The Prevalent Pursuit of Scholastic Achievements Recognized at Honor Roll Dinner

10/27/2026

It was a celebration of outstanding achievement and scholastic aptitude as Upper School students were recently honored during the annual Honor Roll Dinner.

Honor Roll designation is awarded to any student with a weighted average of 89 or above at the end of the academic year. The other awards and accolades of distinction included Cum Laude Society induction and the recognition of AP Scholars. Head of School Bob Izzo welcomed all guests as he addressed the students and their families before the presentation of the certificates.

The evening also welcomed seven members of the senior class into the Hamden Hall chapter of the Cum Laude Society. Cum Laude is the highest academic distinction that recognizes scholastic excellence and high achievement during high school. The inductees included Anni Chen, Lily Evans, Ben Greenberg, Haoxiang “Becky” Liu, Landon Sassu-Martin, Alessandra Sticca, and Ruoxi “Amy” Zhou. Hamden Hall’s Cum Laude chapter president and World Language Chair Yasmin Haque and Cum Laude chapter secretary and Director of College Counseling Kiki Carlson had the honor of swearing in the students.

Inductees Anni Chen and Becky Liu offered remarks during the ceremony. Anni began her speech thanking faculty members for their encouragement and support along with her fellow honorees for their hard work. She spoke on the topics of the power of turning self-doubt into self-confidence, never underestimating what you are capable of, and the importance of pursuing one’s interests as it can lead to myriad opportunities.

“Tonight, we celebrate what we’ve accomplished, but we may still underestimate what we’re capable of doing next,” said Anni. “I think some of you might recognize that feeling, you see an opportunity that interests you, imagine everyone else who might pursue it, and assume they must be more talented, more experienced, or better prepared. We want to feel confident before we begin, but confidence grows as we devote time and effort into those things we care about or are interested in.”

Anni concluded her speech by voicing the vast opportunities Hamden Hall provides for its students and urges all to find their passions with the advice to “try something new, something whose outcome we don’t yet know and let yourself find out what you’re capable of.”

Becky took to the podium and shared a message of gratitude to faculty members, her parents, and her host family for their unwavering support. She began her speech with a small anecdote about the hummingbird, specifically how they are resilient creatures and the only birds that can fly backwards. She elaborated on the idea that with their ability to fly backwards, hummingbirds can discover new landscapes and likened their way of life to herself and her fellow students.

“I want to speak about the importance of accepting yourself and moving forward when things don’t go as expected,” said Becky. “Do not be afraid to mess things up. What our society needs the most is not perfect human beings, but people who stumble through the dark and still stay hopeful. Hamden Hall is such a wonderful place for you to be yourself even though you are not perfect. So whenever you start to doubt yourself and question your self-worth in the face of setbacks, remember: fly as if you are a hummingbird.”

In addition to the Cum Laude inductees, 91 students with 56 from the Class of 2026 were recognized as either an AP Scholar, AP Scholar with Honors, or AP Scholar with Distinction. Each fall, the AP program “recognizes high school students who have demonstrated outstanding college-level achievement through their performance on multiple AP exams.”

The AP Scholars and Award Distinction

Student Name	Scholar Award	Grade Level
Chuanzhe Lin	AP Scholar	10th Grade
Lue Mou	AP Scholar	10th Grade
Tongran Luan	AP Scholar with Distinction	10th Grade
Aaron Prygoda	AP Scholar with Honor	10th Grade
Stephen Sokol	AP Scholar with Honor	10th Grade
Guthrie Cebik	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Christian Cournoo	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Bethel Desta	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Penelope Dwyer	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Yuqian Li	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Adam Park	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Daniel Park	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Jace Rossi	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Rylee Sweeney	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Mia Verderame	AP Scholar	11th Grade
Tobias Brander Blackhawk	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Anni Chen	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Ruixue He	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Haoxiang Liu	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Alessandra Sticca	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Yifan Xiang	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Wenrui Xu	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Jinchun Yan	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Allison Yang	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Weixi Zheng	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Ruoxi Zhou	AP Scholar with Distinction	11th Grade
Paxon Campbell	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Lillian Evans	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Benjamin Greenberg	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Xingjian Huang	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Sun Woo Kim	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Lillian Knutson	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Lichuan Li	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Frida Ramirez Moreno	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Logan Rapuano	AP Scholar with Honor	11th Grade
Kaelen Annes	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Kaelen Annes	AP International Diploma	12th Grade
Andrei Balas	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Sonja Brown	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Julia Bryan	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Linda Chen	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Xixi Chen	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Cole Christman	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Caden hristopher	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
William Cole	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Sofia Correa	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Jack Cucchiarelli	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Xuanzhi Du	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Loic Eklund	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Simon Engerman	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Kaleb Fiore	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Alma Goren-Eisenberg	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Taocheng Huang	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Eric Jagielow	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Leon Jiang	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Jiahe Jin	AP Scholar	12th Grade
Ravindu Karunaratne	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Juliet Koff	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Kangtian Li	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Evelyn Liu	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Jiayan Liu	AP Scholar	12th Grade
Yutong Liu	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Xiaoteng Ma	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Neev Makin	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Adam Mandelbaum	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Mae McDonnell	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Yidi Peng	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Laila Potter	AP Scholar	12th Grade
Renyuan Pu	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Cameron Puhl	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Barbara Ramirez Moreno	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Nelson Razza-Baril	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Max Rickey	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Emily Savik	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Julia Scalmani	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Heath Schwarz	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Jiayun Shi	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Brianna Sposa	AP Scholar	12th Grade
Charles Sudmyer	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Tyler Tagliarini	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Jason Tirozzi	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Sophia Vash	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Helena Vujovic	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Linqiu Wang	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Ruby Weiss	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Lydia White	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Binhan Xie	AP Scholar with Honor	12th Grade
Jiazhao Xie	AP Scholar	12th Grade
Andrew Yang	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Grace Yang	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade
Jiali Yang	AP Scholar	12th Grade
Haojun Zhao	AP Scholar with Distinction	12th Grade

Five students were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program for their outstanding academic achievements with four Commended students and one Semi-Finalists being named. The commended students were seniors Becky Liu, Landon Sassu-Martin, Brian Song, and Allison Yang. Senior Amy Zhou was named a semifinalist.

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