Sixteen Perry-area high school seniors — most set to graduate from Perry High School — particpated in an honors ceremony Sunday morning at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Perry.[wpedon id=”82220″ align=”center”]
The seniors entered the church in procession at the start of the Mass, following the Rev. Chris Reising, who later introduced the graduating Catholic students at the end of the service.
Students attending were Brando Burgos, Sonia Castro, Jonathan Flores, Vivian Gonzalez, Caley Hager, Dowling High School graduate Elise Hill, Anna Lansing, Aaron Lockwood, Adel-De Soto Minburn High School graduate Katelyn McGee, Eli Medina, Rebecca Naranjo, Karen Romero, Alexander Tapia, Alex Thompson, Sidney Vancil and Michael Velasco.
Donna Galligan of the Regina Guild coordinated the seniors, providing a name tag and gift crucifix to each. The ceremony is an annual event at the church.
Nearly 40 graduating seniors with ties to St. Pat’s were invited to participate in the Sunday ceremony. In addition to the students attending, other invited included seniors David Andrade, Halmar, Artega, Edgar Banuelos-Sandoval, Bryan Catalan, Luisa Contreras, Gabriel Cubillo, Iris Diaz, Alexis Garrido, Emilio Gonzalez, Miguel Gomez, Juan Guerrera, Juan Herrera, Edith Juarez, Yordi Mena, Michael Meyer, Alexis Perez, Jacob Prombo, Gina Rivera, Hannah Roberts, Cecilia Rosas and Jessica Saenz.
Reising also took the opportunity to introduce the incoming principal of St. Patrick School to the parishioners. Kandice Roethler briefly greeted the parish and said she is “looking forward to another successful year for the St. Patrick’s School and St. Patrick’s community.”
Roethler was assistant principal at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Des Moines before coming to St. Pat’s. She is working toward a Drake University Ph.D. in philosophy, with a focus on education.
