The staff and faculty at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, teach that faith, community, service, academics, arts and athletics are the six “pillars” upon which their students build a successful life.

For graduating senior Michael Davis, the call to service is one he took particularly seriously this year. The 18-year-old was part of a group of students who participated in the Maryland Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’ Students of the Year competition.

Davis and his teammates – other students from DeMatha; students from Archbishop Spalding, a coeducational Catholic high school in Severn, Maryland; and students from Notre Dame Prep, an all-girls Catholic high school in Towson, Maryland ­– raised $83,000, finishing second in the competition.

“We were 12 students who raised that money over the course of eight weeks,” Davis said. “I have a great group of friends, and we decided this would be a great cause because a friend in our group has some connections to leukemia and some blood cancers.”

He added that on average students in the competition raise about $40,000. “Because of COVID, we didn’t know if our goal would be attainable, but we all pulled together to make it happen,” he said.

The son of Kevin and Lisa Davis of Crofton, Maryland, Davis attends the Trinitarian-sponsored all-boys high school with his twin brother, Matthew. Getting an education at DeMatha is somewhat of a family tradition. Kevin Davis – who currently serves as chief of police in Fairfax, Virginia – is a 1987 graduate of the school. Michael’s brother, Jack, graduated in 2018.

The family – which also includes sister, Julia, who graduated from Archbishop
 Spalding High School in 2015 ­– attends St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Crofton.

“My family is very religious, my grandparents were very religious, and we went to Catholic schools because it is a great environment for children to grow up in,” Davis said.

Attending DeMatha, he added, “impacted my faith life.”

“I had interaction with teachers and priests who were good role models,” he said. “You can learn a ton of things from a textbook or a workbook, but you can learn the most from the people around you, and they were good role models.”

Davis said his favorite class at DeMatha was Advanced Placement history taught by Michael Curran. “I like history,” he said. “Even though the class was very hard, Mr. Curran pushed us to do our best. It was a great environment and very fun.”

Outside of the classroom, Davis was a four-year lacrosse player at the school, spending the last three years on the varsity squad and serving as captain during his senior year. He was a sophomore and junior year representative to the student government and served this year as president. He was a member of the school’s science scholars club and a member of the National Honor Society.

“There are some great teachers there (at DeMatha). It has a great atmosphere from academics to sports to music, and you can get a great education,” Davis said. “We say it all the time – there is a brotherhood there. It is very real, and you can find some of your best friends for the rest of your life.”

During the pandemic, Davis took some of his classes online.

 “My grades didn’t fall because I was able to focus, but it was harder because there are more distractions at home,” he said. “It did feel different, because I felt disconnected from some of my classmates I have not seen all year. It also made group work harder, because we had to chat via e-mail.”

In the fall, Davis and his twin brother will attend Penn State University, where older brother Jack currently attends. Davis said he is undecided on a major “but I plan to take math and science” classes. Attending the university through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program, Davis said his future goal is “to do something with engineering in the Navy – either flying or operating some type of machinery on a ship.”