Commencement 2020

Class of 2020 Commencement

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Resilient. Optimistic. Passionate. Focused. These are all words to describe the members of the great Class of 2020, who will be remembered in Pennington’s history as the first class to experience a virtual Commencement. Despite the challenges imposed by social distancing, every member of the class was honored in an individual way during a unique live-broadcast ceremony. The faculty and staff of The Pennington School celebrate all of you, and wish you much success on your journeys to college and beyond!

Commencement in China

On June 6, as a virtual Commencement broadcast was streamed live from the U.S., domestic seniors and their families watched the ceremony at the same time but apart from one another, since social distancing was still mandated in New Jersey.

However, across the globe, those restrictions had been lifted and a group of Pennington families in Asia decided that they wanted to be together, so they created their own Commencement overseas!

“All seven seniors wanted to celebrate our graduation together. We decided to meet in Shanghai, took pictures on a ferry, had cupcakes, and enjoyed dinner on a rooftop overlooking the Bund with our parents and several Pennington underclassmen and alumni. We all watched the graduation broadcast together. The seven of us will remember this experience forever.”

—Jennifer Lu ’20

Class of 2020 Senior Prizes

We are delighted to announce the senior prizes for the Class of 2020! Congratulations to all the students listed here who have won the academic prizes for 2019–20:

Valedictorian:

Deep Manish Patel

Salutatorian:

Maria Dimitria Khartchenko

Department Awards

Arts The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Instrumental Performance:

Meng Lu

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Vocal Performance:

Jordan Christian Matthews

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Video Production:

Brooke Avery Riley

The G. Arthur Campbell Award for Distinctive Service in Drama:

Anna Quaid McLaughlin

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Technical Theatre: Reid Rana Gajewski and Raul Ankoor Shah

The Pennington School Award for Continued Excellence in Theatrical Performance:

Jordan Christian Matthews

The William Mastrosimone ’66 Award for Excellence in Writing and Directing an Original Play: Abigail Blair Bulger and

Grace Caroline Roberts

The Kersey Award for the Student Showing Most Promise in Art: Mingjia Liu and

Tsung Yuen Tung

The Pennington School Award for the Senior Excelling in Photography:

Alexandria Catherine Ume

The Pennington School Award for the Senior Excelling in Sculpture and Ceramics:

Annelise Faustine Cornet

The William Alford Award for Distinctive Service in Music: Annelise Faustine Cornet,

Gabriela Carolina Montero, Molly Katherine

Nelson, and Jenna Elizabeth Yasser Soliman English The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in English: Caroline Frances Heffern and Maria Dimitria Khartchenko

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Journalism: Gavin Hart and

Julia Rose Peters

History The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in History: Meng Lu and

Deep Manish Patel

Mathematics The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Mathematics: Deep Manish Patel and Yiren Zhou

Religion The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Religion: Abigail Blair Bulger

Science The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Science: Deep Manish Patel

Technology The Pennington School Award for the Senior Excelling in Computer Science:

Deep Manish Patel

World Languages The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Spanish:

Jenna Elizabeth Yasser Soliman

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in French: Abigail Blair Bulger

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in German:

Maria Dimitria Khartchenko

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Excelling in Chinese: Nashay Cierra Little and Edwin Alejandro Marmolejos

Certificate Programs

The Pennington School Award for Distinguished Achievement in Applied Science:

Andrew Michael DiDomenico

The Pennington School Award for Distinguished Achievement in Global Studies:

Ian Albuquerque

Applied Science Certificates earned by: Hope Blair, Vincent Colalillo, Andrew DiDomenico, Carlos Duato, Robert Dusek, John Fancher, Reid Gajewski, Gavin Hart, Erin Heyeck, Logan Hill, John Hoblitzell, Severin Ihnat, Maria Khartchenko, Promise Klink, Jenna Kollevoll, Daniel Kottcamp, Shreya Krishnan, Alexa Lepold, Samantha Mazzoni, Jayne McGrath, William Miller, Gabriela Montero, Aaron Orshan, Connor Ort, Deep Patel, Luis Paúl, Matthew Shipley, Jenna Soliman, Peter Tarpinian, Alexandria Ume, Harper Usiskin, Alexander Wallace, and Yiren Zhou

Global Studies Certificates earned by: Ian Albuquerque, Julianna Alito, Sophia Amaro, Andres Argueta, Leah Balerna, Jacob Bongiovi, Kelli Collins, Annelise Cornet, Charlotte Diamond, Tori Dorfman, Rickey Eng, Olivia Ernst, Aidan Gross, Ameer Hasan, Elise Hawkey, Caroline Heffern, Olivia Heimann, Promise Klink, Xinyi Li, Katherine Long, Jon-Henri Marlow, Laura Mertz, Jonathan Moskowitz, Lucas Ort, Griffin Papa, Julia Peters, Sophia Petrone-Gramer, Timothy Riley, Artem Rukavishnikov, Kenzo Takeda, Tsung Yuen Tung, Carter Williams, and Huiyu Yang

Cum Laude

Cum Laude Spring Inductees: Rickey Eng, Gavin Hart, Caroline Heffern, Xinyi Li, Timothy Riley, Grace Roberts, Raul Shah, Alexandria Ume, Jacob Washton, and Huiyu Yang

Fall Inductees (previously announced): Erin Heyeck, Maria Khartchenko, Jenna Kollevoll, Mingjia Liu, Meng Lu, Yaoxin Mo, Deep Patel, Julia Peters, Jenna Soliman, and Yiren Zhou

Class of 2020 Gift to the School

The Pennington School senior class committee vice president Logan Hill and president Gavin Hart announced the 2020 Senior Class Gift just before Commencement. They decided this year to divide their proceeds in half. Half of their funds are a donation to the Capital Health COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. The amount of this donation is $5,000. The other half will purchase a statue of the School's mascot, a red-tailed hawk, for the campus. The statue will be installed on either the Campus Center plaza or another location determined by the School. Hart hopes the statue will bring more recognition to the athletic teams and be a symbol of honor, virtue, humility, perseverance, and grit for the student body.

Dean's List

High Honors

Abigail Bulger, Charlotte Diamond, Tori Dorfman, Robert Dusek, Rickey Eng, Olivia Ernst, John Fancher, Blake Hart, Elise Hawkey, Caroline Heffern, Olivia Heimann, Severin Ihnat, Maria Khartchenko, Jenna Kollevoll, Daniel Kottcamp, Xinyi Li, Meng Lu, Gabriela Montero, Molly Nelson, Deep Patel, Julia Peters, Timothy Riley, Grace Roberts, Raul Shah, Sydney Shah, Matthew Shipley, Jenna Soliman, Frederick Tewell, Jacob Washton, Huiyu Yang, and Yiren Zhou

Honors

Sophia Amaro, Hope Blair, Vincent Colalillo, Carlos Duato, Gavin Hart, Ameer Hasan, Erin Heyeck, Aidan Israel, Kofoworola Jolaoso, Edwin Marmolejos, Laura Mertz, William Miller, Luis Paul, and Alexandria Ume Named and All-School Awards

The Charles G. Bennett ’59 Memorial Award for School Spirit: Christopher Long

The Pennington School Award for Outstanding Citizenship: Gavin Hart

The Pennington School Award for International Citizenship: Artem Rukavishnikov and

El Hadji Ousmane Gueye

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Outstanding in Volunteer Service:

Kofoworola Ibironke Jolaoso

The Brigid Kilfoyle ’91 Memorial Award for the Senior Female Making the Greatest Contribution to Pennington School Athletics:

Katherine Zelda Long

The Pennington School Award for Peer Leadership: Kelli Lynn Collins

The Pennington School Award to the Senior Who Has Shown the Most Noticeable Improvement: William James Miller and

Laura Katherine Mertz

The William E. Long Award for the Senior Male Making the Greatest Contribution to Pennington School Athletics: Rickey Benjamin Eng

The M. James Coyle Award to the Student Who Has Fostered Community Understanding of the Strengths Associated with Learning Differences: Leah Marie Balerna

The Monique Visser ’88 Memorial Award: Alexandria Catherine Ume and

Gabriela Carolina Montero

The Gateway Prizes to the Seniors Who Best Exemplify Pennington's Core Values of Honor, Virtue, and Humility: Ian Cavalcanti de

Albuquerque, Elise Faith Hawkey, Kofoworola Ibironke Jolaoso, Jordan Christian Matthews,

and Jenna Elizabeth Yasser Soliman

The Head of School's Award to the Best AllAround Student: Deep Manish Patel and

Jenna Elizabeth Yasser Soliman