ALUMNI | NOTRE DAME PREPARATORY
FOREVER SAINTS
Our mission at Notre Dame Preparatory is to form students who are intelligent, confident, hold strong moral values and possess a desire to serve others. We delight in the successes of all our alumni. In this issue of Saints Nation, we honor all our former students who answered the call to serve our nation in the military. We want to hear from all our alumni to feature more stories in our next issue of Saints Nation. Share your news with us at ndpsaints.org/myndp/alumni/alumni-news.
senior and Mike was a freshman at West Point,” Steve said. Then he went on to reminisce about his time at Notre Dame Prep. “The most important thing I learned at Notre Dame Prep is the importance of small-group, small-unit Pictured left to right: Connor Butt, Ethan Chantler, Matthew Malloy, Spencer Roy, Christian Sarlitto and Troy Zaro
cohesion and the power of teamwork. Our class was
SAINTS AND THE MILITARY: A LONG-STANDING LEGACY CONTINUES
small and we came from various backgrounds but we
Six graduates from the Class of 2020 decided to take a military approach to their post-high
learned to get along and I look back at all my classmates
school experience.
with fondness,” he recalled. “I also remember learning
Connor Butt, Spencer Roy and Christian Sarlitto accepted appointments to The United States Military Academy West Point; Matthew Malloy accepted an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy; Ethan Chantler enlisted in the U.S. Army and Troy Zaro enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.
that man in Latin is vir, the beginning of virtue. So, we should all strive to be good and virtuous.” Since leaving NDP, both Steve and Mike went on to military careers. Steve was involved with high-level
Notre Dame Prep has a history of producing men and women willing to serve our country in
military intelligence and prior to that worked with “The
the armed forces and in government. “We are proud of this connection,” said principal Jill Platt.
Old Guard” at Arlington National Cemetery. “I get chills
“It is proof that we are forming students who see beyond themselves and have developed a
thinking about the cemetery and being on the other
heart of sacrifice.”
side of my eighth-grade field trip as students looked in
The legacy began in 2005 with Steve Casares, class president of the first graduating class at NDP and the first Saint to accept an appointment to West Point, where he graduated in 2009.
amazement at the work my soldiers and I did,” said Steve. Mike was commissioned as an aviation officer,
You could say that West Point runs in the Casares family’s blood as Steve’s father graduated from
flying UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters in Germany,
USMA in 1981 and his brother Mike in 2012. “The best year of my young life was when I was a
Alabama and Hawaii.
8 SAINTS NATION | 2019-20
