THOUGHTS FROM HEAD OF SCHOOL JOSEPH VORBACH:
It's 3:02 p.m. and the Class of 2018 just finished high school. Yes, they have exams to take next week, but they are done with classes. They have signed each others shirts, put their college logos on their skorts and pants, and over the past few minutes have been celebrating with more than a little gusto with cheers and hugs for one another. It is a great day to be a Knight, especially so for them. We look forward to Baccalaureate Mass and breakfast on Sunday.
A nice tradition of the recent past has been a panel of graduates coming back to share some wisdom about the college years with our seniors. Thanks to Dr. Stabile, 30 grads came and participated in a discussion yesterday and throughout the day, and we had opportunities to hear what they are up to. When they are recent graduates who are recognized by current students, there are many nice moments of reconnecting. Grads who are a little older come back with some work experience under their belts and reflect with faculty mentors on the most important takeaways from their time on Little Falls Road. @oconnellhs and @J_Vorbach Twitter accounts have some photos of the alums we were pleased to welcome back. While all this was happening, we also had three alum seminarians visiting religion classes, as well as award presentations of for artists, poets, and essayists. It bears mentioning on that point that Mrs. Mary Lou Wentzel, retiring from Bishop O'Connell after 25 years at our school and 37 years as a teacher, has helped countless students achieve success in a variety of speaking and writing contests over the past 25 years. At the end of any given year, students have accumulated as much as $20,000 in total prize money. More importantly, they have gained confidence from putting their thoughts and ideas forward. We will miss Mary Lou.
At 3:17 p.m., Ms. Michelle Ladas came to my office and shared with me a copy of the 2018 yearbook and I have had a few minutes to flip through it. The first place the book opened to was a spread on a summer 2017 trip to Peru. The faces of our students who made that trip say it all -- the experience of having one's horizons widened, the blessing of the opportunity help others know of God's love for them, the sense of accomplishment for having made a difference in the lives of others, the spirited commitment to making a difference.
The other take away from flipping through the yearbook is an awareness of how much has happened (anyone remember the solar eclipse of August 2017?), how much has been done, and how quickly the year has gone by.