On Thursday, June 10, 2021, seniors, parents, and faculty gathered for the annual Senior Awards Ceremony at 7:00 p.m. and for a second year, the ceremony was held on Zoom due to social distancing restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic. The ceremony honored and awarded select seniors for their exceptional achievements, whether academic, cultural, or athletic. The event was organized by guidance counselor Rachel Cohen.

“It is always exciting to recognize seniors for their academic achievements as well as awarding them with scholarships they earn towards continuing their education,” Ms. Cohen said.

The ceremony featured a 20-minute video, starting with a warm welcome and introduction of awardees by Principal Suro. The video then displayed each award category, and the recipients’ names followed.

“I am so incredibly proud of our absolutely talented Class of 2021, and all the awards given out during the Senior Award Ceremony were very well deserved,” said senior Krisna Panchal, Class of 2021 Salutatorian.

Approximately 70 seniors were recognized for their achievements. Each academic department, academy and program accorded awards for Excellence in the subject area to students for their high-level work. Honorary academic performance awards were given to nine students. For English, Jeffrey Hong, Jemema Juste, Caroline Lee, Khushi Panchal and Christopher Slipiec, and for History, Denisha Antigua, Lesrene Brown, Ryan David and Christopher Slipiec.

Club advisers also gave recognition to students for Outstanding Achievement and the collective DMAE community recognized students who never tired in service to their school community with Gold E Awards, who championed their school community with Raider Pride and Academy Way awards, and Ambassador awards.

With much excitement and pride, the top achievers of the class of 2021 were identified: Valedictorians Tenzin Dhasel for the Academies and Tahja Gilmore for Dwight Morrow, and Salutatorians Krisna Panchal for the Academies and Sienna Fortune for Dwight Morrow.

Additionally, many scholarships were awarded to seniors during the ceremony including the Michael E. Nelson Scholarship, the Dr. John Grieco Scholarships, and several local business-sponsored scholarships. 

Grieco Scholarships of $2,500 were awarded to Dwight Morrow seniors Bibi Khan and Michael Byfield, and Academy@Englewood seniors Kiana Ong and Justin Park.

“This year’s ceremony had a very nice turnout with a mix of the senior recipients and parents/guardians,” Ms. Cohen noted.

The Senior Awards Ceremony was a memorable experience for seniors, uplifting even as a virtual event, because they were recognized one last time for their tireless work, effort and service to the community during all four years of high school.