Fordham Preparatory School - Ramview Ramview Fall 2018 | Page 6

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Several have auditioned for our upcoming musical,
Newsies, and are now rehearsing daily on the stage of the
Leonard Theatre in earnest preparation for the shows on
November 16 and 17. As fall continues, they will
participate in Mentoring Masses in the sacred space of
our beautiful chapel, give generously through service
opportunities, including our annual Thanksgiving Food
Drive, and deepen their reflection and prayer through our
weekly Examen. It is a blessing and a joy to see the holy
work of Jesuit education form a new class of freshmen in
our Catholic identity and Ignatian tradition.
The summer months and first weeks of school also saw
notable engagement and achievement beyond the Prep
from several upperclassmen.
• Five seniors took part in Jesuit Expeditionaries, a social
entrepreneurship and school innovation program
through Basecamp School, led by Prep trustee Christian
Joseph A. Petriello, PhD ‘98
Principal
The opening of our academic year was quite busy, as
always! From faculty meetings to student orientation,
from the first days of class to the Mass of the Holy Spirit,
September began with many good things to celebrate.
First and foremost, we welcomed the Class of 2022, 240
new Rams who will be called to strive for excellence in all
facets of their lives. Our freshman class comes from four
boroughs in New York City - almost twenty-even percent
from the Bronx, as well as Westchester, Connecticut and
New Jersey. Forty percent of our freshmen identify as
persons of color and forty percent also attended our
Higher Achievement Program. Twenty-six percent have a
relative who is a current student or alumnus. They
collectively bring a new energy to our community with
wide-eyed hope and expectation for growth as young
men of faith, scholarship and service.
It does not take very long for our freshmen to get
involved in the life of the Prep. Over 70 clubs were
Talbot. Along with students from Regis High School and
Bishop Kearney, Prep students Christopher Garcia ’19,
Tyler Hernandez ’19, Juwan Medenilla ’19, William
Pfenningwerth ’19 and Jonathan Robles ’19 grappled
with real-world problems and devised solutions through
Ignatian reflection and action.
• Lucas Chu ’19, president of Student Government and the
only student this year to have perfect scores on both the
SAT and ACT, was named a National Merit Scholarship
Semifinalist. Six more seniors were recognized as
National Merit Commended Students: Cole Kwas ’19,
Edward Mooney ’19, Miles Stella ’19, John Tenney ’19,
Andrew Wetty ’19 and Declan Wicks ’19.
• Three students will represent the Prep at the National
Hispanic Institute Celebracíon Conference in San
Marcos, Texas: Maxwell Gonzalez ’21, Joshua Ramos ’21
and Nicholas Soddano ’20. These young men were
chosen among a select group of students who
participated in NHI summer institutes at the University
of Rochester, the University of San Diego and Villanova
University.
• Lucas Chu ’19, Alec Green ’20 and Maxwell Gonzalez ’21
represented at our annual Activities Fair, an invitation for will also serve as members of the Common Sense
them to jump right in and find something that meets Education New York Teen Advisory Council. The purpose
their particular interests and passions. Many are already of the council is to empower young people to become
student-athletes on our fall teams for crew, cross leaders and serve as ambassadors in their communities
country, football, soccer and swimming & diving, by learning about and promoting digital citizenship, with
deepening bonds through travel and competition. issues including literacy and responsible media use.
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