Saint Joseph CHS has outdoor ceremony to confer diplomas
Friday, Jun. 19, 2020
By Marie Mischel
Intermountain Catholic
OGDEN —The sky was blue, the sun already hot, although noon was still three hours away. A flatbed trailer draped in green and gold, set with a lectern and chairs, faced the parking lot. The decorations hinted at the coming celebration: the school crest centered on the trailer, balloons spelling out “SJCHS 2020.” Faculty members, robed in black, with mortarboards on their heads and cloth masks on their faces, sat off to one side.
Then came the cars, each containing a teenager clad in graduation cap and gown, accompanied by a few family members. The cars parked, each separated by at least one parking stall. The seniors got out of their cars, but rather than gathering excitedly to chat, laugh, fix their caps and take selfies, as their peers have done in previous years, the members of the Saint Joseph Catholic High School Class of 2020 kept themselves apart, sitting beside or in front of their vehicles.
It was, after all, a celebration amid the coronavirus pandemic, which required that social distancing measures be kept. Nevertheless, there were jokes and smiles, award presentations, honking of horns and, not least, the calling of each graduate forward to receive his or her diploma.
“This is a little different than I imagined, after watching one of my best friends do this last year, and getting to do it with another best friend this year,” admitted the class valedictorian, Olivia Arbogast, in her speech.
“I think that this moment is about all of us; each parent, sibling, faculty and staff member, and most importantly, each student here is an essential part of what we have each become,” said Arbogast, who will attend Johns Hopkins University.
While the SJCHS Class of 2020 wasn’t “the closest or most collaborative,” their competitive nature “can now be set free into the world as a way to succeed. Then those skills will take us wherever we want to go, and so I leave you thankful for my time with you,” she said.
In closing, Arbogast thanked her fellow students “for the years of laughter, tears, shouting and learning that we have all shared. It may have been a bumpy ride, but we made it in more or less one piece.”
Like Arbogast, Salutatorian Amy Tekverk began her speech by acknowledging that “this is not the graduation we imagined we would have, but that makes it all the more meaningful. We have struggled together, laughed together, cried together, and overcome adversity together.”
She continued, “When we first started out freshman year, I am sure we all envisioned our senior year to be one of resounding triumph, one filled with dances and fun and friends and a perfect graduation rounding out the difficult four years we have faced. While some would say that our senior year has done none of those things, I am inclined to disagree. Our senior year has been different, I will grant you all that, but it has not been bad or horrible. We have been able to learn so much about ourselves and each other along the way, things we would not have been able to had we been granted with an easy, cookie-cutter year.”
Having to take classes online for the last few months of school taught them perseverance, she said, and “We all missed being able to go to prom; being able to spend the night with friends and having a great time. But by missing prom, we were able to see that our friendships could survive in different ways, even if we were not there in person to nurture them. We learned that friends are important, they are there for you when the sky is blue, and they are there for you in times of adversity. We have learned, especially in these past four months, that friends matter, and that we can overcome anything with a friendly face by our side.”
Similarly, by having “this rather unconventional graduation, we are able to truly be thankful for what we have, and be filled with joy because of it,” she said.
“My dearest class of 2020, we have all been through tough times, and we can all say that we have been able to come out the other side better people. We have been able to learn and grow and love together, and that is something that we will cherish forever,” she said.
In his comments, Principal Clay Jones complimented the graduates, saying that, “Although you were given a serious detour this year, you handled it in stride; and remember, this too shall pass. The challenges will continue, but you are ready. … I know there were times of struggle and challenges that sometimes seemed unfair or impossible, … but know that you grew and learned, and those times will serve you well in the future.”
The 39 members of the SJCHS Class of 2020 cumulatively earned more than $5 million in scholarship monies, and had 4,365 total service hours. The class boasted a 97 percent graduation rate, and some of its members were the school’s first AP Capstone scholars. More than 75 percent of the seniors participated in athletics, theater or extra-curricular activities. The Academic All State recipients were Olivia Arbogast, cross country and track; Abby Belko, volleyball and track; Savannah Calin, theater; and Katy Hurst, volleyball and track.
The Durbano family was presented with the 2020 Fr. Neale Herrlich Award, and Abigail Belko was the 2020 St. Joseph Award recipient.
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