On May 16, at Christ Church of Mason the class of 2019 gathered to celebrate their high school journey with a baccalaureate celebration.

The baccalaureate service is believed to have originated at the University of Oxford in 1432 when each bachelor was required to deliver a sermon in Latin as a part of his academic requirements. Emily Baffi, former counselor at Kings Junior High, introduced Baccalaureate to Kings ten years ago to let seniors have the same experience.   

“We had Baccalaureate at Lakota, which is where I graduated. It was always the highlight of every graduation season. I wanted the Kings community to have the same experience. In and of itself, the graduation ceremony that Kings puts on at Cintas is awesome, but Baccalaureate is a little more personal, sometimes even more emotional, and often more comical! We were blown away by the response from our first Baccalaureate, and I am literally ecstatic that this will be the 10th year,” she said.

Heidi Murray, a counselor at Kings High School, is the coordinator of Baccalaureate. “Graduation is intended for the families. It’s very formal, respectable, and Baccalaureate gives us a chance to let students have an intimate place to celebrate their time together in a more formal and personal way.”

When it comes to planning Baccalaureate, what makes it fun is the people you plan it with. Taylor Luttmann said, “A lot of the people on the baccalaureate team were people I usually don’t talk to” “It’s been nice working with them and getting to know them.” Chris Roat said, “It’s really fun being able to bounce our ideas off each other.”

The baccalaureate planning team “thought about things everyone in the senior class would enjoy and just trying to make it as “enjoyable and memorable for everyone.”

One of the special purposes of Baccalaureate is the seniors who were chosen to give a speech about high school. Courtney Michalak is one of the seniors, and her theme centered around being a friend to everyone, feeling emotions and stepping out of your comfort zone.

“I would say don’t be afraid to challenge yourself. Allow yourself to think outside the box and also have some fun. This is your last year of high school and I know how corny this sounds, but life will only get more challenging. Make memories with your friends and live because one day you will go on your own journeys,” she said

James Schnur, another senior who gave a speech at baccalaureate was more nervous to speak in front of an audience but wanted to share his advice to the future seniors on how to enjoy high school while it lasts.

“I was excited to be one of the people representing my class, but I was nervous to speak in front of so many people. I was inspired by the memories I made with my friends. My advice for future seniors is too enjoy Senior year and not wish the time away,” he said