An exceptional group of 124 Huntington High School seniors were honored on Thursday night during a Blue Devil Stadium ceremony that attracted a crowd of several hundred parents along with building administrators and district officials.
The teenagers qualified for the designation of Distinguished Seniors by compiling an academic average of 90 over the first seven semesters of high school.
Jorge Cisneros and Lily O'Heir were among the senior honorees.
A festive spring dinner in the gymnasium is usually held to honor these remarkable teenagers, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented this year’s event from being held. So an outdoor ceremony was arranged once the state lifted crowd limits. Parents were seated in the Blue Devil Stadium bleachers while the seniors sat in chairs on the turf field.
Speakers including Superintendent James W. Polansky, Assistant Superintendent Beth McCoy, Principal Brenden Cusack, Assistant Principals Lisette Lors and Gamal Smith and Director of Guidance Jeannette Alomia. The short addresses were inspiring and paid tribute to the teenagers for their sensational academic performance while at the same time calling upon them to make a positive difference in the world.
“I could not be any more proud of these young people,” Mr. Polansky said. “They truly represent all that is right in the world. The future is that much brighter because they will be a part of it.”
A chamber choir under the direction of music teacher Victoria Garbarino performed several well received selections for the crowd.
Huntington’s Distinguished Seniors of 2021 include Brenden Abedin, Ryan Aguirre, Isabella Algieri, Alexa Amorison, Joshua Bailin, Alexander Bellissimo, Aidan Bender, Alexander Berg, Sarah Biernacki, Torin Bograd, Aidan Bonn, Danielle Brite, Ava Brosnan, Mia Brown, Chloe Buffone, Johanna Campos-Moreira, David Canas Granados, Taylor Case, Niurca Chabla-Leon, Aaron Chin, Jazmynn Clark, Matthew Colavecchio, Adora Colay, Kyle Colleluori, Nathaniel Deegan, Andrea Delcid Ayala, Isabella DiBenedetto, Nina Drakulich, Jackson Dunn, Marina Durand, Katherine Eichenberger, Jessica Erhardt, Matthew Fallon Jr., Alex Fascilla, Naidely Fernandez Gutierrez, Jordan Forte, Ethan Franciscovich, Juliana Friebolin, Thomas Fucci, Jailyn Fuentes and Jack Giamo.
The honorees also include Sarah Giarraputo, Alex Gonzalez, Lauren Gooding, Zachary Gordon, Isabelle Grenier, Maren Grosso, Emma Guba, Robert Harrington, Aidan Heller, Angelica Hernandez, Kemberlin Hernandez-Veliz, Rebecca Hoffmann, John Holly, Christina Hornstein, Owen Husselbeck, Brianna Isaza, Jaden Italiano, Ricardo Jandres, Lillian Joseph, Saahil Kapoor, Grace Kenny, Caroline Kilgour, Timmeree Koepele, Anna Koulakova, Sasha Koulakova, John Krisch, Jack Kurathowski, Aiden Lefebvre, Jessica Lemus, Samuel Levine, Ainsley Lumpe, Mackenzie Madison, Luke Maffei and Charlotte Maggio.
The top seniors also include Juliet Marinello, David Marroquin-Lopez, Evan Martinez, Angie Mata, Catherine McCooey, Ethan McGuinness, Grace McKean, Harrison McKenna, Andrew McKenzie, Trevan Meagher, Gabriel Morales-Flores, Carolina Moreira-Ibarra, Gabriel Moskovitch, Eliana Ng, Joseph Nicotra, Jeffrey Ochoa-Alvarez, Joseph O’Connell, Lily O’Heir, Nathaniel Otto, Jorge Parada Cisneros, Gemma Pellegrini, Gianna Prosseda, Samir Rathore, Gracia Renkewitz, Nathan Ribando, Alexa Rind, Rosa Rivera, Julie Rogel, Valerie Rogel, Joseph Rombaldi, Ludis Romero and Richard Rongo.
Katia Sanchez Fuentes, Cameron Santa-Maria, Angel Santiago, Andreas Sefarian, Christopher Segreti, Kate Sheran, Ella Siepel, Andrew Spina II, Tess Stanley, Julia Steinberg, Miles Tierney, Gabrielle Trimboli, Nicholas Tudisco, Adamaris Ventura Sanchez, Grace Wildermuth, Bryan Wong and Robin Zheng have also been recognized as 2021 Distinguished Seniors.
“I am so glad we were finally able to celebrate our Distinguished Seniors in person,” Mr. Cusack said. “These students are all truly deserving of our praise and admiration for their hard work and consistent dedication to their academics throughout their high school careers. We were blessed with a simply beautiful evening for the ceremony and it was just wonderful to spend time with our seniors and their families.”
