WILMINGTON – Like high school seniors across the Diocese of Wilmington, Padua Academy’s Elce Walsh has selected the location of the next part of her educational journey.
Walsh, a member of St. Cornelius Parish in Chadds Ford, Pa., gathered with her family – mother Sarah, father Brian and brother Cal – some friends and faculty members in Padua’s learning commons on April 30 to accept her appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. One of the guests was Dan Monagle, a West Point admissions volunteer for Chester County, Pa., who officially offered Walsh her appointment.
Joel Lang, Padua’s director of college advisement and school counseling, outlined the steps a student must complete to earn an appointment. They include a nomination from one of their U.S. Senators, their U.S. representative or the vice president of the country; a satisfactory result in the Candidate Fitness Assessment and Department of Defense Medical Exam Review Board; and acceptance to the academy itself.
Walsh has taken eight Advanced Placement courses, and she is the defending state champion in the pole vault, a title she will defend the weekend of May 15-16. Hours after receiving her appointment to West Point, she was one of 70 high school seniors in the Diocese of Wilmington to get the St. Francis de Sales Medal from Bishop Koenig.
