Saint Patrick High School held its 145th Baccalaureate Liturgy and Commencement Exercises at Holy Name Cathedral on May 30. Two hundred and fourteen Saint Patrick students received diplomas in the ceremony. Timothy Ebrom was honored as the Valedictorian, while Jason Mielcarek was recognized as the Salutatorian.

In addition to these two fine students, Saint Patrick honored fourteen other students who graduated with honors: Patrick Blazer, John Burzinski, David Centeno, John Cvikota IV, Shane Garcia, Walter Gaskew, Stephan Hanowsky, Loren Hizel, Timothy Lowder, Jeffrey McManus, Joseph Merkel, Kevin O’Connor, Andrew Shallcross, and Nicholas Theisinger.

Each department at Saint Patrick presents one senior with a merit award for excellence in their coursework for four years. This year's winners were James Fergus for Art, Michael Giller for Athletics, Matthew Merkel for Business, Timothy Ebrom for Composition and Foreign Language, Shane Garcia for Drama, Nicholas Theisinger for English, Jeffrey McManus for Music, Jason Mielcarek for Mathematics, Abel Sida for Religious Studies, Stephen Zachar for School Service, Anthony Preston for Science, Kevin O’Connor for Social Studies, and Kevin Giese for Student Activities.

One hundred thirty-three of the graduates will attend a four-year college or university next fall. More than ten Shamrocks will attend each of the following four-year institutions: Northeastern Illinois University, University of Illinois (Chicago), DePaul University, University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), and Western Illinois University. Sixty-one Shamrocks will attend two-year community colleges in the fall. In all, 90% of the graduating class will begin college next year.