All 48 graduates were radiant, energized and enthusiastic.  The Class of 2010 presented themselves with great poise and dignity as they embarked on the traditional processional across campus, absorbed the meaning behind the 90-minute ceremony, heard from their salutatorian Jung Hwan “Steve” Lee and valedictorian Sean Mulvehill, and thanked faculty, staff, family and friends in a post-recessional receiving line and reception in Beaver Gymnasium.

At Graduation, a number of seniors (and several underclassmen) were recognized for their achievements with prestigious awards.  A list of award recipients is attached.  Moreover, Science Department Chair Bill Gostylo was honored by his peers for his 30 years of fine service to the School by being elected into the Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall Society.

This year’s commencement speaker was world-renowned psychologist, school consultant, author and parent Dr. Michael Thompson (Will ’10) who was, as billed, brilliant!  Praise for his reflections and counsel to our young graduates continues to pour in, and I encourage all that are interested to spend time reading his speech: located here.  Likewise, we captured video of our graduation ceremony and encourage interested folks to watch various parts the exercises or the entire ceremony.  You can do so at http://vimeo.com/channels/graduation.  If you wish to view one of several online photo galleries, please visit this Picasa link.

Special thanks to Director of Academics Lynn Bloom, Director of Communications Greg Abel, Registrar and Associate College Counselor Maura McCarthy, Senior Class Dean Chris Chesley, Librarian Paula Buerger, PGA Chair Wendy Black (Grace ’10), Receptionist Nancy Richardson, Executive Assistant Barb Platt, Assistant to the Deans Carol Russo, Director of Buildings & Grounds Al Umina, Business Manager Gwen Pojasek, Kitchen Manager Tim Burns and Trustee Mackie McKean (Mary, ’07) for their great help in making Graduation a success.

The Friday before Graduation started with Awards Day, during which students in 9^th, 10^th and 11^th grades were recognized for their academic and artistic achievements.  Join me in thanking Assistant Head of School Josh Bubar, Director of Academics Lynn Bloom, Registrar and Associate College Counselor Maura McCarthy, Class Deans: Robin Abel (9^th), Will Bailey (10^th), Alice Solorow (11^th) and Chris Chesley (12^th), and our Department Chairs—Bret Thibault (Mathematics), Jeanne Tift (English), David Allen (History), Jeff Martin (Performing Arts), Cindy Ludlam (Visual Arts), Christy Lawrence (World Languages), Bill Gostylo (Science)—for their great work in making Awards Day a success.  For a list of all award recipients, please see the attached list.

Friday night brought the Senior Banquet, attended by seniors and their families.  Kamilah Washington, the Senior Banquet Master of Ceremonies, did a spectacular job with the program that featured, among others, Grace Black, Irina Pak and Will Thompson being honored for their achievements in the arts, 23 senior class members of the “Four Year Club” (seniors who came to CH-CH as freshmen) receiving CH-CH desk clocks, Josh Smith as the School’s second 1,000 point scorer in basketball, and Sean Mulvehill being named an Academic All-American in lacrosse.  Seniors Grace Black and Brie Bulliner-Durant presented a wonderful senior slide show to top the night off.

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Graduation 2010 Prize Recipients

Junior Awards

Nancy Emery Award – Jared Cherney

Rensselaer Medal – Roy Wang

Harvard Book Prize – Claire Shen

Senior Departmental Prizes

Senior Composition Prize – Page Allen

English Prize – Mimi Dumbuya

Donald Welch Social Studies Prize – Steve Lee

Allen American Studies Prize – Page Allen

Farnsworth Mathematics Prize – Sean Mulvehill

Kurt Science Prize – Steve Lee

Lewis Clapp Science Prize – Steven Li

Performing Arts Prize – Richie Frank

Visual Arts Prize – Grace Black

José Arboleda Sportmanship Award – Luke DiOrio

José Arboleda Sportswomanship Award– Rachel
Frost

Senior Awards

Siri Akal Singh Khalsa Award – Page Allen

MIT Prize – Robby Merrill

Faculty Prizes [in alphabetical order]

Luke DiOrio

Mimi Dumbuya

Rachel Frost

Natalie Pehl

Kamilah Washington

School Spirit Award – Sam Melanson

Headmaster’s Prize – Mark Corcoran

Worcester Prize– Hieu Nguyen

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Awards Day 2010 Prize Recipients
Anne King:  Excellence in English
Timothy Noonan:  Improvement in English
Jessica Mostone:  Improvement in English
Catherine Stiny:  Excellence in English
Patience Marks:  Improvement in Writing
Robert Mullen:  Outstanding Effort in English

Quinn Sheridan:  Excellence in History
Jesse Larson:  Improvement in History
Catherine Stiny:  Excellence in History
Dong Kwon “James” Kim:  Improvement in History
Ben Kaplan:  Excellence in History

Hannah Bowe:  Excellence in Mathematics
Timothy Noonan:  Excellence in Mathematics
Li-Chung “David” Chen:  Excellence in Mathematics
Zhichun Christine Huang: Excellence in Mathematics
Xuan “Sabrina” Pak:  Excellence in Mathematics
Dong Kwon “James” Kim:  Excellence in
Mathematics

Yicai “Charles” Xue:  Improvement in Physics
Daniel Harris:  Intellectual Curiosity in Physics
Alexander Bair:  Improvement in Chemistry
Robert Mullen:  Excellence in Chemistry
Solana Johnson:  Improvement in Biology
Patience Marks:  Excellence in Biology

Hannah Bowe:  Excellence in Spanish
Anne King:  Excellence in French
Ashley Lawrence:  Excellence in Spanish
Sarah Galison:  Excellence in French
William Dritt-McCown:  Improvement in Spanish
Shuyang “Claire” Shen:  Excellence in French
Patience Marks:  Excellence in Spanish
Ji Sung Jung:  Multilingual Excellence
Dong Kwon “James” Kim:  Multilingual Excellence

Hannah Bowe:  Outstanding Achievement in Theater
Matteo Triolo:  Outstanding Achievement in
Introduction to Visual Arts
Kimberly Mulvehill: Outstanding Achievement in
Ceramics
Jiaxuan “Peter” Wang: Outstanding Achievement in
Ceramics
Emily Balter:  Improvement in Ceramics
Emily Chang: Outstanding Achievement in
Photography
Nathan Friedman: Outstanding Achievement in
Interrelated Media
TaCora Holmes: Outstanding Achievement in Music
Zhichun “Christine” Huang: Outstanding
Achievement in Music
Maya Vasquez: Outstanding Achievement in Chorus
Kung Phyo Rhee: Outstanding Achievement in
Chorus
Manami Wada: Devoted Service to Chorus