Rivers Celebrates Annual Prize Day

Among the prize recipients was Julia Strauss ’15, who won the prestigious Faculty Prize, awarded annually to the senior who “best exemplifies the school’s traditions of industry, responsibility, and loyalty.”

Three seniors received the Dudley Willis Trustee Prize, given to those seniors who “have distinguished themselves by virtue of their pursuit of excellence, integrity, contributions to the school, and the respect accorded to them by the Rivers community.” They were Nicholas Hawkins ’15, Jennifer Lowell ’15, and Rhea Teng ’15.

Jake Stenquist ’15 was the recipient of the Jeremiah J. Sheehan Memorial Prize, awarded “to the student in the graduating class who has shown that he or she follows in the footsteps of Jeremiah J. Sheehan, a former beloved member of the Rivers faculty, in his gentility, kindness, and all-around good sportsmanship.”

Marissa Birne ’15 received the Hooper Lawrence Memorial Prize, awarded “for those qualities which contribute so much to the happiness of other people: a cheerful disposition, an unselfish nature, and a kind heart.”

Marguerite Monaghan ’19 received the F. Ervin Prince Prize, given “to the middle school student who best embodies the qualities of Erv Prince: a gentle, unassuming character, friendly sense of humor, integrity, inherent consideration for others, and, above all, passion for teaching and sports.”

The following Upper School awards were also presented: the Harvard Club Prize to Derek Wang ’16, the Thomas Olverson Prize to Grace Lees ’16, the Williams College Book Award to Ross Carter ’16, the Brown University Alumni Book Award to Maria Burzillo ’16, the Columbia Book Award for Community Service to Marissa Birne ’15, and the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Faculty Prize to Robert Gallo ’17.

Emma DuBois ’18 and Benjamin Joiner ’18 earned the Kenneth F. Benjamin ’50 Citizenship Award, given in memory of Ken Benjamin, a member of Rivers’ Class of 1950, a Rivers parent, grandparent, and Life Trustee, to “those students in Grade 9 who, like Mr. Benjamin, lead by example, give selflessly to others, and embody The Rivers School’s Core Values.”

Also presented to members of the graduating class were a number of academic awards:
The Robert W. Rivers Prize for English: Jennifer Lowell ’15
The Mathematics Prize: Aimee Schechter ’15 and Cole Turissini ’15
The Science Prize: Julia Strauss ’15
The George Woodbridge ’24 History Prize: Benjamin Walsh ’15
The Interdisciplinary Studies Prize: Bryan Cleveland ’15
The Otto Alcaide Language Prize for Spanish: Saipriya Valoth ’15
The Otto Alcaide Language Prize for French: Bryan Cleveland ’15
The Austin A. Chute Memorial Prize: Jake Goldberg ’15
The Modern Language Prize for Chinese: Nicholas Hawkins ’15
The Three-Dimensional Arts Prize (Ceramics): Jennifer Lowell ’15
The Three-Dimensional Arts Prize (Sculpture): Justin Snider ’15
The Two-Dimensional Arts Prize: Savannah Knisely ’15 and Meghan Morgan ’15
The Photography Prize: Alexandra Gaither ’15
The Choral Prize: James Nydam ’15
The Classical Music Prize: Rhea Teng ’15
The David Killam Instrumental Music Prize: John Nydam ’15
The Nonesuch Players Prize: Aimee Schechter ’15

Elected to membership in the national Cum Laude Society were 15 seniors: Marissa Birne, Andrew Chang, Jake Goldberg, Nicholas Hawkins, Jennifer Lowell, Joseph McCartney, Samantha Milne, Meghan Morgan, James Nydam, John Nydam, Kayleigh Rahbany, Julia Strauss, Rhea Teng, Saipriya Valoth, and Benjamin Walsh.

Awarded during the Varsity Awards evening on Wednesday were the prestigious Priscilla Wallace Strauss Athletic Prize to Jamie Navoni ’15 and the coveted James A. Navoni Athletic Prize to Ryan McCaffrey ’15.

Faculty and staff were honored at Prize Day for their years of service and also with a number of awards. The Mida Van Zuylen Dunn Awards for Teaching were presented to Jennifer Dalton and Melissa Dolan, and Russ Halloran received the Bergen-Decker Award.

Please click here for the full 2015 Prize Day gallery.