The Pennington School held ceremonies at the Pennington United Methodist Church on June 9 for 41 students graduating from its middle school. Head of Middle School Todd D. Paige announced eighth-grade award-winners, and Headmaster William S. Hawkey and faculty advisors joined him in presenting the diplomas.
Erin Heyeck, of Pennington, was valedictorian, judged first in scholarship for the eighth grade; she also received an award for excellence in German. Salutatorian Leah Balerna, of Princeton, greeted the audience. Other eighth-grade speakers offering reflections were Griffin Papa, of Hamilton Square, and Anna McLaughlin, of Pennington.
Among the other eighth-grade awards presented were those for excellence in French to Eva Ondreyka and in Spanish to Elise Hawkey; both students live in Pennington. Vincent Colalillo, of Delaware Township, was recognized for excellence in Latin. Abigail Bulger, of Hopewell, and Olivia Ernst, of Chesterfield, received awards for excellence in English and social studies, respectively. Artem Rukavishnikov, of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, played a trumpet solo; he was recognized with awards for excellence in science and in music. The middle school Singers performed, as did the Sixth-Grade Handchimes and Handbells group.
The members of the Pennington School Class of 2020 (by state or country and hometown):
NEW JERSEY
Allentown: Richard Weise
Burlington: Jordan Bostick
Chesterfield: Olivia Ernst
Delaware Township (Stockton): Vincent Colalillo
Hamilton Square: Griffin Papa Hopewell: Abigail Bulger
Lambertville: William Miller
Lawrenceville: Alexa Lepold
Pennington: Julianna Alito, Leah Balerna, Elise Hawkey, Erin Heyeck, Jenna Kollevoll, Christopher Long Jr., Anna McLaughlin, Eva Ondreyka
Princeton: William Jones, Jonathan Lee, Raul Shah
Ringoes: Lucas Musto, Jacob Washton
Robbinsville: Chad Brunner
Sergeantsville: Laura Mertz
Skillman: Alyssa Gasior, Katherine Long, Connor Ort, Lucas Ort
Stockton: Blake Hart, Gavin Hart
Titusville: Lila Yazujian
PENNSYLVANIA
Holland: Andrew DiDomenico
New Hope: Jon-Henri Marlow, Matthew Shipley
Newtown: Mitchell Mavellia, Karis Sneed
Yardley: Sophia Amaro, John Fancher
CHINA
Shanghai: Yaoxin Mo, Huiyu Yang
UZBEKISTAN
Tashkent: Artem Rukavishnikov
UKRAINE
Odessa: Kostiantyn Rogankov
