Several students were honored Wednesday, April 22 at the Principal’s Recognition Breakfast:
Merrina Joseph, Aim Award for achievement, integrity, and motivation, presented by Ms. Stacy Apfel, Mr. Mario Ramirez
Jessica Dawzo, Applied Science & Technology for Business Education, presented by Ms. Jean Attig
Daniel Picazo, Applied Science & Technology for Engineering Technology, presented by Mr. Tim Sullivan
George Tripkos, Athletics award, presented by Mr. Anthony Genovesi
ELL award, presented by Mr. Fritz WulframRebecca Harbeck, English award, presented by Ms. Sharon Swanson and Ms. Lisa Denapoli
James Barbosa, Fine Arts for Orchestra award, presented by Mr. Steve Katz.
Mira Berkson, Fine Arts for Theater award, presented by Mr. Andy Sinclair
Nicole Nienow, Fine Arts for Visual Arts award, presented by Mr. John Zilewicz
Isaac Moldofsky, Literacy Center award, presented by Mr. Michael Kucera
Ligia Veliciu, Mathematics award, presented by Ms. Colleen Gogerty, Ms. Jessica Madigan, Mr. Ryan Geu, and Ms. Karissa Moy
Haley Melnick, Science award, presented by Ms. Susan Schram
Bao-Tran Le, Social Studies award, presented by Mr. Daniel Kosiba
Cassie Bergman, Student Activities award, presented by Ms. Katie Odell
Amanda Chavez, Student Services award, presented by Mr. Andrew Johnson
Mrugami Mahadik, World Languages award, presented by Mr. David Malatesta
Mahadik said she is very proud of the accomplishments made by students.
“Sitting there and listening to the stories of those other passionate students startled me because they don’t wake up every morning just to get straight A’s; they wake up to make a difference in the community and in individuals’ lives,” she said. “Some of the stories really touched me, and it is incredible to imagine the way they will change the world in no time. This award was a motivation for me to keep showing the same, exceptional attitude in future. Even though the students did some outstanding things, we could never forget what those teachers have done for us. They all saw what even we couldn’t see in ourselves, and that was the beauty of this award. I was fortunate enough to be one of those people getting recognized there, and it just fascinates me how we all had the same desire to keep moving forward by helping others. One last thing: with such motivated, revolutionary, and helping minds, America can never fail.”
Tripkos said he felt honored receiving the award.
“It feels great to know that despite going to a school of over 2400 students, administration, teachers, and coaches recognize the individual achievement of all our students,” he said. “It is great to see what amazing things my fellow peers have done.”
Veliciu said the award surprised her.
“I definitely don’t have the math gene, but I work really hard to understand the material,” she said. “I can honestly say that before my junior year, I either had a strong dislike for math or I just didn’t care. This year, with the help of my math teachers Ms. Madigan & Mrs. Gogerty, I discovered how beautiful math is. With my burning passion to learn and my curiosity and eagerness to understand math at a deeper level, I have excelled beyond what I ever could have imagined and will continue to excel. Compared to where I was freshman year, I have changed so much. After the ceremony, I was walking in the hallway alone to my locker and I thought to myself Ligia, you are beyond blessed to have such a wonderful department full of compassionate and intelligent people standing next to you and supporting you. I love the math department! I felt like I had finally accomplished something in my life. I finally believed the saying that if you work hard enough, and if you set your mind to something, you can do it! I believe anybody can learn to love math and be successful if they set their mind to it! But also, you need to work hard. You need to work your butt off!”
