Convocation 2019

On the morning of September 9th, 2019 the Vermont Academy community gathered in the Nita Choukas Theater to kick off the 2019-20 school year with the annual Convocation ceremony. 
Ms. Cynthia Murphy opened the event with the following benediction: 

“Today we gather to begin a new school year. It is a time for the planting of dreams to be nurtured and grown throughout the year and throughout our lives. It is time for designing the structure of our future.” 

New student body co-presidents Evan ’20 and Taylor ’20 then took the stage to address the community for the first time. In his speech, Taylor told the student body that this is their year to “try new things, to meet new people, and to explore themselves as members of the VA community. Stay open-minded about this coming year.  Be okay with being uncomfortable, start new conversations, or wave to someone on Long Walk you don’t know.” 

Following Taylor’s address, the class deans presented Honors and High Honors distinctions earned in the Spring of 2019 and the Anne Mae D. Fenny Awards for the 2018-19 school year. Students earn Honors status for a GPA  between 3.33 and 3.66. High Honors is awarded to students with a GPA of 3.67 or above. Anna Mae D. Fenney Awards which are given annually to those students who maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.67, and have achieved High Honors for each trimester during the previous academic year.

Honors:

Nolan Caruso ’22
Casey Marchese ’22
Elizabeth Pitts ’22
Yu Han Wang ’22 
Ben Bodett ’21
Nathaniel Gryczka ’21
Leianna Isaacs ’21
Thomas Kim ’21
Grace Miglore ’21
Izabella Segui ’21
Esme Stefani ’21
Entong “Olivia” Wang ’21
Yiwen “Eva” Wu ’21
Jungham “Edward” Ahn ’20
Ella Bushee  ’20
Cameron Cohen  ’20
Charles-Olivier Gagnon  ’20
Myles Kaplan  ’20
Maggy Peyton  ’20
Sydnie Rogers  ’20

High Honors: 

Grace Bazin ’22 
Lexi Farwell ’22 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Mia Hennum ’22 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Huxley Holcombe ’22 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
JaeHyeong “Andy” Jeon ’22 
Danielle McCarthy ’22 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Arya Tehrani ’22 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Riley Walsh ’22 
Joshua Bascoe ’21 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Grace Boynton ’21
Shea Buckley ’21
Jaz Creamer ’21 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Maurice Day ’21
Nicholas Hessel ’21
Maggie Hodgson ’21 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Ruihan “Candy” Li ’21 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Michael Libutti ’21
Annie Moore ’21 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Nana Owusu-Anane ’21 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Trevor Palmiotto ’21 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Xiong “Shane” Feng ’21 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Eno Yoo ’21
Maggie Adams ’20
Sarah Annis ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Andres Barreiro Perez ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Juan Berjillos Gonzalez ’20
Aaron Brown ’20
Tianyi “Christine” Cai ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Lauren Eppinger ’20
Chengxi “Sherry” Fang ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Cam Feloney ’20
Taylor Hennum ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Klara Jandusikova ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Kristyna Kaltounkova ’20
Caroline Keller ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Zhixia Edward Liang ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Miao “Jerry” Lin ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Logan McAllister ’20
Savannah Mouyos ’20
Emma Ostiguy ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Alex Paluszek ’20
Andrew Peloso ’20
Zhenyu Kano Qi ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Sarah Robinson ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Hannah Sethi ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Siyang Wang ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Gigi Wood ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Yuxiang “Peter” Zhao ’20 (Anna Mae D. Fenney)
Evan Zorman ’20

Two additional awards were given to two members of the Class of 2020: 
  • The Class of 1892 Award is awarded to the returning senior who earned the highest GPA during their junior year, this years’ recipient is Gigi Wood ’20. 
  • The Harvard Book Prize is awarded annually to a rising senior whose achievement in academic, extracurricular and citizenship areas has been exemplary – a student of high personal standards who gives promise of sound leadership in later life. This years’ recipient is Siyang Wang ’20

Following the awards ceremony, Dean of Student Life Mr. Brian Gilloran introduced Gary Huang ’20, member of the Standards Committee, to speak about the Vermont Academy Honor Code. Gary noted, “we all come from different places around the world with different cultural backgrounds. We also have different interests and specialize in different fields; but we have one important thing in common: everyone is a valued member of the VA community in which the four core beliefs apply - Trust, Responsibility, Honesty, and Respect. These core beliefs strengthen our community and each of us is expected to uphold these values.” 

After Gary’s address, all new students and faculty lined up to sign the Vermont Academy Honor Code Book before leaving to begin the 2019-20 school year. 












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Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.