Pres provides place for self-expression
Alyssa Deitchman
Presentation Academy was not a hard choice for me. Since third grade, when my sister started her freshman year, I have been in love with this school. It has a loving and compassionate atmosphere, but most importantly, it has been accepting. Pres allows you to be yourself through and through. At Pres everyone has a place where they can express themselves and be a leader.
For me, I expressed myself through sports and clubs. I played basketball and softball at Pres. Basketball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but Pres basketball was something different. I met my best friends and learned a lot about myself and how to persevere through hard times, such as injuries and setbacks. Softball was a place for me to try something new and work through those challenges. I met all of my best friends through sports, and I will hold them dear to my heart forever. Playing sports at Pres has shaped me into the person I am today. I have learned how to center myself and work together as a team.
I have also been given the opportunity to be involved in the National Honor Society, Prezettes, Student Ambassadors, and Peer Leaders. I made my way up to being senior class president and the president of our chapter of Y-Club. I have learned so much about myself by being part of these clubs. I have become a proud, outspoken, and determined young woman who fights for what and who she believes in. Pres not only gave me critical skills that will prepare me for the next steps of my life, but has also given me the best friends and support systems.
My teachers were some of the most amazing people I have ever met. They worked with us and for our best interest. At Pres, you aren’t just a number in the system — you are a person, and everyone knows you by name. From other seniors to my “Little Sister,” I have made friends across all grades. Being a Pres Girl is not a four-year journey, but a lifelong one. It is a journey that has paved the way for future success. Attending Pres has prepared me for a life outside of high school that I can confidently say I am ready for. The love I have for this school is never-ending. I found my home away from home, a place I know I can always come back to. Pres is a home, and there’s a reason they call it Paradise.
Presentation, a place of ‘friendship, growth and faith’
Marie Laracy
For the past four years, Presentation Academy has not only been a place of learning, but a place of friendship, growth and faith. The historic building nestled on the corner of 4th and Breckinridge has been a second home for the class of 2025. A close-knit and diverse school in the heart of downtown Louisville, Pres has spent 194 years molding generations of students into driven and passionate young women.
Presentation teaches students to create community with people who are on completely different walks of life. Students gain the knowledge of different cultures and lifestyles that is only available at a school with students from more than 35 zip codes.
Since stepping through the iconic stained-glass doors on the first day of freshman year, a deeply rooted sense of tradition and sisterhood has been instilled in the class of 2025. From inspiring retreats at Mount St. Francis, to stimulating walking field trips in downtown Louisville, Presentation has gifted our class with an abundance of memories and life-lessons that will be carried with us for the remainder of our lives.
Anxious, excited, and hopeful feelings filled our little minds as we entered into our first days of high school back in 2021. Little did we know that in four years we would be granted one of the most special and un-replicable experiences of our young lives. A school that offers each student the ability to shine as their unique selves and feel at home with their peers, Presentation Academy has been a truly beneficial experience. It is rare for a student to say they are “excited” to leave the comfort of their beds at the crack of dawn each morning for four years, but when the place they are headed is Presentation Academy, it all makes sense.
After four formative years at this exceptional school, there is no doubt that the class of 2025 has the strength and skills to live out successful and faithful lives. It is clear that our foundress Mother Catherine Spalding continues to live and breathe within each young woman at Presentation Academy. Her leadership and unwavering bravery are seen in the way students stand tall in their beliefs together with their fellow Pres sisters.
Pres offers unique opportunities
Jordyn Kustes
I can say wholeheartedly that my four years at Presentation Academy have been the best years of my life thus far. As a third-generation legacy to the school, my mother and grandmother had been my biggest motivators to go to Pres. It was a bit rocky in the beginning because I was the only girl from my grade school who went to Pres. I still remember being a little anxious freshman with a small voice and an even smaller drive to talk to people and make new friends. I slowly shed those old values from my skin, and I can now say with complete certainty that the friends I have made during my high school years are going to last a lifetime.
I have been given so many unique opportunities that may not have been given to me had I gone anywhere else — like the plethora of service projects and the advocacy for social justice. Academically, I have undertaken the ambitious task of the Senior Independent Project, something my senior Big Sister Alice had brought to my attention when I was only a freshman. I chose to write a book, and after long nights awake working on it, I have returned with a project I can be proud of — a nearly 400-page murder mystery novel set in Baltimore. I have never written and completed a book before, so the entire year was full of unknowns and the uncertainty of whether I would finish by the deadline. But as I reflect on the year, that blank document back in August has no idea how far it has come.
I have learned so much about myself in these four years — getting to be everything I’ve ever wanted has been so refreshing. I have experienced the world through so many different lenses as my school life and home life have evolved and as I’ve grown older and wiser, as wise as you can be as an 18-year-old. Kissing the Tower and the home-like atmosphere goodbye in a few short weeks is going to be so difficult, but as I spread my wings and soar to new heights in university, I will never forget the sisterhood of my fellow class of 2025 and our time together.
Thank you, Presentation Academy. It truly has been an honor.
