On Saturday, June 2nd, Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School recognized the forty-one graduates of the Class of 2018 in its 190th commencement ceremony. Student speakers included Valedictorian Jiawen Li and Salutatorian Hangyu Li, each delivering an inspirational speech to their classmates.
The commencement address was delivered by Tracee Chimo, an actress that has been involved with the CH-CH theater program, with credits that include work on television (Orange is the New Black, People of Earth, The Good Wife, Genius: Picasso), film (Sully, Private Life) and Broadway (Bad Jews, Harvey, Noise's Off, The Heidi Chronicles).
In her commencement address, Chimo shared her story of how she discovered her passion for acting, and left the graduates with these words, “You will never regret not trusting yourself. Follow your instincts. Allow your hearts to be open. Fill your minds with knowledge and your hands with experience. Chase after life, and believe me, it will run with you.”
In her speech, Valedictorian Jiawen Li discussed the impact that her classmates have made on her life.
“Everyone is uniquely talented, and I can name at least one characteristics from each of you here, Class of 2018, that I can learn from,” said Li. “I hope we will soon learn to be selfless, motivated, and mature to be ready for new challenges. We should never underestimate our individual influence in our community, and we need to look no further than this community, and the impact we have made.”
Salutatorian Hangyu Li, reflected on his appreciation for the years of growth he experienced at CH-CH.
“Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall, thank you for the amazing years, thank you for always being here when I need you,” said Li. “Next year, I am not sure if I can drive 10 hours back to visit you. But if I am back, I will sit on the grass and talk to you like an old friend.”
Head of School, Lance Conrad, Ed.D. closed the ceremony with a message to the graduating class, “For 190 years, the School has honored its graduates through commemorative events such as this,” said Conrad. “I look forward to simultaneously hearing of your great accomplishments in the years to come as we continue the good work of preparing returning and future Chargers for a rapidly changing society.”
Congratulations the all of the graduates of the Class of 2018 and the following award recipients:
Junior Awards:
Rensselaer Medal: Ryan Firenze
Nancy S. Emery Award: Tyler Sandy
Harvard Book Prize: Curtis Amory
Senior Departmental Prizes:
English Prize: Sarah J. Katz
Donald Welch Social Studies Prize: Leah Kostick
Allen American Studies Prize: Patrizia Troccoli
Paul Economides Foreign Language Prize: Phoebe Elizabeth Davin
Bishins-Strachman Economics Prize: Sarah J. Katz
Farnsworth Mathematics Prize: Hangyu Li
Kurt Science Prize: Kaiyuan Luo
Lewis Clapp Science Prize: Isabelle Hazard
Performing Arts Prize: Nathan Michael Morvai and Josh Tsai
Visual Arts Prize: Meta Amanda Russell
José Rafael Arboleda Sportsmanship Award: Ryan Firenze
José Rafael Arboleda Sportswomanship Award: Callie Dayno
Senior Awards
Siri Akal Singh Khalsa Award: Callie Dayno
MIT Prize: Hangyu Li
Faculty Prizes: Nicholas Estrada, Xavier Hardmon, Lily Mann Kaplan, Angela Velasquez
School Spirit Award: Leah Kostick
Headmaster's Prize: Nathan Michael Morvai
Worcester Prize: Jiawen Li
Valedictorian: Jiawen Li
Salutatorian: Hangyu Li
CH-CH Society Prize: Maura Henry