Flintridge Prep’s Annual Fall Awards Assembly Recognizes Academic And Athletic Achievements

Early in the fall semester, students gather for a special Morning Meeting to celebrate their fellow classmates’ achievements from the previous year. In her opening remarks, Dean of Faculty Vanessa Walker-Oakes explained that the Fall Awards Assembly recognizes the students who’ve excelled as academics, athletes and leaders.

Each year, the Athletic Council on Leadership (ACL) Award traditionally honors an athlete or group of athletes for an extraordinary success in the previous year. As Assistant Athletic Director and Director of ACL Russell White noted during the ceremony, “team sports can teach you many things: how to believe in yourself, the value of hard work, how to lead, how to stick together when things aren’t going your way and to meet each challenge head on.”

This year’s ACL Award recipient, the 2018-2019 boys varsity tennis team, exemplifies all these traits, White said. “The value of perfecting their craft is not lost on this year’s winner. They excel all over the board, from well timed drop shots, to precisely placed serves, and winning the first-ever CIF Southern Section Championship in a sport here at Prep,” White said before the team took to the stage to accept their award.

After the audience cheered and clapped for the team on their historic CIF win, White turned the ceremony over to Dean of Students Midge Kimble, who acknowledged the 26 members of the Class of 2020 who received recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Program.

“These high school seniors represent the nation’s most able students,” Kimble said of the 20 commended students and six semifinalists who earned these distinctions out of the 1.5 million students who take the National Merit Test each year.

The following students received recognition:

Commended Students: Natalie Bax, Alec Bernardi, Alex Bouquet, Violet Bretz, Ellen Chang, Kristofer Chang, Maggie Cole, Bennett Grable, Patrick Hastings, Nick Klatsky, Jason Kreinberg, Audrey Laun, Sophie Lin, Grady Morrissey, Jeffrey Pendo, Tess Robertson-Neel, Saya Sarma, Reagan Schmidt, Molly Scott and Ryan Waldheim

Semifinalists: Gage Detchemendy, Maya Khurana, Charlie McCormick, Emmie Oertel, Sylvie Shure and Simon Siskel

Newly instated Cum Laude Society members were welcomed into the fellowship that represents the top 10% of the Class of 2020. Dean of Studies Sarah Cooper presented each of the following students with their Cum Laude certificates: Violet Bretz, Kristofer Chang, Maya Khurana, Nick Klatsky, Jason Kreinberg, Charlie McCormick, Grady Morrissey, Tess Robertson-Neel, Sylvie Shure and Simon Siskel.

Flintridge Preparatory School, 4543 Crown Ave., La Cañada Flintridge, (818) 790-1178 or visit www.flintridgeprep.org.