Approximately 100,000 students are eligible to apply for the EdChoice Scholarship Program for the 2012-13 school year.

EdChoice scholarships are worth $4,250 per year for students in grades K-8 and $5,000 per year for high school students. In the recent state budget, Ohio leaders increased the number of EdChoice scholarships available from 14,000 to 60,000.

“The EdChoice Scholarship Program gives Ohio families the opportunity to send their child to the school that best fits their learning needs,” said School Choice Ohio executive director Matt Cox. “Receiving an EdChoice Scholarship has been a life-changing experience for thousands of Ohio students and families.”

There are 217 EdChoice designated public schools across Ohio, which have received a rating of “academic watch” or “academic emergency” for two of the past three years or are ranked in the bottom 10 percent of schools in the state based on performance-index scores.

Parents can determine if their child is eligible for a scholarship by checking the eligible public schools list available online at www.scohio.org/PDF/Ed%20Choice%20Eligible%20public%20schools%201-25-12.pdf.

Once parents confirm their child’s eligibility, they can check the participating private schools list and begin calling and visiting private schools to find the right fit for their child.

Parents can then enroll their child in the participating private school of their choice, and the school will apply for the EdChoice Scholarship on behalf of the parents.

A student is eligible to apply for the EdChoice Scholarship Program if he or she is one of the following:

— A student who is enrolled in and attending an EdChoice designated public school building.

— A student who is enrolled in a charter school (including an online charter school), and would otherwise be assigned to an EdChoice designated public school building.

— A student who is enrolled in a charter school or non-eligible public school but would be assigned to attend an EdChoice designated public school building in the upcoming school year.

— A student who is eligible to enter kindergarten in the upcoming school year and is assigned to an EdChoice designated public school building.

Currently, 15,403 students are using an EdChoice scholarship to attend the school of their choice. These students must also apply for re-enrollment to continue receiving the scholarship. Students who already attend a private school and students who are homeschooled are not eligible to apply for the program. The application period for the EdChoice Scholarship Program closes April 13.

For more information about Ohio’s scholarship programs, and for the complete lists of EdChoice eligible public schools and participating private schools, visit www.scohio.org.

Through prayer and an act of kindness, Tebow also connected with Joey Norris, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Our Lady of Mercy School in Potomac who is battling leukemia.

Joey Norris, center right, demonstrates "Tebowing" with some of his eighth- grade classmates at Our Lady of Mercy School in Potomac, Md., Jan. 12. Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow's prayerful gesture has caught on around the world. Norris, who is battling cancer, tweeted a photo of himself "Tebowing while Chemoing" to Tebow, and the quarterback immediately responded that he would pray for him. (CNS photo/Rafael Crisostomo, Catholic Standard)

This past fall, while Joey was undergoing cancer treatment at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, his dad, Jim, asked him if he had heard about "Tebowing." It's the prayerful gesture made famous by Tebow, who after scoring a touchdown, kneels on one leg and bows his head in prayer, with his arm resting on his bended knee and his fist touching his forehead.

Joey, an avid football fan, had earlier drafted Tebow to be the quarterback on his fantasy football team.

After seeing photos of his favorite player praying, the youngster said, "I want to do that." And there, in his room at Children's Hospital, Joey knelt down near his chemo pole, and his dad took a picture of him. Later, as the two were walking to their car, wondering what to call Joey's gesture, his dad suggested, "Tebowing while Chemoing."

Joey immediately tweeted that photo to Tebow, explaining that "I'm Tebowing while Chemoing!" The youth added that he was a cancer survivor who was trusting the quarterback with his fantasy team.

Within two hours, Tebow tweeted a response back to Joey, noting that the boy's tweet was "my favorite one of the day," and he told him, "Praying for you and God bless you, big man!"

Jim Norris said in an interview with the Catholic Standard, Washington archdiocesan newspaper, that Joey had been "on the fourth day of a brutal five-day chemo regimen" when Tebow tweeted him back.

"By the end of the week, it wipes you out, you don't feel well. He hadn't been to school all week," Jim Norris said. "When Tim tweeted him back, all of a sudden, his eyes lit up. He had the strength to get through that week and couldn't wait for the weekend."

Some weeks later, the Tim Tebow Foundation invited Joey and Jim Norris to attend the Broncos' Jan. 1 home game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. Joey proudly wore his No. 15 Tim Tebow jersey, and before the game at Mile High Stadium, Tebow finished his warm-up tosses and sprinted over to the sideline to meet Joey.

"He gave me a great big hug, and he gave me a game ball they were throwing around in pre-game," Joey told the Catholic Standard. The quarterback also gave him a copy of his autobiography, "Through My Eyes," and a student Bible.

That game, however, lacked a storybook ending, as Denver lost 7-3, and Tebow had statistically his worst game of the season.

Joey said that after the defeat, "you could see the disappointment in his eyes," and yet Tebow still managed to smile and offer encouragement to his two young guests, talking to them for about 15 minutes and autographing Joey's jersey, the book and the Bible he had given him.

Win or lose, Tebow "is just the nicest person, all around," he said. His dad agreed, saying, "He's the real deal. He's a caring, loving person who just happens to play football."

Tebow's season had its ups and downs, with exciting touchdown passes and runs, but also throws that missed their mark; thrilling victories and disappointing losses.

Joey, who has had his own struggles and triumphs in recent years during his four-year cancer battle, can relate. "He's such an inspiration to anybody going through anything," he said of Tebow.

The quarterback's struggles and end-of-game heroics offer a lesson about endurance, Joey said, adding that even when bad things happen during your day, you can turn it around by the end of the day.

As he continues his cancer treatment, that message resonates with Joey. "During those days when you think you can't go on anymore, you might lose the battle, but in the end, you'll win the war. That's more important than anything. Just have faith," he said.

The event is also to feature a “preschool art fair” showcasing projects by the school’s talented young students. Prospective families are able to meet the principal and kindergarten teacher, experience the faith-based atmosphere of the school, tour the state-of-the-art classrooms and computer lab and learn about curriculum, financial aid and enrollment.

St. Richard School is located at 333 Brookside Dr. For more information, call the school office at 419-826-5041.

The premier event features musician Michael James Mette and motivational speaker Greg Wasinski and runs from 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. March 24 at Findlay St. Michael the Archangel.

“The primary focus of the day really is having fun with your faith, for them to get a picture of the wider church of the diocese, to spend time with new friends and, certainly, to grow as young disciples in their relationship with Jesus,” says Deacon Jerry Ziemkiewicz, youth ministry coordinator for the diocese.

He adds the rally was created because there is a need to reach middle school youth to help them grow in their faith.

“It used to be like, ‘OK, now you’re in high school, now you can be in youth group.’ It can’t be that way any more because they’re growing up a lot faster,” Deacon Ziemkiewicz explains. Helping middle school youth get in touch with their faith will help them stay connected to the church as they move through high school and college, he says.

With the theme, “Know, Love, Serve,” the rally is designed to mirror high school youth programs such as the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC).

Several sessions are for the entire group and feature activities, music and keynote addresses by Mr. Mette and Mr. Wasinski.

Breakout sessions are planned for each grade level and Father Jeff McBeth, diocesan youth ministry chaplain, is to close the day with Mass.

Youth must register at their parish or school for the rally, which is $20 per person and includes lunch and a T-shirt.

Pro-life leaders hailed Komen's announcement Jan. 31 that it would no longer give grants to Planned Parenthood, but it sparked a maelstrom of negative reaction and an online petition asking the group to reverse its decision.

"I am troubled that the Komen foundation has come under such heavy fire for their recent decision to tighten and focus their funding guidelines," said Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life.

"This week we have all been witness to highly partisan attacks from pro-abortion advocates and an ugly and disgraceful shakedown that highlights Planned Parenthood's willingness to pursue a scorched-earth strategy to force compliance with their pro-abortion agenda," she said in a statement.

Yoest also noted that Komen donors are "now confused about their association with the nation's largest abortion provider."

A statement from Komen's founder and CEO Nancy Brinker posted on the Dallas-based organization's website Feb. 3 apologized to the American public "for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives."

Brinker said the reaction to the decision to discontinue the funding was "deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not."

She also noted that Komen had planned to stop funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation but that it will "amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political."

Planned Parenthood is currently the focus of an investigation by U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., to see whether the organization used federal funds to pay for abortions, which would be illegal. Stearns is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Komen raises millions annually for the detection, treatment and research of breast cancer. One of its signature events is the annual Race for the Cure held in communities around the country. Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions, also offers free breast exams and mammograms, considered key to early detection of breast cancer. The Komen foundation over the years has said that it intended its contributions go toward these exams but could not control how funds were allocated at Planned Parenthood.

Leslie Aun, a spokeswoman for Komen, told The Associated Press Feb. 1 that the organization's decision to end its relationship with Planned Parenthood was based on a new policy that says grants cannot be given to organizations that are being investigated by government authorities, whether it is at the state, local or federal level.

In the new statement, Brinker said the group's goal in the grant process "is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."

She also added that the organization hopes everyone involved will be able "to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics -- anyone's politics."

In a letter to Congress last April urging lawmakers to exclude from the federal budget any funding for Planned Parenthood or its affiliates, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston called the federation "by far the largest provider and promoter of abortions nationwide."

The cardinal, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said that Planned Parenthood also has opposed "any meaningful limits on abortion, including modest measures such as public funding bans, informed consent provisions and parental notice requirements on unemancipated minors."

In recent years, the St. Louis Archdiocese and several other U.S. dioceses have asked Catholic groups to suspend support for Komen, citing its contributions to Planned Parenthood and the fact the foundation does not exclude the possibility of funding research that uses embryonic stem cells.

Last April, the Archdiocese of St. Louis reissued one of its previous policy statements on the Komen foundation: "Due to its policy allowing affiliates to offer financial support to abortion-providing facilities, its denial of studies showing abortion as a cause of breast cancer, and its endorsement of embryonic stem-cell research, the Respect Life Apostolate neither supports nor encourages participation in activities that benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure."

Last July, Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, Ohio, told Catholic institutions and schools in that diocese to suspend fundraising efforts for Komen and instead direct such donations to a local group of Catholic-run cancer centers.

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Contributing to this story was Joseph Kenny in St. Louis.