Devon Prep Class of 2013 Earned More Than $6.3 Million in Academic Scholarships

DEVON, Pa. - June 30, 2013 - PRLog -- Devon Prep graduated the Class of 2013 before hundreds of parents, siblings, friends and relatives on Saturday, June 1 during a Commencement Ceremony held in the school’s athletic facility.  Presiding over the ceremony was Very Rev. Fernando Negro, Sch.P., provincial superior of the USA-Puerto Rico Piarist Fathers, the religious order that conducts Devon Prep.

Collectively the 39 young men in the school’s 53nd graduating class earned over $6.3 million in college scholarships. In addition they received nearly 200 acceptances to 80 colleges and universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Fordham, Notre Dame, Case Western Reserve, Drexel and Penn State.

More than 43% (17) of Devon Prep’s Class of 2013 were named AP Scholars, ten with Distinction. Four were National Merit Commended Students. Two of these young men were Eagle Scouts and several plan to go on to participate in collegiate athletics. In addition, this senior class performed over 1500 hours of community service doing everything from collecting and distributing food to needy families to raising more than $25,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

For the first time Devon Prep had three Valedictorians, Antonio D. Muscarella of Norristown, Thomas F. Seykora of Broomall, and Ryan T. Shannon of Limerick.  All three of these young men were AP Scholars with Distinction, as well as Distinguished Honors students and members of the National Honor Society.  Muscarella and Seykora will attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall and Shannon will attend Penn State University’s Schreyer Honors College.

The three graduates spoke on the theme of the Devon Difference, each approaching it from a personal viewpoint.  For Muscarella, who has been at Devon Prep since sixth grade, the Devon Difference is the presence of Christ in the school and how He inspires everyone in the Devon community, from teachers to staff to students.          

“The presence of our Lord and Savior permeates these halls and inspires the minds and hearts of everyone in the Devon community. We all see the presence of our Lord in each other, and we try to bring out Christ’s love in one another,” Muscarella said. “This is the reason why shy, introverted boys like me are transformed into confident, mature young men. Each and every member of the Devon community is united by this “Devon Difference,” and everyone plays an integral role in shaping the boys that graduate from Devon Prep.

“Remember your teachers who followed in Christ’s footsteps,” he continued. “Their patience, kindness, devotion, and sacrifice are as abundant as they are admirable. …Now, as we look back, we realize just how incredible these teachers are. They’ve spent countless hours both in and out of the classroom, devoting their lives to our education so that we may succeed. Their dedication and the knowledge they’ve shared with us played an invaluable role in shaping us into the fine men we have become.”

Seykora, who enrolled in Devon Prep in the seventh grade, talked about the Piarist Fathers, the religious order that conducts Devon Prep. ““Pietas et litterae,” the motto of the Piarist Order, means piety and learning. They devote their entire lives to the spiritual and intellectual growth of young men, and the ones here at Devon are no exception,” Seykora explained.  “…the Piarist Fathers here at Devon have helped further my spiritual and intellectual growth. Father Shea, Father Rich, Father Javier, Father Baltasar, your tireless devotion to the students here at Devon is the true Devon Difference, and I’m sure I can speak for the entire Class of 2013 when I say thank you for helping form who we are today, as individuals, and as a class.”

To Shannon, who also attended Devon Prep since seventh grade, “The Devon Difference is that thirty-nine completely different guys can all become one family. Each and every one of us considers each other a friend, a Devonite,” Shannon said. “The best times the Class of 2013 has had are when we came together. Although some of us will be going to college in Massachusetts or California, we will always be the Devon Class of 2013. The unity we have as a class is far stronger than any amount of distance or time.”

This year’s guest speaker was Judge Timothy R. Rice, a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Prior to his judicial appointment in 2005, Mr. Rice served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He was chief of the Criminal Division from 2002-05, and previously supervised the Financial Institution Fraud Section and the Public Corruption Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In 2009 Judge Rice was appointed to the Criminal Rules Committee of the US Judicial Conference, and was named a member of the American Law Institute.  The following year he received the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Justice William Brennan, Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award.  For more than 20 years he has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Temple University School of Law from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1986.

Also, during the Commencement Ceremony, Devon Prep Alumnus Richard J. “RJ” Bannister, Jr.,  a member of the Class of 1986, received the Alumni Achievement Award, presented annually to an alumnus who has significantly influenced and benefitted his profession.  

Bannister is a senior executive compensation consultant in Towers Watson’s New York office.  He is an advisor to many Fortune 500 companies in the areas of compensation strategy and corporate philosophies, board and governance issues, merges and acquisitions, and multiple other matters related to compensation.

Bannister holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and a M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics in England.  He serves on the Board of two charities and is an active member of the Devon Prep Alumni Association, hosting yearly gatherings for alumni in the New York City area.          

In addition several academic and activity awards were presented to the students.

Devon Prep is an independent, Catholic, college preparatory school for young men in grades 6 through 12 conducted by the Piarist Fathers.  The school, which is located in Devon, Chester County, enrolls students from Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Bucks counties as well as parts of Philadelphia,. For more information call 610-688-7337 or visit www.devonprep.com.