Senior Showcase 2020- Saint Augustine Prep

As the 2019-20 school year came to a close, The Catholic Star Herald spent time with seniors – now graduates — from diocesan and independent Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Camden. COVID-19, social distancing and remote learning aside, we wanted to know what they value most about their high school experience. We asked them what makes their schools unique, how prepared they feel for college, how they worked with and served others, and what advice they would give to someone just starting high school. 

The graduation edition of the Catholic Star Herald featured an overview of our conversations and a look at experiences students had because they were willing to try new things in high school.

Today, we’re sharing more from: Saint Augustine Prep, Richland

Before he began his high school career at Richland’s Saint Augustine Prep four years ago, Angelo Fodera had never seen a priest before.

“The first day, I saw a man in black who intimidated me.  It was Father Francis Devlin,” a Theology teacher at the school.

Soon, though, Angelo became familiar with Father Devlin and the Catholic faith he, and faculty and staff at Saint Augustine Prep, lived out in its halls.

“He told me ‘there’s always lessons to learn, if you look around,’” the student remembered of the teacher.

“Now, I have a whole new appreciation for the world around me.”

As Angelo leaves Saint Augustine for Amherst this fall, he and his fellow 2020 graduates are reflecting on lessons learned as Hermits for the past four years.

“The school challenged my beliefs,” says Luca Covino, who now calls himself “a practicing Catholic” due to the influence of the school.

“I realized that there is a God, and he’s looking out for me.”

Luca was humbled his freshman year, recalling that the then-Dean of Students told the school that “There’s two types of people: those who struggle, and those who ask for help.”  In this, he learned to ask for help (inside and outside the classroom) and discovered confidence in a community where “there’s always someone to lend a helping hand. It means a lot.” 

In receiving aid, the student body at Saint Augustine paid it forward in outreach to the larger community.

As the school’s President of the Cooking Club, he and “other members would help out at the school’s Run for the Roses,” Luca says, referencing a charity event centered around the annual Kentucky Derby.

“We’d help the kitchen staff prepare and serve the meals.”

All Saint Augustine students are tasked with creating their own service project, as part of the school’s “Caritas” program.  For Chris Medolla, that meant returning to his old elementary school, Saint Vincent de Paul in Mays Landing.

He and a team of fellow students “helped out with anything they needed,” Chris said, adding that they constructed a garden on its campus.

Looking back on these last four years, Chris is thankful for the school’s focus on excellence and achievement, which helped him realize he was capable of more than he thought.

In his freshman year, he was encouraged by a friend to try out for the swim team, but Chris did not.

“I didn’t have the time; I didn’t feel I’d be as committed as I should.”

However, after not making the basketball team the next year, he did try out, and make, the swimming squad.

“After three years, after initially breaking that comfort zone, and swimming every day, I wound up” excelling in the water, Chris says.

Sajan Young’s success was not on the gridiron, where he thought, but on the track.

“I was one of the strongest kids in the weight room, and the (football) coach convinced me to play,” he says.

“Turns out I wasn’t very good, but the experience) taught me a new side of myself, an athletic side, that I had never really thought of,” and gained confidence to try out for track.

Sajan also puts emphasis on the diversity and brotherhood ever-present at Saint Augustine.                

“I like the fact that I met different people from different places, and the sense of brotherhood- everyone is there to help you, students and staff alike.”

Previous Senior Showcase 2020 entries: Paul VI; Bishop Eustace; Wildwood Catholic