What's Happening in Cougar Country

The Lake Catholic community gathered in faith and celebration for the Class of 2025 during the annual Baccalaureate Mass last night at St. John Vianney. 

Held as a spiritual send-off for the graduating seniors, the Mass offered a moment of reflection, gratitude, and blessing. Students, families, faculty, and staff came together to honor the accomplishments of the class and to pray for guidance and strength as they prepare to embark on their next chapter. The ceremony was a meaningful reminder of Lake Catholic’s commitment to faith, service, and community.

During his homily, Lake Catholic Chaplain Fr. Joshua Trefney told the Class of 2025, "I'm so excited for you as you continue to grow and for you to share your gifts with so many other people. Wherever you're going, those places need you.

“Thank you for being the people God called you to be.”

After mass, Lake Catholic awarded seniors Holly Suponcic and Maximus Barnes the school’s highest honor – The Christian Life Award.

The Lake Catholic High School Christian Life Award is the most prestigious recognition presented by our school community.  With the inception of this award in 1972, a tradition was established to focus on the active expression of the Lake Catholic Mission Statement and Gospel values both within our school environment and in the greater community. The criteria for the Lake Catholic High School Christian Life Award are as follows:

• The student is an extraordinary witness to the Gospel message and the Spirit of Jesus.
• The student is a person of great integrity who dynamically lives his or her faith, both within the Lake Catholic Community and in the greater community at large. 
• The student lives an exemplary life consistent with the Lake Catholic Mission Statement and Core Values.
• The student actively expresses a willingness to serve within the Lake Catholic Campus Ministry and Spiritual Life areas, Lake Catholic Community, Church Community, and our greater community at large.

The school's Campus Ministry also presented two other awards after the mass - the St. Thomas Aquinas Distinction and the Christian Leadership Recognition.

St. Thomas Aquinas Distinction

Lake Catholic’s Mission and Core Values are exemplified through the life and work of our Patron, St. Thomas Aquinas. It is fitting that this Spiritual Life award is named for his exceptional example of faith and his constant quest for academic excellence. This award is granted to extraordinary seniors who have excelled in faith, leadership, and scholarship. They have consistently acted as leaders in Campus Ministry committees, events, retreats, and activities. Incorporating faith, scholarship, integrity, and commitment throughout all Lake Catholic Spiritual Life areas.

Congratulations to: Connor Aurand, Maximus Barnes, Natalya Bergant, Caden Boyes, Ava Budrys Rini, Avery Budrys Rini, George Csepegi, Maria Gallo, Jack Gogala, Brecklin Harrold, Allyson Huber, Luke Joy, Megan Joy, Olivia Kitchen, Devon Keeper, Isabella Leffel, Jimmy Meden, Jazmin Moses, Dakota Mudrauskas, Julia Oster, Annie Owens, George Prosuch, Nick Prostak, Patrick Radigan, Brandon Rangel, Carmella Sowers, Shea Sievers, Gavin Snyder, Caleb Stein, Holly Suponcic, Trey Siepka, Frankie Trinetti, Isabella Trem, Ray Troha, Alexa Udovicic, Nikole Valentino, Audrey Vamos, and Brian Zalar.

Christian Leadership Recognition

Lake Catholic promotes the dynamic expression of our Catholic Faith through exceptional positive actions and solid decisions. Seniors are recognized for embodying the ideals of Lake Catholic High School by consistently acting with faith and leadership throughout all aspects of their high school careers. These students have earned a GPA of 3.5 while consistently acting with extraordinary leadership and holding a leadership position in an extracurricular activity.

Congratulations to: Caden Boyes, George Csepegi, Luke Joy, Megan Joy, Annie Owens, Isabella Trem, Audrey Vamos, and Brian Zalar.

Earlier in the evening, Fr. Trefney also blessed the Service and Academic Honors cords, which will be worn on Saturday at the school's 52nd Annual Commencement Ceremony. 

Academic Honors Cords

To earn the Honors Diploma, students must have achieved all six of the following: 

• Four credits in English
• Four credits in math
• Four credits in science or four credits in social studies
• Three credits in world languages or two credits in two different languages
• One and a half credits in fine arts
• Maintained an overall high school GPA of at least 3.75 through the last grading period of their senior year.

The following students earned the Honors Diploma, which will be represented by a gold cord and worn at Commencement: Maximus Barnes, Caden Boyes, Ivana Cmeljesevic, Juliette Cowger, George Csepegi, Morgan Davis, Shaun Foley, Brecklin Harrold, Allyson Huber, Sophia Iannini, Megan Joy, Isabella Leffel, Dakota Mudrauskas, Julia Oster, Lily Parrish, Emily Schoen, Caleb Stein, Zachary Stossel, Holly Suponcic, Isabella Trem, and Alexa Udovicic

Service Cords

All seniors must complete the required 50 hours of service in order to graduate. Any student who completes 80 or more hours of service throughout his/her four years at Lake Catholic will wear the service cord for commencement. 

Congratulations to the following for earning their service cord: Hannah Aliff, Maximus Barnes, Natalya Bergant, Ava Budrys Rini, Avery Budrys Rini, Cali Cantrell, Filip Cindric, Ivana Cmeljesevic, Juliette Cowger, Shaun Foley, Maria Gallo, Carson Gilbert, Brecklin Harrold, Allyson Huber, Sophia Iannini, Luke Joy, Megan Joy, Rhiannon Kasunic, Olivia Kitchen, Mason Krauss-Kerr, Isabella Leffel, Andrea Leon-Moscosa, Jazmin Moses, Dakota Mudrauskas, Daniel Nguyen, Cross Nimmo, Julia Oster, Annabella Owens, Valentino Perkovic, Ace Peterlin, Patrick Radigan, Meghan Rowan, Carmella Sowers, Caleb Stein, Holly Suponcic, Isabella Trem, Frankie Trinetti, Alexa Udovicic, Audrey Vamos, and Brian Zalar.

The Class of 2025