Change and New Chapters Ahead for Northwest Catholic High School’s Class of 2018

West Hart­ford’s North­west Catholic High School held its 54th com­mence­ment cer­e­mo­ny Wednes­day and con­grat­u­lat­ed the grad­u­ates of 2018 with advice on change, com­mit­ment, diver­si­ty, and more. 

By Ryley McGinnis 

North­west Catholic’s class of 2018 had a lot to cel­e­brate on Wednes­day as they turned their tas­sels, thanked their par­ents, and start­ed a new chap­ter as high school graduates. 

The class of 120 stu­dents gath­ered with their friends, fam­i­ly mem­bers, and teach­ers at the Cathe­dral of St. Joseph in Hart­ford, which has held the com­mence­ment cer­e­monies for the school since its founding. 

Speech­es were giv­en by salu­ta­to­ri­an Mol­ly Con­way of West Hart­ford, vale­dic­to­ri­an Dylan Rispoli of Wind­sor, and the grad­u­a­tion speak­er for the year, Major Gen­er­al Paul E. Lefeb­vre, who grad­u­at­ed from North­west Catholic in 1971. Addi­tion­al­ly, the prayer ser­vice was per­formed by stu­dent min­is­ters Ifeo­ma Chi­dozie, Bren­dan Wlo­chows­ki, Daniel Ogbon­na, James Sul­li­van, John Sul­li­van, and Mar­garet Bello. 

Both Con­way and Rispoli start­ed their speech­es by thank­ing their fam­i­lies and the teach­ers and staff at North­west Catholic for their time, com­mit­ment, and sup­port and those that played a role in their suc­cess. Con­way start­ed off her speech admit­ting that she had just learned to even pro­nounce the word “salu­ta­to­ri­an” but was proud to have been giv­en her last home­work assign­ment of writ­ing her speech for grad­u­a­tion, Con­way said. 

“It is crazy to think that we are stand­ing here today grad­u­at­ing from North­west Catholic,” said Con­way. “Now we turn the page to a new chap­ter, the one that is unwrit­ten, left for us to create.” 

Rispoli echoed the same sen­ti­ment, “Now, just like that, here we are, ready to close the book of our time here at North­west Catholic,” said Rispoli, “and to begin writ­ing the next chapter.” 

At the end of her speech, Con­way said she would be remiss if she did not men­tion the numer­ous tragedies that have struck schools across the coun­try, and that she and her class­mates all have an oppor­tu­ni­ty – “the oppor­tu­ni­ty to use our voic­es to improve our soci­ety for the bet­ter,” said Conway. 

Ripoli talked about that his time at North­west improved him­self and oth­ers over the years. From the school’s change in mas­cot, the ren­o­va­tions to the cafe­te­ria, and the changes that each indi­vid­ual expe­ri­enced, he showed how the class of 2018 was a spe­cial group and expe­ri­enced a lot of changes. “And I think it’s safe to say that these changes have been pos­i­tive ones,” said Ripoli. 

Lefeb­vre also took the time in his speech to the grad­u­ates to reflect on his time at North­west Catholic back when he was a stu­dent. In his time at North­west, he met his wife, played on the foot­ball team, and grew to be defined by his time there, said Lefeb­vre. He high­light­ed two traits, com­mit­ment and the val­ue of diver­si­ty, that were both a part of his learn­ing expe­ri­ence at the school. 

Com­mit­ment played a role on the foot­ball field for Lefeb­vre. “To be a part of the North­west Catholic foot­ball pro­gram meant total ded­i­ca­tion,” said Lefeb­vre. “As my com­mit­ment increased, my per­for­mance improved along with my con­fi­dence, and this lev­el of com­mit­ment began to go beyond the foot­ball field.” Accord­ing to Lefeb­vre, this com­mit­ment led him through his col­lege foot­ball career, his coach­ing career, the Unit­ed States Marine Corp and more. 

“The sec­ond trait is just as impor­tant, and I learned it in the class­room,” said Lefeb­vre, “and it is the val­ue of diver­si­ty.” Lefeb­vre quot­ed Gen­er­al George Pat­ton when he said, “If every­one is think­ing alike, then some­body isn’t think­ing.” Lefeb­vre said from expe­ri­ence that this sen­ti­ment is true, and that diver­si­ty allowed him to see many dif­fer­ent view­points and ideas in his time at North­west his life afterward. 

Lefeb­vre end­ed his speech by urg­ing the grad­u­ates to take the time to thank their fam­i­lies and teach­ers. “A few years from now you may not remem­ber who the grad­u­a­tion speak­er was or what he said, but it would be good if you could remem­ber that you took the time to say thank you on this very spe­cial day,” said Lefebvre. 

Con­way also quot­ed a notable per­son, Maya Angelou, who once said: “I’ve learned that peo­ple will for­get what you said, peo­ple will for­get what you did, but peo­ple will nev­er for­get how you made them feel.” 

And with their smil­ing faces, hugs to each oth­er as they stood in the pews, and the sound of their alma mater in the back­ground as they exit­ed the cathe­dral, it seemed like the class of 2018 would nev­er for­get how they felt at their grad­u­a­tion from North­west Catholic. 

Like what you see here? Click here to sub­scribe to We-Ha’s newslet­ter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s hap­pen­ing in West Hartford!