Jennifer Hamad, valedictorian
Hamad said she found out she was valedictorian when Heights sent out official rankings via email. She will attend Stanford University and major in biology. Although her academic achievement is impressive, Hamad said she defines success in school not by academic achievement but by the amount of enjoyment she felt while learning.
âI think loving learning and finding joy and fulfillment in every lesson and in the process of inquisition were integral to my achievement of this success in school,â Hamad said.
She said there is at least one fond memory from each of her classes that she will carry with her.
St. John’s Prep holds 111th Commencement exercises
COURTESY OF ST. JOHN S PREP
The St. John’s Prep Class of 2021 recently celebrated the school’s 111th Commencement exercises.
Headmaster and Danvers resident Edward P. Hardiman conferred diplomas upon 258 seniors during an outdoor ceremony held on the school’s campus. Abiding by mask and social-distancing requirements, parents, relatives, faculty, friends, staff and alumni populated spaced, pod seating on Cronin Memorial Stadium’s Glatz Field turf for the ticketed event.
In his remarks to graduates, Hardiman acknowledged the impossibility of encapsulating their recent lived-experience.
“There are no appropriate words that could aptly capture what each person in this stadium has experienced since 2:45 p.m. on March 12 of 2020 (due to the commonwealth’s state of emergency declaration),” said Hardiman, also noting that the class included the first