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Student and Faculty Scholars Inducted into Cum Laude Society

Sixteen seniors and two faculty members were inducted into Ranney School’s Cum Laude Society, the school’s highest scholastic group honor, on April 12, 2017. Inductees included English Department Chair Mr. Doug Felter, English Teacher Dr. Carol Palermo, and the Class of 2017’s Grant Barthelmes, Ashley Biswal, Alexa Biswal, Max Chalnick*, Victor Chu*, Olivia Castello, Charles Fabricant, Liam Fitzmaurice*, Danielle Goldwert, Nathaniel Kraut, Rebekah Lo*, Joseph Mahoney, Anjali Mann*, Gregory Marx, Jillian Ross*, and Jared Rush (*denotes Ranney lifer students who have attended the school for 10 or more years).
 
Ranney’s Cum Laude Society Chapter President Ms. Kate Greenberg, Visual Arts Department Chair, organized the ceremony, which began with Student Council President Jillian Ross (also an inductee) leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Upper School Head Ms. Katie Gibson and Head of School Dr. John W. Griffith provided opening addresses.
 
As part of the student inductions, senior Anjali Mann addressed the audience of Upper School faculty, students, family, and friends, saying: “When we talk about learning, we are usually focused on the academic aspect of it.… However, one of the most important parts of the whole process is allowing ourselves to become comfortable with the emotional aspects of scholarship, such as connecting with people who live different realities, and realizing that we share many things in common.”
 
The faculty inductions were led by Chapter Secretary Dr. Nicole Martone, who described Mr. Felter as “a master educator,” and Performing Arts Department Chair Mr. John Doyle, who introduced Dr. Palermo as a teacher who becomes “part of students’ growth in learning.”
 
Upon his induction, Mr. Felter asked the students to consider this: “If I can make one request, it is that each of you take the time to thank someone you know who steadfastly questions the ‘truth’ instead of simply accepting the conventional wisdom…. Even greater regard should befall those who speak truth to power and who will stand firm even through the withering winds of peer pressure or political correctness.”
 
Advisor to the Upper School Academic Challenge Team and Film Club, and member of the All-School Curriculum Committee, Mr. Felter received the Outstanding Educator Award from the University of Chicago in 2016. He has served on a state panel for writing standards, and one of his publications was selected as a model national standard for the English Language Arts. Prior to joining Ranney, Mr. Felter spent more than 30 years in public school education, 17 of them in administration, including as Director of Curriculum & Instruction for the Clark Public Schools. He holds an M.A. in Cinema Studies from the Tisch School of the Arts, as well as an M.A. and B.A. in English and a Principal/Supervisor certification.
 
In her faculty reflection, Dr. Palermo talked about the difference between looking at the world, and truly seeing the world. “Looking is a passive activity, a biological impulse requiring nothing more than you fixing your gaze upon something and having it register as an image. But seeing, as any art critic will tell you, is something else altogether. Seeing involves engagement, and attention, and an emotional involvement.  When you truly see things, they stay with you, and they change you,” she said.
 
An eighth-grade English Teacher and advisor, Dr. Palermo has been at Ranney for six of her 22 years of teaching. She founded Ranney’s award-winning Middle School Debate Team and serves as its coach. She previously taught middle and high school in the New York City public schools and served as the Director of Education at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. Dr. Palermo earned her doctorate in 2008 from Fordham University, and holds an M.A. in English Education from Columbia’s Teachers College.
 
Senior Rebekah Lo provided the ceremony’s closing reflection by congratulating the inductees on their hard work and persistence. She encouraged the students to maintain their resolve to be true scholars and advised underclassman to: “Enjoy your journey at Ranney, have an open mind, follow your curiosity, and never stop learning.”

Music was provided by the Upper School orchestra, directed by Dr. Dorothy Sobieski. Inductees were joined by their families and advisors afterward to celebrate in the Searle Library.
 
The Cum Laude Society is a national scholastic honor society that serves to recognize outstanding academic achievement in high school juniors and seniors. Cum Laude includes more than 650 chapters across the United States and inducts only the top 20% of a graduating senior class each year.
 
 
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
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