Twice a year at Benilde St. Margaret’s, the Student Recognition Event occurs. The first time it happens is in the fall, and the second time is towards the end of the school year in the spring.  Every year in the past, the ceremony takes place on a Wednesday after school in the spring at 3 p.m. in the commons. This year, it was supposed to happen on Wednesday, April 15.

For the Student Recognition Ceremony, faculty and staff members are encouraged to select one or more students who demonstrate positive character attributes such as honesty, dependability, empathy, leadership, and determination. This BSM program was first instituted by the Parent’s Association, and it is special because it is supposed to highlight great citizenship and honored principles. This award is also unique because it is not an athletic or academic award, but it can sometimes be connected to those attributes.

Letters are sent to the parents of the recognized students, inviting them and their students to come. At that time they are not told which staff member will be the one recognizing them. Each staff member who is recognizing a student goes up and says a statement on why they are recognizing the student they chose to acknowledge. “Sometimes the students suspect who might be giving them the award, but often it is a total surprise,” Mary Fran O’Keefe, who is a leader in this event every year, said. 

This year, due to obvious reasons surrounding COVID-19, the Student Recognition Ceremony did take place at Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Instead, it was held as an online virtual ceremony. It is similar in a lot of ways to the normal annual spring event, for it is still the same process and teachers still pay tribute to their chosen student. Students will still receive the certificate and be honored. However, this year students will receive a video from the teacher who honored them. “All of the videos will be posted on a specific site… When all of the videos are ready, I [sent] an email to all of the parents inviting them to visit the link, click on the photo of their student, and listen to the presentation,” O’Keefe said. 

Members of the BSM staff worked hard to make this ceremony happen. Little things that students do that they think might go unnoticed, could be brought up here by an onlooking teacher. Every little detail is important to the community at BSM, and this ceremony is a way to honor students who are trying to make it a better place every day. “This spring, there are 22 faculty/staff members participating and 58 students being honored,” O’Keefe said.