Michelle Detz is shown with Bishop Joseph McFadden at the Golden Apple Award ceremony.

Mrs. Michelle Detz received the Golden Apple Award in ceremonies at the Diocese of Harrisburg on Tuesday, May 10^th. Bishop Joseph McFadden and Father Edward Quinlan, Diocesan Secretary for Education presented the award to Mrs. Detz and six other educators from other schools in the Diocese.

Mrs. Detz has taught at Our Lady of the Angels  (OLA) in Columbia since 1998 and prior to the consolidation, she taught at Holy Trinity School.  Mrs. Detz is very active at OLA overseeing First Communion preparations for the 2^nd grade students, Catholic School Week activities, and Read Across America.

The Donahue Family Foundation, has established Golden Apple Awards Program to honor outstanding individuals who devote their lives to teaching in Catholic Schools.

Some background on the Donahue Family Foundation: Jack and Rhodora Donahue are parents of thirteen children all of whom were educated in Catholic schools. The Donahue’s were eager to express their deep appreciation to Catholic schoolteachers for providing quality academic and faith filled education for their children. The Donahue’s approached Bishop Donald W. Wuerl, Bishop of Pittsburgh, who immediately embraced the idea of a Golden Apple Award and the first group of teachers in the Diocese of Pittsburgh were honored in 1992. Since that time the Donahue family instituted a program in the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio and in May of 2005 invited the Diocese of Harrisburg to institute the Golden Apple Awards Program. The Donahue Family Foundation, Inc. is located in Pittsburgh, PA and a son; William J. Donahue is president of the foundation.

(Article contributed by Sandi Crumbling, the secretary at OLA.)