Emily Jackson
Reporter
On June 1, students and faculty of NCHS assembled in the auditorium to recognize the accomplishments of its seniors, juniors and a few sophomores. The annual award ceremony congratulated notable members of the student body for their achievements in the past school year. According to Assistant Principal Ari Rothman, the students chosen to receive awards at the assembly are the best representatives of NCHS.
There are a number of academic awards that were handed out to recognize students that excelled in disciplinary categories. “There’ll be students who are recognized for doing very well in content so there will be English, social studies, science and math [awards],” Principal Bryan Luizzi said. “Then there are some other awards that are more specialized.”
These “more specialized” awards include leadership, achievement and service awards, as well as awards in honor of individuals. “There’s a Bradley Fetchet award in honor of Bradley Fetchet who was a student, a graduate, of New Canaan High School who passed away in 9/11 in the towers,” Dr. Luizzi said. “Their family set up a foundation, and through the foundation there are students that are awarded each year, who kind of mirrored the qualities to Bradley a little bit when he was here.”
This year a John A. Leslie (JAL) fund was added in honor of John A. Leslie who would have been a senior this year but died in a sports accident in August of 2007.The award was given to seniors Dylan Hart and Molly Robustelli, as the administration felt that they best demonstrated his qualities. “When [I received] the award from the Leslie’s I found myself holding back tears,” Molly said. “There is just so much meaning behind this award that it was hard to not get emotional, and having a personal relationship with the family just added to that.”
In order to be a JAL recipient, students had to have the same passion for hockey that John did, as well as good sportsmanship, community, family awareness and educational excellence. “I know the impact that John had on his family, friends, and this community, so to be comparable to John is indescribable,” Molly said.
Senior Julia Tuttle was also honored to receive an award that day. “Often you hear you name and you’re caught a little off guard- in a good way!” she said. “All of the awards given at the assembly are big honors and I think everyone, myself included, felt good about the recognition. It’s always nice to give lots of people some recognition at the end of the year!”
Dr. Luizzi emphasized the importance of hosting this assembly annually. “It’s really meaningful and important for a school to have a school wide celebration of its students for their academic performance,” he said. “It’s a way for us to acknowledge the students that have really worked hard and succeeded. It’s a way for us to demonstrate our values about what we think is important and what we believe to be worthy of celebration of the school.”
