2013 Junior Ring Ceremony

These are Mr. Weber's remarks to the junior class, the class of 2014, at the junior ring ceremony.

17 days, juniors.

17 Days of classes until senior walk, the last day of school for our seniors. As much as the day will rightly focus on them, another very important thing is happening, less noticed. On that day and thereafter, you, the junior class, will become the indisputable leaders of this student body and of this school. The torch will be passed.

In many ways, that has already happened. The seniors have been accepted to their colleges and most have decided. They’re practicing for their senior assembly skit right now. A.P. exams come soon, and then it’s really just a countdown until graduation day. The truth is, juniors, it’s your school now. You now define for the student body, for guests to this school, for outsiders, who the student body is, who JPII is.  

The purpose of this junior ring mass and ceremony isn’t to simply get jewelry, for those of you who have purchased rings. It’s to recognize this passing of the torch—a commissioning ceremony, really, that establishes you as leaders of JPII and also, a ceremony  in which your school and your parents pray for you as you approach your last year of high school. 

In addition to rings, each of you will receive a bible, a symbol of our prayers for you, that God will guide you and lead you over the upcoming year in all the decisions you will be making—most obviously, the decision about college, but more importantly, the decision of who you will make yourself to be in all of the smaller, daily decisions of your life.  Inscribed in each bible is a personal note from one of your teachers, a prayer that expresses in a personal way what is our school’s broad prayer for each of you: that you will discern God’s will for your life, that you will have the courage to follow that will, and that you will lead our school well. 

In just a few minutes, Deacon Edwards will call your name, you will walk across the stage, and as I give you your ring and your bible, I will shake your hand. That moment will be not too different from another moment, only a year from now—a very quick year!-- when we will do the same thing at the Grand Ole’ Opry—only that time, we will be saying good-bye.

What kind of year will you, the junior class, make of it in the interim? What kind of school will you create? What legacy will you leave? On a personal level, what kind of person will you vow to become? 

As your principal, I ask that you pray for God’s guidance and wisdom today, as we pray for you. Ask him to give you the courage to live as he wants you to live. If you do that, it's going to be a pretty magnificent senior year.