001good evening everybody thank you for joining us for the 2021 senior awards virtual presentation yeah it's great to have these circle moments to be able to honor our seniors and some of their many accomplishments so tonight it's obviously virtual so when you want to applaud please put your comments applause in the chat and so the seniors and everybody else's family and everybody can see those so this is uh the ending of uh quite a year class of 2021 has been doing a great job making the best of the situation and it's great again to have a chance to honor them tonight one of the the few differences about tonight is we're actually not going to be announcing the valedictorians tonight we'll be announcing them at the graduation and honoring them at that time and then
002we'll also do our best to spread their names far and wide newspaper and website etc so forth so i don't want to take up too much time just want to do a quick introduction again thank you for joining us so now i'm going to actually hand it over to our guidance department head lisa zephyr who will begin announcing the awards take care good evening everybody and congratulations we'll start our evening by presenting the art department awards the following students have received recognition at the state level by the massachusetts scholastic art and writing awards for individual works in the in in the visual arts honorable mention two times over goes to annalise peterson the silver key award also goes to annelise peterson the gold key award goes to maya sessions the following seniors have been chosen
003by the art department for demonstrating the highest level of dedication effort growth and achievement in the visual visual arts over their time at ahs this year's senior art awards go to madeleine cartwright sophia hood zoe giles mildred orellano alvarado elvisa vita pobozinskiya ava mahasa mahowski cara buchanan chathan konowitz adriana gahagan maximo hoick maya sessions and anastasia caltoshova the art history senior scholar book award is presented to one art history student who has demonstrated exceptional passion for and the achievement and art history this year's art history senior scholar is charlotte startenmeier the art department book award is given to a single student each year who has demonstrated an exceptional level of talent dedication and potential this year's art department book award goes to annalise peterson the ahs senior artist of merit book award is given each
004year to a single student who has both demonstrated excellence and dedication and is pursuing a future in the visual arts this year's award goes to eva lewis hoiletts the art department along with the technology faculty would now like to present the career and technical vocational education certificates of completion for radio and tv broadcasting and these awards go to sachin cashew and benjamin bernier we will now present awards from the ell department the ell department would like to recognize the following students who have demonstrated consistent effort and effort and growth in learning english this award goes to cricia hernandez montoya the ell department book award is given to current ell students who have demonstrated remarkable effort and growth and achievement in learning english this year's book awards go to jonathan kishp tenazaka and deborah se quiera
005pierra excuse me pereira bonsaka we will now move into the english department awards these two students have excelled in all aspects of writing in english over four years writing speaking literary analysis passionate class participation and creativity and a love of literature and life that leaves english teachers weak in the knees the english department book awards go to rohini narayanan and madeleine clark wright the larry krauss award is given in honor of a former english teacher for two seniors with exceptional skills in english and writing this year the award goes to ken zhang and annelise peterson these students next students have exceeded expectations in reading writing speaking and the interpretation of literature the excellence in english awards go to mohammed abdel maksud augustus ucardi adam artrak benjamin bernier isabelle bouvier cara buchanan kumara indra carpio pratal
006logan flory grace garmin alex harvey arnold liam johnson carlos stephen jovel cruz anastasia kaltashova sachin kashu chaithin konowitz amelia lambert murgan doll joseph lutz clara lopez kalila lord aaron lanira montero gianna murphy emma nicolao mildred orianna alvarado grant powicky noah saxenian anthea spirico charlotte stoddenmeyer giuliani fernandez valerio shreya venkataman zachary watson stevens mages wise board cynthia the next students not only exceeded expectations and their academic work they bring an energetic presence to the english classroom every day inspiring their teachers and their peers with their interests and their enthusiasm the bright lights awards go to natalie alvarado mendoza anna maria biagi monica cage jonas camera samuel conrad rooney hannah dele sancho sinai dannell wesley kilo hill mackenzie fitz grace fuller zoe giles sahoo lee benito marinara rodriguez skye nolan tulsi patel elias smith sienna snow greta
007steckel brendan stephen samantha van horn sarah van horn ruth weinbaum and grace wilkinson these next students are already producing college-level literary criticism taking a fine-grained lens to text and rendering their observations and conclusions and lucid well-organized pros the sharpest attack awards go to jolie lapierre pechua makimba emily wong these next students have shown remarkable talents as interviewers reporters and writers they have chased big leads mastered many genres heeded journalists ethics and told important stories with accuracy and with heart the big scoop journalistic writing awards go to gabriel ackenhoffner ella de silva beale annalise peterson noe rishimeyer bailey taylor master alexis congratulations these next students have dazzled readers with their memorable and distinguishable poetry and fiction the dark and stormy night creative writing awards go to madeleine clark wright samuel conrad rooney and maeve rowe the
008next set of awards come from the math department academic achievement and math awards are given to students who show consistent outstanding academic achievement interest and curiosity and working above level grade level these awards go to taya anaya alyssa smith garrett warren caithin konowitz daniel bryan abdullah nawaz grace garman annelise peterson clara lopez and skyler mann effort and growth and math certificates are given to students with strong consistent effort above and beyond expectation that shows improvement in mastery of skills and concepts the awardees are tenzin tsuring ken zhung deborah sequiera pereira fonseca and tulsi patel leadership and engagement and remote learning certificates are given to students that demonstrate leadership in setting an example of student engagement including consistent effort persistence active participation patient and class discussions and support of their peers these awards go to adam
009artra adriana gahagan owen karpinski nicholas stratton maya sessions noe russia maya bailey nora harris the james faison memorial award is for a student showing marked improvement and math in their high school career and this award goes to nicholas stratton the math book awards are given to students who have made strong contributions to the mathematical community through collaboration and teamwork this year's recipient is grant powiki it is a great pleasure that i now introduce john bechtold who many lo know and love to present the performing department awards performing arts department awards hello everyone and congratulations all seniors on what has been a strange but hopefully triumphant year we're here to celebrate the performing arts awards and we're going to begin with acknowledgments for western district and all-state honors the following students are being recognized as members
010of the various massachusetts music educators association ensembles for the western district chorus ruth weinbaum for the western district orchestra hannah kyochakin for the western district band alex harvey arnold and saho lee and for the all-state chorus ruth weinbaum for continued effort in the orchestra program and an award named after our longtime orchestra director patrick smith the patrick c smith orchestra award goes to grace garman for exceptional service and continuing contribution to the ahs orchestra program the orchestra director's award goes to rohini narayanan for singular merit and outstanding contributions to the success of the ensemble the national school orchestra award goes to minar hashmi for outstanding contributions to the band program and named in honor of the longtime ahs band director doug purcell the ahs band directors award is presented this year to garrett warren for
011outstanding achievement in the jazz program the lewis armstrong jazz award this year goes to ian juris for outstanding achievement in the band program the john philip sousa award this year goes to saaho lee the choral section leader awards this year will go to kalila lord aaron elsa baxter isabel bouvier amanda demling and ruth weinbaum for exceptional service to the ahs choral program the choral director's award goes to hannah d'alessandro on to the theater awards for exceptional achievement in playwriting and or directing this award honors annie baker class of 1998 an arahs theatre alum who received the 2014 pulitzer prize in drama this year's annie baker creators award goes to hannah d'alessandro for long time exceptional leadership both on stage and off within the theater making community and aihs in ways likely to inspire students for
012years to come the theater company legacy award granted only one student each year goes to grant po wiki the ghostlight project award is based on the principles of the national ghost light project an alliance of theaters which aihs joined in 20 2017 this award honors a student that has made a memorable impact in a wide range of roles across the theater and this year we are recognizing two students for the ghost light project award miriam ahmed and annelise peterson for outstanding service and long-standing achievement in technical theater at air hs the silas technical theater award goes to shreya venkatraman and jolie lapierre for outstanding contributions uh to the conjunto de bomba outstanding contribution to boneless year goes to sienna snow given this year for outstanding contribution to the ars music program overall the william e
013moore memorial award for outstanding music student of the senior class is alex harvey arnold and finally the performing arts department award is an award given to a student who's had an exceptionally unusual impact on multiple programs across the performing arts department often with years of dedication to these programs behind them this award is offered to one student per year and not necessarily every year and is always decided by consensus of the department faculty this year's performing arts department award goes to mackenzie fitz congratulations to all of you and happy graduation i'd now like to introduce deidre coffee gray to present the science awards deidre you're muted we couldn't get through one of these without someone being muted in my life actually really exactly um i thank you john i'm hoping that you've gotten some rest
014or i'm not sure how that's possible after the weekend's performance it was really quite wonderful it's definitely my favorite play musical uh it's really neat to hear what you all are upset up to outside of those google meets that we have been meeting in virtually spring fall and a little bit of winter so i'm just fascinated by hearing all of your names the following awards are from the social studies department the social studies department recognizes these students for their outstanding contributions to their social studies classes this year the excellence and social studies awards go to carlos stephen jovel cruz clara lopez michael kumara ellarie conlon kara buchanan trudy setterdahl natalie alvarado mendoza brandi hernandez amaya saaho lee olivia cox grace fuller greta steckel griffin jones ella de silva beale grant powicky anthea spirico rohini narayanan
015kalila lord iran pechua mukimba maya sessions ruth weinbaum charlotte stodden meyer benito marinero rodriguez and thea zoe schreier the social studies book awards are awarded to noe richmeier bailey samuel conrad rooney annalise peterson and sierra triazzi it is my honor to announce the winner of the metzger brown holocaust remembrance award the award is presented to a graduating senior who has taken the holocaust course and whose work on the holocaust memorial design showcase the course's capstone project demonstrated effort beyond the demands of the assignment and best met the project's goal of capturing and preserving the lessons of the holocaust for future generations the award has been established by doctors norman and eva brown to honor ernest and doris metzger holocaust survivors and to remember those who died in the holocaust dr eva brown is also a
016survivor i want to thank the browns for their continued commitment to the holocaust course and the students of the amherst regional high school it is a pleasure to present this year's award to grant police the next group of awards are from the science engineering and technology departments this year's science department awards are named for three the three mars rovers spirit perseverance and curiosity which are also pillars of scientific discovery these students have built class culture and community in science the spirit awards go to mckinsey fitz william lucian miss goofy madeline shea alyssa smith janna murphy noe reshner bailey greta steckel tulsi patel and grace wilkinson these students have persevered through the covid pandemic to do their best work in science the perseverance awards go to carlos stephen jovelle cruz anna alvarado rosales giuliani fernandez valerio
017tatiana o'connell toplets meiji weisbord jolie lapierre brandy hernandez amaya logan flory ian juris cynthia shia these students take every chance to excel and reach for a challenge in science the curiosity awards go to mana hashmi benjamin bernier matthew tyndale elias smith grant powicky mildred ariana alvarado dominic mcdonald samuel conrad rooney noah saxonen grace garmin anthea spirico sierra triazzi isabel bouvier sarah van horn clara lopez sachin kashu and jonas camera congratulations the science book award goes to grace garman the sueno award in physics goes to samuel conrad rooney the following students demonstrate consistently high effort and performance in engineering and technology the excellence and engineering and technology awards go to cristobal rodriguez mildred oriana alvarado giuliani fernandez valerio tulsi patel janna murphy abdullah nawaz pechua makimba congratulations the hollis memorial award goes to two students who
018have shown excellence in the engineering technology program the winners of this award are emma nicholau and cynthia shia the theodore madden award goes to logan florey and miriam ahmed the engineering book award goes to sofia zoe schreier in the final science award the computer instruction book award goes to garrett warren congratulations for your science awards the following are awards from the world language department these students have excelled in the study of spanish effort in spanish adriana gahagan effort in spanish 2. achievement in spanish for honors kalila lord iran achievement in spanish 5 taylor master alexis achievement and spanish ap sarah van horn achievement in spanish ap saaho lee and anthea spirico these students have excelled in french achievement and french one manar hashmi and william lucian muskowski achievement in french two ikram fazel achievement in
019french three honors abdullah nawaz improvement in french ap amanda dimling effort and french ap andrew chen achievement and french ap jolie la pierre anastasia caltoshuva and samuel conrad rooney oh and also maya sessions congratulations these students have excelled in the study of latin latin five ap com law grace garmin miriam ahmed claudio giovalesco and rohini narayanan latin 5 ap magna laude hannah elias smith greta steckel allison brown madeleine clark wright benito monero rodriguez elisia avita pobisinskaya shreya and the hat the a hazard deacon prize for latin 5 ap summa laude sierra triassi this prize is given to seniors who have completed the ap latin or latin 5 course and who have demonstrated dedication to the subject through impressive effort and regularly engaging extra or optional work the amherst academy prize for dedication to latin goes
020to grace garman this prize is given to seniors who have completed the ap latin class who intend to pursue higher education and have consistently demonstrated the highest level of excellence in their latin studies throughout their high school careers through hard work attention to detail and asking thoughtful questions the amherst academy prize for excellent and la excellence in latin goes to sierra triazi the betty jane donnelly memorial scholarship is awarded to a student or students who excel in languages this year's scholarship goes to sarah van horn i'd like to introduce sherry balzano who will introduce the scholarship awardees to us i'm actually going to introduce mr sadiq who is going to present our first scholarship award personally all right thank you for that okay so before we get on with the scholarship portion of the evening
021i'd like to take this time to acknowledge arden lloyd for receiving the us presidential scholars scholarship from the u.s presidential scholars program arden was one of just over 6 500 graduating seniors identified from across the country for this honor and the program the presidential scholars program recognizes and honors some of our nation's most distinguished graduating seniors one of the many reasons arden was a finalist for the presidential scholars program is our town as a musician we're very proud of our of arden and wish you all the much much continued success and right now we're actually about to watch one of our many outstanding performances before we get on with potential scholarships sorry folks we seem to be having a technical difficulty or we're not able to hear arden so i am gonna um suggest that
022we um move on with the squash words i'm gonna see if i can fix it we may be able to come back to her at the end and if not i will at least be able to put the link to her amazing performance in the chat and you'll be able to watch it on your own time i'm so sorry i'm not sure why this isn't working i tested it earlier and it worked but sometimes technology doesn't go the way we planned so i will work on fixing this behind the scenes and in the meantime we will move on with the scholarship awards and hopefully by the end we will have a wonderful video to end on so i apologize arden we i want everyone to be able to see your amazing performance so hopefully we
023can figure this out all right so again sorry that this is not working really we're looking forward to seeing our performance hopefully they get worked out soon so actually now i'm gonna introduce sherry bozano who will begin to announce all the scholarship winners for this evening take care all right hi everyone i want to echo my congratulations to all of you and before i go on with the scholarships i was made aware that we missed one achievement in spanish five award and that went to grant police the amherst area chamber of commerce coulee dickinson health care scholarship is given to a student who will be majoring in business or medicine this year's award goes to lanier montero the amherst lodge of odd fellow scholarship is awarded to a senior with a record of significant community
024service and the intention to continue with their education or vocational training this scholarship goes to petula mckimba presented to seniors who have been involved in the amherst lsse community theater the amherst community theater founder scholarships this year go to samantha van horn sarah van horn and ruth weinbaum the amherst pelham education association award is given to students pursuing studies in the field of human services or education i'm happy to present this year's awards to natalie alvarado mendoza petua makimba and brendan stephen the amherst rotary club scholarships are given to seniors who are continuing their education they receive them for academic achievement extracurricular achievement community service and or work experience this year we have four recipients they are elsa baxter petua mckimba greta steckel and brendan steven the arms ultimate award goes to two students who
025participated in ultimate frisbee at least one year while enrolled at followed by at least three years at arhs the recipients must be a positive influence a good teammate and a team leader who exemplify the spirit of the game the winners this year are sarah van horn and zachary watson-stevens the atkinson family practice scholarship for a female interested in the health professions goes to laniera montero the atkinson family practice scholarship for a patient of the practice this year goes to brendan stephen and taya anaya the barbara r and arthur elkins scholarship is for a first generation college student with high academic achievement and will continue for each of the four years why this student is enrolled in college the scholarship this year goes to taya anaya the bill kozlowski memorial student athlete scholarship is awarded to
026a graduating senior who attended arhs for all four years is an athlete and who will be continuing their education this coming fall the recipient is petul mckimba dean's beans organic coffee company awards a scholarship to seniors who have displayed a strong commitment to social justice and leaving a positive impact on the world this year's recipients are petula mckimba and brendan stephen the five college movers marketing scholarship is awarded to a senior of member of the class intending to pursue pursue a non-traditional career in business marketing or entrepreneurship this student is someone who consistently thinks outside of the box and strives to be their best this year the recipient is brendan stephen awarded to a senior with an above average scholastic record who plans to pursue a with a major in the business field education or
027counseling at a four-year college the florence bank scholarship is given to sachin cashew given to a senior who graduated from and attended fort river school for at least three years the fort river parent council scholarship is being presented this year to minar hashmi the george meaney scholarship from the massachusetts afl-cio scholarship program has been awarded to ruth weinbaum the hampshire choral society scholarship is given to a graduating senior who exemplifies the hampshire choral society's goals of fostering enjoyment of and participation in choral music special consideration is given to a student who may have sang in the young people's chorus i am happy to present this year's scholarship to elsa baxter the hurricane booster organization supports arhs athletics in many ways for the first time this year they are giving out a scholarship to one male
028and one female multi-sport athlete who have been demonstrated academic achievement and have been leaders within the school community this year's recipients are petula makimba and zachary watson-stevens the jones group realty gives their award to a student who demonstrates initiative innovation and entrepreneurship performs community service and is pursuing further education the scholarship goes to petula mckimba the leo p vengal memorial scholarship is presented to a senior who is going on to further his or her education and has demonstrated good character by overcoming a major life obstacle and have shown significant academic improvement over the years i am pleased to announce this year's winner especially mckimba the lebert scholarship criteria includes length of lever length of residency in the town of lever and pursuing higher education scholastic and community work were also considered the 2020 run recipient
029is eliza vita povenzinskaya presented to an arhs senior who has overcome adversity and has demonstrated the motivation and perseverance necessary for personal and academic success the lorraine v kavanaugh memorial scholarship is awarded to taya anaya the michael zomec junior scholarship is given in memory of michael zomeck who graduated from amherst in 1996. it is given to two students who have shown an interest in michael's passions sports history music agriculture cultural or farm work or conservation efforts and civic involvement either through school or community service or volunteer activities this year's recipients are emily wong and owen fernett awarded to a graduate of pelham elementary school who is planning to continue his or her education after high school the pelham elementary pto this year honors nora klotz the pelham library teen volunteer award is given by the
030friends of the pelham library to a student who's been an active part of the pelham library teen advisory group for at least two out of the four years of high school and has demonstrated a leadership role this award goes this year to anna maria biaggi awarded to a member of the tritons and or arhs varsity swim team in memory of rob branch who graduated from arhs in 1996 the rob branch memorial scholarship is awarded to anna maria biaggi and cynthia shea to a student who has shown by his or her volunteer actions a commitment to improving and preserving the quality of life in the school and or community the sheriff patrick k helene award is given to cara buchanan this year's shootsbury elementary school pto scholarship is awarded to hannah d'alessandro every year the sojourner
031truth memorial committee awards scholarships to graduating high school seniors from local public high schools these scholarships are awarded to students who have demonstrated in an essay their experience and commitment to social justice and equity two mr students this year and the winners were monica cage and amelia lambert mergendale to one male and one female student who have attended amherst schools for 12 years and have shown a sincere dedication and service to the amherst community and have been active members in their senior class and are planning to attend college in the fall the stan zomec scholarships this year go to zachary watson stevens and petua mckimba professor h leland varley was an english professor at umass from 1940 until his retirement in 1975. his three children stephanie jacob and natalie all grew up in amherst and
032all attended amherst regional high school natalie's son zephaniah barley also attended arhs and graduated in 1991. throughout the many years that the varleys have called amherst home education particularly reading and writing have been an important family value to be cherished and nurtured among friends and family alike the scholarship has been established by zephaniah in memory of the influence that his mother and grandfather had upon his own education and to help future generations of students and scholars further and continue their education beyond high school with the intent of inspiring others to develop their own love of reading writing and learning this year's barley scholarship award winner is hannah d'alessandro the vincent clary humanity scholarship is awarded to a student who has experienced adversity in their life and who plans to pursue a degree in the humanities
033this student who despite challenges along the way has clearly shown that they possess the grit and determination to shine in college and life goes to amelia beigle given to a senior who graduated from wildwood after attending for at least three years and who will be attending a two or four year college or trade school in the fall the wildwood elementary pto scholarship is presented to zachary watson-stevens given to a member of the class of 2021 from money designated by the arhs class of 2020 this annual award is given to a student who has exhibited the qualities of going out of their way to live life to the fullest encounter opportunities and embrace all that is offered to them the spirit of the class of 2021 awardee is tulsi patel the amherst rotary stanzo mech scholarship
034is given to a senior with great potential who did not apply for many scholarships and probably doesn't even expect to receive one the scholarship committee has chosen grant powicky our final scholarship of the night is one that's very special to amherst the francis heart scholarship is very important to the town of amherst chief francis hart served for many years as the police chief in town at the time of his retirement the chief had only one request in lieu of a gift he asked that a scholar should be set up in his name and that the recipient be chosen by a confidential committee of arhs senior peers by his request this goes to one male and one female student each year who have shown industriousness and potential for success and have performed throughout their high school
035career to the utmost of their capacity and capability as a student even if such performance has not earned them high academic standing there are 12 seniors anxiously waiting to hear who the answer is because they don't know who they voted on the 2021 francis heart scholarship recipients are linear montero and grant powicky congratulations to everyone i wish you all the best in your future and i'd love to introduce mr sadiq to end our show all right congratulations again to everyone who received an award of scholarship this evening always feels good to be able to honor and acknowledge our seniors i thank you for joining us for that our seniors you should give all your families a big hug and a huge thank you for the support they've given you so you can be here tonight
036to receive these awards and i think it'd be a good idea to send a nice little thank you email to some of the adults from the school who supported you throughout the years while part of your support team so again thank you everybody for joining us i look forward to seeing you all in person on thursday for the big day till then take care enjoy the rest of your evening i think you may be able to get arden's video up it's just going to take a few seconds if folks want to stick around i will try to put it into the video stream it's just going to take me one minute to get it uploaded so we're trying a different a different method so folks want to stick around for a little encore performance from
037arden to sing us all out from this wonderful awards celebration so one second here see if i can get this to work in real time all right give us one sec folks i don't think i can do this while i'm on screen so mr city maybe say a few nice words about the class of 2021 for a little bit longer okay i try to fill the time as best i can yeah sisters we all know this has been a great year it's been great seeing everybody back in person over the last couple of weeks i wish y'all could have been there a little bit longer but we made the best of the situation like i say i think i'm definitely good to see folks and those of you performed in play it was amazing as
038their saturday afternoon so happy it was a breeze definitely kind of hot out there my daughter who i dragged there she was not excited she didn't want to go but at the end she was really happy that she did so i got to say congratulations to john and everybody else who performed did a great job with the heat put on a great performance for all of us another great memory to share i hope everybody has been able to stay cool today um yeah all right well this seems to also not be working so i'm going to put the link to arden's video in the chat so people can find it themselves after this art and i'm so sorry that we can't share this on the stream itself but i hope everyone takes advantage of the
039opportunity to watch this really wonderful performance from your classmate and congratulations to all the winners and all of the members of the class of you are an incredible group of students and we can't wait to see where you go after this emily thank you for trying so hard we know you gave it your best shot megan arden was sorry that couldn't show it tonight but the link's down well good chance to watch it one of your many great performances now and to come have a great night everyone