Students Recognized at Upper School Honors Night
Our Upper School faculty welcomed students and their parents to Honors Night on May 13, to celebrate their incredible academic achievements from the 2020-21 school year. Awards were earned in English, world languages, mathematics, social studies, science, technology and computer science, and the arts.
Competing academic teams including, the Academic Team led by Mrs. Kristine Walsworth and Ms. Dana Thurmond, Mathlympics led by Ms. Candace Dietrich, and Robotics led by Mr. Stephen Whitfield were recognized for their participation and successes throughout the year.
Hanh (Lucy) Nguyen was this year’s Sons of the American Revolution Good Citizenship Award winner presented by Mr. Ronald Grove, President of the Lake Sumter Chapter. Lucy’s interest in American history and her continued demonstration of integrity and good citizenship throughout her time at the Academy set her apart.
Amber Morgan and Alia Rodriguez each earned a $2,500 scholarship from the Kiwanis Club of Clermont for their roles in MVA’s Key Club and for maintaining outstanding moral character and achieving 75 Key Club service hours.
The William D. Moore III Scholarship Award, given in honor of Billy “Duke” Moore ’06, made possible by his parents William and Lynne Moore, provides a $1,000 academic scholarship to the college of the recipient’s choice. Senior Bradley Peterson earned The William Moore Scholarship for his display of Billy’s paramount characteristics of dedication to the community, willingness to help, and friendly, outgoing personality.
Valedictorian Kendyl Cardwell and senior Jathin Gadiparthi earned National Merit Scholarships for their top academic standing and dedication to their studies. Kendyl was awarded the University of Chicago National Merit Scholarship while Jathin earned the Walgreens National Merit Scholarship.
The Senior Speech Review Committee recognized Brianna Hiers, Ambria Benjamin, and Guiliana Perez for earning first, second, and third place respectively. As a result of the pandemic, this year’s senior speeches were done voluntarily with participating seniors gaining public speaking experience.
MVA’s Director of Athletic Operations, Mrs. Khrystal Phiri, presented the male and female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards to Andrew Megler from golf and Briana Hiers from cross country and track & field. These student-athletes worked hard in the classroom and on their venue of competition, a true example of the student first, athlete second mindset.
Thirty-six students were inducted into the Distinguished Scholars Program while 30 seniors successfully completed their requirements with a minimum of five Advanced Placement classes and maintaining a 3.7 grade point average (GPA).
New members were inducted into the Arts and Athletic Leadership Council (AALC), the Disciplinary Committee, Eagle Ambassadors, Honor Council, Student Leadership Council, and the Student Government Association. Eleven students from the rising senior class were also selected to represent their peers as Prefects. Congratulations to Ana Correia, Maridza Desir, Miliani Guzman, Patricia Gonzalez, Aecio Da Fonte, Hunter Outerbridge, Jordan Hampstead, Luis Fortuce, Pedro Arruda, Toluwani Babs-Ajayi, and Sebastien Ressler for earning this privilege.
The Valedictorian and Salutatorian from the graduating class of 2021 were determined from the following criteria: 1) Attendance at Montverde Academy for a minimum of 2 school years. 2) High GPA/strength of academic schedule of the senior year. 3) National scores on the PSAT, SAT, PLAN, ACT, TOEFL, and AP exams from 9th, 10th, and 11th grade. 4) No major disciplinary or honor violations during the junior and senior years. 5) Amount of community service rendered. 6) Involvement in extra-curricular activities (including team sports and club membership). The class of 2021 Valedictorian is Kendyl Cardwell while Lillian (Lilly) Anderson was named Salutatorian.
At the night’s closing Head of School, Dr. Kasey C. Kesselring recognized the Teacher of the Year. The Teacher of the Year has practiced the highest standards of the profession in their classroom; someone who has placed great energy into their teaching, has used multiple resources to teach, provided a comfortable learning environment, varies their teaching techniques, is prepared, responds effectively to student inquiries, upholds the highest standards in the delivery of their teaching method, and most of all has inspired the learning process. The recipient shall receive a $1,000 stipend toward the professional development activity of their choice. Teachers in the Upper School must teach at least four sections or be full-time instructional faculty, teaching the full year to be eligible. Congratulations to Mr. Lance Walsworth for receiving this honor.
