Georgetown Preparatory School celebrated the Class of 2019 at Baccalaureate Mass and Commencement on Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25.

On the evening of May 24, Georgetown Prep celebrated the 2019 Baccalaureate Mass in the Hanley Center Arena. Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J., president of Georgetown Prep, was the celebrant. Follow the link to read Fr. Van Dyke's Baccalaureate Mass homily.

On Saturday morning, family members, faculty, friends, and members of the Georgetown Prep community gathered in the Yard outside of the George Center for Academic Excellence to celebrate the achievements of the graduating class. Prep's Headmaster, Mr. John Glennon Jr., served as the Master of Ceremonies at the Commencement Exercises.

Clay Lanham '19, who will attend the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, received the Hillenbrand Medal, which is awarded to the President-of-the-Yard. Fr. Van Dyke also presented Christopher Semanick '19, who will attend Tufts University, with the Jeffrey L. Jones award in honor of Prep's former Headmaster, Jeff Jones.

Ryan Frant '19, who will attend Brown University, won the Hamilton Medal, Georgetown Prep's oldest graduation award. Follow the link to view a full recap of the Commencement Awards and award descriptions.

Travis Rinker '19, who will attend St. Mary's College of Maryland, delivered the Commencement address.

Speaking to his classmates, Travis shared what Georgetown Prep and Jesuit education has meant to him. The following is an excerpt:

A Jesuit education provides students with so much more than vocabulary words, the Pythagorean theorem, or that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. It imbues students with a drive for the Magis...the more. It inspires each of us to go out and be a better person than we ever thought possible. My education and experiences give me the courage to use my talents and do something great, which we hope will take the message of Georgetown Prep, and the message of God, to all whose lives we will touch.

At Prep, we don't just talk the talk about our Jesuit motto, but we want to live as men for and with others: we serve our communities, we are Men of Faith: everything we do is deeply rooted in devotion to God. We strive for the Magis: we expect to do more than we had ever thought was possible. We practice cura personalis: this community cared about every part of me. Teachers cared so deeply for my intellectual growth, coaches prepared me physically to compete at my very best, and my classmates always had my back and supported me, no matter the situation.

Now at the end of our four years of Prep it is our responsibility to go out and drive positive change into the world.

Dear Members of the Georgetown Prep Community,

Today marks the conclusion of the 2018-2019 academic year, Georgetown Preparatory School's 230th year and 100th at Garrett Park. It has been a remarkable year on many fronts, and I am grateful to have been a part of it.

On 25 May we celebrated the Class of 2019 at Georgetown Prep's 220th Commencement Exercises. The Class of 2019 was a noteworthy class and will forever have a special place in my heart as it is my first graduating class as president of Georgetown Prep. As you can see from their matriculation list, our newest alumni will attend some of the best colleges and universities in the world this fall. From the first day of the school year, the Class of 2019 displayed a welcoming enthusiasm that was contagious to the rest of the student body and faculty and staff alike. They exhibited that same enthusiasm on the field and court, in the classroom, on the stage, and even in the Chapel, throughout the year. As a mark of their leadership, the number of championships in athletics and performances in the arts (both in drama and in music, along the mounting of our first spring arts exhibition) is simply remarkable. Academically the Class of 2019 boasts six National Merit Scholarship Commended Students: Fanzhi Chen, Gregory Cormier, Liam Crowley, Ryan Frant, Everest Litchford, and Tong Na; one National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist: Ryan Martin; and Patrick Dolan, a National Merit Scholarship Winner. Another mark of this class' priorities is that six of them have committed to the service academies.

Reflecting on the year, I have been moved by the way our students, faculty and staff, and families remain ever committed to the School's mission. In addition to the usual rounds of retreats for all years and service opportunities which engage faculty, staff, and administrators as well as students, the school community engaged in two significant efforts this year: a focus on the theme of Discernment, one of the pillars of our Ignatian and Jesuit tradition; and a discerning look at our school culture, evaluating student culture, resident culture, faculty and staff culture, activities and athletics culture, and family culture. The efforts of these task forces engaged many members of our community, including current parents from our community and students and staff from sister and brother schools in the Washington, D.C., area. Task force reports have been submitted and will be fodder for further discussion and implementation in the coming school year. I am grateful to all who participated in these efforts.

Even beyond the extraordinary efforts, however, I do not want to neglect the wonderful work that our faculty and staff do here each day, educating and forming 494 young men in classrooms and out, creating a home for our residential community, and fostering and maintaining a campus that welcomes current students, their families, and our many guests throughout the year. I have been impressed every day by the commitment of countless people to the welfare of the School. In the words of one of our recent graduates brimming with gratitude: They do this every day for me...for all of us.

Looking forward, I have been thinking about our focus as a Jesuit institution. Over the past few years the Society of Jesus has been considering what the criteria for understanding what Jesuit institutions' apostolic work should be striving for at this point in the 21st Century. In mid-February, after long deliberations, Fr. General Sosa, S.J., released a letter defining the Society's apostolic preferences for the next ten years. They are, in brief:

• To show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment;
• To walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice;
• To accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future;
• To collaborate in the care of our Common Home.

So, today as we conclude the 2018-2019 academic year, I want to conclude by expressing my gratitude to the many, many people who have made such a great year possible, and to express my optimism for the future. The business of education of young people is a uniquely hopeful enterprise, and we have been blessed with many, many reasons to look to the future with great confidence. I ask you to join me in praying for Georgetown Prep, and especially for the Class of 2019.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J.
President

Georgetown Prep graduate Gedeon Poukouta-Livit '19 was recently featured in the Catholic Standard's "Class of 2019 Special Series."

Poukouta-Livit, who will attend Yale in the fall, received the Jesuit Schools Network Award at the School's 220th Commencement Exercises on May 25.

Follow the link to view the Catholic Standard's feature.

Congratulations to the members of Georgetown Prep's varsity baseball, golf, lacrosse, and tennis teams who earned All-Met honors from The Washington Post for their outstanding play this spring.

Ten Georgetown Prep student-athletes received All-Met honors:

Baseball:

Lucas Donlon '19, first-team
Ryan Gleason '19, second-team
T.J. Williams '20, honorable mention

Golf:

Gary Bullard '19, first-team
Keegan Shreves '19, honorable mention

Lacrosse:

Clay Lanham '19, first-team
Jake Giulieri '19, second-team
James Flannery '19, honorable mention
Finn Muldoon '19, honorable mention

Tennis:

Daniel Dunac '21, honorable mention

Congratulations to the Georgetown Prep students who received academic honors for the 4th marking period of the 2018-19 academic year!

Follow the link to view the Dean's List, First Honors, and Southwell Scholars.

The following is a letter from Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J., president of Georgetown Preparatory School, to the School community on Monday, July 22, 2019.

Dear Members of the Georgetown Prep Community,

It is with great appreciation and gratitude that I announce the results from the 2018-2019 Georgetown Prep Annual Fund. Thanks to the 2,762 generous alumni, members of the Board of Trustees, current and past parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the School, we celebrate having generated over $1,911,629 in gifts, a figure that exceeds our goal of $1.87 million.

The annual Spring Gala netted $335,958 that directly supports the young men of Georgetown Prep, plus an additional $110,000 raised for establishment of the Gary Daum Endowed Scholarship which will be presented annually to a deserving Georgetown Prep student who, in addition to academic achievement, demonstrates commitment to and engagement in the fine arts and who might not be able to attend Georgetown Prep for lack of means. I want to thank our Gala chairs, Brian and Carolyn Ridgway '89, P'18, '21, Chet and Candace Thompson '86, P'21, and Dave and Jennifer Whipp P'21. Their tireless efforts and remarkable organizational skills made this Gala a memorable event.

I am especially pleased to report the success of the 1789 Challenge. The Challenge's goal was for 1,789 members of the School community to contribute to this year's Annual Fund during the months of May and June. Like so many times before, our Community answered the Challenge and 1,933 members of the Georgetown Prep community helped us achieve our goal.

Our alumni Annual Fund participation is again over 40%, finishing the year at 44%. Since 2013, our passionate and dedicated alumni have increased their Annual Fund participation from 14% to 44%.The Georgetown Prep parents' contributions remained very strong at 65%. These statistics are remarkable and signify a most generous and engaged community of Georgetown Prep supporters.

Your contributions propel the School forward and ensure Georgetown Prep's success in educating our young men in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition that has been central to John Carroll's Academy for 230 years.

On behalf of all us here at Georgetown Prep, I thank you for your continued support of our nation's oldest Catholic high school and only Jesuit boarding school. I wish you and your family a relaxing and safe summer.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J.
President

The following is a letter from Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J., president of Georgetown Preparatory School, to the School community on Wednesday, July 30, 2019.

Dear Friends,

I have to admit that I've been a bit torn the past couple of weeks: I have been fortunate weather-wise, missing the worst of the D.C. heat for the splendid summer climate of Western and Central New York and returning in time to enjoy one of the longest, driest, and most temperate spells since I arrived here. But while I have enjoyed the summer, like many of us, I suspect, I have not much relished our public discourse; in fact I have found it downright depressing. One has to wonder what the future holds, and being an educator I ask myself what sort of world our young people will face as the current situation evolves.

However, a few days ago, in the midst of these rather grim speculations, I was drawn back to part my own story. As I have repeated many times, when I was the age of our current seniors, I had no inclination to be either a priest or a teacher. Part of my resistance to education was conditioned by my dad's experience of school systems; he loved teaching, but couldn't stand what he called "the rigamarole." Yet when I first set foot in a classroom as a second year Jesuit novice in the HAP program at St. Peter's Prep, I loved it. And except for correcting, I always have. But then I've only taught in Jesuit schools. It's not that we don't have our own "rigamarole," but we have something else as well, something much more positive. There are lots of ways to summarize it: "forming people for and with others," "forming people for the magis," "cura personalis," "caring for souls," "finding God in all things" – all are part of the Jesuit lexicon and they come down to the same thing: it's not so much about SAT scores or college admissions (though these are not inconsequential), nor about Division I or a theatre program in New York, nor about résumé building; it's about helping people to find and respond to the image and likeness of the God who created us in themselves and in one another and in our world. It is the core of St. Ignatius' spirituality.

Ironically, of course, Ignatius' own day was not pretty either. The wars of religion were in full swing as he crossed back and forth across Europe. He himself enjoyed the hospitality of the Spanish Inquisition more than once. It was a time when people were quick to condemn and anathematize at even the slightest shade of heterodoxy. But here is where Ignatius is quite different; meditating on the way God had always treated him in his long years of dissipation and through his stumbling path of conversion, he writes a Presupposition to the Spiritual Exercises:

...let it be presupposed that every good Christian is to be more ready to save his neighbor's proposition than to condemn it. If he cannot save it, let him inquire how he means it; and if he means it badly, let him correct him with charity. If that is not enough, let him seek all the suitable means to bring him to mean it well, and save himself (Sp. Ex., 22).

We too live in a sad time of quick and easy condemnations, and it is never just propositions that are condemned, but people themselves. And so I find Ignatius' Presupposition all the more consoling, valuable, challenging, and necessary. It is a none-too-subtle reminder that God does not need us to be right; God needs us to be loving. God needs us to nurture in one another growth – the growth in wisdom, age, and grace that Jesus experienced (Lk 2:52) – to allow ourselves and one another the space to learn.

We live in a world that too quickly labels people us and them, right and wrong, conservatives and progressives, allies and enemies, as though such labels were adequate or helpful. Ignatius invites us to a vastly different reality – a world where God invites us each to be daughters and sons with his Son, to be sisters and brothers to one another, to a world where we are finally friends.

Happy Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola.

Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J.
President

Joseph Raza '22 earned honorable mention honors for his submission to the Margaret Mary Missar Essay competition through the John Carroll Society.

According to the John Carroll Society's website, "Since 1997, the John Carroll Society has offered scholarships to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors attending the Catholic high schools of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. The Society bases the awards on essays submitted by students and written on topics identified by the Society to encourage students to reflect more deeply on their faith.

The Society awards a scholarship of $2,000 in memory of Margaret Mary Missar for the author of the first-place essay; a scholarship of $1,000 for the author of the second-place essay; scholarships of $500 each for the authors of two to three third-place essays; and scholarships of $100 each for authors of up to ten essays that receive honorable mention. The Society invites the first-place winner and his or her family to receive the award at the Society's annual dinner and submits the essay for publication in the Catholic Standard.

Congratulations, Joseph!

Read the latest edition of Alumnews online!

In this issue, you can read Dr. Stephen J. Ochs', Lawler Chair of History, article on the first residents of Prep's Main Building, now Boland Hall. Also, Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J., president, looks back on his first year as Prep's president and discusses his thoughts on the School's strategic priorities. You will also read about all things Alumnews: Campus News, Athletic News, Alumni News, and Class Notes.

Dear Georgetown Prep Community,

This morning, Mr. Glennon, Mr. Krambuhl, and I headed down to the Basilica for the Archdiocese of Washington's Opening of Schools Mass, where we were honored with an Apostolic Blessing from Pope Francis in honor of Georgetown Prep's 230th Anniversary. As Archbishop Gregory shook my hand, he gave a wry smile and quipped, "You don't look 230 years old!"

While I'll certainly accept the personal compliment, as I thought about it, I realized that it's about Prep too. We don't look 230 years old! The Quad, the classrooms, the pool, the fields, and the Chapel are filled with young faces and fresh voices. And that is the great blessing of this place: we are not a museum but a school, a place that is renewed each year by the gathering of remarkable young people, creating anew the legacy of Archbishop John Carroll. None of us know what the year will hold; there will likely be some challenges, but there will also be many, many graces, as many as our 497 students, their families, our faculty, and our staff bring to us. It is a great reminder to me of how honored and blessed I am to serve here at our nation's first Catholic high school and only Jesuit boarding school.

We are already off to a wonderful start. In August we welcomed five talented new faculty members, along with two new Alumni Service volunteers, all of whom are enthused to be here. Mr. Paro and Mr. Danver are optimistic about the football and soccer teams; both teams have been working hard in preparation for the new season. Mr. Ashur has the string ensemble up and playing, along with our choral groups. He is especially enthused that we have replaced the old organ in the Chapel with full and up-to-date pipe organ (there was a pipe organ there until sometime in the '80s); in addition to augmenting our liturgical music, the organ offers a whole new opportunity for music education and performance.

So, as we say in the school business, Happy New Year! It's a pleasure to welcome you to the 2019-2020 academic year, the 231st of John Carroll's Academy on the Patowmack.

I would like to thank the Parents' Club and everyone who attended last evening's President's Mass and Reception. As I told the Class of 2023 on Friday, one of the marks of the Prep community is that we do gather to pray for one another, for all who are dear to us, and for ourselves. So it is good that we begin this year's journey together in prayer.

This year is a historic time in the life of Georgetown Preparatory School. One hundred years ago, the "new" campus at Garrett Park welcomed its first students, all boarding students. Today, 120 students from 23 countries and 13 states entered classrooms with students from Bethesda, McLean, and Washington, D.C. For our students, it is an incredibly energizing experience; one of the freshman moms told me the other day how excited her son, a new day student, was when he got home from orientation — he had met guys from China, Mexico, and Africa on his very first day, and they were friends already! The fact that our day students experience all the diversity of an international school, and that our residential students enjoy the warmth and familiarity of a top flight Jesuit day school makes for a remarkably rich experience for all our students, and for their families as well. I am especially grateful to our many local families who have been part of the Hoya Home program. I have heard from many of you how good it has been to welcome our residential students into your home, and I assure you that you have made the experience so much fuller for our residential students by sharing your home and family with them. The apostolate of hospitality runs deep in the Jesuit tradition, and I am grateful to all our families for making it so much a part of our life here at Prep.

As I said in my homily last evening, that notion of apostolate, and our own call to be apostles, forms the core of our theme for this year: Apostles on Mission. We don't often think about it, but one of the things that makes Jesuit education and Prep different from many other fine educational systems and institutions is precisely that there is a purpose to everything we do. The study, the play, the prayer, the performance, the service, the celebration – in all these things we are called, as St. Ignatius says, to praise, reverence, and serve the Divine Majesty, learning God's ways through science and math and literature and theology and history and languages, and bringing them to articulation in the way we play and serve and grow together. We are asked to be salt of the earth and light for the world for the young men entrusted to us that they might take that salt and light to the world, a world that is sometimes hopeless and dark for many people. It is a great call, and one which we will be discussing here at Prep throughout the year.

Since 1789, Georgetown Prep has encouraged young men to strive for excellence in all things -- to be men of competence, conscience, courage, and compassion; men of faith, men for others.

Today, as we commence another school year, I ask that you pray for Georgetown Prep, especially for our students.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J.
President

Attachment: President's Mass Homily

Georgetown Prep celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit together as a school community on August 30 in the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes. Rev. James R. Van Dyke, Prep's president, was the celebrant. Read Fr. Van Dyke's Mass of the Holy Spirit homily here.

This is a tradition that has been shared by Jesuit institutions worldwide since the first school opened in Messina, Italy in 1548.

Headmaster John Glennon addressed the students at Mass and talked about the blessings the Holy Spirit brings to us each school year. In his address, Mr. Glennon noted, "While we can often sense the Spirit's presence among us, it often lies beyond our human consciousness to fully understand it. Sometimes we use images and symbols like fire, water, or air to grasp its meaning. This morning, I challenge the young men of Prep to deepen their understanding of the Holy Spirit, of our God, by focusing in on the power of the Spirit to renew, restore, and revitalize."

Matthew Williams '20 received the inaugural Gregory F. Gannon '68 Award at the Mass of the Holy Spirit on August 30.

Gregory F. Gannon, a member of the Class of 1968, demonstrated a commitment to Christian Service throughout his time at Georgetown Prep, and took that spirit of service to his life at the University of Notre Dame, and his subsequent professional life as a teacher, as the founder of the Washington Higher Achievement Program, his work for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, and his commitment to his parish and his family.

In honor of their 50^th Jubilee this past fall, the Class of 1968 has created the Gregory F. Gannon '68 Award, in memory of their classmate, to be bestowed on that rising senior, who through his dedication to our service program and whose growth as a man for and with others reflects the spirit with which Greg Gannon lived his life.

Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J., Prep's president, announced the award at the end of Mass: "In recognition to his commitment to the Georgetown Preparatory School Christian Service Program and to the Growth that it asks of our Students, the first Gregory F. Gannon '68 Award is bestowed on Matthew Williams '20."

Last spring, Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J., Prep's president, announced that the theme for the 2019-2020 school year would be Apostles on a Mission. Throughout the school year, we will hold monthly convocations or gatherings during which members of the community will share their own reflections on this theme in the form of a letter to the founder of the Jesuit order, St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Headmaster John Glennon gave the first reflection at the conclusion of the Mass of the Holy Spirit on Friday, August 30.

Headmaster's Post Communion Reflection
Mass of the Holy Spirit
August 30, 2019

Correspondence plays a central role in the Catholic tradition. When we come together for Mass we often read letters from the early fathers of the church – Saints Paul, Peter, and John. Through these letters we come to understand the development of the church in the first century and how God is revealed in his people and their struggles. The early Jesuits including Ignatius himself, Francis Xavier, and others also depended on correspondence to build the Society of Jesus. As their mission spread throughout the world, they used letters not just to maintain friendships but to grow together in service. Traveling across Europe and over oceans to India and China, to the Americas and beyond, they stayed united by communicating with one another and used these exchanges to share their experience and learn from each other long before FaceTime or Skype.

As we come together this morning, I thought it might be appropriate to share with all of you a letter I've written recently. This week, buoyed by back to school enthusiasm, I decided to be so bold as to write my own letter to St. Ignatius himself:

Garret Park Maryland
August 30, 2019

Dear Father Ignatius,

This morning we come together to continue in a tradition that is shared by Jesuit schools around the world and across time. We come together to celebrate the Mass of the Holy Spirit. Now you might be thinking, well that's nice but why are you writing me? Don't you have a faculty to support? Don't you have students to teach? Why are you calling on me?

That is a good question...
I write to invite you into the joy of this celebration. So that you may share in this incredible moment – of welcoming new students, of praying and singing, and of standing together with each other before our God. I write this morning to invite you into the hope of our community as we begin a new school year — our two hundred and thirtieth together. Leading a school with close to 500 students armed with new books and backpacks, new hopes and new fears, new resources and new challenges, I write to give thanks and to let you see that what you started in 1540 continues today.

Why do I write?
I write so you may know us. I write so you may know me. God's love gives us the confidence, the security, to go beyond ourselves, to share with others, and discover who we really are.

Why write?
I write so that we may know YOU better.
Your thinking about and practice of prayer stands as one of your many contributions to our Church. You push us to think about our relationship with God by reflecting on our experience and the experiences of Jesus. You challenge us to use our imaginations. As I write you this morning, I try to imagine what would you like to hear and how you might you react to what I am saying. Great communicators try to know their audience. This morning I strive to know you. As I imagine a letter to you, I imagine a conversation with you. I create an image of you in my mind. I create an image of the God that created us both.

Why write?
I write because I imagine you asking me: "So what's new? How's it going?" Well, school's back in session. We are off and running and, as far as I can tell, it's been a pretty smooth start.

As you may know we have been blessed by many resources here at Prep: a beautiful campus, a talented faculty, and a globally diverse student body. We have all that we need, and more, to do our work of helping the young men of Prep discover themselves and their God. We are grateful for these riches but we are also challenged by them. Why have we been given so much when others struggle from day to day with so little? I hope each of us who gathers together today wrestles with that question. Students and teachers and headmasters alike: Why?

In a letter to the community last spring, Fr. Van Dyke posed a possible answer to that question in the "theme" for this school year. Why have we been given all that we have? Because we are called to be apostles on a mission. We are called. We know our students love singing the song at Mass but do we understand and are we inspired by its meaning?

We are called to be part of a unique mission, a Jesuit journey you started close to 500 years ago. We also remember a wider calling that God put forth on the day of creation and that we believe his son called us back to more that 2000 years ago. We are called to be ONE as a people.

When we think of the strength of the Prep brotherhood, we think that we are doing pretty well. However, there is more to unity than brotherhood. We cannot rest on our laurels and let complacency set in. When have we fallen short of that calling? Who have we failed to welcome in? When have we pushed away? When have we been torn apart? Black from white; foreign from domestic; man from woman; rich from poor; student from teacher.

We are apostles on a mission. The dictionary tells us that an apostle is a pioneering advocate; an enthusiastic supporter of an idea or a cause. The idea is to be united in love with all God's people. We are called to come together. We are called, not to solve all the world's problems, but to make an effort and begin this work. We start here today with this community. We are called to build it and to tear down walls between us.

We challenge our students: to be men for and with others; to take the gifts they have been given and share them with others; to have the humility and perspective to recognize and receive the gifts that others have to share with them; to come together and share in the joy of community, of the church, of your love.

Through this year, as we attempt this work and try to understand what it means to be an apostle on a mission. We will challenge a different member of the community each month to write a letter to you that answers the question: what does it mean to be called to be an apostle on a mission? We will share those letters with each other, so that we may remember this calling, so that we may know one another. So that we may know our God.

We are apostles on a mission.
We are grateful for each other's company on this mission.
We are grateful for a chance to know ourselves and our God.
In closing we ask for your blessing.
We ask for you wisdom.
We ask you to teach us to take what we have been given. We ask:

Teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not count the cost;
to fight and not heed the wounds;
to toil and not seek for rest;
to labor and not ask for reward, except to know
that I am doing your will.
Amen.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Pray for us.

Yours in hope,

John Glennon Jr.
Headmaster

Mrs. Valerie Franck joined the Georgetown Prep Math Department in August. She is thrilled to join the community and looks forward to cheering on our students!

Tell us a little about yourself.

I studied at Catholic University of America, majoring in Mathematics with a concentration in Secondary Education. I began my teaching career in Montgomery County Public Schools at the school where I completed my student teaching where I remained for five years. After the birth of my second son, I took leave from MCPS to be home with my children. During this leave, I worked as an independent contractor for an educational research and advocacy group analyzing teacher contracts with specific focus on salaries and work schedules. We also had our third son while I was on leave. I returned to MCPS after four years of leave and spent the last eight years at Springbrook High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. During that time, we welcomed our fourth son into our family.

What were you like in high school?

If you could live anywhere, where would you live?

If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?

What is something you have done that no one would ever expect?

I was very interested and involved in local politics when I was in high school. I was a founding member of, what was at the time, the youngest PAC on record. We (successfully) managed campaigns for my town's school district budget as well as for members of the school board.

Tell us about your greatest achievement.

Matthew Scola '20 was named a semifinalist in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), approximately 1.5 million entrants from more than 21,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship program by taking the Preliminary SAT (PSAT)/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). Roughly 16,000 students qualified as semifinalists. To qualify as a semifinalist, a student must exhibit an exemplary academic record, submit a scholarship application, and earn a qualifying score on the SAT.

Other commended students include:

Nolawi Ayelework '20
James L. Fong '20
Patrick J. Gaul '20
Christopher S. Khoury '20
Junhee Lee '20
Luhao Li '20
Xiuqi Shen '20
Matthew J. Yost '20
Shaoming Zhai '20

Congratulations to Matthew and our other commended students on their remarkable academic accomplishments!

Mohammad Ghomi '88, a professor of Mathematics at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), made news recently for solving the Cartan-Hadamard Conjecture.

Ghomi partnered with Joel Spruck of Johns Hopkins University to accomplish the mathematical feat.

Read more on the Georgia Tech website.

Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech.

The following is a message from Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J., president of Georgetown Preparatory School, Rev. Stephen Planning, S.J., president of Gonzaga College High School, and Mr. William B. Whitaker, president of Washington Jesuit Academy.

Dear Friends,

Since 2002, the Jesuit Gridiron Classic has been a highlight of the fall for both the Georgetown Preparatory School and Gonzaga College High School communities. Begun as a way to support and raise money for the newly-founded Washington Jesuit Academy, the Classic has helped create a wonderful spirit for a great cause, bringing attention to the Capital's newest and boldest Jesuit apostolate. It has been a great success on so many levels.

This year we celebrate the 17th Annual and final Jesuit Gridiron Classic. As Georgetown Preparatory School and Gonzaga College High School come together to support the Washington Jesuit Academy on the football field one last time, we are humbled by the tremendous support from all of our communities over the years. The two schools will meet tomorrow to conclude the friendly rivalry on the field; however, the impact of this game will long live on and be remembered with gratitude.

In its time, the JGC match up has raised nearly $2 million towards scholarships for the young men at the Washington Jesuit Academy. Furthermore, and perhaps equally as important, it brought community awareness to the Academy in the founding days and has given us an opportunity to celebrate the three schools and the core values we all hold so dear. This event has brought us all together in camaraderie and tradition.

We THANK each and every one of you who has offered your support to this game and to the Academy's mission of educating "Men for Others" in the Jesuit tradition. You have played an important role in the line of opportunity that WJA offers its students and you have embodied the true spirit of community through your generosity of time, resources, and gifts.

Although tomorrow's game will mark the end of this chapter, we look forward to exploring future ways in which our three communities can come together. Once again, THANK YOU for the steadfast support of the Jesuit Gridiron Classic football game for seventeen wonderful years!

With incredible gratitude,

Rev. Stephen Planning, S.J.
President, Gonzaga College High School

Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J.
President, Georgetown Preparatory School

Mr. William B. Whitaker
President, Washington Jesuit Academy

Congratulations to Brett Feyerick '21, Dylan Danaie '21, and Josh Wolfson '22 on being named to the 2018-19 USA Swimming Scholastic All America Team. All three students swim for the Nation's Capital Swim Team.

To earn the title of Scholastic All American, athletes must be in the 9th-12th grade and maintain a minimum 3.5 grade point average during the application year, while meeting the 2018 Winter Junior time standards in the pool.

Congratulations to our students!

Roberto Suro '69, P'07, has been named a Berlin Prize Fellow for his extensive research into the "challenges of recent asylum seekers pose from Western democracies on the road."

Suro, a professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and at Price School of Public Policy, was awarded the semester-long fellowship "awarded annually to scholars, writers, and artists based in the United States who represent the highest standards of excellence in their fields.

Read more on the USC website.

Photo courtesy of USC.