Priory Graduation Celebrates Students' Accomplishments

In his opening address, 's associate headmaster Joseph Gleich told graduates that failure was healthy, even important to life. He told the packed parish to remember the example of baseball legend Ted Williams, a "great person who failed more than he succeeded," but who gained strength from his losses. The ceremony that followed Gleich's address, though, celebrated a class that appeared to be short on failure.

The academically accomplished class of 66 students had two valedictorians, Richard Mazuski and Michael Reardon. Mazuski praised Priory for "help(ing) us reach our full potential as children of God," and hoped that his classmates would remember the value of this help as the went forward. Reardon spoke about how he came to Priory for his last two years of high school after Gateway Academy closed. Most of the senior class had been at school together for six years, so while Reardon at first felt like an outsider, he said that he had come to find a sense of family at Priory.

Awards for character and service were awarded to several students. John Ciapciak, the student council president, received the Claude I. Bakewell, Jr. Memorial Award for contribution to the school through ability, character, leadership, and service. In his speech, Ciapciak in turn focused on the way his classmates embodied these exemplary qualities.

The young men lined up to receive their diplomas to warm applause. The ceremony ended with a special musical performance by Priory alumnus Taylor Streiff, who sang the song "We All Need Saving" in tribute to the class of 2011 and his brother Andy, who had received his diploma minutes earlier.