DEERFIELD — Girls in white dresses and boys in suits grinned as they lined the sidewalk at Deerfield Academy, making way for a bagpiper and drum and fife ensemble to usher in the big day.

The drizzly Sunday was made brighter by the joyful spirits of graduating students and their proud parents, some of whom traveled far to watch their children close an important chapter in their life. 

“Rain or shine, this day is golden,” said Jan Flaska, Dean of Spiritual and Ethical Life, who gave an uplifting invocation, also leading the crowd in prayer.

Kiana Noor Rawji, who traveled from Calgary, Alberta to attend Deerfield Academy, gave a bittersweet senior address to the audience, reflecting on the past four years she’d spent at the school. 

She recalled sitting at Camp Becket four years ago, attempting to make conversation with her new classmates but worrying when the conversation fizzled. 

“I’m never going to make any friends,” she recalled thinking. 

But then, she told of how she began to blossom at the academy, making friends and succeeding in many ways. 

She also told the audience that in Alberta, her friends were confused at the concept of why she would go to boarding school and they joked that she was going to Hogwarts. 

“Even though Deerfield Academy isn’t Hogwarts, there is still magic here,” she said. 

Awards

The John B. Dicklow Award For Excellence in The Study of Classics: John Xu

The Pan American Society Award For Excellence In The Study Of Spanish: Michelle H. Fan

An Award For Excellence In The Study Of French: Eric Do Hee Kim

An Award For Excellence In The Study Of Arabic: Kiana Noor Rawji

The Deerfield Club Of Hong Kong Award For Excellence In The Study Of Chinese Language: Kye Foong Liew

The Charlotte Alice Baker Prize For History: Sarah Jane O’Connor

The John W. May Prize In Economics: Richard Taylor Roberts

The Charles Samuel Potee Memorial Award For Calculus: Olivia Mary Jones

The Harbeson Award For Excellence In Mathematics: John Xu

The Bartlett W. Boyden English Prize: Kiana Noor Rawji

The Robert Mcglynn Award For Excellence In Writing: Sarah Jane O’Connor.

The Dessauer Award In Physical Sciences: Caitlin Mariel Sugita.

John Gunther Memorial Award: Amanda Chuxuan Cui.

John Gunther Memorial Award: Theodor Bauer Lenz

The Helen Childs Boyden Science Award: Kevin R. Chen

The Science Faculty Award: Abigail Lupi

J. Clement Schuler Band Award: Cornelia Haywood Mackay

Ralph Herrick Oatley Award For Excellence In Choral Music: Jonathan M. A. Otto-Bernstein

Award For Outstanding Achievement In Chamber Music: Emilia Joy Pitchon

The Abigail Norton Award For Excellence In The Study Of Philosophy Or Religion: Marco Marsans

The Orra White Hitchcock Award: Hannah Seungmin Kang

An Award For Excellence In Video Production: Maya Devika Rajan

An Award For Excellence In Dance & Choreography: Osceola Charles Olufime Heard

An Award For Excellence In Dance & Choreography: Megan Soosan Martino

The Samuel M. Stone Jr. Music Prize: Sean Yu

The Christopher Beach Award For Excellence In Performing Arts: Charles William Ford Pink

E. Leslie Byrnes Jr. Debating Award: Doris Han Zhi Zhang

THe William B. Jaffe Award: Meaghan Leonardia O’Brien

The Robert M. Mcdermott Award: Megan Rose Graves

The Charles Piper Cost Award: Melisa Gurkan

The David Currie Lee Award: Nailah Reine Barnes

Teir Majesties Queen Rania And King Abdullah Ii Award: Ismerai Ortiz

The Alumni Book Award: Elizabeth Starling Louis

The Lincoln Lowell Russell Award: Charles William Ford Pink

The James A. Gunn Award: Theodor Bauer Lenz

The Binswanger Award: Zev Stephen York

The James Soper Jr. Prize: Jennifer Chatham

The John Mcphee Postgraduate Award: Hannah Muench Valencia

Head Of School Awards: Amelia Faith Evans, Elizabeth Starling Louis, Abigail Lupi, Marco Marsans, William Alexander McNamara, Nolen Anisko Rockefeller

Graduates

Alya Abd Aziz, Hannah Iris Abuaita, Julia Wu Angkeow, Nailah Reine Barnes, Athalie Vladine Bastien, Nathaniel Lockaby Battista, Michael Thomas Bevino, Julia Leslie-Ellen Bewkes, Niyafa T. A. Boucher, Marios Bourtzonis, Jose T. Boyer, John Wright Brown, Mary McCall Brown, Ines S. Bu, DeAndre Issac Byrd,

Samuel Courtland Cabot, Christopher John Camelio, Jillian Danielle Carroll, Mila Milan Castleman, Arianel Natalia Cazeau, Sophia Centola, Ashley Yoonsuh Chang, Jennifer Chatham, Amelia Suwen Chen, Kevin R. Chen, Lisa Chen, Inho Choi, Justice Chibueze Chukwuma, Jordan Elyse Coan, Jackson Q. Cohlan, Carolina Shepley Conzelman, Lachlan Brian Cormie, Christophe Côté, Amanda Chuxuan Cui, Kevin Edward Danforth, Nicasio Milo Javier DeFay, Oliver Philip Diamond, Aleksandra Mary Dougal, Helen Katherine Downes,

Osayuwamen Sophia Ede-Osifo, Amelia Faith Evans, Michelle H. Fan, Lourdes Emilia Fanjul, Connor Shane Finemore, Emmeline Vreeland Flagg, Conrad Minkler Freire, Isabel Anna Gilmore, Adeliza Canales Grace, Megan Rose Graves, Kevin Gu, Yingtong Guo, Brett Rae Hale, Hollin Ranson Hanau, Gilles Cabrel Happi Kamseu, Maya Alexandra Vallenilla Hart, Anna Claire Harvey, Henry Wheelock Hayden, Osceola Charles Olufime Heard, Kevin G. Hendrick, Elizabeth Barbara Hernberg, Helen Ruth Hicks, Benjamin Jacob Hirsch, Michael A. Hirsch, Brenna Jean Hoar, Oliver Erno Leleszi Hollo, William Tomás Holowesko, Erin Beach Hudson, Young Hur, Anne Kathryn Ilsley, Gabriel Alan Jacques, Lynnette Yuqing Jiang, Olivia Mary Jones, Hannah Seungmin Kang,

Camden Daniel Kelleher, Eric Do Hee Kim, Imani Soul Kindness-Coleman, Katherine Brydie Koch, Claire Dana Koeppel, Nicolas Alexander Labadan, Noah Valentin Lang, Theodor Bauer Lenz, Alexis Pierce Levit, Yutong Liang, Kye Foong Liew, Patrick Curran Logan, Elizabeth Starling Louis, Emily Merritt Luber, Parker Johnston Luber, Abigail Lupi, Jeffrey Michael MacDonald, Cornelia Haywood Mackay, Owen Glen MacPhee, Devin Mao, Nora Maloney Markey, Marco Marsans,

Megan Soosan Martino, Annabelle Sabine Mauri, Suzannah Beatrice Mazur, Griffin Malcolm McDowell, Keegan Thomas McHugh, William Alexander McNamara, Connor Thomas Mead, Carolyn Alexandra Melvin, Xingyu Meng, Tavian Stephan Kinyua Njumbi, Allison Elizabeth Norris, Sofia Maria Novak, Iqbal Bhaskara Nurjadin, Chigozie Carl Nwogbo, Vanja Obradović, Meaghan Leonardia O’Brien, Sarah Jane O’Connor, Julian Krusic O’Donnell, Ismeraí Ortiz, Nicholas Oladele Osarenren, Jonathan M. A. Otto-Bernstein, Stephanie Oyolu, Jared Samuel Pantalony,

Michael Bret Pastor Jr., Andrew William Peck, Andrew Walton Penner, Charles William Ford Pink, Emilia Joy Pitchon, Alexander Lee Platt, Miriam Joy Pomerantz, Samuel James Powell, Jacob Thomas Presnal, Peter Pulai, Maya Devika Rajan, Kiana Noor Rawji, Avery Weaver Reed, Geraud Martel Richards, Madeline Griffith Richmond, Richard Taylor Roberts, Elizabeth Arthur Robinson, Tierney Rose Roche, Nolen Anisko Rockefeller, Spencer Justin Rosen, Lilley Tucker Salmon, Sofia Elisabeth Salvadore, Alexis San Martin, Anna Bridgette Scott, Sinclair Baker Seeligson,

Yeon Ji Seo, Sameer Raj Sharma, Colman Lee Shea, Charles Burnett Shearon, Shenika Y. J. Shi, Sofia Sintes Posso, Bailey Claire Smith, Cameron Locke Snow, Nicholas H. Solberg, Natthamon Sothanaphan, Anna-Birgitta Sabrina Sotirhos, Donald Edward Sparks III, Samuel Arthur St. Jean, Emmerson Claire Stephens, Joshua Phillip Stevens, Caitlin Mariel Sugita, Melia Noel Summers, William Wayland Towne, Karen Trovamala, Everett John Tsai, Thomas Constantine Tsandilas,

Topjor Tenzin Tsultrim, Erin Victoria Tudryn, Hannah Muench Valencia, Roopa Venkatraman, Michael Wang, Erika Warren, Madeline Quirk Wasson, Brian Ryusei Weber, Lowell Scott Weil III, Philip Riegel Weymouth, Kathleen Burke Whalen, Thompson Ruger Whiteley, Gannon Douglas Witt, Alexander Chi Ho Wong, Matthew M. Wuyan, John Xu, Gideon George Yektai, Zev Stephen York, Sean Yu, Fatima Zahoor, Claire Kehan Zhang, Doris Han Zhi Zhang

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