DANVERS − St. John’s Preparatory School held its 116th Commencement exercises on Saturday afternoon as Head of School Edward P. Hardiman, Ph.D. P’19 ’21 ’26 conferred diplomas upon 279 seniors during an outdoor ceremony held on the school’s campus. The ceremony was characterized by themes of building upon our commonalities, investing in personal character growth and carrying others in times of need.
The valedictory address s delivered by Ryan Yu of Boxford. Religious Studies teacher Steve Ruemenapp of Medford gave the commencement address. The Salutatorian Medal went jointly to twins Nick and Chris Sorrenti of Wakefield. Christopher Angelakis of Salem received the Xaverian Award, the highest honor the School can bestow upon a graduating senior and presented to the class member who best epitomizes the values and tradition of Xaverian education.
In his remarks to graduates, Dr. Hardiman, a Danvers resident, advised graduates to keep exploring and refining their true vocation as young leaders of character, confidence, and faith.
“The academic content we’ve taught you is essential, the lessons of teamwork you’ve learned on the stage and playing fields, and the skills you have acquired are important. [But] your vocation, your call as a servant leader, your mission is quite simple: Embrace the reality that you and everyone you encounter is immensely, incomprehensibly, and unconditionally loved by God.”
In his valedictory address, Boxford’s Yu leveraged the nation’s forthcoming 250th birthday to juxtapose the challenging and world-shaping call the Founders answered with his own generation’s moral imperative. “It’s easy to see [the word’s] problems as reasons for despair. Solutions will depend, just as they did [back] then, on our capacity for tireless effort and the courage to lead with empathy. I think our community supports each other through hardship because we built off of our commonalities, just as the Founders found common cause to manage their differences. ♦
