More than anything, Holy Family Academy proved it could defy the odds as administrators handed out 47 diplomas at graduation on June 7, an event that many believed would never happen two years ago.
The school was supposed to close its doors after its 2009 senior graduation, and the fact that it has survived to hold graduation ceremonies in 2010 added more than a little sparkle to an already spectacular event on June 7 at St. Henry’s Church.
Holy Family Academy is a private Roman Catholic college preparatory school for young women that was founded in 1925 with students from Hudson County and Staten Island, as well as other parts of New Jersey and New York.
“We will be able to embark on our future knowing that we believe in who we are.” – Salutatorian Raquel Doering
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But parents, teachers, alumni and community leaders banded together and managed to take over operations. So the Class of 2010 becomes the first class of the re-born HFA.
Same traditions
Yet, this graduation maintained the same traditions as past graduations, as white clad graduation students made their way down the center aisle as family and friends greeted them with grins and applause, the flash of cameras signifying the need to capture this very important moment in their lives.
Noel Ruane, interim principal, celebrated the accomplishments of this year’s students, noting that the graduates had qualified and were offered scholarships of more than $13 million from some of the most prestigious colleges in the state and nation.
Leo Hurley, of the school’s Board of Trustees, addressed the students, and said that while they have completed this part of their lives, they are now embarking on a new journey that will present them with a new set of challenges. She said success will come by bringing to the next four years what they brought to their years at Holy Family Academy.
“It was a privilege and a challenge to have attended Holy Family, and it seems strange to finally be leaving Holy Family behind,” said salutatorian Raquel Doering in her speech before the graduates.
She said generations of family members had attended Holy Family before her, so that the school song was already extremely familiar to her before she got to the school. She also said that their time together at the school brought them together in scholastics, determination, and responsibility.
“We will be able to embark on our future knowing that we believe in who we are,” she said.
She said friends engaged frequently in classes and the closeness allowed them to care about each other. So if something happened to a fellow classmate, the first words often out of each person’s mouth were, “Are you all right?”
She gave credit to the teachers who taught them, saying that the success of the graduating students was due in part to these efforts.
Breaking up in tears halfway through her prepared speech, she wished her fellow classmates success in their future, and said they should not forget the memories of Holy Family.
Valedictorian Carolyn Cannella said that over her four years at Holy Family, she had questioned her own abilities more than once.
She recalled her impressions of the school when she first arrived, and her Freshman English Day, where a sign was hung, saying “Prepare to fail,” an ill omen to someone already overwhelmed with new impressions.
“After a few minutes and a brief panic, you realize that the full phrase was, ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail,’ ” she said.
She, of course, believed she had prepared, right up to the point when the teacher tripped over the bag she had left in the aisle, hardly an auspicious beginning to the future top student of the 2010 graduating class. “I thought, ‘This is it, I’m doomed,’ ” she said.
While the nun forgave her, word of the incident quickly spread through the school. It was a moment, she said, that motivated her to succeed in a more positive way.
But she said all of the students grew a lot over the years, from “nervous freshman to wonderful graduates.” She said each of them has something special to give to the world.