Virtual settings are congratulating this year’s graduates and welcoming next year’s students
May 5, 2020, WORCESTER, MA -- Faced with a continuing need to avoid public gatherings, diocesan high schools are preparing to hold virtual commencement ceremonies. Faculty for the new St. Paul Diocesan school also leveraged a virtual platform to welcome new students for the fall.
This week, Holy Name, St. Bernard and St. Peter-Marian let students know that baccalaureate Masses and commencement ceremonies are being planned to take place the third week of May which will be streamed online and aired live on cable TV. Details are being finalized in the coming days for Bishop McManus to lead the three school communities in prayer as he celebrates a separate Baccalaureate Mass for each school at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Worcester immediately followed by a commencement ceremony to “award” each graduate their diploma online. Student photos will be featured as they are announced.
The faculty and staff of the new Saint Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School took up their cameras and phones and welcomed the students who are enrolled or considering enrolling at the school in the fall. Their video, “We are Saint Paul,” also announced the school seal, motto, school colors of gold and black, and the official logo. On Tuesday, May5th the video was shared with students, their families and alumni at both SPM and Holy Name in an email from Michael Clark, associate superintendent for secondary schools and head of school and can be viewed at
www.vimeo.com/414900686 . The video was edited by Timothy St. John, current assistant principal at SPM and the assistant principal of student life for Saint Paul.
Later this week a website for Saint Paul will be launched at
www.saintpaulknights.org. The site name also indicates that the school’s sports identity will be the Knights. That logo will be unveiled in the near future.
The motto for the school, “Fortior Unus,” is Latin for “Stronger Together,” a rallying call which arose among the students at both SPM and Holy Name last winter and appeared on banners at games and other events. Stronger Together is recognizing a number of the school’s strengths, beginning with two school communities united for a common cause. It also encompasses four other aspects of its identity as well, according to Michael Clark.
The school seal displays a cross and a book, reminding everyone of being stronger together “as people who believe the light of faith inspires the love of learning.”
Stronger Together also recognizes Saint Paul as an urban-centered regional school that attracts students from around the world. As a co-educational school it is stronger together “as a place where young men and women learn to lead and serve as equals.”
And, finally, it is Stronger Together in celebrating achievement and success in all its diversity whether in the classroom, on the field, on stage or in the community.