truly thankful for."
