SPECIAL SENIORS!

OLA honors four high school seniors at annual Mass

PETER LOFFREDO (from l.), Jacob Perea, Matthew Rourke and Ethan McCormick each took home a 2026 Senior Award from Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Latham last month during a special awards Mass. (Provided photo)

Our Lady of the Assumption in Latham celebrated four special young men on Sunday, June 7, at the parish’s annual senior awards Mass.

The OLA awards are designed to highlight high school seniors who have played a part in the parish’s ministries and whose faith has been impacted by their involvement.

This year’s winners — Peter Loffredo, Jacob Perea, Matthew Rourke and Ethan McCormick — were announced by Rosemary Gavin, Pastoral Associate for Faith Formation & Youth Ministry at OLA, at the Mass. Each student also took home a $300 prize. 

“These are four amazing young men,” Gavin said in an email to The Evangelist. “These are annual awards supported by the parish, the Stopera Family, and the Edwards Family. Some years we have more or less applicants, and this year was the first time we had all male applicants!”

For each award, students must complete an application and have a letter of recommendation submitted on their behalf by someone who is not a family member or full-time OLA staff member. Students must also submit an essay describing how their faith has inspired them to serve others, what their involvement has been, and how serving has impacted their faith. 

An OLA awards committee of adult volunteers comes together to review the essays and reference letters against a grading sheet that helps determine the winners. 

McCormick, who will attend Hudson Valley Community College in the fall to study business, won the OLA Senior Recognition Award, which honors youth who have made an outstanding contribution to the life and spirit of OLA during high school. McCormick has been an OLA Vacation Bible School “lifer,” starting in pre-K and remaining on through working the camp as a teenager. In 2019, he began serving as a catechist assistant. 

“Seeing the kids excited about learning more about our faith and all their questions was what I looked forward to the most,” McCormick wrote in his essay. “Just being in this church community at OLA has helped me grow my faith, which in return made me a better person.”  

Rourke, who will attend Marist University in the fall to study computer science, won the OLA Senior Service Award, which recognizes youth who have pursued a notable dedication of service to the parish and wider community during high school.

“He has been a very active member of the Youth Ministry Core team, ever present whenever there is a need … or some fun to be had,” Gavin said of Rourke at the awards Mass. “He and his family have often gone to the Regional Food Bank, and his school has offered many opportunities for service experiences as part of his formation.”

Perea, also attending Marist University in the fall, won the Mr. Bill Award, which is given in cherished memory of Bill Edwards — who ministered and served the OLA Parish community — and recognizes a member of our parish youth who best demonstrates the qualities of Edwards: giving freely of time and energy, dependable and hopeful.

“This year’s recipient has served the parish in so many of the same ways Mr. Bill did,” Gavin said. Rouke became a VBS camp counselor after participating in the camp as a child and later began serving as a lector for the parish. 

Loffredo, who will be attending SUNY New Paltz in the fall to study digital media production and broadcasting, won the Alex Stopera Award, which is given by the Stopera Family in memory of their son and brother, Alex, in recognition of the ongoing contributions, service and commitment demonstrated by the recipient.

“Through faith, I’m able to view the world through a whole new lens,” Loffredo wrote in his essay. “Faith gives me a place to go with my struggles, an outlet for bettering myself, and forming an outlook on life I can share with others. I want to make lasting changes in this world that will better the lives of others.”