Friday, May 22, 2015

The Ann and Dan Compulsory Education Farewell Tour, Next to Last Stop



Tuesday May 19, 2015.                                          IMG_2769

This was a day I sometimes never thought would come. This particular Tuesday morning Ann wrote the last tuition check to Bishop McDevitt High School, end a very special chapter in our lives. Many families have experienced this same thrill time after time. In our case it is unique because we have been writing checks for 24 years. More specifically, our family's time at McDevitt spans 286 consecutive months or 1,246 weeks or 8,448 days. Figure the hours, minutes and seconds out for yourself, I am not counting any more.  During that time Ann and I estimate that the sum of all our checks easily exceeds one-hundred thousand dollars.  Our oldest son Stephen enrolled in August of 1991. Seth our youngest graduates May 27, 2015.  Our home mortgage did not last this long. Before I continue please permit me to say that we wish it to be clear that we are not complaining. This was our choice, 100%. We were in one accord in this decision. To us it was not a sacrifice but rather a priority. Never did we feel that we missed out on anything, never did we do without anything and never did we ever have second thoughts about our commitment to value of the high school education of our children provided by Bishop McDevitt educators. The return on our investment (ROI) was worth every cent. 

How does one measure the ROI for a hundred thousand dollar plus investment twenty-four years in the making. In our case we looked at the finished products and the feedback received from them directly and garnered from the successes and failure in their post secondary years reflected in their lives. When your college student tells you that their undergraduate classes are easier than the classes they had at McDevitt you know your ROI is good. When you college student tells you how easy it is to write term papers you inherently know you ROI is great. When your college senior is challenged by his professor, accused of plagiarism, stands his ground by defending his work and ultimately wins when the accuser admits that he has been convinced admitting that rarely has he witnessed writing skills such as those exhibited by this particular college student, you know your ROI is off the charts. When you have a son that does not do well in college as a recent high school graduate but returns to the academic world ten years later and earns a Bachelor degree while working full time, one's ROI soars. The value of a McDevitt education is not only manifested in those who continue their education in college. When you have a son that finds himself challenged by the classroom rigors of the undergraduate student, realizes that it is not for him, then parlays what he learned at McDevitt into a successful career as a surveyor, our ROI continues to climb as it nears the apex of expectations. The measurement does not end here. We have other children who are still working on or just beginning the next chapter of their lives. Where they are going, what they do when they get there and the measure of success achieved are still hidden behind the curtain of time. What we as parents know, what we as parents have proof of is that they have the same advantage as those siblings gone before them, they have a Bishop McDevitt education. 

Through the years when speaking to friends about our commitment to a Bishop McDevitt education we are told that they cannot afford to send their child there.  We realized when we were blessed by having a family, when we became stewards to God's creations, we could not afford not to make the commitment. Through the entire process these past twenty-four years we were able to do what we did, we were able to provide what we did, we were able to have a fantastic ROI because we believed that God would provide us our daily bread. Whether it was the food on our plates, the roof over our heads or the tuition needed to provide a quality education for our seven children, He was always there, He was always faithful. Thank you Lord! May you now continue to be with us as we turn the page to the next chapter of the life you have so graciously give us.  Proverbs 30:8-9 - DD

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