Lancaster, PA – Barley Snyder, a law firm with offices across Central Pennsylvania, announced today that it will present a scholarship to a McCaskey senior who “practices excellence” inside and outside the classroom at the school’s annual awards banquet on May 4.
The scholarship is named after the firm’s Practice Excellence® initiative, an ongoing effort by everyone at the firm to constantly increase its capacity to provide excellent service, professional quality and outstanding value to clients. Barley Snyder expects this level of commitment and excellence and wishes to recognize McCaskey graduates who embody these qualities in their scholastic careers with a scholarship of $500 towards their continuing education.
Dan Desmond, who will present the award, is a 2002 McCaskey graduate who is now an attorney at Barley Snyder specializing in business, finance and municipal law. “As the largest law firm in Lancaster and a leader in the business community, Barley Snyder knows it is important to recognize deserving students in its own backyard by encouraging them to achieve their educational goals. We also want to serve as a resource to students as they progress forward in their careers, especially if they have an interest in the legal profession. As a graduate of McCaskey and the School District of Lancaster, I’m very proud to do whatever I can to help give back and am excited about the partnership we’re forming.”
The scholarship will be distributed through the Lancaster Education Foundation’s scholarship program. Dan worked with the Foundation’s Executive Director, Paul Richer (his former teacher at McCaskey), to create this scholarship and to partner in community outreach with the School District of Lancaster. In addition to the scholarship, Dan has presented at career and education discussions at the high school and recently hosted a group of students at Barley Snyder to discuss the legal profession and law school with attorneys and paralegals from the firm.
The Lancaster Education Foundation was established in 1989 to promote educational excellence in the School District of Lancaster in areas of technology and learning, scholastic enrichment, arts and education, careers and vocations and cultural enrichment. Since its inception, the Foundation has raised and distributed over $7 million for the benefit of District students. Examples of projects funded by the Foundation include equipment for “electronic classrooms” in the District’s middle schools, the “Tools for Schools” campaign in 2000 to provide resources for course materials in grades 4-10, and the development of the small learning communities at the high school campus through the awarding of a $4 million dollar Gates Foundation grant. The Foundation also applies for and funds grants and special projects and manages resources for more than thirty scholarships given annually to District students. These scholarships have been established either by a bequest or by businesses, individuals and families to honor a particular person.
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