Passing of the Light: A Celebration of Leadership

Villa Maria Academy, built upon a heritage of faithfulness and commitment to excellence, incorporates over a century of extraordinary contributions to the education of young women.

On June 6, the Villa Maria Academy community gathered for our traditional Passing of the Light ceremony.  In the prayerful setting of the Sacred Heart Chapel, our eighth grade graduating class symbolically passed on the leadership of the school to the seventh graders.

Alumna, Jennifer Pinola Gunzenhauser (’83), spoke about her time at Villa and what it meant to her and welcomed the graduates into the Alumni Association.

The graduates were then commissioned, through their induction into the Villa Maria Academy Alumni Association, to remain faithful to the traditions and values that have become so much a part of their lives, and to continue to assume leadership and service roles within the family, the community, and the Church.

Any alumnae that had sisters in the graduating class were invited back to give their younger sister her necklace to welcome her into Villa’s Alumnae Association. Thank you to our alums for being an integral part of the day!

And thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Koenig, for honoring one of our rising eighth graders again this year with the Emily Grace Koenig Spirit Award. Congratulations to Mikayla M. on being the recipient of this wonderful honor.

We are so proud of you girls! A big thanks to your teachers and all who helped make this timeless tradition a success.