Rivers Celebrates Annual Prize Day

 

Among the prize recipients was Sivlia Curry ’16, who won the prestigious Faculty Prize, awarded annually to the senior who “best exemplifies the school’s traditions of industry, responsibility, and loyalty.”

 

Two seniors— Maria Burzillo ’16 and Derek Wang ’16—received the Dudley Willis Trustee Prize, given to those seniors who “have distinguished themselves by virtue of their pursuit of excellence, integrity, contributions to the school, and the respect accorded to them by the Rivers community.” 

 

Peter Ciccarelli ’16 was the recipient of the Jeremiah J. Sheehan Memorial Prize, awarded “to the student in the graduating class who has shown that he or she follows in the footsteps of Jeremiah J. Sheehan, a former beloved member of the Rivers faculty, in his gentility, kindness, and all-around good sportsmanship.”

 

Ellen Marius ’16 received the Hooper Lawrence Memorial Prize, awarded “for those qualities which contribute so much to the happiness of other people: a cheerful disposition, an unselfish nature, and a kind heart.”

 

Margaret Barrow ’20 received the F. Ervin Prince Prize, given “to the middle school student who best embodies the qualities of Erv Prince: a gentle, unassuming character, friendly sense of humor, integrity, inherent consideration for others, and, above all, passion for teaching and sports.”

 

The following Upper School awards were also presented: the Harvard Club Prize to Michael Young ’17, the Thomas Olverson Prize to Benjamin Puritz ’17, the Williams College Book Award to Brett Rahbany ’17, the Brown University Alumni Book Award to Katherine Regan-Loomis ’17, the Columbia Book Award for Community Service to Grace Lees ’16, and the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Faculty Prize to Sophie Jacobs ’18.

 

Stephanie Dailey ’19 and Caleb Leeming ’19 earned the Kenneth F. Benjamin ’50 Citizenship Award, given in memory of Ken Benjamin, a member of Rivers’ Class of 1950, a Rivers parent, grandparent, and Life Trustee, to “those students in Grade 9 who, like Mr. Benjamin, lead by example, give selflessly to others, and embody The Rivers School’s Core Values.”

 

Also presented to members of the graduating class were a number of academic awards:

The Robert W. Rivers Prize for English: Derek Wang ’16

The Mathematics Prize: Ross Carter ’16

The Science Prize: Ross Carter ’16 and Charles Watkins ’16

The George Woodbridge ’24 History Prize: Jackson Barno ’16

The Interdisciplinary Studies Prize: Christian Capello ’16

The Otto Alcaide Language Prize for Spanish: Julia Slifka  ’16

The Otto Alcaide Language Prize for French: Victoria Nedder ’16 and Isabel Sharpe ’16

The Austin A. Chute Memorial Prize: Charles Watkins’16

The Modern Language Prize for Chinese: Silvia Curry ’16

The Three-Dimensional Arts Prize (Ceramics): Ellen Marius’16

The Three-Dimensional Arts Prize (Sculpture): Robert D’Allesandro ’16

The Two-Dimensional Arts Prize: Elizabeth Magnan ’16

The Photography Prize: Victoria Nedder ’16

The Choral Prize: Adrienne Vanderhooft ’16

The Classical Music Prize: Silvia Curry ’16

The David Killam Instrumental Music Prize: Lincoln Zaleski ’16

The Nonesuch Players Prize: Adrienne Vanderhooft ’16

 

Elected to membership in the national Cum Laude Society were 12 seniors: Maria Burzillo, Ross Carter, Silvia Curry, Lauren Heuer, Grace Lees, Victoria Nedder, Natalie Schoen,

Kendall Trovato, Derek Wang, Charles Watkins, Elizabeth Webber, and Lincoln Zaleski

 

Awarded during the Varsity Awards evening on Wednesday were the prestigious Priscilla Wallace Strauss Athletic Prize to Elizabeth Webber ’16 and the coveted James A. Navoni Athletic Prize to Hans Gabriel ’16.

 

Faculty and staff were honored at Prize Day for their years of service and also with a number of awards. The newly established Excellence with Humanity Award, honoring the school's outstanding faculty and their selfless commitment to the Rivers community, was presented to Assistant Head of School James Long. Art teacher Jeremy Harrison received the William F. Gallagher Teaching Chair. The Mida Van Zuylen Dunn Awards for Teaching were presented to math teacher Samantha Dembicer and French teacher Elisa Goldsmith. Assistant Director of Admissions Karin Senior received the Bergen-Decker Award.