Xaverian Brothers High School Celebrates Commencement for Class of 2024

Thanks to Xaverian Brothers High School for contributing this news to Westwood Minute.

 On Saturday, May 18, 2024, Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood celebrated the Commencement of its 58th graduating class. Xaverian's Class of 2024 helped lead the school to a robotics state championship and the state football championship, they set multiple records in track and field, debuted the school’s weekly news program, “Hawk News,” volunteered at more than 50 local service agencies, and traveled to Orlando to win a national music competition. The class also boasts four National Merit Commended students and three National Merit Finalists.

Xaverian’s Class of 2024 valedictorian is Paul Fischer, son of Edward Fischer and Teresa Fung of Canton. Paul is a National Merit Scholarship Commended student, one of Xaverian’s Trustee Scholars, a member of the National Honors Society, the Harvard Book Award Recipient, and a dedicated member of the robotics, math, and chess teams. He will attend Cornell University in the fall.

Photo by Ann Alsfeld. Pictured left to right are Xaverian Head of School Dr. Jacob Conca (Medway), Valedictorian Paul Fischer (Canton), Salutatorian Graham Xavier (Westwood), and Principal Dr. Michael Nicholson (Norfolk).

Graham Xavier, son of Ronald and Melinda Xavier of Westwood, is Xaverian’s 2024 salutatorian. Graham is a National Merit Scholarship Commended student, was a member of Xaverian’s varsity rugby and soccer teams (Soccer Catholic Conference All-Star and team MVP), and has been active as a member of the Business Club and in the school’s campus ministry programs. He will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall.

The highest honor bestowed upon a graduating senior at Xaverian is the Xaverian Award. Members of the graduating class, in concert with the faculty and staff, nominate a senior for this special honor and the recipient isn’t revealed until the graduation ceremony. The Xaverian Award recipient must have distinguished himself by living the mission and core values associated with the school, including humility, trust, simplicity, compassion, and zeal. The Class of 2024 Xaverian Award winner is John “Jack” O’Neil (Mansfield), son of Anne Luciano and the late Chris O’Neil.

Photo by Lifetouch. Pictured left to right are Head of School Dr. Jacob Conca (Medway), Xaverian Award Winner John “Jack” O’Neil (Mansfield), and Principal Dr. Michael Nicholson (Norfolk)..

In his five years at Xaverian, Jack has stood out for his congenial personality, his performance in the classroom, on the ice, and on the field, and his commitment to Xaverian’s campus ministry program. Jack is a National Honor Society member, co-captain of the varsity hockey team, a member of the varsity lacrosse team, a leader on student council, and a member of both the “Hawk News” broadcast team and the Business Club. In the 2024 hockey season, Jack earned multiple titles including Catholic Conference All-Star, Boston Herald All-Scholastic, Academic All-Star, and team MVP.

As Head of School Jacob Conca mentioned when announcing Jack as the Xaverian Award winner, one clear sign of Jack’s character and his impact on the Xaverian community is the fact that he has won Brother Raymond Hoyt, C.F.X. ’70 Awards every year at Xaverian. Brother Ray, a 1970 Xaverian graduate, served the school for 26 years as an assistant principal. In the spirit of his contributions to the school community, Xaverian created an award in his honor after his passing. Throughout the school year, faculty and staff are asked to nominate any student who they feel meets the award criteria in one of six categories, including humility, kindness, work ethic, generosity, discipleship, and respect. He was nominated an impressive 11 times.

Next year, Jack will be attending the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

In his Commencement address to the Class of 2024, Dr. Conca spoke about the importance of “encounter,” or taking the time to be present in the moment with people one encounters in their day-to-day activities. “This is our ultimate prayer and wish for you. Whether your post Xaverian plans take you to college, to military service, to a post graduate year, or to another endeavor, our hope is that you find deep, rewarding, personal fulfillment in all that you do. And fulfillment is most often found in the people you encounter.”

Diplomas were conferred to the 174 graduates by Dr. Conca and Principal Michael Nicholson. Graduates have enrolled in 80 different colleges and universities, including Boston College (10), Cornell (2), Northeastern (7), University of Michigan (1), Ohio State (1), Providence College (8), Bates (1), Purdue (1), Fairfield University (10) Lehigh (1), James Madison (2), Wake Forest (1), WPI (4), Tufts (3), UCLA (1), Rutgers (1), American (2), and Syracuse (2).

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Xaverian's Class of 2024 - Westwood Area Graduates by City/Town

Below is a list of local members of Xaverian's 58th graduating class, appearing by hometown in the local area. For purposes of this article, the local area includes Westwood, the towns adjacent to Westwood, and smaller communities next to those towns: Westwood, Canton, Dedham, Dover, Medfield, Millis, Needham, Norwood, Sharon, and Walpole. 

Westwood

Lucus Barley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Barley

• Lucus will attend Providence College.

Nathaniel J. Bowers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Garrett T. Bowers '87

• Nate will attend Northeastern University.

Michael T. Ferraro, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Ferraro

• Michael will attend Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg.

Matthew K. Gay, son of Mr. Michael T. Gay and Ms. Elizabeth P. Connors-Gay

• Matthew will attend Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Christopher N. Lakkis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Nadim I. Lakkis

• Chris will attend Suffolk University.

Declan C. Murphy, son of Mr. Eamonn M. Murphy (Norwood) and Ms. Emily S. Sorblom

• Declan will attend University of Louisville.

Brendan P. Owens, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ken P. Owens

• Brendan will attend Stony Brook University.

Jesse Peck, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jon Peck

• Jesse will attend Providence College.

Graham Xavier, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Xavier

• Graham, a National Merit Commended student and 2024 salutatorian, will attend University of Michigan.

Canton

Andrew Bonanno, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony M. Bonanno '86

• Andrew will attend Connecticut College.

Orlando C. Calderon, son of Mr. Jorge O. Calderon (Providence) and Ms. Deana A. Calderon

• Orlando will attend Loyola University Maryland.

Paul Fischer, son of Mr. Edward Fischer and Dr. Teresa Fung

• Paul, a National Merit Commended student and 2024 valedictorian, will attend Cornell University.

Max Gardner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael M. Gardner '91

• Max will attend University of Tampa.

Christian A. Hayes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Brian C. Hayes '82

• Christian will attend Boston College.

Declan Little, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Little

• Declan will attend Purdue University.

Hunter Molway, son of Mr. and Mrs. David W. Molway '89

• Hunter will attend Rutgers University.

Tyler Molway, son of Mr. and Mrs. David W. Molway '89

• Tyler will attend Elon University.

Kevin M. Toland, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Toland

• Kevin will attend Tufts University.

Dedham

John M. Condakes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Condakes

• John will attend University of Massachusetts Amherst.

John Cucinotta, son of Mr. and Mrs. Cosimo Cucinotta

• Jack will attend Fairfield University.

Brian Ladino, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Ladino

• Brian, a National Merit Commended student, will attend Providence College.

Daniel L. Lopez, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jesus Lopez

• Daniel will attend Northeastern University.

Matthew J. McCarthy, son of Mr. and Mrs. James D. McCarthy III

• Matthew will attend Boston College.

Gage M. Moxley, son of Mr. Michael S. Moxley '89 and Ms. Erin Moxley (Boston)

• Gage will attend Elon University.

Robert A. Payne, son of Mr. Robert T. Payne and Ms. Pauline A. Alexopoulos

• Robby will attend Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Jordan Silva, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ramoncito J. Silva

• Jordan will attend Northeastern University.

Colin J. Teahan, son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Teahan

• Colin will attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Emmanuel C. Tsichlis, son of Mrs. Vasiliki Tsichlis

• Manoli will attend Bentley University.

Dover

Joshua T. Barry, son of Mr. Robert Barry and Ms. Carolyn Ciacca

• Josh will attend Fairfield University.

Medfield

Andrew J. Dufault, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael R. Dufault

• Andrew is presently enrolled in the Pennsylvania State University - University Park.

James Fetter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy W. Fetter

• James will attend Lehigh University.

Jack M. Gianino, son of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Gianino

• Jack will attend Boston College.

Brendan M. Hagwood, son of Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Hagwood

• Brendan will attend Elon University.

Aiden R. Wolcott, son of Mr. and Mrs. Chad M. Wolcott

• Aiden will attend Fairfield University.

Photo by Ann Alsfeld. Greg Perez (Avon), Matthew Person (Wrentham), Denzil Pierre (Boston), and Jonathan Pinelli (Millis) waiting in alphabetical order to process into the graduation.

Millis

Jackson C. Fong, son of Mr. and Mrs. Andy Fong

• Jackson will attend High Point University.

Adrian J. Izquierdo, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hildebrando Izquierdo

• Adrian will attend American University.

Jonathan C. Pinelli, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gianni Pinelli

• Jonathan will attend Tufts University.

Spencer G. Riley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas A. Riley

• Spencer will attend James Madison University.

Parker E. Soule, son of Mr. and Mrs. Derek Soule

• Parker will attend James Madison University.

Needham

Luke Abruzese, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Abruzese

• Luke will attend University of Rochester.

Joseph Burton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Burton

• Joseph will attend University of New Hampshire.

Jacob M. Marino, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony G. Marino

• Jake will attend Quinnipiac University.

Cameron Schreiber, son of Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Schreiber

• Cameron will attend Fairfield University.

Norfolk

Siddharth Arora, son of Mr. Ajay K. Arora and Dr. Divya Arora

• Sid will attend Northeastern University.

Anthony D. Guzzi-Bartholomew, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Guzzi

• Dana will attend Providence College.

Michael Heaney, son of Mr. and Mrs. Noel Heaney

• Michael will attend Stonehill College.

Jackson Putt, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey A. Putt '91

• Jackson will attend University of South Carolina.

Norwood

Diego W. Aranguena, son of Mr. Walter Aranguena and Mrs. Delia N. Vildoso

• Diego will attend Emerson College.

Lorenzo Carrara, son of Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Carrara

• Lorenzo will attend Gettysburg College.

Thomas Dearborn, son of Mr. and Mrs. Brendan Dearborn

• Thomas will attend Bryant University.

Michael S. Farah, son of Mr. Samir T. Farah and Mrs. Roula Noujaim

• Michael will attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Nikolaos Franklin, son of Ms. Helen Kioroglou

• Niko will attend Providence College.

Colin Griffin, son of Mr. and Ms. Robert Griffin

• Colin will attend University of Maine.

Nolan R. Harrison, son of Mr. and Mrs. William J. Harrison

• Nolan will attend Providence College.

Eamon J. Heraghty, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Heraghty

• Eamon will attend University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Declan C. Murphy, son of Mr. Eamonn M. Murphy and Ms. Emily S. Sorblom (Westwood)

• Declan will attend University of Louisville.

Ferdia O'Carroll, son of Mr. and Mrs. David G. O'Carroll

• Ferdia will attend Loyola University Chicago.

Sebastian Reyes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Reyes

• Sebastian will attend Cornell University.

Tory Stuckey, son of Ms. Monique Lewis

• Tory will attend University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Lawson F. Venoit, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Venoit

• Lawson will attend Stonehill College.

Sharon

Ty S. Cheney, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Cheney

• Ty will attend Marywood University.

Alexander Mandel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Mandel

• Alexander will attend University of Alabama.

Ishwar Ravi, son of Mr. Ravi Arumugam and Ms. Valar Jayaprakash

• Ishwar will attend Northeastern University.

Walpole

Brady Armstrong, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas K. Armstrong

• Brady will attend Hamilton College.

Tucker Asack, son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Asack, Jr.

• Tucker will attend University of Alabama.

Thomas J. Budka, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Budka

• Tom will attend Marquette University.

John Byrne, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Byrne

• Jack will attend Loyola University Maryland.

William R. Clarke, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael G. Clarke

• William will attend University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Aidan R. Hourihan, son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Hourihan

• Aidan will attend High Point University.

Matthew B. Lopez, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Lopez

• Matthew will attend Northeastern University.

Dante Mariani, son of Mr. Joseph Mariani and Ms. Karen Gerrior-Mariani

• Dante will attend Bryant University.

Joseph Martucci, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jason Martucci

• Joe will attend Northeastern University.

Ryan P. Matuszko, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul H. Matuszko

• Ryan will attend Fairfield University.

Sean Resnick, son of Mr. and Mrs. Mark J. Resnick '90

• Sean will attend Bates College.

George Sabbagh, son of Mrs. Renée Sabbagh

• George will attend University of Massachusetts Boston.

Jonathan H. Silva, son of Mr. Henry Silva (Smithfield, RI) and Ms. Kimberly Silva

• Jonathan will attend University of Miami.

Ryan A. Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Smith

• Ryan will attend Fairfield University.

Chase Xidea, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael D. Xidea

• Chase will attend Boston College.

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