May Projects Commence to Graduation for Class of 2018

From cooking alongside a professional chef to constructing a pair of skis to working in a local municipal airport, seniors have spent the past month embarking on their May Projects – an annual rite of passage that has been in effect at Hamden Hall since the late 1960s.

Students are expected to create an experience that allows them to put into practice the core values that Hamden Hall espouses. Projects should be enjoyable, in that the senior should be interested in the subject matter they’re learning about. But undertakings are also meant to have an impact on the Hamden Hall community or indeed the greater community, according to May Project coordinator David Sokoloff.

“After four years of having amazing experiences, it's time for seniors to put what they have learned and the understandings they have developed into action,” said Mr. Sokoloff. “The May projects are yet another opportunity to enhance Hamden Hall and its larger community. It’s an opportunity to create deeper understandings and make important change where it is needed.”

For this year’s seniors, interests are far-ranging. Charley Tiernan has been interning with chefs for the past month, learning how they teach cooking classes. Ethan Springhorn has been crafting a pair of skis in the school’s MakerSpace Lab. And for Amelia Farquharson, her school days have been spent at Meriden’s Markham Municipal Airport, learning the ropes of the aviation field.

All 88 seniors – Hamden Hall’s largest class to date – will present their topics to their Upper School peers following Prize Day on June 6. Two days later, on June 8, seniors will take part in the school’s 106th Commencement Exercises at 5 p.m.

Valedictorian Jinxin Pan, Salutatorian Miranda Iannone, Student Government President Michael Gulia, and Class President Maisa Della Valle will all take to the stage at Commencement to offer words of wisdom, welcoming remarks, and class gifts.

This year’s Commencement speaker is alumnus Dr. Robert W. Buckingham Dr.PH. – known affectionately by his fellow Hornets as “Bucky” – a leader in public health and higher education. Dr. Buckingham is a professor of public health at the University of Michigan–Flint.

Besides being the largest graduating class, the Class of 2018 has garnered some other impressive stats. It holds the distinction (based on recent record-keeping) of having the most number of student-athletes going on to play sports in college – nearly 20 percent of the class! (Click here to view those students.) Additionally, 21 of our 88 grads matriculated in or prior to Grade 6.

Also notable is that 100 percent of the seniors who participated in the Vocal Department were selected to the Southern CT Regional Honor Choir: Nathanael Bloom, Christopher Izzo, Joshua Torello, Emerson Katz-Justice, Yonatan Hirshfield, Di Lu, Sophia Lawder-Gill, and Charley Tiernan. Half of those seniors were then selected into the prestigious CT All-State Choir. Emerson Katz-Justice was the first Hamden Hall singer to ever make it into All-Eastern and All-National Choir! On the instrumental side, seniors Trevor Schultz and Ryan Zhang were selected to the Southern CT Regional Honor Choir and Ryan was selected to the All-State Choir.

Four seniors, Maisa Della Valle, Sophia Lawder-Gill, Duncan Maley, and Trevor Schultz, are the children of alumni; and six seniors, Amanda Carroll, John D’Angelo, Christopher Izzo, Krishnan Moran, Joseph Neubauer, and Emily Valin, are children of administrators, faculty, and Board of Trustee members.

"The Class of 2018 is an impressive one collectively, with regard to all they’ve achieved in the classroom, on the stage, and on the field of play. Seniors’ college admittance and acceptance is also reflective of those credentials, and once again we have seniors admitted to and headed to some of the most selective schools in the country,” said Head of School Bob Izzo.