Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506090006
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY JO SHANNON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
During the baccalaureate service, each senior presents a rose to his or her mother in appreciation for her love and support.
Following this service, the junior class sponsors a dinner for graduates, their families and friends. The senior class members elect a faculty member to speak, and a slide show prepared by teacher Gerald "Jerry" Eubank provides unique entertainment.
Eubank's show has itself become a tradition. Each year, he collects pictures of each graduate, from infancy through senior year, and converts the pictures to slides. Family and friends watch the graduates "grow up" during the presentation.
"Our school is small," said Babb. "The seniors are all close to each other. Most have attended [Roanoke Catholic] since kindergarten, so the slide show is lots of fun for everyone."
Graduation also is a bit out of the ordinary. Edwin Robinson, playing the bagpipe in the "Irish/Scottish tradition," leads the seniors through the school one last time.
Then the procession crosses the mall to the church, where the faculty have lined up awaiting their arrival. The class follows the bagpiper into the church, and the graduation ceremony begins.
Afterward, a reception by the Home School Association (the equivalent of the PTA) is host to the graduates and their families at a reception featuring homemade cakes, each decorated with the name of a graduate.
All of Roanoke Catholic's 25 graduates will attend college this year.
Philip Buchy IV has an appointment to the Air Force Academy. The others have been accepted at a number of major colleges, Babb said.
A Spanish exchange student, Nadia Rojas, is among the graduates. She has recently decided to stay in the United States for college and has applied to Columbia College in Columbia, S.C.
The Faculty Class Scholarship, awarded annually by faculty members to one of the seniors, has been renamed the Ann Friel Memorial Scholarship in honor of Ann Friel, the school's guidance counselor, who died May 2.
"She had been our one and only counselor for 24 years," said Babb, "and was loved by everyone."
The upper school was dismissed at noon on May 4 so students could attend her funeral, and a memorial service was held May 16 for students, faculty and her family.
by CNB