Pomfret School awards 112 diplomas, 39 awards at 119th Commencement

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The Pomfret School class of 2013 gathers around the School's sundial prior to the awarding of diplomas on Sunday, May 26

POMFRET, CT (06/17/2013)(readMedia)-- With faculty, students, family and friends looking on, the 112 members of the class of 2013 were honored on Sunday, May 26, at Pomfret School's 119th Commencement. Following the farewell speech by Harrison W. Chase '13 (an honor conferred by his classmates) Commencement speaker Dr. Ronald Brown, a member of the Pomfret class of 1988 who is now on the faculty of the Doctor of Education program at Northeastern University, told the graduates to regard their Pomfret experience as a gift.

President of the Board of Trustees Charles T. Wilmerding (P'11 and '14) and Head of School Tim Richards (P '15) then awarded the diplomas. Graduates and their home towns were: Alexandra Adams (Sagamore Beach, Mass.), Olaide Adekanbi (Highland Mills, N.Y.), Kokou Alasse (Newark N.J.), Isaac Amick (St. George's Parish, Bermuda), Ashley Anctil (Manchester, N.H.), Meredith Anthoine (Andover, Mass.), Tamerlane Asher (London, England), Anna Bagley (Centerville, Mass.), Lindsay Barber (Stonington, Conn,), Roxane Barbera (West Haven, Conn.), Elizabeth Blake (Newport, R.I.), Erin Brady (New Canaan, Conn.), Benjamin Brower (Winnetka, Ill.), Melinda Buell (Hampton, Conn.), Zachary Burdick-Chapel (Hampton, Conn.), James Byrnes (Woodstock, Conn.), Colin Cahill (Redding, Conn.), Malcolm Chace (Providence, R.I.), Alyson Chase (Chaplin, Conn.), Harrison Chase (Pomfret, Conn.), Shandy Chen (Willington, Conn.), Hayden Clarkin (Brooklyn, Conn.), Cecille Cunningham (Madison, Conn.), John Cunningham (Chesire, Conn), Michael Daly (St. George's, Bermuda), Blaise Desnoes (Indian Wells, Cal.), Alexis Dorman (Providence, R.I.), Keith Ducharme (Quinebaug, Conn.), Emma Dunn (Bellevue, Wash.), Malkese Edwards (Danbury, Conn.), Susannah Ellis (Manchester, Mass.), Seth Fargnoli (Pomfret Center, Conn.), James Farrell (Newtown Square, Penn.), Oliver Finley (Lattingtown, N.Y.), Patricia Francis-Hall (Bronx, N.Y.), Adam Ganley (Westport, Conn.), Lucas Gillespie (Guilford, Conn.), Jordan Ginsberg (Killingworth, Conn.), Kress Goldstein (Newburgh, Ind.), Christian Grandi (New York, N.Y.), Dylan Grigg (Madison, Conn.), Charles Gruner (Stevenson, Md.), Alexis Gulino (Orlando, Fla.), Timothy Haggerty (Southampton, Mass.), Miles Hamilton (Bryn Mawr, Penn.), John Hart (Bethlehem, Penn.), Sophie Hatch (Grafton, Mass.), Jeremy Hatfield (Peabody, Mass.), Ryan Hoey (Concord, Mass.), Alexander Holloway (Newport, R.I.), Alison Horst (Pomfret, Conn.), Patrick Houghton (Westford, Mass.), Sha Huang (Zhejiang, China), Alexander Joyce (Darien, Conn.), Daniel Kellaway (Pomfret Center, Conn.), Robert Kelsey (Dover, Mass.), Thanatcha Khunkhet (Chiang Mai, Thailand), JaeWoo Kim (Vancouver, British Columbia), Charles Kimball (Boston, Mass.), Maximillian King (Amesbury, Mass.), and Lindsay Koss (West Hartford, Conn.).

Also, Morgan Lasewicz (Thompson, Conn.), Marlee Lawless (Mahopac, N.Y.), Kevin LeBlanc (Charlton, Mass.), Soyun Lee (Seoul, Korea), Naja Lewis (New York, N.Y.), Jordan Lipson (Davis, Cal.), Borui Liu (Guangzhou, China), Shengkun Liu (Greenwich, Conn.), Carsten Lohan (Chicago, Ill.), Karoline Lozier (Darien, Conn.), William Mackie (Darien, Conn.), Tyler MacNeil (Pembroke Parish, Bermuda), Nataly Maloney (Whitinsville, Mass.), Palmer McGraw (New York, N.Y.), Kyra McMahon (Framingham, Mass.), Sean McMerriman (Plainfield, Conn.), James Moeller (Phoenix, Ariz.), Robert Motley (Woodstock, Conn.), Benjamin Murphy (Andover, Mass.), Lilianne Nason (Fort Washington, Penn.), Nhu Thao Nguyen (Hanoi, Vietnam), Andrea Nicholson (Grafton, Mass.), Dylan O'Hara (Woodstock, Conn.), Mamoru O'Hara (Ojai, Cal.), Morgan Olander (Mansfield Center, Conn.), Julian O'Neill (Villanova, Penn.), Erica Ott (Chelmsford, Mass.), Christopher Pease (Lincoln, Mass.), Amanda Proulx (Smithfield, R.I.), L'or Iman Puymartin (Venice, Cal.), Isabel Regine (Portsmouth, R.I.), Peter Reimer (Bedford, N.Y.), Griffin Richards (Madison, Conn.), John Richmond (Newport, R.I.), Lucas Rivera (Pacific Palisades, Cal.), Joshua Roemer-Ingles (Fayetteville, N.C.), Harrison Schroder (Woodstock, Conn.), Carly Scott (Pomfret Center, Conn.), Nicholas Segar (Tolland, Conn.), Anna Shoemaker (Wyndmoor, Penn.), Geoffrey Short (Darien, Conn.), Edward Smith (Greenwich, Conn.), Miller Staten (Madison, Conn.), Taylor Sulik (Danielson, Conn.), Liana Therrien (Putnam, Conn.), Anh Tran (Hanoi, Vietnam), Izabel Tropnasse (Wantagh, N.Y.), Ethan Ufland (Encino, Cal.), Quynh Vu (Hanoi, Vietnam), Helena Walker (Newport, R.I.), and Du-Vonte Zimmerman (Waterbury, Conn.).

Two awards were announced at graduation. The Founder's Medal went to Daniel Kellaway; and the Senior Cup, which goes to a member of the faculty, went to science teacher Brian Geyer. The remainder, all honoring seniors, were presented the night before at the annual Awards Dinner: The Pomfret Bowl – Charles Gruner and Andrea Nicholson; The Chick Cole Cup – Alexandra Adams; The Community Service Award – Alyson Chase; The Cowperthwait Award – Harrison Chase and Maximillian King; The Edward J. Kelley Award – Du-Vonte Zimmerman; The Halleck Lefferts Award – Harrison Schroder; The Wendell D. Mansfield Cup – Alison Horst; The Richard H. Randall, Jr. '44 Award – Seth Fargnoli; and The Paul M. Rosenfield '67 Award – L'or Iman Puymartin.

Harrison Chase, William Mackie, Nataly Maloney, and Izabel Tropnasse all received Faculty Awards.

Recipients of the academic department awards, recognizing excellence in a particular discipline, were Elizabeth Blake (Creative Writing); Harrison Chase (Mathematics/Calculus, Mathematics/Statistics; and the C. Russell Stringer World Languages Award); Emma Dunn (Religion); Seth Fargnoli (Computer/Digital Audio); Patricia Francis-Hall (the David A Brush History Award); Alexis Gulino (French); Jeremy Hatfield (Computer/Digital Graphics); Charles Kimball (English); Robert Motley (History); Griffin Richards (the Form VI Science Scholar Award); Harrison Schroder (the Science Exploration Award); and Izabel Tropnasse (Spanish).

In the Fine Arts Department, Harrison Schroder received the Joseph Mannas Memorial Drama Award. The following students received Fine Arts Awards for commitment and accomplishment in their disciplines: Ray Liu for Ceramics, Liana Therrien for Dance, Anna Shoemaker for Drama and Music, Helena Walker for Painting, Morgan Lasewicz for Photography, and Nguyen Nhu for Sculpture.

In addition, twelve seniors were inducted into the Cum Laude Society, an international organization, modeled after Phi Beta Kappa, that honors scholastic achievement in secondary schools: Alexandra Adams, Isaac Amick, Elizabeth Blake, Harrison Chase, Shandy Chen, John Cunningham, Alexis Gulino, Robert Motley, Nhu Thao Nguyen, Dylan O'Hara, Erica Ott, and Qyhnh Anh Vu.

Five faculty members were recognized at the awards dinner. The David A. Brush Award went to English teacher Wallace Rowe; the Sooho Cho '74 Award went to Fine Arts Chair Charles Lamb; the Eccleston Award to History teacher Patrick Burke; the William "Terry" Murbach Award went to History teacher Rod Eaton; and the Prize for Teaching Excellence was awarded to Geometry teacher Martha Horst.

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