A Season to Celebrate: Graduation at Padre Pio Academy
Spring at Padre Pio Academy has always been a time of reflection and joy, but this year's graduation season carried a weight of meaning unlike any before it.
Over the course of just two days, our community gathered for two award ceremonies and two graduation ceremonies, honoring our Eighth Grade class and our High School class of 2026. Each event was a testament to the hard work, faith, and character of our students and the families who have walked alongside them.
This year also marks a historic milestone for PPA. Our graduates are the first to receive their diplomas since Padre Pio Academy was named a Newman Guide Recommended School by the Cardinal Newman Society, one of the most respected voices in faithful Catholic education in the country. This designation affirms what our faculty and families have always known: that PPA is a place where students are formed not just academically, but in faith, virtue, and truth.
To every graduate, award recipient, and family who made this season so special — congratulations. We are so proud of you.
The 2026 8th grade graduating class of Padre Pio Academy
A Word from Our Commencement Speaker
Our High School graduation was made all the more memorable by the remarks of commencement speaker Darrell Boff, whose address spoke directly to the hearts of our graduates and their families. We are pleased to share his full remarks below:
It is an honor to be here tonight with everyone to celebrate these two young women, Gabriella and Josephine (Class of 2026) who have spent their time here at Padre Pio Academy diving into the great works of literature, history, math, physics, wrestling with big ideas, praying together, and most importantly growing deep roots in their Catholic faith.
Receiving your high school diploma is a great milestone.
Tonight, we are not just celebrating a piece of paper you will receive shortly, we are celebrating you – what you have accomplished and what you set to accomplish moving forward!
While I am sure you studied and worked hard for this diploma – don’t forget to thank your parents for their sacrifices to send you to school here, your teachers that challenged you, the administrators that guided you, your classmates that learned and laughed with you, and the rest of your family and friends that supported you.
Most importantly, thank God for the opportunity you have been given to receive this strong Christian formation and education here at Padre Pio Academy.
Yes, you have tackled Latin that probably still makes your head spin, you read classical literature that left you puzzled and confused at times, you wrestled with profound and timeless ideas from CS Lewis and Chesterton, you dove into rich history lessons with Mr. Andrews, Mrs. Cudnik had you work out seemingly impossible math problems, you pondered the wonders of physics with Mr. Eiben, studied biology with Mrs. Peralta, debated ancient philosophers until your brain hurt, and reflected thoughtfully on scripture and theology.
Darrell Boff, 2026 High School Commencement Speaker
“Don’t let the world turn you into someone who just goes through the motions, or gets bored easily, stay curious, stay amazed.”
You also devoted your time and talent to deliver classics like Mary Poppins and The Fiddler on the Roof with your fellow classmates.
But most importantly you built a strong Catholic foundation that you will continue to build upon to carry with you for the rest of your lives.
Look around. These classrooms, halls, this auditorium, your parents, families, these teachers, and all your classmates were the perfect training ground.
Your Catholic education has equipped you not just to succeed, but to serve and give back. Apply these principles and lessons going forward in all you do.
This place didn’t just stuff your heads with facts.It created the environment to wake up and challenge your minds and hearts with real truth, goodness, and beauty that God created for us all—so you would be prepared to step out into the next phase of your lives.
The world needs strong Catholics who can reason, who know history, who understand beauty, and who can articulate the faith with both clarity and conviction.
As Christians, Catholics, God calls us all to serve – at all times, in all places, to anyone and everyone.
Scripture is relentless on this point. Jesus Himself said, "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.”
I understand that as a high school class, you all have already served others as God calls you to do, by making rosaries, delivering holiday pies to St. Mary Hospitality House, written letters to those in prison, made Christmas cards, participated in the Cleveland Right to Life symposium, and I am sure several other works of service.
Gabriella, you have volunteered for vacation bible school at St. John Neumann parish, and Josephine you have baked, a variety of items for teachers and for various service projects.
You both have crocheted items for Zellie’s House, and also for the Solanus Casey Project. What a great testament to your generosity. By giving of yourself, your time, sharing your talents to help and serve those in need, you become Christ’s hands and feet right where it matters.
You give people hope, love, and the feeling that someone out there sees them, as one of God’s own.
A meal, a pie, a conversation, a letter or card, an ear to hear them, or simple presence can change someone’s day or even their whole life.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us very clearly, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, and in in prison and you visited me. “
He concludes by saying, that "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me".
Life will continue to present countless opportunities to give back—some obvious, some not so obvious.
Possibly a class you have where you help a struggling classmate, at church where someone just needs a friend to talk to, a job where you mentor the new person, a food pantry, an older neighbor that needs some company, an ill family member that needs comforted, or a stranger that just needs to be seen or shown a smile.
St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta showed us that small things done with great love change the world. Mother Teresa also said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” Start there.
But don’t forget, you also gain by serving others. Your heart gets bigger. You become more like Jesus.
You end up with new friends, surprise blessings, and a clearer sense of purpose. You discover a deeper joy that sticks around even when life gets more challenging and tougher at times. Giving your time and energy for others is actually how you find real life and purpose.
But remember that life doesn’t usually follow a neat, straight path.
Even after a big moment like tonight, you’ll soon discover that you keep arriving at new and sometimes unexpected chapters—starting a first job, finishing college, starting a family, facing an illness or the grieving someone you loved.
In those times, life can definitely seem overwhelming and exhausting.
That’s where your Catholic faith and Jesus become your Rock.
Stay close to God in prayer, trust that God is still in control even when everything feels uncertain and scary.
Keep going to Mass and receiving the sacraments; they give you strength you can’t manufacture on your own.
Lean on Mother Mary and the Saints — they understand real life and real suffering.
Make time for a daily rosary, or quiet time with scripture.
And don’t forget to keep serving others, even when you’re struggling yourself.
There’s something about lifting someone else up that often lifts your own heart too.
As you take the next steps, you don’t have to have it all figured out today. You don’t need to have your entire future mapped out right now; you don’t need a perfect 5-year plan. You just need to keep taking that next step with Christ— one prayer, one mass, one act of kindness, one honest conversation with God at a time.
Some days will feel joyful and easy. Other days you’ll simply be “walking by faith, not by sight”. Both are okay.
The same Lord who walked with you through these years at Padre Pio will keep walking with you through every new chapter ahead.
Remember, what you received here isn’t just a high school diploma. It’s training for a whole lifetime of continued learning.
Keep reading good stuff. Keep asking questions. Keep praying.
Whether you’re going to college, a trade school, culinary school, a job, religious life, or family life, stay curious.
C.S. Lewis once pointed out that the human mind was made to keep growing.
If you stop learning after graduation or after college, you’ll miss the best parts of being human.
Chesterton had this way of staying amazed by ordinary things. He looked at the world like a kid seeing it for the first time — trees, birds, laughter, food — and he never lost that sense of wonder.
Don’t let the world turn you into someone who just goes through the motions, or gets bored easily, stay curious, stay amazed.
Pope St. John Paul II told young people to “put out into the deep” (Duc in altum!).
Don’t stay in shallow waters. Keep growing.
You’ve been given something good—pass it on in your future schools, homes, parishes, workplaces, and communities.
Professionally, be the coworker who lifts people up, the honest professional who refuses to cut corners, the leader who sees everyone as made in God’s image.
Personally, show up fully for your family, be generous with your time and treasure, forgive quickly, and love like Christ.
In a “me-first” culture, be countercultural—put others first.
The world needs young Catholics who think clearly, are truthful, reasonable, serve others, speak kindly, and don’t chase every goofy idea that pops up on their phones.
Keep reading real books. Keep studying your faith.
Stay curious about science, art, history, and people.
So again, whether you become a teacher, a tradesperson, a chef, a doctor or nurse, or start a family, or a business, keep sharpening your mind and soul.
Use what you learned here to help other people. Allow them to see Christ in and through you and your actions.
My message to both of you, Gabriella and Josephine, Class of 2026, is that the world out there is loud, confused, and often cynical. It needs young people who think clearly, treat others with kindness, and live with joy. Bring the richness of what you’ve received here into everything you do.
Go be joyful servants out there.
Keep a little wonder and awe alive.
Never stop learning.
Love and serve people—at your next school, at your work, in your home, on the good days and the tough ones.
When life gets shaky, stand on the Rock.
Help the person next to you take their next step.
And never forget that this place, this school —with its teachers, fellow students, families, with its prayers, masses, rosaries, its books, its studies in physics, math, history, and science, the classical literature, Latin classes, the music, its plays, and even its challenges, — launched you out to make a difference, to become saints.
Stay curious like Chesterton.
Be honest and hopeful like CS Lewis.
Smile like Mother Theresa, while serving the poor.
Give to others like St. Nicholas
Pray like John the Baptist
Be kind to all like St. Francis De Sales.
Be in awe of all God’s creations like St. Francis of Assisi
Be charitable like St. Vincent de Paul
Be a defender of faith & human dignity like Pope St. John Paul II
Pray, Hope, and Don’t worry like Padre Pio
Be bold and strong like St. Joan of Arc
And most of all, stay close to Jesus — the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
You don’t have to have it all figured out today.
Just keep learning, keep serving, and keep walking with Christ.
The same Lord who got you this far will walk with you through every chapter ahead.
Congratulations, Gabriella and Josephine! Everyone here is very proud of you.
Now go out there and live like it matters — because it does.
God bless.
Mr. Boff is a graduate of Miami University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business/Marketing. He served as the Senior Vice-President & Officer, Cintas Corporation. He retired from Cintas Corporation in June of 2025, after 37 years. Mr. Boff was responsible for Sales and Operations for Northern portion of North America for the Fortune 500 company. In this role, he had 15 vice-presidents report to him, along with 12,000 employees, 125 Plant operations across the Northern Territory of the United States and all of Canada, and annual sales revenues in excess of $3.5 Billion. He is on the Board of Directors for The City Mission, a Christian Recovery shelter for men, and Laura’s Home, a Women’s and Children recovery home and program and serves as the Financial Director and Treasurer of Kairos International, A Christian Prison Ministry organization.