Graduation Ceremonies Held at SS Cyril and Methodius High School

On Saturday, June 4, graduation ceremonies were held at SS Cyril and Methodius High School at the Cathedral of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow" in San Francisco. After a moleben of gratitude at the Cathedral to mark the end of the school year, the students, teachers, parents and friends proceeded to the auditorium, where the graduation ceremonies were held. Since the Principal of the High School, His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco and Western America, is in Europe on important Synodal matters, the graduation was headed by Assistant Principal, Protopriest Yaroslav Belikov, a priest of the Cathedral. This year, seven students completed the 10-year course of study: John Tomich-Pafnutiev, who received the gold medal, Dimitri Medvedko, Nikolai Yakobishvili, Nikolai Gorodilov, Nicholas Casey, Alexander Scheremetieff and Sergei Krasilovsky. This was the 53rd Class of SS Cyril and Methodius High School. It is interesting that the mother of the gold medalist, Svetlana Tomich, was also the gold medalist of the 23rd Class of the High School, and the mother of Nicholas Casey, Maria Sadovnikova, was a gold medalist of the 25th Class. Thank God, our High School's traditions continue!

In his speech, John Tomich-Pafnutieff thanked the teachers and parents, and also said that thanks to everything he and his classmates were given at SS Cyril and Methodius, they have all the preparation needed to defend Orthodoxy and Russia from the slander and disinformation common in today's society.

At the end of the official portion of the program, Fr Yaroslav was given a cake by the parents, who congratulated him on his namesday, which he celebrated the day before, on the feast day of Holy Prince Konstantin-Yaroslav of Murom.

The program followed with the students reciting poetry of various Russian poets, a performance of one of Krylov's fables and finally, the older students staged a performance of Chekhov's "The Wedding." The play is very funny in and of itself, but the performance, under the direction of Alexander Sabelnik, was remarkable, and further elevated the general mood.

The celebrations ended on Sunday, June 5, when a White Ball was thrown to honor the graduates at the Russian Center in San Francisco.

Our traditions live on and continue generation after generation, thanks to God!