Senior Awards Night was held on May 29 in the Piedmont Middle School Multipurpose room.
Teachers from each department were there to hand out the awards to the seniors.
The seniors were lined up on the left side of the stage, where they would walk to the podium to receive their awards. The audience consisted of parents, siblings, friends and family.
Each teacher briefly explained what the award they were handing out represented or celebrated, then gave a short speech about the student they were giving the award to.
The awards consisted of plaques, certificates and trophies.
Physics teacher Glen Melnik started his speeches out with a physics joke.
“A photon walks into a hotel carrying only a backpack. The asks the photon if that is his only bag. The Photon replies, “I’m traveling light.”
The audience, including the seniors, roared with laughter.
The last two awards were the Salutatorian, awarded to Mara Blumenstein by counselor Amanda Carlson, and Valedictorian, awarded to Irvin Xu, given to him by counselor Ashley English.
“Irvin has excelled in all of his classes, especially in math. He is always quick with a smile and a genuinely happy kid,” English said.
The Senior Awards Night ended with Principal Brent Daniels giving a short speech about why he thought this night was important, and how this year’s seniors will excel in the “real world.”
The following students won a certificate or plaque at awards night:
Susan Kawaichi Plaque – Erica Monical
Gail Dryden Plaque – Chloe Jiang & Alaina Martin
Eric Stewart Rachesky Memorial Certificate – Russell Jang
Daughters of the American Revolution Services Plaque – Alexandra Costello
League of Women Voters Civics in Action Plaque – Jasmine Nadim
Dean Faberman Plaque – Nikitha Kosaraju
Associated Student Body Plaque – Cole Becker & Marie St. Claire
Excellence in Mathematics Plaque – Irvin Xu
Piedmont Certificate in Mathematics – Clara Sorensen
Science Trophy – Nikitha Kosaraju
Eileen Rohmer Certificate in Science, 2013 – Aristotle Magganas
DeMolay Social Science Trophy – Claire Pinkham
Piedmont Certificate in Social Studies – Madeleine Elliott
Piedmont Highlander Award – Daniella Mohazab
Outstanding Girl Athlete Trophy – Mara Blumenstein
Outstanding Boy Athlete Trophy – Drummond Thompson
Computer Science Trophy – William Strimling
Outstanding French Student Trophy – Henry Taylor
Piedmont Certificate in French – Erica Monical
Spanish for Excellence Trophy – Julia Sweeney
Piedmont Certificate in Spanish – Maya Thomas
Ryan Costello Scholarship in Spanish Certificate – Gabe Bolio
Outstanding Student in Mandarin Trophy – Selina Pan
Piedmont Certificate in Mandarin – Vanessa Li
English Trophy – Natalie Phillips
Piedmont Certificate in English – Charlotte Reed
Painting Drawing Plaque – Robert Yu
Studio Art Plaque – Katie Hubert
Outstanding Senior Drama Plaque – Wesley Dunlap & Zane Haney
Outstanding Senior Drama Director’s Plaque – Julia Sweeney
Outstanding Senior Orchestra Plaque – Joseph Powell
Chime Service Plaque – Emily Yang
Certificate of Achievement Orchestra – Spencer Kim
Outstanding Senior in Dance Plaque – Robert Yu
Outstanding Choreography Award – Sierra Yeh
Outstanding Leadership Award – Emily Laymon & Alexandra Stuteville
Salutatorian Plaque – Mara Blumenstein
Valedictorian Plaque – Irvin Xu