PEABODY — Bishop Fenwick High School conferred 145 diplomas during its 59th graduation ceremony Thursday night at Donaldson Field.
New to the ceremony this year was the John J. Meehan Service Award, which was given to a person on campus for distinguished service. In the future, that award will be voted upon by the student body. This year, however, the award was given by acclamation to school nurse Jennifer Faragi.
Meehan, who died suddenly this spring, was the director of facilities at Fenwick and previously worked at St. Mary of the Annunciation in Danvers.
Principal Cecilia Marquez presented the Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick Award to a male and female student who, in the eyes of the administration and faculty, best exemplified the ideals on which the school was built. This year’s winners were Jenna Barbara Durkin and Matthew Joseph Juneau.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects were much on the minds of the graduates Thursday night, from the greetings by Class President Alexa Morgan Bettencourt to Salutatorian Samantha Jane Cahill to Valedictorian Meghan Leigh Cabral.
“It’s especially nice to see so many smiles as the world slowly returns to normal,” Bettencourt said. “We went through something no other graduating class has gone through.”
Bettencourt also thanked the faculty and the administration for “making students feel like coming to school every day was more than just going to class.”
“We made it through a global pandemic together,” said Cahill, who will attend Northeastern in the fall, “and we persevered. We did not quit.”
Cahill also talked about her theology teacher at Fenwick, who said, “you are all unique individuals and your own masterpieces.”
That was true, she said.
“We have grown into what we’re meant to be, and we will continue to grow into what we’re meant to be.”
Cabral also touched on the pandemic, but also talked about relationships and connections among people.
“We have endured the storms of some of the most unfathomable events,” Cabral said. “We’ve yelled at each other through plexiglass dividers, and looked at each other on computer screens.”
But, the Boston College-bound student said, despite the hardships of remote learning and other COVID-19 protocols, she also talked about her own self-discovery, as expressed in one of the essays she wrote when she was applying for college.
We all, she said, “see ourselves as the sun. Our friends and family orbit around us … we are the centers of our own solar systems.
“I’m sure we all have our own internal challenges, and internal demons,” she said. “But you are not the only stars in the universe. Everyone is their own sun, hissing with hurt and glowing with accomplishment.
“We have changed each other’s lives,” she said.
Seniors were required to choose and execute a service project as a graduation requirement. As a result, the class has contributed more than 6,000 hours in community service this year.
