CHESTER — In a sea of red and white, eighth-graders at Chester Academy donned graduation gowns and celebrated their last year at the school with a Class Night event on June 19 in the town multipurpose room.
Approximately 88 students received honors and awards at the Class Night event, then received their diplomas later in the week at the annual commencement exercises. Students will attend Pinkerton Academy in the fall.
For Class Night, teachers and school staff members honored the students with various awards to commend them for hard work in academics and athletics during their Chester Academy years.
In addition, the class raised $450 to present to the Chester food pantry as part of their class community service work. Trophy cases were also part of the class gift to the school.
Mary Hamblett, a representative of the food pantry, located at the Chester Congregational Baptist Church, accepted the donation from the students at Class Night. Students also donated 1,900 food items last fall to give to the local food pantry.
"This money will help us fill in the blanks for the things we don't have," Hamblett told the students.
The following awards were presented to Chester Academy students during Class Night:
Walter St. Clair Award, Matthew Jackson; Clara Dolloff Service Award, John Publicover; Chester Lions Club, Ashley MacMillan and Joseph Parisi; North Chester Ladies Aid, Alexander Hadik and Benjamin Karjala; Gary Aramini Service Award, Peter Ciccarello; Angelo Lagana Award, Catherine Messitidis; Scholastic Achievement, Amy Hanlon and Nicholas McNeill; Effort, Melinda Harte and Jonathan Pierson; Athletic Awardsm Emily Archetti and Alex Pacocha; Music Awards, Abigail Hasell (band), and Catherine Messitidis (chorus); Math Counts Award, Nicholas Woodward and Nicholas MacMeill; Top Five Students, Nicholas McNeill, Amy Hanlon, Nicholas Woodward, Benjamin Shriber, and Alex Pachocha.
Presidential Academic Excellence Awards: Max Blumenthal, Christopher DeCarlo, Amy Hanlon, Caitlin Harper, Melinda Harte, Camille Jennings, Mitchell Macro, Patrick Maryea, Nicholas McNeill, Catherine Messitidis, Liann Mosier, Alex Mosier, Alex Pachoca, John Publicover, Ashley Schmoock, Benjamin Shriber, Jesse Trottier, Holly Wamsley, Zackary Weider, Adrienne Weishaar and Nicholas Woodward.
Presidential Academic Achievement Awards: Robert Allard, Eli Blumenthal, Holly Cannon, Victoria Grant, Abigail Haswell, Cameron Marshall, Conor Mullaney, Joseph Parisi, Jonathon Pierson, Connor Porcelli, Biana Pricone, Reyna Sawyer and John Paul Szostak.
