A presentation was held on November 7 in the Old Rochester Regional High School auditorium to recognize the recipients of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarships.
Fifty-three members of the Class of 2017 were acknowledged for their accomplishment, of which three were recognized as commended students of the National Merit scholarship.
Two juniors were also presented with an award of excellence from the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists.
The John and Abigail Adams Scholarship serves as a tuition waiver for up to eight semesters of undergraduate education at any of the 26 participating colleges in Massachusetts. Recipients were required to receive a score of “advanced” or “proficient” on the Grade 10 Mathematics and ELA MCAS exams, as well as scoring in the top 25% of graduating students in their school district.
The Commended Students of the 2017 National Merit Scholarship consist of 34,000 students across the United States who scored in the top 5 percent of the 2015 Preliminary SAT (PSAT). Colin Flynn, Jonathan Harris, and Daniel Renwick all received this award and were presented with a letter of commendation by Principal Mike Devoll.
The two juniors, Alisha Mackin and Joanna Caynon, received certificates from the NAFPMS, which they were nominated for a national seminar on medical science attended last June.
“We’re here to honor students for a couple of different awards,” Devoll said to begin the ceremony. “We don’t want to gloss over that this group has accomplished a lot … it’s an opportunity for them to take a deep breath and enjoy themselves.”
The assembled group of awarded students and parents then applauded each member as their name was announced and they walked up on stage to receive their scholarship letters from their guidance counselor.
The presence of family members was something enjoyed by many. A social gathering took place in the lobby after the presentation, with many posing for photos and enjoying the pastries provided by the school administration.
Students began trickling back to classes after several minutes, however, as most agreed they couldn’t miss more time from the current period.
“It should be at night,” agreed both Alexandra Nicolosi and Alisha Mackin on the timing of the morning ceremony.
Colin Flynn provided another suggestion: “If they’re going to have it during the school day, it should be in and out.” Others also added that the individual presenting to students was slightly lengthy.
Nicolosi gave another point as well: “Only those in the awarded group saw [the presentation]; the entire school didn’t get to recognize them.”
Nevertheless, the students overall enjoyed the chance to be acknowledged for their achievements.
“I liked it,” Emily Ziino said, stating that she liked the idea of having students known for what they’ve achieved.
“I thought it was good that we were honored,” another student added.
Mackin supported the statement. “It feels nice to be recognized.”
“Without it, a lot of people wouldn’t know about [the accomplishments],” Nicolosi agreed.
The accomplished recipients of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship include Madison Barber, Alexander Bilodeau, Morgan Bliss, Kyle Brezinski, Emma Cadieux, Jacob Cafarella, Tessa Camboia, Erin Costa, Griffin Dunn, Connor Farney, Colin Flynn, Joshua Garcia, Kathleen Gifford, Isiah Gomes, James Goulart, Hannah Guard, Jonathan Harris, Celeste Hartley, William Hopkins, Caleb Jagoda, Jacob Juneau, Connor Kelley, Camryn Kidney, William Kiernan, Jonathan Kvilhaug, Olivia Labbe, Molly Lanagan, Madison Lawrence, Joshua Lerman, Benjamin Lima, Jordan McArdle, Matthew Merlo, Thomas Miller, Mackenna Milton, Camryn Morais, Madeline Morris, Tyler Mourao, Andrew Nadeau, Alexandra Nicolosi, Adam Perkins, Noah Petitpas, Daniel Renwick, Mary Roussell, Brooke Santos, Riley Shaughnessy, Justin Shay, Ryson Smith, Jacob Spevack, Kurt Thompson, Jacob Vinagre, Sienna Wurl, Matthew Wyman, and Emily Ziino.
By Jo Caynon