St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel

 St. John Vianney

High School

HOLMDEL 

Bella Ross is all smiles as she receives her diploma June 5 from Principal Steven C. DiMezza.

Graduates: 198 Baccalaureate Mass: June 3, 2021 St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold Commencement: June 5, 2021 Saint John Vianney High School Stadium Field, Holmdel Scholarships Received: $32 million

Valedictorian: Jonah Tartza

Salutatorian: Kayla Thuel

Bishop Ahr Award: George Anderson

For legacy families, SJV graduation was a moment of pride, gratitude

BY CHRISTINA LESLIE  Correspondent

“Our world is opening up again just in time for the doors to open up to you. So, whatever you do, wherever you go, let the attitudes of resilience, kindness, and faith you have adopted during your time at St. John Vianney High School guide you through the future,” Kayla Thuel, class salutatorian, said as she welcomed her classmates to the June 5 Commencement exercises on the school campus in Holmdel.

The ceremony gave rise to a new tradition at SJV that highlighted the bond between legacy parents and their current graduates. Principal Steven C. DiMezza invited 11 alumni of the Catholic high school to present their own children with their diploma – to commemorate their shared achievement decades later.

Leonora T. Bradley, a 1995 SJV alumna, relished the chance to present daughter Sianna a diploma marking her graduation in the top 10 percent of the class.

“It felt wonderful as an alum to be able to hand my daughter her diploma to close out her experience at SJV,” Bradley said, “and it created a special connection between the two of us.” She explained that she sought a Catholic education for her daughter “because of the focus, not only on academics, but on spirituality as well.”

That faith-based focus will continue this September as 31 members of the SJVHS Class of 2021 have committed to attend Catholic colleges and universities.

For Jennifer Kleinert, a 1986 graduate of SJVHS, the close friendships with classmates forged in high school have only grown over the ensuing decades. A quartet of classmates meet for dinner several times a year and take vacations together to mark milestone birthdays every five years. Kleinert foresees the same ever-growing bonds in the life of her daughter, Class of 2021

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A graduate joins his family in prayer during the Baccalaureate Mass June 3. Vic Mistretta photos

___________________  __________________ “What we have accomplished here will be nothing compared to what we can accomplish in the future, but the memories and friends we have made here, especially during this tumultuous time, is what makes these years so worthwhile.” Jonah Tartza,

valedictorian

___________________  __________________