{"id":325330,"date":"2020-06-24T06:06:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T20:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=325330"},"modified":"2020-06-24T06:06:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T20:06:05","slug":"mcs-hosts-traditional-graduation-during-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/mcs-hosts-traditional-graduation-during-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"MCS hosts traditional graduation during COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The Mount Carmel School graduating class attends a baccalaureate Mass at the Mount Carmel Cathedral last June 19, 2020. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mount Carmel School has gotten the distinction of being the first school in the CNMI to host a traditional graduation ceremony amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, with strict social distancing measures in place.<\/p>\n

According to MCS spokesperson Victoria Deleon Guerrero, MCS held a traditional commencement ceremony last Saturday but limited the event to invitation-only to abide by community guidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo ensure the MCS commencement ceremony followed the current capacity limitations, each graduate was given four tickets for invited guests. Remaining participants were limited to essential staff and security,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

MCS had 46 graduating seniors and each senior was only allowed to invite four members of their families to attend the ceremony at the Mount Carmel Cathedral. The event was also livestreamed on Facebook.<\/p>\n

MCS principal Barbara K. Merfalen led with her opening remarks, congratulating the Class of 2020 and thanking the parents and MCS teachers and staff.<\/p>\n

As the event\u2019s keynote speaker, MCS president Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero said the Class of 2020 truly appreciates what it means to have unconditional love. \u201cI felt it from your class officers who are trying to do the right thing with all that money you raised for your senior trip, but you never got to go on. I even felt it from all of you when, despite all the challenges of this pandemic, you found a way to express your appreciation and your love for your teachers, your school, and each other. You loved all of us, even when we didn’t love all of you, the way we should have. The adults were getting things wrong. You are getting something right,\u201d Deleon Guerrero said.<\/p>\n

MCS Class of 2020 valedictorian was Kalea Lou Bullan Borja, while Danielle Jaden Kekoa Yamagata-Santos gained the salutatorian title.<\/p>\n

In her valedictory speech, Borja said the Class of 2020 couldn\u2019t help but wonder and question why they are going through so many distressing situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which deprived them of the senior year they deserve. She is still grateful, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful for the efforts the school made to continue our education despite the pandemic. Because the Class of 2020 can persevere through typhoons and a pandemic, then we will persevere beyond what many people would expect out of us in life itself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Yamagata-Santos thanked MCS teachers and staff members for being patient with the seniors and for helping see their potential. \u201cTen years from now, no one would remember the students who made it to honor roll or got straight A\u2019s. Grades do not define who you are as a person. You will be remembered as the person who had a kind heart, or the person who was there for someone when they needed it the most,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The following are the awards given out during MCS traditional graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Valedictorian \u2013 Kalea Lou Bullan Borja
\n\u2022 Salutatorian \u2013 Danielle Jaden Kekoa Yamagata-Santos
\n\u2022 1st Honor \u2013 Jim Michael Vergara Ham
\n\u2022 2nd Honor \u2013 Lleyton Andre Albuen Javier
\n\u2022 3rd Honor \u2013 Emmeline Lee
\n\u2022 4th Honor \u2013 Nicole Mae F. Pak, Katelyn Angeles Rabang
\n\u2022 5th Honor \u2013 Jeffrey Yu Xin Chua
\n\u2022 6th Honor \u2013 Riley Ann O. Buenaventura
\n\u2022 7th Honor \u2013 Casey Jo Pathil
\n\u2022 8th Honor \u2013 Jan Matthew Pineda Millo
\n\u2022 9th Honor \u2013 Vincent John Pangelinan Reyes
\n\u2022 10th Honor \u2013 Francesca Marie Avengana Bucalig<\/p>\n

Subject awards<\/strong>
\n\u2022 English Language Arts \u2013 Kalea Lou Bullan Borja
\n\u2022 Science \u2013 Danielle Jaden Kekoa Yamagata-Santos
\n\u2022 Mathematics \u2013 Haesu (John) Yeo
\n\u2022 Social Science \u2013 Jim Michael Vergara Ham
\n\u2022 Theology \u2013 Danielle Jaden Kekoa Yamagata-Santos
\n\u2022 Computer Science \u2013 Casey Jo Pathil
\n\u2022 Foreign Language \u2013 Julia Ikeda Taguchi
\n\u2022 Art \u2013 Casey Jo Pathil
\n\u2022 Physcial Health Education \u2013 Matthew R. Richardson, Francesca Marie Avengana Bucalig
\n\u2022 Speech \u2013 Kalea Lou Bullan Borja
\n\u2022 Drama \u2013 Kalea Lou Bullan Borja<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mount Carmel School has gotten the distinction of being the first school in the CNMI…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":325331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1181],"class_list":["post-325330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-mcs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}