Malvern recently hosted their annual Junior Ring Mass which was a little different than years past. Through the efforts of Father Drennen and Mr. Algeo, the ring mass has helped bring a sense of normalcy to a hectic year.

Mr. Algeo, one of the coordinators of the Junior Ring Mass, spoke on how there are little to no events happening on campus with the ring mass being included. 

“There’s a lot of steps with the Junior Ring Mass that we went through that people don’t know about. So, at first, when we entered this year, we did look at events and say can we run them or not and there’s a lot of things we couldn’t do…we went through a couple of different iterations, and we weren’t able to do quite as much as we would normally like but it ended up working out pretty well to be able to have parents here and to do it with the juniors and the junior team here it was great. It’s a great celebration.” 

Father Drennen, working alongside Mr. Algeo, also spoke about how the ring mass was up in the air with concerns of COVID-19. As restrictions and safety concerns started to fade, the ring mass got the green light from the administration. 

“We figured we were safe enough to [have the mass] and we didn’t have anybody but parents who didn’t have any grandparents or siblings although people slipped in but they had to do the health waivers here and everything else,” Drennen said.

Working at Malvern for a long time, both Father Drennen and Mr. Algeo spoke on how it felt to see the juniors grow over the years.

“We have guys here that are juniors who I haven’t been able to kind of like, be with, and celebrate public with some parents in well over a year…It’s kind of jarring to think whoa, wait a minute, these guys are juniors and when you do it [the mass] in the spring they’re almost seniors,” Algeo said. “It’s such a strange, almost like transport, through time. So it was very surreal that way.”

In the Mr. Algeo fashion we all know and love, he also reflected on how excited he was to finally shake hands again and give the patented “dap.”

“I definitely thought more comfortable with people who are vaccinated to give the old dap, you know, and a hug and high fives. I’ve been able to do that a lot more… It’s that connection, right then come camaraderie for me, that I feed off of,” Algeo said. “So, I am ecstatic, and we’re gonna be able to get to do this more and more. There’s no doubt a lot more high fives and daps no doubt.” 

The Malvern community looks forward annually to its rising seniors having the opportunity to come together and celebrate being a step closer to their final year on campus. 

“I look at it as an advancement for juniors who are going to be taken over as leaders,” Drennen said.

Junior and ring mass participant, Jack Onderdonk, commented, “The ring mass was very well done this year. It was great how Malvern recognized the importance and significance of the event and made it happen this year for students and their families.” 

Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Algeo and Father Drennen the Juniors were able to have a nice celebration as they approached their senior year.