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In its 126th year, Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton graduated 149 students at its commencement ceremony on Friday, May 24.
The Class of 2024 will be attending at least 72 different schools within California, out of state and some out of the country, according to a press release.
The ceremony was held on the school’s football field as diplomas were presented to students by school officials: Marnie Marcin, chair of the Board of Trustees; Richard A. Dioli, director of schools; Jorge Reyes, assistant principal and Jason Armstrong, assistant president for athletics.
Dioli, SHP Principal Jennie Whitcomb, Valedictorian Thalia Stravropoulos, Salutatorian JP Kerrigan and SHP math teacher Julie Tsutsui gave speeches.
As a century-old school tradition, students who displayed outstanding academic achievements and fulfilled one or more of the school’s guiding “Goals & Criteria,” were presented with the “Blue Ribbons” award. These students were nominated by SHP faculty and ratified by the administration.
A light blue ribbon was awarded to 12 students for the embodiment of the school’s goals:
- Graham Kaestner and Evelini Mila were awarded for Goal I: A personal and active faith in God
- Samir Ravi and Thalia Stavropoulos received blue ribbons for Goal II: A deep respect for intellectual values
- Redmond Averbuck and Yana Gulati were awarded for Goal III: A social awareness which impels to action
- Tyler Hogan, Megan Sweeney, and Makena Tom were recognized for displaying Goal IV: The building of community as a Christian value
- Avery “AJ” Noto, Ravuama Savali, and Charles Lafaele Tangitau received the award for the fulfillment of Goal V: Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom
Dark Blue Ribbon was awarded to Donna Garcia Ramirez and Carl Crum for “embodiment of the values implicit in a Sacred Heart education.”
Thirty-two students within the graduating class have been at Sacred Heart Schools since preschool, spending over 12 years of their academic journey on the Atherton campus.
Faculty members congratulate SHP graduate Charles Lafaele Tangitau, recipient of a Blue Ribbon for embodiment of Goal V: Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom, one of the Sacred Heart Goals & Criteria. Courtesy Sacred Heart Preparatory. 
SHP Valedictorian Thalia Stavropoulos gives her commencement speech. Courtesy Sacred Heart Preparatory. 
Jacob Averbuck and Carrie Wilkins (SHP ’06) with their son Amias (SHS ’35), cheering on their older son and new graduate Red Averbuck (SHP ’24) — pictured in the quirky cut-outs. Courtesy Sacred Heart Preparatory. 
The cap toss captures the exuberance of the 149 new SHP graduates. Courtesy Sacred Heart Preparatory.
Twenty-nine students were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship program and an equal number of 29 student athletes have committed to intercollegiate sports.
The Class of 2024 will be moving forward in their education with plans to pursue programs in STEM, performing and visual arts, humanities, business and more.
At the end of commencement, Stavropoulos left her peers with some advice: “Be
open and be yourself, because sharing our distinctive gifts is what has made our SHP
community so special, and it is what will make our next communities so remarkable too.”
