Thank you for helping our school raise over $50,000!

It cost $8,000 to educate a child and we only charge $5,000 for tuition. This means we will always have a gap to fill, and we work hard to make sure more families can afford to attend Holy Child Catholic school. This is why we held Gala to help us create a sustainable foundation for our school. We earned over $50,000 at our gala and now have 16 monthly donors!

View Program

Gala Program 2022 v.4..pdf

Photos by Staff

Photos by Gordon Vanus

Photos by Kelly Aldrich Photography

Gala Night Slideshow

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Jessica Garate - Emcee

Jessica Garate is the main evening anchor - 5:30pm and 10:00pm - for KRQE News 13. She has been covering New Mexico news for over 19 years.

Jessica grew up in west Texas and Wyoming and is a graduate of the University of Wyoming, where she earned a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Her first journalism job was with Wyoming Public Radio, before going to work for KTWO TV in Casper, Wyoming and KWES TV in Midland, Texas.

Jessica has covered everything from education to politics. Last year she won her second Emmy Award for covering the kidnapping and murder of a Farmington woman. Her first Emmy was awarded for her coverage of the death of University of Wyoming college student, Matthew Shepard. Jessica was named a 2021 Woman of Influence by Albuquerque Business First and she has won numerous awards from the Texas Associated Press, Wyoming Association of Broadcasters, and the New Mexico Broadcasting Association.

Jessica moved to New Mexico in 2004 and instantly fell in love with the Land of Enchantment. She engaged to be married in 2023 and has an 8-year-old daughter, and 25-year-old future stepdaughter. She enjoys running in the bosque, playing golf, traveling, and snowboarding.

Richard Lopez - Keynote Speaker

Richard (Rick) Lopez is a motivational speaker that has spoken nationally since 2015. His unique style has earned him the nickname of “The Preacher”. He has presented to groups in Detroit, Milwaukee, Reno, Las Vegas, Austin, Phoenix and Tucson. He brings real life events back to life and down to earth.

Rick was born and raised in the South Valley and his family has been ranching in New Mexico since 1598. He is a Desert Storm Veteran and served as American Legion Commander for 12 years. Rick also serve on the Estancia Valley Catholic Parish Finance Board. It is his deep faith that takes him on the road to bring inspiring messages to those searching for hope.

Rob Martinez - Special Guest

State Historian Rob Martínez is a native New Mexican born and raised in Albuquerque. A graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.B.A. in International Business Management, Rob then went on to pursue his interest in New Mexican culture and history at U.N.M., earning an M.A. in Latin American history, with an emphasis on church, cultural, and social practices of the Spanish Colonial period in New Mexico.

During his tenure as a graduate student, he was a research assistant for four years at the Vargas Project, learning research skills and paleography, abilities that would serve him well as a historian. Upon graduating, Rob pursued a teaching license and also worked for fourteen years as a research historian for the Sephardic Legacy Project, scouring civil and church archives in New Mexico, Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, analyzing documents for a research and publishing project about the Crypto-Jewish phenomenon in New Mexico and the Caribbean.

Read More about Rob Martinez...

Rob has presented papers and lectures on his research at the University of New Mexico, as well as history conferences throughout the southwestern United States. He has also spoken to historical groups in New Mexico such as the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico, the Albuquerque Historical Society, and the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies about research methodology, unique findings, New Mexico Hispanic culture, and general History of New Mexico.

Rob was a teacher at Rio Rancho High School for ten years, educating young New Mexicans about World History, New Mexico History, and Language Arts. Before becoming state historian in 2019, he was deputy state historian for six years at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives. Rob has published articles on New Mexico history, genealogy and culture in periodicals as diverse as the New Mexico Historical Review, Herencia: The Quarterly Journal of the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center, IMAGEN magazine, Tradición Revista, and the New Mexico Genealogist. Finally, Rob is also a folk musician, performing and promoting New Mexican Hispanic musical traditions for the past twenty years with his brother Lorenzo and their father Roberto Martinez in the group Los Reyes de Albuquerque. With his musical family, Rob has performed in all parts of New Mexico, and on multiple occasions has presented music and New Mexican culture at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington, D.C., the NEA’s National Heritage Fellowship Awards, and also at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.