The Gunston School’s 111th Commencement Honors 53 Students

The Gunston School celebrated its 111th commencement this past Saturday, June 11, honoring the Class of 2022 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 then introduced the commencement speaker, Kristen Greenaway, the President of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels, Md. Under her leadership, CBMM has seen a healthy increase in attendance through the presentation of increasingly innovative exhibitions, and expanded education and Shipyard programming, as well as being awarded a grant of $5M from the State of Maryland to build a new Maryland Dove for Historic St. Mary’s City Commission. Additionally, Greenaway was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the National Maritime Historical Society in April of 2022.

“As each of you moves forward into the next phases of your life,” said Ms. Greenaway, “you will encounter incredible opportunities to explore and chart your own pathways. Some of you may have clear and focused journeys, while others may catch a strong breeze and head for new waters. Look for opportunity in whatever form it presents itself to you. And as you do that, I have three pieces of advice for you to carry forward: Have courage to take risks and make decisions; Be mindful, useful, kind, and show empathy for others; and Build the world you want to live in.”

Mr. Lewis and Gunston’s Vice Chair and Treasurer of the Board Joe Janney, P ’21 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 $7.8 million dollars in merit scholarships. The graduates are listed here with the honors presented to them the day before on Friday, June 10 during the school’s Green & White ceremony, which featured the valedictorian address, personalized comments about every senior, academic department awards, special named awards, and recognition from the greater community, as well as the much-anticipated announcement of the Green & White Cup.

Mr. Lewis began the previous day’s awards ceremony with thank you’s and one very special one in particular to the parents out in the crowd. “You’ve been extraordinary partners with us through some of the most difficult years in recent memory. This is a group of young people who possess a high level of responsibility, character, and independence.  Their future is bright, and they wouldn’t be here without you.”

And to the Class of 2022, “As a class, you’ve amassed as impressive an academic, extracurricular, social service, and athletic resume of any class in the history of Gunston—that’s not hyperbole—and you’ve done so with grace, fortitude, and fun. You’ve also pulled together impressively as a community of classmates, and thanks to you, I finish this year deeply optimistic, because Class of 2022—I know that your learning and leadership has just begun.”

This year’s valedictorian honor (also called the Samuel A. Middleton Award) was bestowed upon two very deserving students, Abigail Miller and Magdalena Miller, of Easton, Md.

“It goes without saying that Abbey and Maggie’s academic records are exceptional, having earned perfect grade 4.0 point averages across perhaps the most rigorous course loads ever taken at Gunston, including 11 AP courses where they have already been honored as AP Scholars with Distinction, and a math curriculum that includes AP AB/BC Calculus, AP Statistics, and a multivariable calculus course. Outside of the classroom, they are student-athlete-artists, having been on the Varsity Lacrosse and sailing teams, the Champions of the 2022 Eastern Shore Mathematics Competition Champions, National Spanish Exam Medalists, and honorees of the Congressional Art competition. They were both inducted into the National Honor Society, and they are both National Merit Scholarship Finalists, which means that of the 1.5 million American high school seniors who took the PSAT, they were in the top 7,500. That’s the top 1/5th of 1 percent.”

Abbey will be studying mechanical engineering at the University of Rochester and Maggie will be studying chemical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Our mom always tells us, ‘Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.’ It’s easy to see the truth of the matter once it’s over, but you have to stay focused on what is in front of you. That is why I look forward to seeing where life takes all of you in the next four years, and congratulations once again to the class of 2022,” said Maggie.

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 Lucy Bamford of Chestertown, Md. who is headed to Ursinus College in the fall. “Leader, scholar, athlete. This student completed 26 total credits, nine honors classes, six AP classes, participated in 12 seasons of varsity level athletics, and held leadership roles in student government, national honor society, diversity leadership, yearbook, and on our Green & White teams. A member of the National Honor Society, this student models the qualities of scholarship, leadership, service, and character both inside and outside of the classroom,” said Mrs. Grabis.

Graduating Seniors & Recognitions:
Sofia Angarita (Wye Mills) Leadership Award, Spanish Award, Sciences Award, Senior Paradigm Award, SGA President, CHSAA Memorial Scholarship, Lucy Bamford (Chestertown) Gunston Award, Captain Green Team, Senior Class President, The Anita Gruss Athletic Award, 12 Star Athlete, Curtis (Andrew) Baughman (Worton), Sebastian Borland (Easton) 12 Star Award, John (Jack) Brady (Galena) 12 Star Award, Gracie Callahan (Denton), Joshua (Josh) Campbell (Centreville) 12 Star Award, Anastasia Clair (Middletown, Del.) Community Service Award, Charlotte Cook (Easton), Robert Crow (Friendship) Engineering Award, Benjamin (Ben) Cunningham (Dover, Del.) Senior Class Vice President, 12 Star Award, Jian (Daniel) Dang (Henan, China), Isabella (Bella) De Leon (Chestertown) The Faculty Award, 12 Star Award, Ava Duvall (Queenstown), Ashley Escobar (Cambridge) Diversity Leader Award, Spanish Award, Senior Class Treasurer, Sen. Van Hollen Public Service Award, George B. Todd Scholarship, Woicke Family Scholarship, Nora FauntLeRoy (Annapolis) Fine Arts Award, James (Jimmy) Fraser (Annapolis), Nina Friedman (Easton), Noah Friel (Grasonville), Morgan Garner (Annapolis) Moore Award for Improvement, Georgia Gillespie (Chestertown), Sheila Groz (Grasonville), Evelyn (Evie) Hagan (Chestertown) Environmental Stewardship Award, Madison (Madi) Hanlon (Middletown, Del), Paige Holmes (Chestertown), Aidan Ireland (Annapolis), Kallena Kemp (Centreville) Theater Award, Senior Paradigm Award, Zachary (Zach) LaFleur (Chestertown), Colin Lang (Trappe) United States Naval Academy Appointment Recognition, History Award, 12 Star Award, Samantha LeCrone (Preston) Sciences Award, 12 Star Award, Juyoung (Ju) Lee (Seoul, South Korea), Engineering Award, Rui (Spencer) Liu (Beijing, China) English Language Acquisition Award, Cameron (Cami) Lord (Chestertown), Alexis (Lexi) Meiklejohn (Cordova), Abigail (Abbey) Miller (Easton) Valedictorian, Math Award, National Merit® Scholar, Magdalena (Maggie) Miller (Easton) Valedictorian, Math Award, National Merit® Scholar, Alexandrea (Lexi) Norman (Chestertown), Adam Papadopoulos (Townsend, Del.) Literature Award, Fletcher Parsons (Easton), Ainsleigh Pocock (Annapolis) 12 Star Award, Summer Salos (Stevensville) Senior Class Secretary, Alec Sanderson (Arnold) Music Award, Leonardo (Leo) Santoboni (Annapolis) Computer Science Award, Lilly Santora (Annapolis), Tessa Schut (Chestertown) English Award, Nicholas (Nick) Scribner (Easton), Ashton Seaman (Severna Park) 12 Star Award, Matthew Sharpless (Easton), Danielle Simmons (Chestertown) The Faculty Award, Ronald Reagan Leadership Medal, Chestertown High School Alumni Association Scholarship, Presidential Fellow at Washington College, Jude Smith (Stevensville) The Anita Gruss Athletic Award, 12 Star Award, Andrew Steele (Centreville), Thomas Umidi (Arnold), and Yutong (Vera) Xie (Kunming, Yunnan, China).

Founded in 1911, The Gunston School is an independent, nonprofit, nonsectarian, coeducational, college preparatory high school located in Centreville, Maryland. Visit gunston.org for more information.

The Gunston School in Centreville, Md. celebrating its 111th commencement, celebrating the 53 members of the Class of 2022. This year’s senior class had a successful college admission season and worked hard to earn $7.8 million dollars in merit scholarships. 

Pictured: (Left) Commencement Speaker and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum President Kristen Greenaway, Head of School John Lewis (Right) Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis and Vice Chair of the Board of Gunston Trustees Joe Janey, P’21. 

Front Row: Isabella De Leon, Yutong (Vera) Xie, Abigail (Abbey Miller), Madison (Madi) Hanlon, Ashley Escobar, Paige Holmes, Morgan Garner, Alexis (Lexi) Meiklejohn, Ainsleigh Pocock, Magdalena (Maggie) Miller, Danielle Simmons, Summer Salos. 

Second Row: Kallena Kemp, Tessa Schut, Nina Friedman, Lexi Norman, Georgia Gillespie, Nora FauntLeRoy, Evelyn (Evie) Hagan, Lilly Santora, Anastasia Clair, Samantha LeCrone, Gracie Callahan, Ava Duvall.

Third Row: James (Jimmy) Fraser, Joshua Campbell, Charlotte Cook, Lucy Bamford, Sofia Angarita, Sheila Groz, Cameron (Cami) Lord, Aidan Ireland, Nicholas Scribner, Matthew Sharpless.

Fourth Row: Ashton Seaman, Alec Sanderson, Andrew Steele, John (Jack) Brady, Jude Smith, Leonardo (Leo) Santoboni, Sebastian Borland, Juyoung (Ju) Lee, Jian (Daniel) Dang, Adam Papadopoulos.

Fifth Row: Robert Crow, Zachary (Zach) LaFleur, Colin Lang, Fletcher Parsons, Benjamin (Ben) Cunningham, Thomas Umidi, Rui (Spencer) Liu, Curtis (Andrew) Baughman, Noah Friel.

2022 G&W AWARDS

Valedictorian (Middleton) Award: Abigail & Magdalena Miller

Head of School John Lewis presents the Samuel A. Middleton (Valedictorian) award to Abbey Miller and Maggie Miller of Easton, Md. 

The Gunston Award: Lucy Bamford

Assistant Head of School Christie Grabis presents The Gunson Award to Lucy Bamford, Chestertown, Md.

Community Service Award: Anastasia Clair
Leadership Award: Sofia Angarita
Diversity Leader Award: Ashley Escobar
Moore Award for Improvement: Morgan Garner
Paul M. Long Award: Zach Mozher ’23
The Marie Whittico Award: Damian Renè ’23
Megan Virginia Batdorf Award: Aaron Sanderson
Clare Poussard Award: Cy Johnston ’23
Environmental Stewardship Award: Evelyn Hagan
The Faculty Award: Danielle Simmons & Isabella De Leon

The Anita Gruss Athletics Awards: Jude Smith and Lucy Bamford
12 Star Awards: Lucy Bamford, Sebastian Borland, John (Jack) Brady, Josh Campbell, Ben Cunningham, Isabella De Leon, Colin Lang, Samantha LeCrone, Ainsleigh Pocock, Ashton Seaman, and Jude Smith. 

English Award: Tessa Schut
Literature Award: Adam Papadopoulos
Senior Paradigm: Sofia Angarita & Kallena Kemp
Junior Symposium: Zach Mozher ’23
Immersion Award: Jan Serraviñals ’23
English Language Acquisition Award: Rui (Spencer) Liu
Spanish Award: Sofia Angarita & Ashley Escobar
History Award: Colin Lang
Math Award: Abigail & Magdelena Miller
Sciences Award: Sofia Angarita & Samantha LeCrone
Engineering Award: Robert Crow & Ju Lee
Computer Science Award: Leonardo Santoboni
Fine Art Award: Nora FauntLeRoy
Theater Award: Kallena Kemp
Music Award: Alec Sanderson

Greater Community & College Awards:
Colin Lang, United States Naval Academy Appointment Recognition
Danielle Simmons, Ronald Reagan Leadership Medal, Chestertown High School Alumni Association Recognition
Ashley Escobar, Senator Van Hollen Public Service Award, George B. Todd Scholarship, Woicke Family Scholarship
Sofia Angarita, CHSAA Memorial Scholarship
Nora FauntLeRoy, Senatorial Scholarship from Senator Ed Reilly