Two 2018 grads exemplify school mission at Notre Dame.
Each year, during graduation and commencement, Notre Dame Prep confers special awards to two seniors, a boy and a girl, who best exemplify the school’s mission. For the girls, the award is called the Donna M. Kotzan School Mission Award and this year, Lauren Neiheisel was named its awardee. For the boys, it was Joseph DePillo who earned the school’s Harold P. Rice School Mission Award.
Among many other deserving graduating seniors, Neiheisel and DePillo are students who embody the school mission in many ways. In fact, it might be near impossible to find two more deserving of such an honor. And even though both grads were a little surprised to learn of the honors, once they found out why they were chosen, they were both elated and proud.
"I was surprised and truly honored to be granted the Donna M. Kotzan School Mission Award," Neiheisel said. "To hear the origin of the award really touched me when I found out that I was the recipient of it."
For DePillo the award was an opportunity to express gratitude for what Notre Dame has meant to him.
"When I heard my name called I was very thankful for my parents, teachers, coaches, and everyone else who has influenced me and made me into the person I have become today," he said.
DePillo now looks forward to his first year at Michigan State University, where he will study business. But he knows it's because of his time at NDP that he'll be so prepared for the next level.
"Attending ND Prep has really allowed me to grow as a person as well as a student," DePillo, who also is an International Baccalaureate Diploma candidate. "I feel comfortable and confident going to college equipped with the right education and the right people skills to make an impact on something in the real world. Without NDP, I wouldn’t be able to be the person I am today."
In addition to the Rice mission award, among the many awards and honors earned by DePillo at Notre Dame included the President’s Award for Educational Excellence, Christian Financial Credit Union Scholarship, the American Citizenship Award, and the United States Marine Corps Distinguished Athlete Award. But he is most proud of the mission award and how he earned it.
"I've tried to follow the school mission by being someone who anyone at anytime can come and talk to, whether they are a freshman or senior," he said. "Also, I think that my hard work in the classroom and in other school activities such as peer leadership have helped me become more mission-focused."
For Neiheisel, it's also because she's been willing to take certain leadership roles that helped her focus more fully on the NDPMA mission.
"Over the course of my four years at NDP, I feel that I've exemplified the mission through the leadership roles that I have taken in the classroom and on my track and cross country teams," she said. "I have also been very involved in campus ministry, including leading Kairos and being a eucharistic minister. I have dedicated myself to my studies and have enjoyed learning in the classroom with my teachers and developing a strong relationship with them and my peers."
Faith also played a role for Neisheisel, who will be attending Marquette University in the fall to study nursing.
"Attending NDP has been very important to me because it has challenged me to work hard in and out of the classroom," she said. "I have appreciated being able to practice my Catholic faith while being educated and to grow deeper in it."
Like DePillo, Neiheisel, who was named an MHSAA Scholar Athlete finalist in January, has garnered her fair share of awards and accolades, including the President’s Award for Educational Excellence, AP Scholar Award, the Pére Marquette Scholarship, and the Notre Dame Preparatory Female Scholar Athlete of the Year award.
But awards for her pale in comparison to her overall experience at NDPMA.
"As a person, I have felt a real sense of belonging within this community and have made many friendships," she said. "I feel very prepared for college and for that I credit the teachers for challenging me to work harder and think deeper. I am so grateful for their support over these past four years."
More on the awards:
Donna M. Kotzan School Mission Award: Donna Kotzan influenced thousands of students in her 35-year teaching career. Until her retirement, Kotzan was a mathematics teacher and administrator at Notre Dame for 14 years. She is a woman of faith and generosity who lives the mission of the school. It is appropriate that the award given to the young lady who fulfills the Notre Dame mission is named in her honor.
Harold P. Rice School Mission Award: Hal Rice taught history and religion in Marist Fathers schools — including Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods and Notre Dame Prep — for more than 50 years. Rice, who died in 2013, modeled the school mission his entire career for thousands of students. The award bearing his name is presented to the young man who best exemplifies the living of the Notre Dame school mission: With God we form Christian people, upright citizens and academic scholars.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.