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Good Shepherd School Inagural ''Best Dressed Gala'' To Support School's Mission
Glitzy Gala to Take Place Saturday, December 2 at New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street
(New Orleans) –Good Shepherd School (GSS) announced today their inaugural “Best Dressed Gala” will take place on Saturday, December 2, 2023, at The Marriott Downtown with 20 New Orleans celebrities walking the runway to raise money for the Gentilly elementary school whose mission is to provide a quality education to the city lowest economic families.
The event’s cocktail hour begins at 6:00 p.m. with the main event starting at 7:00 p.m.
This year’s fashionable soiree will feature entertainment from renowned party band PaperChase. Ten local women luminaries and 10 men who are notable New Orleanians will strut their finest formal and non-formal attire on the runway as they showcase fashions from the area’s popular John’s Tuxedos, Chatta Box and Dolce Boutique.
Local celebrities and dignitaries walking the runway include:
- Vanessa Schneider from Blitch Knevel
- Melissa Aucoin from Toulouse Gourmet
- Paris Vincent from WWL-TV and GSS Graduate
- Stephani Kammer-Taylor, choreographer
- Tammy O’Shea from Fidelity Bank
- Melissa Maia from Salon Maia
- Sonya Encalade-Jones from Haus Nola Realty Group
- Dr. Jawan Brown-Alexander from Maroon Inc.
- Victoria Pizzo, choreographer
- Kevyn Winters, New Orleans Artist
- Thomas Moran, Jr., Good Shepherd School President
- Jim McCormick, Grammy CMA-nominated, multi platinum-selling songwriter
- Donnie Silva, Safari Car Wash Owner
- Jim Schoen from Fidelity Bank
- Chris Berg from American Seafood, Inc.
- Mark Faliveno from Isidore Newman School
- Preston Jones, pastor
- Doug Adams from HUB International
- Tyrone Hughes, Former Saints Player, Saints Hall of Famer and Saints Pro Bowler
- D.J. Johnson, Baldwin & Co. Books Owner
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The “Best Dressed Gala” is a new and fashionable twist on GSS’s annual “Dancing with the Stars” event and will have special celebrity honorees and awards handed out over the course of the night. Some of GSS’ most successful graduates will be spotlighted during the gala.
The event will continue the legacy of the school’s founder, Father Harry Tompson. Since opening its doors in 2001, the Gentilly-based Good Shepherd School has carried out Fr. Tompson’s lifelong mission of helping and educating children in need. The Catholic school opened its doors just four months after Fr. Tompson’s death with the mission of educating children no matter their family’s financial situation. So far, GSS has graduated 239 students and currently serves 255 students.
GSS is opening a second campus in the Desire-Florida Community to serve Kindergarten students with plans to expand to additional grades in the coming years. The new campus is being constructed in partnership with The Giving Hope Foundation and will be located at 3601 Desire Parkway.
GSS has a total of 239 graduates, with 19 having earned their college degrees. Additionally, more than 60 GSS alumni are nearing their college graduations in the next few years and will be featured on the school’s growing GSS College Graduate Wall when they complete their degrees. GSS graduates have attended almost 30 different colleges and universities throughout the United States, including 12 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. GSS Graduates have majored in just about every available academic program including Aviation, Art, Biology, Communications, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Education, English, Kinesiology, Law, Math, Mechanical Engineering, Medicine, Nursing, Political Science, and Physical Therapy.
Currently, 148 GSS graduates are thriving academically in local area Catholic, private, public, and charter high schools. GSS graduates have attended 16 local Catholic schools with the most significant numbers at St. Augustine, Jesuit, Brother Martin, Archbishop Rummel, St. Katharine Drexel, Cabrini, St. Mary's Academy, Mount Carmel Academy, and De La Salle. GSS now has two graduates attending Holy Cross High School and two others enrolled at St. Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis.
Tickets for the event start at $150 and include an open bar and unlimited food. There are also various sponsorship levels available. For more information on the event, tickets and sponsorships, visit https://www.givergy.us/BestDressedGala.
