On May 28, the class of 2022 will walk across the stage on Mayer Family Field and into future endeavors outside of the Archbishop Riordan High School halls.

          The commencement ceremonies will begin at 1pm and end at around 4 p.m. with Christine Zhu ’22 as the valedictorian, and the Baccalaureate Mass will take place on May 27 at 5 p.m. with salutatorian Chris Geraldi ’22 addressing those in attendance. 

This will be the second year that graduation will be out on the field. The reason for this being that there are now more members of the Riordan community. 

          Principal Tim Reardon said, “We’ll be on the field again because we have bigger classes now, and the field allows us to include more guests of the graduates. We have our fingers crossed for good weather.”

           Two years ago, graduation was hosted at the front of the school in a “drive-through” fashion as COVID-19 was at its peak. Last year, the graduation ceremony was also held outside on the field. Members of the class of 2021 were satisfied with the graduation ceremony being outside on the Mayer Family Field.

         Juan Rojas ’21 said, “I liked it better on the field. It was a sunny day, but also a bit cold. However, being outside really brightened up the mood and we had a great culminating experience.”

         There was extensive planning done this year for all graduation events with Brian Kelly, dean of student affairs, being the leader. There isn’t an official graduation committee, but there are talks of creating one for the years to come. This year, administration in general was responsible for graduation with the main key people being Kelly, Cara Garcia, Maria Bastianon, Nate Simon ’99, and Reardon. Planning began the day of graduation last year.

          Kelly explained, “We rent furniture and a sound system through a company. I literally talked to them the day of graduation and booked them for last year. It’s really a year-long process. Everything from getting gowns to getting balloons and flowers, it kind of goes on throughout the whole year.”

           The seating has also been restructured for this year. Students and faculty will be in the stands and the audience will be on the field facing the stands, so they will all be able to look at the students. The logistics behind walking in are still being worked on and will most likely be finalized on the day of graduation practice.

          The graduation ceremonies will continue to be held on the Mayer Family Field for the years to come. As graduation day slowly approaches, the seniors are filled with mixed emotions. The class of 2022 looks forward to the future, but also saddened to leave Archbishop Riordan High School.

          Elijah Martiniano ’22 said, “I’m excited for what’s to come, but I will also miss the people here. I had a great time at this school and will never forget the memories I made.”