Collegeville Student Joins Devon Prep On Challenging Service Trip

TREDYFFRIN, PA — Several Devon Prep students gave up part of their summer vacation to work outside in extremely hot weather, sleep on hard classroom floors, and help those in need. They participated in the school’s annual Mission Trip organized through Catholic Heart Workcamp, the school announced in a press release.

This year’s trip took the boys and their chaperones, Devon Prep Teacher Mr. Joe Lewis of Exton and alumni parent Mr. Sam Young of Springfield, to Allentown to do some much needed cleaning, painting, landscaping, weeding, moving and more for a hospital, convent, soup kitchen and personal residence, the school said.

Devon Prep’s team joined two hundred students and adults from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Missouri and New Jersey who also participated in the trip. They spent six days in the area sleeping on the classroom floors of St. Joseph the Worker School at night and working together during the day. Devon Prep said the students included rising seniors Willson Camp of Spring City, Thomas Hang of Malvern, Tyler Keough of Collegeville, Grant Kowalewski of Downingtown, Jack Marquis of Wayne, Brandon Smoot of West Chester, and Paul Yoo of King of Prussia and rising sophomore Graham Misko of Berwyn and rising freshman Dylan Smoot of West Chester.

One of the biggest projects for the team was building an eight foot high fence around an eight acre tract of land used to grow an assortment of vegetables for soup kitchens and homeless shelters in the area. The fence was needed to keep animals away from the crops, according to the press release.

“This was one of the more difficult but rewarding jobs we did,” said Mr. Lewis. “We were able to finish the work and the people were especially grateful. It was an extremely difficult week to be working outside as the temperatures were in the mid 90’s throughout the week. But the boys never complained. We had a very successful and rewarding trip.”

Much of the service work was done at Sacred Heart Hospital and the Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus convent, the school said.

There the participants moved furniture and boxes and helped clean. At the Mission of St. Francis Center for Renewal in Bethlehem the students worked on the grounds creating a walking path and clearing trees and bushes to make way for an outdoor Stations of the Cross. They also painted and cleaned for an elderly resident and a local soup kitchen, the release states.

Photo courtesy Devon Prep. Caption: Rising Devon Prep Senior Tyler Keough of Collegeville participated in the school’s Summer Mission Trip to Allentown.