Scholastic Excellence for Honor Roll Recipients and 2022 Cum Laude Society Inductees

More than 200 students were recognized for making the honor roll last semester at the annual Honor Roll Dinner. Honor Roll designation is awarded to any student with a weighted average of 90 or above. Head of School Bob Izzo addressed the students and their families.

“Honor roll students: you are in this room because you met the challenge last year. You are academically talented – we are proud of you. This is a new year, with new challenges, and probably a more difficult course load. I am confident that if you put the work in and never give up, you will find success,” said Head of School Bob Izzo.

Along with the honor roll recipients, four seniors Kamini Purushothaman, Sophia Sarrazin, Adam Shi, and Charles Wortman were inducted into the Hamden Hall chapter of the Cum Laude Society. Students are chosen for this honor through their sustained pursuit of excellence and high achievement during their high school years.

The inductees were sworn in by Distinguished Teacher Judith Bratt, Hamden Hall’s Cum Laude chapter president, and World Language Chair Yasmin Haque, chapter secretary. According to Mr. Izzo, there are approximately 26,000 public high schools and 10,000 private schools in the United States. Of those, only 380 of them, including Hamden Hall, are members of Cum Laude – representing just about 1 percent of all high schools in the nation.

All four inductees offered remarks during the ceremony.

“What we gain at Hamden Hall is an education of both mind and spirit; it comprises not only our academic pursuits, but what we learn from each other and what we learn about ourselves in the process,” said Kamini. “I encourage you to always reach out to others on campus, not despite your differences, but because of them. I implore you, also, to find joy in learning, whether that be in the classroom, on the field, or at the art studio. To be curious about the world around us, to persevere against challenges, and to find a genuine love of learning are how we acquire both wisdom and virtue.”

 

Inductee Charles Wortman thanked his teachers for their support throughout his academic tenure and maintained that people can’t succeed without the wellbeing of their surrounding community, specifically through the values of support, participation, and accountability – three of Hamden Hall’s core values.

“Hamden Hall teaches us to become self-sufficient and brave, but not self-preserving or brazen. We become lifelong learners and considerate, benevolent citizens of a society that we all value and are valued by,” he said.

 

Mr. Izzo also recognized and distributed certificates to last year’s juniors who were among Hamden Hall’s 2022 AP Scholars. Those students, now seniors, are Chenhe “Justinian” Ding, Liangtong “Thomas” Dong, Aidan Fernandes, Isabella Ferneini, Helen Gerber, Emily Kogut, Julian Lord, Christopher Reiter, Tianzong “Peter” Wang, and Vincent Zhou.