This past Friday, Nov. 15, the junior class of 2026 celebrated the annual ring ceremony. In this ceremony, Prep honors the juniors in officially becoming upperclassmen.

Although ring ceremony is now a Prep tradition as a whole, it originated as a Villa tradition, as did many other traditions. Ring ceremony is a generational tradition that has been carried out through alumni and the current junior class.

In this year’s ring ceremony, the theme was inspired by Philippians 2:2, “Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one spirit and of one mind.”

Ring ceremony is an important tradition for the students because it shows the coming of the new leaders of the school, inspiring them to own up to the role and set the tempo for the underclassmen. It additionally allows them to reflect on everything they have accomplished as a class and carry a symbol of the connection they have with each other.

Mr. Markley has been the junior class advisor for seven years.

“It’s fun seeing them with the flowers,” Mr. Markley said. “It’s a small glimmer of bigger events that will come in their life.”

The class of 2026 is a unique class as they are the first class of the merged schools. In addition to this, they have won Sports Day consecutively for two years, and they are a very talented class. They have talents in every aspect: academics, athletics, performance, and faith.

“I hope they understand that we see them as more mature now,” Mr. Markley said. “We don’t see them as kids anymore like we did when they came in as freshmen.”

Mr. Markley said his favorite part of ring ceremony is the picture show, which shows pictures of the junior class throughout the years and represents them as part of the Cathedral Prep family.

The class of 2026 has a bright future ahead of them and are onto being influences for the underclassmen.