The Pennington School held its 184^th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, June 7. Head of School William S. Hawkey, PhD, granted diplomas and certificates to the 116 members of the Class of 2025, which includes students from six states and nine countries outside the United States. The Commencement speaker was Scott O’Neil P’22 ‘25, CEO of LIV Golf. Senior prizes were awarded on June 6. Dingtong (Aimee) Zou of Princeton and Nina Feder, also of Princeton, were valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively.

Nina Feder earned The Pennington School Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, which is awarded for exceptional dedication and positive contributions to community service and improving the lives of others through innovative projects and volunteerism. She also received the Edgar B. Roesch Award for Excellence in English and a Global Studies Program Certificate. Dingtong (Aimee) Zou was acknowledged for her participation in the Applied Science Certificate Program. Her remarkable academic record, which has been recognized at Pennington in many ways over the years, includes many external achievements as well, like International Biology Olympiad medals, American Computer Science League championships, a National Latin Exam medal, and AP Scholar Distinction. She served as co-president of the Biology Club for three years and honed her research skills on extracurricular projects investigating social mobility in China, solar-powered cell phone chargers in Malawi, and leukemia drugs. Away from school, she has pursued pre-professional ballet at the Princeton Ballet School and the American Repertory Ballet since 2019, where she has performed soloist roles in the school's summer and spring performances. Both young women were inducted into the Pennington School Chapter of Cum Laude Society this past October. In the fall, Zou will attend Princeton University, and Feder will attend Georgetown University. 

Several teaching prizes were presented to members of the faculty. The Henry and Selma Otte Distinguished Teacher Award, given annually to a full-time teacher with at least five years of teaching experience at The Pennington School, was given to Blair Thompson. Cathi Pappano was presented the Robert E. Martini Award for Distinguished Teaching, given to one whose teaching takes students’ individuality into account and who makes a significant impact on students’ lives. In addition, Peter Chase was given the Kie and Hija Ahn Award for Peace and Global Understanding, and Joselle Lamoutte was awarded the United Methodist Church Exemplary Teacher Award for a demonstrated commitment to value-centered education and service to students, the institution, and the community.

The members of Pennington's Class of 2025 (in alphabetical order):

Graydon Calloway Adams, Joshua Anchia, Marie Ancil, Elvis Appiah, Isabelle Marie Augustine, Liam Baigun, Megan Elizabeth Balerna, Anna Mira Sisserson Basile, Jayson N. Bentum, Sarah Katherine Birkenstock, Simonne Amina Blunt, Brody Ernest Bock, Darius R. Brown Jr., Lia Brunetti-Carroll, Tomáš Buriánek, Ava Lee Burns, Alexander Thomas Burton, Olivia Marie Cano, Kayla Jasmin Capuzzi, Alvaro Carnicer, Madeleine G. Carr, Caelin R. CheeWah, Caleb Peter Collins, Makai A. Crawford, Adrianna Maria D'Agati, Zahra Darwish, Ryan Duke, Riley Edge, Destine F.E. Evans, Nina Rose Feder, John Louis Fermo, Michael Fingerman, James Leighton Friedman, Arden Tajal Galvelis, María García Rodríguez, Benjamin David Gibson, Evan Martin Glassner, Axel Gonzalez Sandin, Mari Sita Grandbouche, Gabrielle Hall, Landon Hallett, Tess Hanewald, Sasha Hanewald, Praslin Chaelee Hayes, Layten Samuel Hoffman, Jiarong Jiang, Estel Leon Justus IV, Olivia A. Kaczynska, Declan George Karp, Deethya Karthikvatsan, Christopher Mathieu Kelley, Keon D. Kenner, Kae E. Kilic, Henry Ryan Kim, Minseo Kim, Reese Ryan Kimmel, Julia Karolina Klukowski, Hubert Kvacek, Makayla Marie Ledo, Xinran Li, Joseph William Lifsted, Jeongmin Lim, Dustin Hanbo Liu, Tomáš Ludvík, Mingze Ma, Mingqian Ma, Landon Steell MacArthur, Francis William Marchese, Alexander R. Marinzoli, Sophia Catherine May, Michela Giada McCagg, Caroline Aisling McGraw, Lucas Samuel Medina, Nathaniel Darwin Mendez, Shreya Mookherjee, Shermel Danelia Morgan, Eliza Grace O’Neil, Chisom Bianka Okeoma, Jordan Eliot Owusu, Zachary Max Parpel, Matthew Kern Passalacqua, Benjamin Samuel Pearlberg, Yufei Piao, Jose Maria Ponce de Leon, Aidan J. Prestigiacomo, Jinxuan Qi, Nathan Jerry Rabe, Kayla Ann Raghunandanan, Maya Kiera Raghunandanan, Dhruv Ramaswamy, Oleksandra Rogankova, Vanessa Samayoa-Ramos, Mykaela Kennedy Sanders, Matthew Luke Sanderson, Brian Asher Schwartzman, Ryaan Kekul Shah, Thomas William Sharkey, Alice-Mithali Unger Singh, Dwayne R. Snead, Jr., Lydia Sperry-Fernandez, Gavin Ari Spodek, Chelpang Khadijah Sulemana, Anirudh Suren, Bacary Kebe Tandjigora, Devan Rose Tirendi, Bang Tran, Myla Nicole Tudor, Raymond Alexander Valdez, Juliet Walton, Lisa Rousha Wang, Siyi Yang, Mingmei Zhang, Siwen Zhao, Xiaona Zhu, Dingtong Zou, and Moyang Zou.

The members of Pennington’s Class of 2024 will be attending the following colleges and universities: Babson College, Boston University, Brown University, Bucknell University, Cornell University (2), Dickinson College (3), Drew University, Elon University, Fairfield University, Franklin & Marshall College (3), George Washington University, Georgetown University (2), Gettysburg College (3), Harvard University, Haverford College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Indiana University (Bloomington) (2), Johns Hopkins University, La Salle University, Lafayette College, Lehigh University (2), Lipscomb University, Loyola Marymount University, Morehouse College, New York University (4), Northeastern University, Pace University, Penn State University (University Park), Pomona College, Princeton University, Purdue University (Main Campus), Quinnipiac University, Rowan University (2), Rutgers University (Camden), Rutgers University (New Brunswick), Rutgers University (Newark), Sacred Heart University, Saint Joseph's University (2), San Diego State University, Santa Clara University, St. John's University, Susquehanna University, Syracuse University (7), The College of New Jersey (5), The University of Tampa (2), The University of Texas at Austin, Trinity College (2), University at Albany, University of Miami,  University of Michigan (3), University of Montreal, University of Pennsylvania (2), University of Pittsburgh (2), University of Rhode Island (2), University of Richmond, University of Rochester, University of St Andrews, University of Toronto, University of Virginia (3), Vassar College, Villanova University (3), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Wake Forest University (2), Washington College, Washington University in St. Louis, Wellesley College (2), West Chester University of Pennsylvania, William & Mary (2), and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Photos taken by School photographers on Saturday are available on a Flickr album HERE.

Photos of each graduate from Mike Schwartz Photography are available HERE!

Friday night senior event photos are available HERE.