No Commencement: Mass celebrates grads at St. Columban School in Loveland

The St. Columban 8th grade Class of 2020 was honored with a private Mass at St. Columban Church

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (May 29, 2020) – There was no traditional commencement exercise celebrating the accomplishments of each of the 54 St. Columban School eighth grade students from the Class of 2020.

St. Columban Church private mass for St. Columban 8th grade grads (Photo credit Missy Zobrist)

There was a mass for the 54 graduates of St. Columban School on Wednesday evening, May 27, in the St. Columban Church. Even that looked different than in years past. First of all, the mass was for only the graduating students and their parents. Each family had assigned seats to assure they met the new protocols of safe social distancing. Pews in the church are marked with blue, yellow, purple and a variety of colored tape to keep clear where people can sit and maintain safe social distancing guidelines.

When families arrived at their assigned seat with their graduating student, they found a packet placed there especially for them. The packet included the program, awards and recognition for the student. Students were also recognized and honored with signs on the lawn in front of the school along Oakland Road.

“Celebrating Mass together was a true blessing for our families,” said Angie Geier, parent of one of the St. Columban 8th Grade Class of 2020.

St. Columban School mass was private for parents and grads only (Photo credit Cathy Nagy)

St. Columban Pastor, Rev. Larry Tensi presided over the private student/parent mass (Photo credit Cathy Nagy)

The 54 graduating 8th grade students from St. Columban School will be moving on to nine different high schools. Seven of the high schools students will be attending next school year are Catholic Schools including: Moeller, Mount Notre Dame, Ursuline, St. Xavier, McNicholas, Summit Country Day, and St. Ursula Academy. Some of the students will be continuing their secondary education at Loveland High School or Milford High School public schools.

Loveland Beacon congratulates each of the students and their family on a job well done and wishes each student continued success in their ongoing education.

Some of the signs honoring the St. Columban School 8th grade grads (Chuck Gibson)