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PVHS Celebrates Annual Senior Awards Night
The Fourth Annual Putnam Valley High School Senior Awards Celebration was held on Thursday, June 7, 2007, at 7pm in the PVHS Performing Arts Center. This year's program included academic, art, music, athletic and service awards.
Mr. Richard Herlihy, Interim Principal of PVHS, who was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, oversaw the awarding of thousands of dollars in awards and scholarships, as well as plaques, medals, and certificates, to deserving members of the fourth graduating class of PVHS, the class of 2007.
The welcome and introduction were provided by Mr. Herlihy. The Keynote Speaker, PV's retiring Superintendent of Schools, Gary Tutty, thanked the award recipients for being good citizens of their school and of the larger community. The evening was punctuated by both tears and smiles as teachers, parents, and students all began to grasp that, for this group of students, another chapter in their lives will soon be over.
This is the first year that Putnam Valley has officially recognized student community service hours. The numbers of hours logged by many of the graduating PVHS seniors were impressive, with some of them having worked over 1,000 hours in their high school careers. Make a Difference Club Co- Advisors Pam Adamovich, RN, and Linda Cefaloni, have been working for several years along with Pam Darreff of the Putnam Valley Health Advisory Council to obtain official District recognition for student volunteer hours. They assert that in addition to being a valuable and satisfying activity in itself, volunteering in one's community is a known factor in reducing the likelihood of adolescents to engage in risky behaviors.
Another highlight was the official recognition of class Valedictorian Anthony Rush for his admission to the US Naval Academy, in Annapolis, MD. A uniformed naval officer welcomed Anthony to the academy and explained how rigorous the application and selection process had been.
The affection of the faculty and staff for these students was evident in every presentation. Alexis Thornton, who teaches languages other than English (LOTE) presented a French achievement award to Joelle Sklaar, whom she has taught for five years, since Joelle was in the 8th grade. Ms. Thornton was visibly moved when she handed Joelle her certificate. Retired technology teacher, Bruce Johnson, presented a Scholar Athlete award to 3- season athlete, Peter Ries, whom Mr. Johnson has coached in both golf and bowling. He described Peter as someone whom he and his wife Rose refer to as "the son who doesn't live with us," and went on to say that his own children are tired of hearing about all of Peter's accomplishments.
Every year the students of Putnam Valley High School seem raise the bar for the classes that follow, and this particular class has evidently set the bar especially high. Congratulations to all of the honorees.
2007 Senior Awards, Recognitions, and Scholarships:
- NY State Academic Excellence Scholarship Winners: John Isabella, Katharine Kircher, Alyssa Marsico, Bailey O'Brien, Peter Ries, Anthony Rush
-NYS Lottery Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship: Raymond Babnik
-CSEA Julio Morales Award: Karl Lange
-Christine McHugh Memorial Scholarship: Jacqueline Cestaro, Nick Gualtieri
-NY Blood Center Scholarship: Anthony Rush
-Jean DiMarco Awards for Service & Excellence: Joshua Coppa and Jessica Kelvas
-Dustin Strumke Memorial Scholarship: Corey Ender and Cori Beth Serbay
-Jewish War Veterans: Andrew Dietz
-Milton Carpenter Foundation Award: Theresa Rau
-Putnam Valley Library Trustees' Scholarship: Regina Pagani
-Putnam County Association of Realtors: Kelcy Peterson
-PV Volunteer Fire Department Scholarships: John Deluca and Joelle Sklaar
-Make A Difference Club Awards: Jacqueline Cestaro, Anthony Rush, Nicole Torsiello
-Harry G. Silleck Award: Kyle LaGrutta
-Jack Dinerstein Memorial Science Award: Katharine Kircher
-Daniel Seldin Award: John Isabella
-Ciba Specialty Chemicals Foundation Hs Science Award: Alyssa Marsico
-Best Buy Children's Foundation Award: Michelle Stoisits
-The IBM Thomas J. Watson Memorial Scholarship: Michelle Stoisits
-Putnam County Youth Awards: Vincent DeCosta, Ohn Soon Kim, Kelly Parsons, Sarah Regan
-PVHS Department Academic Awards. The following awards are academic awards presented to high achieving students in the various High School Departments:: Art Department - Lori Pittman; Band - Mark Forlano; Chorus - Alyssa Marsico; English - Regina Pagani, Joelle Sklaar; LOTE - Joelle Sklaar, French; Michelle Stoisits, Spanish; Math - Michelle Stoisits; Physical Education - Christina Walsh; Science - Kayla Henry; Social Studies - Regina Pagani
-PTSA Awards: Jessica Diomede Memorial Art Award - Regina Pagani; Lora Porter/ Roger Backus Awards - Ryan Buter, Leeann Mazzarisi; PTSA Sec High Achievement Award - Nicole Silva; PTSA Scholarship for Achievement - Sarah Regan; PTSA Academic Achievement Scholarship - Anthony Rush
-Music Department Awards: John Phillip Sousa Award (Band) - Thomas Peppard; Louis Armstrong Award (Band) - Peter Ries; National Choral Award (Choral) - Kate Brady; The Director's Choice (Choral) - Kelly Parsons; Julian Cintron Award - Louis Schriebman; Semper Fidelis Award for Musical Excellence - Anthony Rush
-Putnam Valley TheatreWorks Performance Awards: Cory Crew and Jennie Rosenfield
-Stage Crew Award: Jacqueline Cestaro
-PV Music Association Awards: Alicia Benben (Band), Kyle LaGrutta (Chorus)
-Art Awards: Albert Matthews Art Award - Cara Manna; Art Club Awards - Jackie Cestaro, Ohn Soon Kim
-Athletic Awards: Female Athlete Awards - Kim Kastuk and Christine Kemp; Male Athlete Award - Peter Morgan; Female Scholar/Athlete Award - Michelle Stoisits; Male Scholar/Athlete Award - Peter Ries and Anthony Rush
-Treetops Nursing Home / Caring For the Elderly Award: Sarah Regan
-Community Service Awards: the Following Students for their Volunteer Service of 75 to 175 Hours - Raymond Babnik, Alyssa Marsico, Lori Pittman. 250 to 300 Hours - Bailey O'Brien, Regina Pagani, Josh Coppa. 400 - 700+ Hours - Annalise Lamia, Michelle Stoisits, Ann Eyring, Sarah Regan. Over 800 Hours - Jacqueline Cestaro, Theresa Rau, Joelle Sklaar. Over 1,000 Hours - Anthony Rush, Andrew Dietz, Nicole Torsiello, James McGinty, John DeLuca, John Isabella
-Putnam Valley Federation of Teachers Scholarships: Regina Pagani, Joelle Sklaar
-US Naval Academy Nomination: Anthony Rush
-Dr. Rhonda Kaufman Science Award: Peter Ries
-John C. Kleinegris Memorial Scholarship: Leeann Mazzarisi
-Principal's Leadership Awards: Regina Pagani, Peter Ries
-Presentation of the Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the Class of 2007: Valedictorian - Anthony Rush; Salutatorian - Alyssa Marsico
Putnam Valley High School's class of 2007 will officially graduate on June 22 at 7pm at the high school's outdoor athletic facility (or in the gym in the case of inclement weather).
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