Senior Class Honored During Virtual Awards Ceremony
The senior class was honored for their academic, athletic, and artistic achievements during a virtual Senior Awards Ceremony the evening of May 20.
Head of Upper School Fletcher Carr thanked the class of 2020 for their grace and maturity exhibited throughout an unimaginable time.
“In such times I think we all look for the silver lining. I’m not sure that I’ve found it but I’ve found a number of silver linings and so many of those have been attributed to your generosity and resilience. I’ve also found similar silver linings in so many of the upper school community whether teachers, parents, or alumni. If I’m discouraged I just have to think back to something as recent as last Friday night’s Senior Parade at the upper school,” said Carr. “The smaller blessings must sustain us and the class of 2020 has certainly been one of those during this time.”
Carr then turned the program over to outgoing Assistant Head For Academics Ken Didsbury who presented the first awards of the evening. Didsbury commenced the awards by honoring Emily Horgen with the Daughters Of The American Revolution Good Citizen Award. The award recognizes a senior for their contributions to their community and school.
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Seniors Vincent Amato, Christian Baldari, Ashley Cousin, Emily Horgen, Nicolas Lama, Kiersten Malmberg, Caroline Moody, James Richardson, Dean Silvers, Heather Sley, and Tatiana Ziff received the Presidents’ Education Award.
Broadcasting from an empty Barker Performing Arts Center, Interim Head of School Tom Reid bestowed the Cindy Hughes memorial scholarship, given to a senior who has shown a passion for music and the arts, on Ty Campbell. Reid also presented the Walter A. Monk Wright good citizen award to Nicholas and Vincent Amato.
The Helen Shick Award, given in honor of the former Benjamin art teacher who was a part of the community for 36 years, was presented to James Richardson and Roshaune Downie. The award recognizes a senior who quietly gets the job done despite adversity.
Student-athletes Daniel McCullon and Ellie Blain were named Julian Reynolds Career Athletes and Blain’s volleyball jersey was retired.
Students received academic recognition in English, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, World Languages, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, athletic recognition and participation recognition in Honor Council, the National Honor Society, Cum Laude Society, and Student Council.
National Merit Scholar Commended Scholars, Finalists, and Winners were also recognized. Three members of the senior class - Ashley Cousin, Nicolas Lama and James Richardson - were Merit Winners.
Emily Horgen received the Faculty Academic Achievement Award. The honor is bestowed upon a senior who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, a scholarly approach to learning, a strong sense of responsibility and who has made significant contributions to the academic community.
“In a class as strong as this one, you can imagine the conversation around this award was passionate,” said Carr.
The evening concluded with the naming of Valedictorian Nicolas Lama and Salutatorian Ashley Cousin.
“When our past, present, and future seem as blended and undefined as they do now, the future becomes the present in a blank and given some of the longstanding beliefs and best practices that have crumbled under the weight of both the pandemic and their own inertia, you have much more power than you know to go out and make an immediate impact on both the present and in a blank the future,” said Carr. “And I can not think of a class that has done more to earn our confidence...than yours.”
See the entire list of senior award winners below.
See the entire list of senior award winners below.
Class of 2020
Senior Awards
Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award | Emily Horgen |
President’s Education Awards | Vincent Amato, Christian Baldari, Ashley Cousin, Emily Horgen, Nicolas Lama, Kiersten Malmberg, |
Caroline Moody, James Richardson, Dean Silvers, Heather Sley, Tatiana Ziff | |
Walter A. “Monk” Wright Award | Nicholas Amato and Vincent Amato |
The Helen Shick Award | James Richardson and Roshaune Downie |
Cindy Hughes Award | Ty Campbell |
English Awards | |
AP Literature | Ashley Cousin |
Senior Selections | Phoebe Denenberg |
Senior Outstanding Scholar | Nicholas Lama |
Social Studies | |
AP Microeconomics | Nicholas Amato |
History of Florida and the Caribbean | McKenzie Matevia |
AP Government | Caroline Moody |
Linda Willich Super Slam in Social Studies | Vincent Amato, Christian Baldari, Joey Berg, Zack Feldman, Katie Hewitt, |
James Richardson, Heather Sley, Tati Ziff | |
Senior Outstanding Scholar | Christian Baldari |
Richard F. Ridgway Award | James Richardson |
World Languages | |
AP Mandarin Chinese | Ashley Cousin |
Honors Mandarin Chinese 5 | Phoebe Denenberg |
French 3 Honors | Daymon Cantave |
French 4 Honors | Alicia Liu |
AP French Language and Culture | Kiran Houri |
Spanish Conversation and Culture | Bella Craven |
AP Spanish Language and Culture | Alexandra Denholtz |
Senior Outstanding Scholar in French | Christian Baldari |
Senior Outstanding Scholar in Spanish | Caroline Moody |
Senior Outstanding Scholar in Mandarin Chinese | Emily Horgen |
Visual Arts | |
AP Art History | Nicolas Lama |
AP Drawing | Ty Campbell |
AP Photography | Sarah Caroline Crall and Isabela Valdes |
Ceramics | Jenna Fonda |
Visual Art Department Award | Emily Horgen |
National Scholastic Medals | Ty Campbell, Madison Marotta, Caroline Small, Isabela Valdes, Tatiana Ziff |
Performing Arts | |
Senior Drama Award | Nicholas Amato |
Senior Dance Award | Jada Travis |
National Orchestra Award | James Richardson |
National Band Award | Dean Silvers |
Senior Broadcast Excellence Award | McKenzie Matevia |
Vanessa Anderson Award | Jada Travis |
Mathematic | |
College Algebra/Trigonometry | Bianca Yan |
Statistics | Isabel Samarias |
AP Statistics | Ashley Cousin |
AP Calculus BC | Justin Stohlman |
Mu Alpha Theta | Alec Adam, Leslie Berg, Ashley Cousin, Nicolas Lama, James Rchardson, Dean Silvers |
Justin Stohlman | |
Phyllis Wisner Outstanding Scholar Award | Ashley Cousin |
Science | |
Engineering Certificate | Justin Stohlman |
Advanced Human Anatomy | Wells Carr |
AP Environmental Science | Sarah Caroline Crall |
AP Physics 1 | Nicolas Lama |
AP Physics 2 | Justin Stohlman |
Electronics | Ashley Cousin |
Biotechnology | Josie Austin |
Outstanding University Research Award | Emily Horgen |
Senior Outstanding Scholar in Computer Science | Steven Ippolito |
Senior Outstanding Scholar in Science | Ashley Cousin |
The Dr. Robert F. Busse Award | Kassandra Jutis |
Athletics | |
Buccaneer Awards | Gian Abbonizio, Gabe Agrama, Nicky Amato, Chtistian Baldari, Lexi Balduzzi, Sierra Barron, Francis Barros, Sarah Beqaj, Joey Berg, Leslie Berg, Ellie Blain, Jason Blum, Blake Bowen |
Ty Campbell, Daymon Cantave, Sarah Caroline Crall, Wells Carr, Caroline Charles, Jason Chen, Alex Cohen, Ashley Cousin, Bella Craven, Phoebe Denenberg, Roshaune Downie, Catherine Dunkin | |
Jenna Fonda, Kersten Galeta, Daniella Gangi, Alex Goldberg, Peyton Greene, Vance Hendryx, Kaitlyn Hewitt, Emily Horgen, Kiran Houri, Elena Ippolito, Stephen Ippolito, Bryce Kendrigan, Xander Kline, Regan Kretz, Nicolas Lama | |
Lauren Lange, Emma Laszewski, Coby Leibowitz, Alexia Letsche, AJ Levitt, Grace Mack, Kiersten Malmberg, Madison Marotta | |
Addison Matevia, Kenzie Matevia, Daniel McCullon, Caroline Moody, Bill Moscatello, Ned Murphy, Rigby Peckham, Joshua Pierre-Louis, Mariana Perez-Vargas, James Richardson, Tommy Rooney | |
Colin Ryan, Dean Silvers, Heather Sley, Caroline Small, Alexis Tadros, Alexa Tiano, Isabella Valdes | |
Zander Valentini, Alyssa Vitale, Sarah Weiss, Cam Williams, Bianca Yan, Michael Yancey, Tatiana Ziff | |
Julian Reynolds Career Athlete Award | Daniel McCullon and Ellie Blain |
Retired Jerseys | Ellie Blain-Volleyball |
Pathfinder Awards | |
Academic Excellence | Nicolas Lama |
Art | Tatiana Ziff |
Business | Dean Silvers |
Communications | Christian Baldari |
Community Involvement | Isabella Craven |
Computer Science | Scott Pignataro |
Drama | Isabel Samarias |
Foreign Language | Alexandra Denholtz |
Forensics/Speech | Caroline Moody |
History/Political Science | James Richardson |
Literature | Emily Horgen |
Mathematics | Ashley Cousin |
Music/ Instrumental | Alec Adam |
Music/ Vocal | Kaitlyn Hewitt |
Science | Justin Stohlman |
Sports | Ellie Blain |
Final Awards | |
Faculty Academic Achievement Award: | Emily Horgen |
Founders' Cups | NOT AWARDED UNTIL COMMENCEMENT |
Salutatorian | Ashley Cousin |
Valedictorian | Nicolas Lama |
Organizational Recognitions | |
Honor Council | |
Advisor: Mrs. McCambridge | |
Officers: | Vincent Amato (President), Nicholas Amato (VP), Zack Feldman (VP) |
Christian Baldari (Secretary) | |
Members: | Vincent Amato, Nicholas Amato, Zach Feldman, Christian Baldari, Nicolas Lama |
National Honor Society: | |
Advisor: Ms. Misselhorn | |
Officers: | Nicolas Lama (President), Tatiana Ziff (Vice-President), Nicholas Amato (Treasurer), |
Vincent Amato (Secretary), Ellie Blain (In-School Service), Heather Sley (Out-of-School Service) | |
Class of 2020 Members: | Alec Adam, Nicholas Amato, Vincent Amato, Josie Austin, Francis Barros, Christian Baldari, Leslie Berg, |
Joey Berg, Ellie Blain, Jason Blum, Blake Bowen, Christian Cassanelli, Caroline Charles, | |
Zixuan Chen, Ashley Cousin, Sarah Caroline Crall, Bella Craven, Ty Campbell, Alex Cohen, | |
Jessica Davis, Phoebe Denenberg, Alexandra Denholtz, Catherine Dunkin, Molly Rose Freeman, | |
Alex Goldberg, Peyton Greene, Kaitlyn Hewitt, Emily Horgen, Kiran Houri, Kassandra Jutis, Regan Kretz, | |
Nicolas Lama, Lauren Lange, Alexia Letsche, Xiao Liu, Kiersten Malmberg, Caroline Moody, | |
Scott Pignataro, James Richardson, Colin Ryan, Isabel Samarias, Dean Silvers, Heather Sley, | |
Caroline Small, Justin Stohlman, Alexa Tiano, Isabela Valdes, Zander Valentini, | |
Mariana Vargas, Sarah Weiss, Alexandra Walczak, Michael Yancey, Tatiana Ziff | |
Cum Laude Society: | |
Chapter President: Mr. Carr | |
Members: | Alec Adam, Nicholas Amato, Vincent Amato, Christian Baldari, Leslie Berg, |
Ellie Blain, Ashley Cousin, Alexandra Denholtz, Catherine Dunkin, Emily Horgen | |
Kassandra Jutis, Nicolas Lama, Kiersten Malmberg, Caroline Moody, | |
James Richardson, Dean Silvers, Heather Sley, Justin Stohlman, Tatiana Ziff | |
Student Council: | |
Advisor: Mrs. Pierman | |
Officers: | Alexis Tadros (President), Ty Campbell (Vice-President), |
Devyn Dyett '21 (Communications Officer), Will Zhang '21 (Financial Officer) | |
12th Grade Class Representatives: | Rigby Peckham, Alexa Tiano, Regan Kretz, AJ Levitt |
National Merit Scholarship Program | |
Commended Scholars: 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program: | Christian Baldari, Leslie Berg, Alexandra Denholtz, Kiersten Malmberg, |
Justin Stohlman, Michael Yancey | |
Semifinalists: 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program: | Vincent Amato, Ashley Cousin, Emily Horgen, Nicolas Lama, Caroline Moody, |
James Richardson, Xiaohan Song, Tatiana Ziff | |
Finalist(s): 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program: | Vincent Amato, Ashley Cousin, Emily Horgen, Nicolas Lama, Caroline Moody, |
James Richardson, Tatiana Ziff | |
Scholastic Achievement Award Recipients: | Ashley Cousin, Nicolas Lama, and James Richardson |
Class of 2020 qualified for: | $1,948,480 in Florida’s Bright Futures Scholarship money: |
Florida Academic Scholars Awards: | $1,507,680 (54 students) |
Florida Medallion Scholars Awards: | $430,800 (20 students) |
Additional Scholarships Total: | $5,125,704 |
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11000 Ellison Wilson RoadNorth Palm Beach, FL 33408
Ph: 561.626.3747
A premier PK3 - Grade 12 independent, coeducational day school with campuses in North Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. Since 1960, The Benjamin School has provided a challenging college preparatory education to a diverse student body in a structured, nurturing community environment.