New Beginnings For Notre Dame's Eighth Graders

Graduation can be bittersweet, but for James Curry, moving up to Chaminade High School next year from isn’t an ending, it’s a new beginning. Curry was one of 50 eighth-grade students to be presented with a ring or pin at the Notre Dame School Ring Ceremony on Wednesday morning.

The ceremony kicked off with the presentation of the students followed by a welcoming speech by eighth grader Devin Kilcullen.

“Each step that we take represents the love, care and devotion of many people,” Kilcullen said. “We thank God above all for the gift of life, our skills and our talents and as we receive our rings today, we acknowledge all those who have helped us reach this mountain.”

After several prayers were read by students, Reverend William Slater told the students and their family that rings are a sign of a bond; a reminder to the students that they will always be a part of the Notre Dame family and community. After he blessed the “sacred” rings, he, Principal Caryn Durkin and eighth-grade teacher Jennifer Starzman distributed the rings.

“I think it’s nice that we get the privilege to get [the rings] in middle school instead of high school,” said soon-to-be Saint Dominic’s School student, Melanie Farrell. “It’s special—even if it’s locked away in a drawer—later in the years you will remember, ‘Oh,  this is from Notre Dame,’ and you’ll remember all your friends and all the memories you had.”

Michael Fiorella, who is off to Saint Francis Preparatory School next year added, “It feels pretty sad [that my time here is almost over] because I have been here since nursery school, but I know I am going to go onto better things and can always come back to remember the times I had.”

After the reflection, Principal Durkin gave her blessing to the students before the happy and smiling eighth-graders walked out of the church to “The Candle Song” by Chris Rice.  

“Graduation rings are important to us, not because we are looking forward to the end of our time at school, but because they serve as a reminder of all that our time has been,” Durkin said to the students. “The idea of leaving a safe, protected place, along with leaving familiar faces can be a hard thing to process. You know that every ending leads to a new beginning, though.”

Although the proud ring bearers are going to different schools next year, they don’t think they’ll lose the friendships they have made or memories they’ve shared.

“We’re all kind of close now and we have each other’s cell phone numbers, so we’ll always keep in touch,” Curry said.

Farrell added, “We all formed a really close bond that we’ll have forever.”