Student of the Week Archive 2007-2008

May 19-23: Kevin Toniazzo-Naughton '11

Freshman Kevin Toniazzo-Naughton was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending May 23.

Toniazzo-Naughton took the Cape and Sword Drama Department by storm this spring with his hilarious and pitch-perfect portrayal of the shady choir master John Jasper in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." Not in many decades has a freshman landed such a big role in a Prep show.

May 12-16: Brendan O'Donnell '08

Senior Brendan O'Donnell was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending May 16.

O'Donnell is a co-captain of our varsity lacrosse team who competed for the Philadelphia Catholic League Championship last week. According to Mark Halligan , Dean of Students, "Brendan is a wonderful young man with a lion's heart. He never quits." O'Donnell is also a first team All-Catholic who is nominated for all-state honors. O'Donnell also excels in the classroom with a 3.8 GPA. In the fall he will attend Penn State University.

May 5-9: Michael Pinciotti '09

Junior Michael Pinciotti was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending May 9.

Mike is a strong student who participates, is positive and works to improve his and his classmates' performance. His good nature helps enliven each class. Out of class, he is active both in team sports and in pick-up games, all of which helps build class and school spirit. He does all this without any thought of reward other than to be his best. He currently sports a 3.8 GPA.

April 28 - May 2: Michael Iannacone '10

Sophomore Michael Iannacone was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending May 2. English teacher Ms. Judy Christian calls Michael "The greatest homeroom rep in the 157-year history of St. Joseph's Preparatory School. He is mature, reliable, sensible and funny, a leader in his class. Michael is what all homeroom reps should aspire to be."

Michael is committed to social justice and community service and he recently helped out during Ignatian Identity Week serving soup and bread. He currently sports a 3.79 GPA while taking very challenging classes and was one of 12 Prep students to achieve a perfect score of 40 on the 2008 National Latin Exam. Michael is also an accomplished athlete with the track team.

April 21-24: Michael Protesto '08

Senior Michael Protesto has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending April 24.

Protesto has distinguished himself both in the classroom and on the river. Michael is a captain of the Crew Team and is one of the top rowers on the Varsity 8 boat. In the classroom, Michael currently has a 3.95 GPA while taking very challenging classes. This past summer he took part in the Quaker City Service Project. According to the teacher who nominated him, Michael is "extremely Humble, exceptionally accepting and very kind." In the fall, Michael will attend Princeton University in the great state of New Jersey.

April 14-18: Andrew Czudak '08

Senior Andrew Czudak was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending April 18.

Czudak has distinguished himself through his leadership, hard-work and dedication as a co-editor of the Yearbook, a Kairos leader and a devoted member of the Prep wrestling team. Last summer, Andrew and eight of his classmates spent eight days in the Dominic Republic where they did demolition and construction for the community center of a school. As English teacher Ms. Susie Cook so aptly put-it, "Andrew is a true agent of Prep Spirit."

April 7-11: Bill Palombi '08

Senior Bill Palombi was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending April 11. Palombi is a Captain of the Wrestling team, Student Council Vice-President and an overall good guy. His "BP for VP" will go down in Prep history as the biggest student government sign in school history.

According to Mr. Mark Halligan, Dean of Students, "One of Bill's claim to fame is that he single-handedly created a tool to remove bottle caps from holes in the walls of the Prep and used said tool to remove each and every bottle cap."

Palombi sports a grade point average of 3.89 and will attend either the Catholic University of America or the University of Virginia in the fall. According to Mr. Bill Gillespie, Senior Counselor and Moderator of Student Council, "Bill is unbelievably organized and diligent. He doesn't ever look for attention and is the most dependable student I have ever encountered."

March 31 - April 4: Elee Wakim '08

Senior Elee Wakim was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending April 4.

According to Mark Halligan, Dean of Students: "Elee, as co-editor of the Yearbook, works consistently with zeal and fervor; he is a man devoted to his mission. His greatest strength is galvanizing others to complete their tasks. While Elee at first can seem rather intimidating, over time you realize he has a gentle and caring heart. Elee has a great energy that's always in the right spirit of inspiring his peers to produce a book of high quality. Overall, Elee is truly devoted to the Prep community, and admits that he's going to be sad at graduation. Elee was also a devoted member of Prep Bowling and did a great job organizing a school game of 'Risk.'"

March 10-14: Chris Smith '08

Senior Chris Smith was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending March 14.

This winter Chris lent his singing talents to the Mother-Son Communion Dinner by performing during mass in the Gesu. During this time, Chris was also working hard in the pool as a senior captain of the swim team. The coaches were especially grateful for Chris' willingness to work with younger swimmers on their strokes and turns. In a sport that glorifies individual success, Chris truly is a man for and with others.

Two weeks ago, Chris helped lead the team to a convincing second place finish in the Philadelphia Catholic League. In the process, Chris earned All-Catholic honors in each event he swam to cap off an outstanding four years.

March 3-7: James Ryan '09 and Thomas Mackell '09

Juniors James Ryan and Thomas Mackell were named the Joe Dugan Students of the Week for the week ending March 7.

Ryan coordinated the very successful Battle of the Bands last week, acting as the emcee, and made sure everything was under control. He also has been in both plays this year, has a 3.26 GPA and is his second year of Mandarin Chinese.

Mackell volunteered his time and equipment to make the Battle of the Bands successful. Throughout the night helped troubleshoot any problems as well as participating with his band, Max Power & the Dirty Dozen.

February 19-22: Gary Williams '08

Senior Gary Williams was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending February 22.

Despite never wrestling before and joining the team late this season, Williams was the lone Prep wrestler to earn an all-Catholic honor in the individual championships - making him an all-Catholic athlete in two sports. Gary, who will attend Trinity College in Hartford next year, is an outstanding student-athlete with a great work ethic.

February 11-15: Gus Sturm '10

Sophomore Gus Sturm was named the Joe Dugan Students of the Week for the week ending February 15.

Gus has made an enormous difference in the lives of so many students and faculty, with an extraordinarily positive attitude, incredible work ethic, dedication to reaching out to new students, active creation of a positive atmosphere in the classroom and throughout the school. According to one of his teachers, he “works extraordinarily hard and has amazing generosity of spirit.”

February 4 - 8: Gregory Mahon '09

Junior Gregory Mahon was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending February 8.

Mahon won both the 200 IM and the 100 Butterfly at the National Catholic Meet last week at Villanova University, swimming both events in automatic All-American times and was named MVP of the meet.

So far this season Greg has broken four team and pool records and is poised to break another by season’s end. He also excels in the class room with a 3.72 GPA through five semesters here at The Prep.

January 28 - February 1: Patrick Kelly '08 and Christopher Lally '08

Seniors Patrick Kelly and Christopher Lally were named the Joe Dugan Students of the Week for the week ending February 1. The two seniors were among 10 teens who recently visited Nicaragua to work at the new Food for the Poor housing dedicated to the memory of Father Charles Pfeffer, a former director of the Archdiocesan Office for youth and young adults.

On their trip, they visited the new housing, as well another area where crude shacks are set up to be replaced, a girls’ orphanage and a dump where men, women and children scavenge and work under horrific conditions. They are both leaders in The Prep’s Community Service Corps’ efforts to raise $50,000 to help build homes for these families displaced due to mudslides 10 years ago.

January 22-25: Avery McKie '10

Sophomore Avery McKie has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending January 25. Through his involvement with the Delaware Valley Minority Student Achievement Consortium, McKie has the opportunity to work with 22 suburban districts that have a concern about the achievement gap. He continuously develops and leads presentations and discussions addressed to the Lower Merion School District and other superintendents and school officials, including University of Penn Faculty , about the achievement gap with minority students and works with other gifted minority students on solutions to the problems. Most recently he presented at the Sheraton Hotel for the University of Penn at the Student Leadership Institute in November 2007.

McKie is also involved with the African Genesis Institute/D'Zert Club - a 24-month class in which students study African American history in-depth. The club takes three domestic field trips to places like the Underground Railroad from Detroit into Canada, the slave trail in Richmond, VA, and the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore. The class will culminate this summer with a trip to Egypt , July 25 - August 2, to see the great Pyramids.

January 3 - 4: Mark Giubilato '09 and Michael Yeager '09

Seniors Mark Giubilato and Michael Yeager shared the Joe Dugan Student of the Week honor for the week ending January 4.

Giubilato and Yeager were recognized for organizing a successful drive to help the family of Shane Giongo, a class president and football player at Kennedy-Kenrick. Shane’s mother died in the family’s Conshohocken home in the fall and later, fire damaged a relative's home where Shane and his younger brothers, Colin and Quinn, were staying. Colin (fifth grade) and Quinn (second grade) are students at Conshohocken Catholic School. Mark and Mike, with the help of their football teammates, collected close to $1,900 in cash, checks and gift cards.

December 11 - 14: Gregory Runowski '09

Junior Gregory Runowski has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending December 14.

Runowski was recognized for organizing a successful coat and blanket drive. The drive collected 267 coats and 160 blankets for donation to St. Francis Inn.

Greg is also an excellent student, a 3.5 GPA and all A’s in his current classes.

December 3 - 7: Brendan Lash '10

Sophomore Brendan Lash has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending December 7.

Lash is being recognized for his recent work as race director for a 5K race and one mile fun walk called Hustle for Muscle which benefited Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD). This event was started by Brendan’s sister Maura last year.

Brendan contacted friends from other high schools who were interested in working on the race and formed the organizational committee. He went on to solicit donations, obtain permits, design t-shirts and flyers and hold weekly committee meetings to focus on race operations.

Through Brendan’s efforts, Hustle for Muscle was a huge success and raised $4,000 for PPMD. The money was donated in the names of Brian Harvard (LaSalle College High School, Class of 2010) and Christopher Chipman (a fifth grader who was recently diagnosed with MD).

In addition, Brendan is an excellent student, with a 3.7 GPA.

November 26 - 30: Kevin Ryan '08

Senior Kevin Ryan has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending November 30.

Kevin is one of the most accomplished actors on the Prep stage. He started as a freshman in “Red Herring” and has continued up through senior year in six shows, including playing the title character in “Mister Roberts” last year as a junior. This fall, he gave an emotionally-charged performance as Biff Loman in “Death of a Salesman.” Kevin's acting skills have never had a greater challenge than playing Biff, and he meets the challenge ten-fold, leaving audiences weeping with anguish over the real emotions he puts forth on stage every night.

Kevin also excels in the classroom. As a senior he has a 3.72 GPA and is taking 2 AP courses this year.

November 12 - 16: Brendan Zehner '11

Freshman Brendan Zehner has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending November 16.

Zehner, a resident of Glenside and St. Luke the Evangelist Parish, won first place in the JV original oratory at the Longon Memorial Tournament in Scranton last weekend and was a stellar tour guide at our recent Open House. A quiet leader, he excels in the classroom. Brendan is the first freshman to win the award this year and with his brother Ryan is the first set of brothers to have won this award.

November 5 - 9: Eric Skoritowski '10

Sophomore Eric Skoritowski has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending November 9.

Skoritowski, of Chestnut Hill and Our Mother of Consolation Parish, responded to the Admission Office request for volunteers to help get ready for the Open House last Saturday. Eric and his father spent a few hours setting up tables and chairs and decorating the building for the big day. Eric plays hockey for The Prep and excels in the classroom with a 4.0 GPA and straight A’s for the first quarter.

October 29 - November 1: Matt Potako '09

Junior Matt Potako, a resident of Newtown Square and St. Mary Magdalene Parish, has been named the Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending November 1.

Matt is an outstanding musician, lending his work to the Christus Choir and Pep Band. In addition, he recently earned first-team all-Catholic honors for playing the bass. He is also a leader of the Amnesty International Group, and is described as thoughtful, someone who looks out for the needs of others without being asked to do so and a true “Man for Others.” Matt also excels in the classroom with a 3.82 GPA.

October 22 - 26: Armando Martinez '10

Sophomore Armando Martinez has been selected as the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending October 26.

Martinez, a resident of Pennsauken, N.J. and a member of Holy Name Parish in Camden, is an active member of the Black and Latino Culture Club. Armando organized his peers to volunteer two days a week to help prepare 8th grade males at Holy Name for the entrance exam as well as tutoring some of the younger grades at the school in a variety of subjects.

October 15 - 19: John Pickhaver '09

Junior John Pickhaver has been selected as the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending October 19.

Pickhaver took first place as the Prep cross country team won the Philadelphia Catholic League Southern Division Cross Country title. John ran a season-best 16:21 in the race at Belmont Plateau. Two weeks ago, John won the Harrier Invitational for The Prep with a time of 16:54. The Prep also won the team title for the meet. John also excels in the classroom with a 3.6 GPA thru three years at the Prep.

October 8 - 12: Paul McGonigal '09

Junior Paul McGonigal has been selected as the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending October 12.

McGonigal, a resident of Springfield, was recently honored by the Springfield Township (Delaware County) Board of Commissioners, in recognition of his work as a life guard at Springfield Country Club. On August 15, Paul saved a young girl who was in distress.

October 1 - 5: Jamir Livingston '08

Senior Jamir Livingston has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending October 5.

In the Prep football team's 19-0 victory over Judge, Livingston joined a very exclusive club, rushing for over 3,000 yards. He is only the 3rd Prep football player to accomplish such a feat. Livingston ran for 166 yards against Judge, an effort highlighted by an 80-yard scoring burst.

Livingston, a 3.0 student with an interest in becoming a sports-related physician, is receiving interest from Army, Navy, Villanova, Delaware, Richmond, Furman, Hampton and The Citadel, among others.

September 24 - 29: Jim McGoldrick '08

Senior Jim McGoldrick has been selected as the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending September 28.

Last Saturday night, Jim returned to action on the football field after an injury caused him to miss the first three games. Jim returned a punt and a kick-off for touchdowns while the game was still in question. Later in the game, he recorded an interception.

Jim, a hard worker and a quiet leader, excels in the classroom as well, accumulating a 3.71 grade point average through three years at The Prep.

September 17 - 21: Mark Springel '08

Senior Mark Springel, a resident of Medford, NJ, was named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending September 21.

Springel was recognized as one of nine Prep students who were national merit scholarship finalists. Mark is involved in a long list of activities at The Prep: editor-in-chief of the Hawkeye, saxophone player in the Jazz Band, and co-captain of the Track and Cross Country teams. Last year, he was 1st Team All-Catholic in Cross Country. Mark was also instrumental in welcoming transfer students to The Prep at orientation.

September 10 - 14: Gianluca Keeler '08

Senior Gianluca Keeler, a resident of Erial and a member of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross, has been named the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending September 14.

Keeler was recognized for the outstanding job he did organizing the Hawk mascot try-outs. Keeler, a member of the varsity soccer team and the Rugby team who last year was named to the EPRU All-Star team as well as leading the team in playoff scoring, served as a lifeguard at the Strafford Swim Club and assists in the CCD and acts as a mentor to special needs kids at St. Luke's in Strafford, NJ.

September 4 - 7: Sean Dooley '08

Senior Sean Dooley, a resident of Medford, NJ, and a member of St. Mary by the Lake Parish, has been selected as the Joe Dugan Student of the Week for the week ending September 7.

Dooley is a co-captain of the varsity soccer team. With the help of his leadership the team got off to an impressive 3-0 start with wins over Georgetown Prep, Haverford School and Malvern Prep. In the first week of the season, Dooley scored two goals and assisted on three others. This past summer Sean spent 3 weeks in Alaska on an outward bound trip.