The first Quarter Sessions took place on Friday, Dec. 9 at the H. David Bowes Auditorium at Prep. The ceremony saw the top academically performing students recognized with various awards in front of the school community. Most of these awards persisted of First and Second Honors cards, with the Sophomore class obtaining the most honor cards out of any class. This was also the first Quarter Sessions as a combined school, so this event was going to be a benchmark for how future Quarter Sessions would be.

“I thought the quarter sessions were different because of the boys being with us,” junior Emaan Hassan said, “However, it was organized, and it was pretty good all together. It was nice being able to recognize my peer’s accomplishments. It was pretty good, and I can’t wait for the next quarter session.”

For the gentlemen who were on the Prep campus last year, this event looked pretty much the same as it did in the past.

“I think that it was a great, new experience for everyone,” senior Brandon Colussi said. “It was refreshing to see the combination of campuses go smoothly and everything looking mostly the same as well.”

One of the more recognized set of awards is the two National Honor Society awards, one for academic leadership and the other being for service to the community.

“It means a lot to me”, said junior Eric Cox, the recipient of the National Honor Society award for academic leadership. “It wasn’t something I was expecting. I am glad that I received the award because I do try very hard. I want to thank all my teachers that pushed me to be the best person I could be.”

Another pillar of Quarter Sessions is the guest speaker. For this Quarter Sessions, Julie Ferrick Wilson from the Villa Maria Academy graduating class of 1984 spoke.

“It was helpful to see all the experience that she has,” Senior Anthony Frisina said. “That really helped me to connect with her speech. It was also reassuring to know that, from her perspective, the traditions from Villa are still alive and well, despite the campus change.”