The Gunston School celebrated its 112th commencement this past Saturday, June 10, honoring the Class of 2023 with a waterfront ceremony overlooking the Corsica River, as family and friends looked on. The procession began with Bagpiper Robert Wallace, followed by school faculty and staff, and then the graduating seniors.
Head of School John Lewis introduced the commencement speaker, John A. “Johnny” O’Brien, the President Emeritus of the Milton Hershey School, Trustee Emeritus of Princeton University, and the founder of Renaissance Leadership, Inc. Additionally, he is the author of “Semisweet: An Orphan’s Journey through the School the Hersheys Built.” He has been a keynote speaker, seminar leader, and high performance coach for more than 50,000 managers and executives. He did this for over 25 years, until he was called back to save the orphanage which had saved his life.
“I discovered that adversity is an advantage when well processed with advocates,” said O’Brien. “You know what they look like, they have surrounded you in this amazing Gunston family for years! Your teachers, your coaches, your advisors and administrators. They won’t leave your heart but they must leave your side and it’ll be your essential job to replicate them.”
Mr. Lewis and Gunston’s Chair of the Board Patrick Shoemaker ’03 then presented each graduate with their diploma, individually handcrafted by faculty member Michael Kaylor on an antique letterpress. This year’s senior class had a successful college admission season and worked hard to earn $10 million dollars in merit scholarships.
This year’s valedictorian honor (also called the Samuel A. Middleton Award) was bestowed upon Zacharia (Zach) Mozher of Middletown, Del. “[Zach] has a mathematically perfect final GPA, having taken the most rigorous course load in the class, including 8 honors courses, and 11 AP courses, where he has already earned recognition as an AP Scholar with Distinction, [as well as being] named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. […] In his free time, he anchored our ESIAC championship cross-country team and our State Champion triathlon team, and he’s a stalwart member of our Model UN and Mock Trial teams. In the fall, he’s off to Princeton University, where we know he will represent himself, and Gunston, with distinction,” said Mr. Lewis.
Mr. Mozher had this parting wisdom for classmates, “Work hard for the future, yes, save up money for the future, but never put off your happiness for the future, because I promise you, that sacrifice is not worth it. Chase your dreams but don’t put your life on hold for them. Life starts now. So enjoy the journey, enjoy college. Fill your days with as many experiences and relationships as you can. Make the most of what little time we have on this Earth.”
Presented by Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis, the prestigious Gunston Award, which began in 1969 and is “unique in that it’s chosen by the vote of the entire school community,” was presented to Damian René of Easton, Md.
“The State of Maryland requires independent school graduates to have a minimum of 21 credits and Gunston requires 24. This student is finishing high school with a total of 30 credits including nine honors, 11 AP’s, three advanced online college programs, two internal year-long independent studies, multiple club memberships, numerous awards and honors for character, leadership and service, all reflect this student’s high level of responsibility and awareness and appreciation of differences,” said Ms. Grabis.
The graduates are listed here with the honors presented to them the day before on Friday, June 9 during the school’s Green & White Awards ceremony, which featured the valedictorian address.
Graduating Seniors & Recognitions:
Nicholas “Nick” Abell (Crownsville) Math Award, National Merit Commended Scholar; Zachary “Zack” Adams (Centreville); Madilyn “Maddie” Algier (Easton); Olivia Amygdalos (Wyoming, Del.) Sciences Award; Kelby Booth (Denton) Bobi Kendall Memorial Scholarship; McKinsey Brown (Centreville); Julia Buchanan (Centreville) The Faculty Award; Katelyn “Kate” Campbell (Centreville) 12 Star Award; Nicasio “Nick” Ceruolo (Annapolis); Sadie Cloud (Easton); Thomas “Tom” de los Reyes (Annapolis) History Award; Céline Denat (Switzerland) Immersion Award; Charles Evans (Chester); Grace Evans (Chester); Olivia Faff (Easton); Xuanyao “Henry” Feng (Centreville); Jenna Frederick (Grasonville); Alanna Grace (Centreville); Catherine Hansen (Cambridge); Natalie Henry (Centreville); Cooper Hightower (Stevensville); Sarah “Eli” Ireland (Centreville) Environmental Stewardship Award; Nicolás “Nico” Izquierdo (Spain); Thomas “Cy” Johnston (Severna Park); Paget Kellogg (Oxford); Ian Kissel (Annapolis); Tess Kontarinis (Wittman) Fine Art Award; Katherine “Kate” Kroncke (Grasonville) 12 Star Award; Paige Kroncke (Grasonville) 12 Star Award; Aiden Lafferty (Chestertown); Garrett Lang (Trappe); Jennie LaTorre (Chester); YaXin “Angelina” Lin (Middletown, Del.) Diversity Leadership Award, Literature Award; Virginia “Ella” MacGlashan (Centreville); Julia McClary (Warwick) The Anita Gruss Athletic Award, 12 Star Award; Calla McCluskey (Centreville) Theater Award; Ava Melvin (Ridgely); Zacharia “Zach” Mozher (Middletown, Del.) Valedictorian (Middleton) Award, Spanish Award, 12 Star Award, National Merit Finalist; Christopher “Bates” Nittle (Easton) Music Award; Elizabeth “Lane” Parkhurst (Centreville) Leadership Award; Grace Anne Phillips (Stevensville); Miranda Pope (Port Tobacco); Nathan Porter (Centreville); Julia Reed (Chestertown); Damian René (Easton) The Gunston Award, Engineering Award, National Merit Commended Scholar; Andrew Rich (Annapolis), Mekonnen Sahle-Selassie (Easton) The Anita Gruss Athletic Award, 12 Star Award, NROTC Award; Aaron Sanderson (Annapolis) 12 Star Award, Merchant Marine Academy Award; MacKenzie Smith (Stevensville) English Award, Senior Paradigm Winner; William Stuart (Oxford); Finnegan “Finn” Theeke (Easton) Music Award; Liam Thomas (Arnold); Aidan Trautman (Centreville) Moore Award for Improvement; Brielle Tyler (Denton); Isabelle Wagner (Chestertown) Community Service Award, 12 Star Award; Autumn Watson, (Centreville) Computer Science Award, 12 Star Award; Yining Wei (China); Oliver White (Easton) 12 Star Award, NROTC Award; Jiacheng “Jason” Ye (China); and Linze “Alfred” Zhao (China).
Founded in 1911, The Gunston School is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian, coeducational, college preparatory high school located on 75 waterfront acres in Centreville, Maryland. Visit gunston.org for more information.
Pictured standing left (l-r) is commencement speaker Johnny O’Brien, Head of School John Lewis, and pictured standing right (l-r) is Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis and Gunston’s Chair of the Board Patrick Shoemaker ’03. Not pictured is Nicolás “Nico” Izquierdo (Spain).
Students (l-r)
Front Row: MacKenzie Smith (Stevensville), Autumn Watson, (Centreville), Olivia Faff (Easton), Ava Melvin (Ridgely), Julia McClary (Warwick), Virginia “Ella” MacGlashan (Centreville), Alanna Grace (Centreville); Katelyn “Kate” Campbell (Centreville), Jenna Frederick (Grasonville), Calla McCluskey (Centreville), Katherine “Kate” Kroncke (Grasonville), Jennie LaTorre (Chester), and Olivia Amygdalos (Wyoming, Del.).
Second Row: Natalie Henry (Centreville), Grace Anne Phillips (Stevensville), YaXin “Angelina” Lin (Middletown, Del.), Sarah “Eli” Ireland (Centreville), Catherine Hansen (Cambridge), Julia Reed (Chestertown), Céline Denat (Switzerland), Sadie Cloud (Easton), Madilyn “Maddie” Algier (Easton), Elizabeth “Lane” Parkhurst (Centreville), Brielle Tyler (Denton), Paige Kroncke (Grasonville), and Miranda Pope (Port Tobacco).
Third Row: Julia Buchanan (Centreville), Tess Kontarinis (Wittman), Grace Evans (Chester), Xuanyao “Henry” Feng (Centreville), Jiacheng “Jason” Ye (China), Aaron Sanderson (Annapolis), Paget Kellogg (Oxford), Zachary “Zack” Adams (Centreville), Kelby Booth (Denton), McKinsey Brown (Centreville), and Isabelle Wagner (Chestertown).
Fourth Row: Yining Wei (China), Linze “Alfred” Zhao (China), Finnegan “Finn” Theeke (Easton), Aiden Lafferty (Chestertown), William Stuart (Oxford), Ian Kissel (Annapolis), Nathan Porter (Centreville), Thomas “Tom” de los Reyes (Annapolis), Nicasio “Nick” Ceruolo (Annapolis), Aidan Trautman (Centreville), and Thomas “Cy” Johnston (Severna Park).
Fifth Row: Liam Thomas (Arnold), Nicholas “Nick” Abell (Crownsville), Andrew Rich (Annapolis), Garrett Lang (Trappe), Christopher “Bates” Nittle (Easton), Mekonnen Sahle-Selassie (Easton), Damian René (Easton), Oliver White (Easton), Charles Evans (Chester), Cooper Hightower (Stevensville), and Zacharia “Zach” Mozher (Middletown, Del.).
This year’s valedictorian honor (also called the Samuel A. Middleton Award) was bestowed upon Zacharia (Zach) Mozher of Middletown, Del. (pictured right) with Gunston Head of School John Lewis.
Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis presents the The Gunson Award to Damian René of Easton, Md., pictured left with Mrs. Grabis.
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