The Kennett High School Blue and White Chapter of the National Honor Society welcomed the 2019-20 inductees at a ceremony and reception on March 28, 2019.
Chapter adviser Dr. Alicia Tamargo opened the program. Four National Honor Society members from the Class of 2019 delivered speeches highlighting the Cardinal Objectives, the qualities expected of members: Mirella Petrillo addressed character; Davis Piercy spoke about scholarship; Colin Petersen focused on leadership; and Kassandra Ayllon highlighted the idea of service. Senior speeches were delivered by Timothy Freligh and Avery Chapman.
Next, Mr. Jeffery Thomas, Assistant Principal, called the role of the existing members of the Chapter. These students were inducted into the Society last year: Lilian Alba Rodriguez, Emily Augustine, Camille Avedisian, Kassandra Ayllon, Lizette Bedolla-Zavala, Amanda Bell, Jonathan Bell, Claire Borman, Julia Bradley, JaynaBruno, Madison Canter, Mara Castleton, Avery Chapman, Ava Charlton, Heather Cooper, Alexandra Cresci, Maya Das, Zhuanel Du Toit, Kathryn Erisman, Christopher Ferrighetto, Victoria Freire*, Timothy Freligh, Emma Giancola, Holly Gouge, Molly Hohner, Mary Holguin, Alexandra Hughson, Rachel Hyzny*, Rhea Jiang*, Mitchell Kosara, Meredith Krieger, Kevin Lemus Moreno, Samuel Lesher, John MacMillan, Peter Magasiny, Brenna McGowan, Olivia McLaurin, Sydney Mentzer, Tamblyn Mitchell*, Jack Mullen, Zoe Nguyen, Caleb Pebly, Colin Petersen, Mirella Petrillo, Davis Piercy, Noah Rasero, Hildi Reiter, Kyle Robertson, Cole Robinson, Katherine Roche, Katelin Rumbold, Eric Salameda, Joseph Schlitz, ConnorSchmidt, Evan Shinn, Ananya Shivakumar, Samuel Starr*, Kristina Testa, Sydney Thureen, Tamryn Whyte, Elizabeth Wilkie, Emma Yue, and Brenna Zdebski.
Dr. Jeremy Hritz, Principal, called the role of new inductees who were welcomed into the Chapter: Seniors Luis Aguilar-Gaspar, Julia Bulgarelli, Refugio J. Lara, Lauren Moss, Joshua Ploener, Estefani Sanchez Fonseca, and Emma Whittaker; Juniors Jacob Adelman, Olutomilola Adetayo, Ainsley Albert, Savannah Applegate, Ryan Barish, Sophie Becker, Steven Blake Bolhouse, Trevor Bowdoin, Jordan Brown, Giovanna Caccamo, Shawn Carroll, Gabriella Caruso, Mary Charnichko, John Colamarino, Simon Comanda, Ellie Conlin-Day, Ian Dargitz, Jenna Davidson, Veronica Duran Paramo, Arya Faghri, Elisabeth Fenza, Caroline Fiss, Cali Fitzgibbon, Lucas Forte, Madeline Fowler, Mackenzie Fulton, Ronan Gorman, James Hanby, Kyle Highfield, Jessica Holck, Katherine Holguin, Lauren Jackson, Nathan Judd, Emily Kane, Emily Kaplan, Brennen Kohl, Rachael Kreicker, Megan Kuon, Rebecca Larimer, Katherine Lihou, Laisha Luevano Jimenez, Gina Lusvardi, Sofia Lusvardi, Ellen McVey, Maggie Meyreles, Gemma Morrison, Kara Murphy, Stephanie Oleykowski, Cameron Olivier, David Opong, Thomas Poncet, Tejis Ranganath, Abisai Rodriguez-Aguilar, Kennedy Ross, Jillian Rowan, Kira Rybarczyk, Jessica Sauer, Damaris Silva-Lopez, Alexa Simonson, Emily Taylor, Mirna Torres-Ayala, Mary Tuley, Ashley Willey, and Mantra Yang.
Following the induction ceremony and roll call, Assistant Principal Tomorrow Jenkins administered the pledge of honor, and Dr. Tamargo announced the newly elected officers for 2019-20: President Gemma Morrison, Vice President Ian Dargitz, Secretary Emily Kaplan, Treasurer Ashley Willey, and Historian Giovanna Caccamo. Dr. Hritz then closed the ceremony and invited all to a reception in the cafeteria.
Members of the Blue and White Chapter must demonstrate and maintain high standards of the four hallmarks of the National Honor Society: scholarship, leadership, character, and service. Throughout the year, National Honor Society members participate in service activities, including tutoring and fundraising. This year they have organized two blood drives for the American Red Cross, worked on crews for the Mushroom Festival, volunteered at Project Cure, hosted a “Senior Prom” at the Senior Center, and ushered patrons at this year’s musical Seussical. The group is also looking forward to activities in the community this spring, particularly volunteering at the Kennett Run.
Members of the Blue and White Chapter became eligible by posting a 3.75 grade point average (GPA) by the second semester of their junior year. Additional qualities of character, leadership, and service were assessed by the faculty of Kennett High School and reviewed by members of the National Honor Society Faculty Council who are chosen by the principal from among the faculty and serve for a period of two years. This year’s Faculty Council included Mr. Jess Bewley, Mr. Vincent Civiletti, Mrs. Sara Donovan, Dr. Christopher Hancock, Ms. Adrienne Hartford, Mr. Kevin Lentz, Ms. Heather Morihara, Mr. Joseph O’Sullivan, Ms. Elizabeth Rzucidlo, Mrs. Chanel Ruffin, Ms. Jennifer Schmalzbach, Mr. Robert Socash, Mr. Robert Virgin, and Mr. Mark Williamson.
