黑料社鈥檚 97th Prize Day ceremony was held on Sunday, May 9th, 2021. This year, to meet state guidelines and keep the community safe and healthy, our Prize Day ceremony was held outdoors on the John and Sandy Farr Field. Once again, as has been the case in all years in recent memory, we were blessed with a beautiful and sunny day on which to honor our graduating class.
With the faculty seated along the side of Farr Field, the graduates in front of them, and their parents in audience, the ceremony started with the School Hymn and a welcome from Head of School Lawrence A. Smith 鈥�73. Mr. Smith then, as this year鈥檚 Prize Day coincided with Mother鈥檚 Day, asked the graduates to take a moment to go out into the audience and present their moms with flowers in thanks for all they do.
Sacristan Prefect Matthew Pointer then gave a scripture reading followed by the Prefect Address by Co-Head Prefect Caleb Ockman. Mr. Smith addressed the graduates, inspired by a prayer by Sir Francis Drake, on the importance of facing challenges, and instructed them to 鈥渄are boldly.鈥� Academic and Cum Laude Awards were聽handed out, recognizing the graduates鈥� exceptional achievements in the classroom. (See list below.)
The School prizes, for which 鈥淧rize Day鈥� is named, were then presented. Those who earned prizes are as follows:
William P. Gillette 鈥�29 Trophy
Felikss Egils Gavars
John C. Farr 鈥�58 Trophy
Noah Ryan Alvarez
Mary Flemming Brown and Arthur Wood Brown Award
Mohammed Seidu
George and Maggie Bartlett Cup
Osei Price and Nazir Maleek Williams
S.S.B. Cup
Matthew Elias Pointer
James S. Johnson Memorial Trophy
Sean Thomas Mulvihill
Headmaster鈥檚 Cup
Caleb Edward Ockman
The Paul and Terese Abbott Cup
Samuel Sit, Jordan Amir Brown, Aidan Dagostino, Cameron Douglas Schainfeld, Nazir Maleek Williams, Jordan Gainey, Jacob Timothy Hlywiak, Luke Alexander Stankavage, Jayden Layne Doyle, Chika Nduka, Michael Cahill Rogan, Matthew McCool, Osei Price
COVID-19 may have forced many changes on this school year; however, our special tradition of telling our graduate鈥檚 story聽during commencement, one of the foundations of our community, remains. In the weeks leading up to Prize Day, faculty, coaches, and staff all contribute memories and insight into a boy鈥檚 life here on the Hillside, which are聽then distilled down to a single personal narrative expressing our familiarity, esteem, and hopes for each graduate. This narrative is written on each student鈥檚 diploma, and during our Prize Day ceremony these narratives are read out loud to the community by Head of School Lawrence A. Smith 鈥�73. The boys are then handed their diplomas and receive聽a blessing from Reverend Stephen B. Klots.
The service closed with prayers and a blessing from Father Klots, followed by聽the boys walking off the field between two lines of faculty cheering them on.
Class of 2021, as is written on your diplomas, 鈥淢ay God bless you and be with you always.鈥�
Senior & PG Awards
Bartlett English Prize
Caleb Edward Ockman
Lester Wittenberg Drama Prize
Michael Cahill Rogan
Language Prize
Mingjie Chen
Humanities Prize
Shane Daniel Mendez
Glennon Prize for Creativity in Writing
Osei Price
George D. Knopf Science Prize
Nazir Maleek Williams
Mathematics Prize
Mingjie Chen
Art Prize
Mingjie Chen
Chapel Reading Prize
Simon Lawrence Clarke
Music Prize
Jinghao He
Scholastic Improvement Award
Landon Sartori
Academic Leader of the Graduating Class
Matthew Elias Pointer
We will miss all those who are leaving the Hillside but hope the Hillside never leaves the boys. We look forward to seeing our graduating seniors come back as alumni soon!
