On April 28, at our President's Academic Excellence Awards, Scecina Memorial recognized 62 outstanding students who ranked in the Top Ten of their class or earned a grade point average of 4.0 or higher in the 2013-2014 school year. These students, in-turn, honored the individuals whom they believed to be influential in their success. My remarks from that evening follow:
"As we begin, Mr. Hegarty and I wish to convey a sincere thank you and a couple words of encouragement to the honorees this evening.
First, we thank you. You bring an outlook, a presence, a set of talents and abilities, and a willingness to learn and lead by example that motivates and inspires your peers, younger students (who don't know you, but who read or hear about your accomplishments), and us as adults. You inspire our hope and faith in the future.
We are all blessed to have you in this school community. Your abilities to achieve goals contribute significantly to your classrooms, teams, families, and communities outside of school. Years later--and this will happen--your classmates, friends, and teachers will remember your values and your spirit as much as or more than your specific accomplishments. So stay faithful to why you do what you do, not just what you choose to achieve.
Our encouragement is to affirm you in placing your academic pursuits within the context of Christian faith. A giant in the history of the Catholic Church, Saint Thomas Aquinas, wrote centuries ago that, "Reason needs the guidance of faith to do its best."
You know that the gift of your mind and its ability to reason come from God. When you look at your awards, display them, or wear the senior ring, we hope that you see in them the God who has blessed you with powerful abilities, the unity of reason and faith within you, the people who are here with you tonight, and everyone who has helped you along your way."
On April 25, three Scecina Memorial seniors had an
opportunity to give back to the community and meet one of their football heroes at the same time. Nolan Ayres '14, Gary Fisher '14, and Jordan Brown '14 volunteered with St. Vincent's Sports to help run the Team Peyton All Stars.
Aaron Leming '14 was selected to represent the United States in a series of international baseball games versus teams from Germany and The Netherlands this summer. He will spend two weeks in Germany and Holland playing baseball and attending several baseball and college athletics seminars.
"All of it," writes a freshmen student in response to the question "What was your favorite part about retreat?" Another student wrote that the retreat helped him feel closer to God and to his classmates. This past April saw the return of underclass retreats to Scecina Memorial High School.
Every year, a handful of Scecina Memorial Latin students join over 140,000 others from across our nation in taking the National Latin Exam. This year, five Crusaders took the 2014 National Latin Exam and were recognized for their high performance.
