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LS/MS Divisions Recognize Academic Accomplishments at Year-End Ceremonies

Ranney’s Lower and Middle School divisions spent part of last week celebrating achievements seen throughout the school year during two separate awards ceremonies held in RSPA Panther Hall on May 31 and June 1, 2012.

Beginning with the Lower School on Thursday morning, faculty, family and friends gathered for an awards ceremony that honored the success of those students who participated in various clubs, community service projects, athletic programs and more throughout the 2011-12 academic year. As is typical of a Lower School Gathering, the assembly first opened with a recitation of the Lower School’s Community Standards and “Pledge of Allegiance” as led by Eric Grayson ’19. After hearing “The Star Spangled Banner” from Ariana Mangano ’19 and Birthday announcements from both Olivia Pasquale ’19 and Fraser Leslie ’19, the audience then viewed a performance from Ranney’s after school Indian Dance club. This year’s Indian Dance activity was directed by Ranney “Lifer” Neha Nayyar ’12, who paid it forward by serving Lower School students within the division where she too first began her journey as a Panther.

Afterwards, t-shirts, pens, ribbons, certificates and pins were granted to those students who had participated in Math Olympiad Competitions, Geo Bees, French Contests and Handwriting Contests throughout the school year. Individual awards and trophies were also presented to several students depicting excellence in such areas as math, geography, foreign languages, athletics, science, music and more. For instance, while Mason Leong ’20 and Jack Crilly ’19 received personalized trophies for earning the highest individual test scores on math examinations, students Jacob Egol ’19, Paul Cantave ’19 and Brandan Whiteman ’19 were also given first, second and third place awards for their performances at this year’s Geo Bee. A gifted musician, Jacob, along with Trinity Dalmazio ’19, Sathya Edamadaka ’19 and Aidan Smires ’20, was also presented with an award, certificate and CD from Ranney’s Orchestra director Dorothy Sobieski, D.M.A. Jacob, Trinity, Sathya and Aidan joined fellow classmate Olivia Pasquale as part of the Central Jersey Music Educators Association’s (CJMEA) fourth annual Elementary Honors Orchestra this past winter.

Other individualized awards included medals, which were presented not only to five French Contest winners – Sathya Edamadaka, Mia Glass ’19, Gianna Cappillo ’19, Taylor Rice ’19 and Aaryan Raval ’19 — but also to 13 Science Olympiad participants for their outstanding performance during a competition held at Moorestown Friends School this May.

Aside from viewing a short performance from Forensics team member Jessica Moser ’19, who recited the poem Where the Sidewalk Ends, the audience also watched a Lower School athletic awards video that covered such after school activities as girls’ lacrosse and field hockey, and coed soccer, swim and golf. Physical Education teacher Ian McNamara also extended special congratulations to the Lower School girls’ lacrosse team, which managed to obtain a 2-4-2 record despite containing several inexperienced third grade players who competed against an older group of opponents.

The awards ceremony also honored 31 students with Paw Print Awards, for upholding Lower School Community Standards as well as the Ranney Honor Code even during difficult moments, and serving as role models to their peers.

The celebration of success continued with a Middle School Recognition Ceremony held Friday, June 1. While the afternoon’s assembly recognized all students grades six through eight, it paid particular attention to the success of certain eighth grade students, who received certificates and awards for accomplishments throughout the school year.

Offering the first award of the day was RSPA President Mimi Keenan, as she presented both Brandon Gioggia ’16 and Ruchi Raval ’16 with the RSPA Panther Pride Award in recognition of their volunteerism and dedication to the Ranney community and its efforts. The Performing Arts Department, then, not only acknowledged the cast and crew from Ranney’s first Middle School musical Beauty and the Beast, but also congratulated those winners from this year’s Music in the Parks Festival. In addition, Forensics Coach Nancy Wade introduced those students from this year’s award-winning Forensics team.

Aside from group recognition, individual awards were also presented to several students for their expertise in areas of math and science. While students Matthew Kumar ’16, Christopher Nivera ’17, Kevin Xia ’17, Nikhil Lakhani ’16, Evan Kumar ’17 and Paul Jensen ’18 earned awards in recognition of high test scores achieved while competing in several math contests ranging from the American Mathematics Competition to the Sigma Math Contest, National Science League Advisors Laurie Rozzo, Betty Williams and Tom Allen also recognized Matthew Kumar, Christopher Nivera and Leonidas Mastrokostas ’18 for achieving high test scores not only on their national science exams, but also in science classes at Ranney. Additionally, Matthew was credited with earning a perfect score on his national exam!

While the Foreign Language Department also honored several French and Spanish students for demonstrating exceptional results on their national tests, several members from Ranney’s Science Olympiad team and numerous participants in the Middle School’s second annual Virtual Science Fair were commended for their hard work as well. These included Elizabeth Paasche ’16 and Jillian Ross ’17, who placed third in the “Food Science” category during a regional Science Olympiad competition held at Union County College this January, and teammates Jerome Cohen ’16 and Christopher Nivera who took fifth in the “Reach for the Stars” category. In addition, three teams comprised of students Jacqueline Erler, Sarah Casucci ’18, Zachary Karlin ’18 and Sarah Killian ’18 advanced to a sixth grade national competition through the Virtual Science Fair this school year. Of these four students, Sarah Killian also qualified for the championship division of the tournament.

Other groups honored throughout the assembly included: Student Council, Honor Code Committee, Sketchbook II, The MAG, Panther Press, Community Service Activity, Making a Difference, Hands Across Campus, St. Jude’s Mathathon, and Stock Market Game participants. Not only did 10 students involved in the St. Jude’s Mathathon raise approximately $10,000 for charity, but the Ranney stock market teams comprised of Ashton Clancy ’16 and Jordan Goldstein ’16 also placed first across all competing divisions.

The ceremony then concluded with a presentation of the President’s Academic Excellence Award to 45 deserving students. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education in partnership with the National Association of Elementary School Principals, this award was developed to help schools recognize and honor those students who have achieved high academic goals by their hard work and dedication to learning. Standardized test scores and students’ grade point averages are used to determine the recipients of this prestigious award according to a prescribed set of criteria.

“Students should be proud of the time and efforts put into each activity throughout the school year,” said Head of the Middle School David Fischer, who noted that each eighth grade student, in particular, has set fine examples through their leadership and dedication to success.
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society.