THE CREFELD SCHOOL HONORS GRADUATES. On June 10, 16 seniors participated in a unique graduation ceremony under the trees at The Crefeld School. During the ceremony, each student’s advisor delivered a personal address to the student, reflecting on the road the student had taken to reach this milestone in his or her life. One guest commented that, even though he had never met the students before, the speeches were so meaningful, funny and touching that he could celebrate the success with each student and family. The 2005 graduates are: front row (l to r): Mara Finestrauss, Brittany Pry, Elizabeth Salter, Mikaela Jensen-Roseman, Hazel Holmes, Eric Gibbs. Back row (l to r): Michael Robinson, Ryan Benner, Zachariah Beaver, Eamon Tisdall, Jonathan Wangberg, Michael Metzner, Benjamin Taggart, Martel Bird, Stephen Ingram and Charles Kane-Harlow. Most of the seniors are heading to colleges in September, many with substantial scholarships.	PENN CHARTER GRADUATES 101 Following tradition, two Penn Charter seniors were chosen by their peers and the faculty to speak at commencement: Kyle Lawton, left, of Mt. Airy and Maurie Smith, right, of Germantown. Lawton is off to Harvard University in the fall, and Smith will attend George Washington University. Head of School Earl J. Ball praised the class of 2005, at 101 the largest graduating class in Penn Charter history, for its commitment to service and its academic vitality. Just as he has for more than 25 years, Ball closed the ceremonies referencing the parting words of St. Paul to the church at Phillipi: "And now, my friends, all that is true, all that is noble, all that is just and pure, all that is lovable and gracious, whatever is excellent and admirable — fill all your thoughts with these things. The lessons we have taught you, the tradition we have passed on, put into practice and go with our hope that the God of peace will be with you."
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY MATH OLYMPIAD TEAM NAMED TO NATIONAL HONOR ROLL. The Math Olympiads serves over 5,800 teams and over 150,000 students worldwide. Forty members of the CHA team were recognized among the top in the country for their abilities to solve challenging, thought-provoking problems designed to stretch the standards of their grade levels. Several boys on the CHA team distinguished themselves as the top mathletes in the county for their work. Gold and silver award winners, l-r, were Ivan Levingston, Dustin Wilson, George Kunkel, Greg Baird, Matt Rowland and Nicky McNiff.
	SPRINGSIDE SCHOOL CELEBRATES 125 YEARS WITH THE GRADUATES OF THE CLASS OF 2005. (Front row) Katie Prejsnar, Sarah Alderfer, Willa Courtney, Bonnie Anderson, Mary Train, Madeline Smith, Chrissie Valiga, Elizabeth Kozemchak, Afsheen Mahmood, Rayhan Blankinship, Julia Rorer; (second row) Hahna Kane, Jessie Sauer, Hadley Steel, Kate McGinnis, Riley Jacoby, Ariane Lee, Anna Heilbrun, Amanda Hershey, Wyn Furman, Baali Musisi; (third row) Maggie McGrath, Leila Anglin, Maura Cheeks, Kia Muhammad, Caitlin Barstead, Carmelia Estriplet, Paris Saunders, Ali Mainka, Phoebe Robinson, Dana Brown; (fourth row) Bunny O’Reilly, Kelsey Heinze, Heather Pringle, Leela Ehrhart, Annie Eisenhower, Crissy Fitzpatrick, Lucy Sorensen, Julia Bartolomeo, Doris Johnson and Samantha Jenkins.

NewsMakers ~~ Academia ~~ NewsMakers

Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors has been ranked the 4th largest total home services company in the United States, according to the May 2005 REAL Trends 500 report. In this survey of the 500 largest brokers nationwide, the company is a national leader with $17.4 billion in total sales with more than 65,000 transactions in the year 2004. In addition, it is the largest Prudential Affiliate nationwide. The company’s closed real estate transactions totaled 34,850, with mortgage financing at 9, 861 transactions, title insurance at 14,036 transactions and property and casualty insurance at 6,928 for a combined transaction total of 65,675.

The following students enrolled at Virginia Tech were named to the dean’s list for the spring 2005 semester: Kathryn S. Brown, Flourtown; Carla M. DeGovanni, Roxborough; Sabriya K. Jubilee, E. Germantown.

Prudential Fox & Roach, Realtors recently honored the following sales associates from the Chestnut Hill Office with an “Honor Society” Award for their excellent sales performance for 2004: Charlotte Hood, Michael Sivel, Sandi Innes and Todd LeVan.

City Councilman-at-large Frank Rizzo presented an official City Council Citation to Head of School Priscilla Sands at Springside's School’s 125th Commencement. In honor of the school's milestone anniversary, Rizzo recognized Springside for, among other accomplishments, producing so many graduates who have gone on to bring great honor and pride to the city.

The Rev. Richard Fernandez, former executive director of NIM, has been appointed as the interim executive director of the Mt. Airy Community Computer Center (MACCC).

Recent local-area graduates of Franklin & Marshall College are: Benjamin Lee Edwards, an English (literature) major, a graduate of Chestnut Hill Academy; Stephanie Michele White, a sociology major and theater minor, a graduate of Germantown Academy; Elizabeth Andrea McDonnell, an English (creative writing) major and women and gender studies minor, a graduate of Germantown Friends School; Ryan Marc Lockman, of Erdenheim, a government major and applied mathematics minor; Jeffrey Alexander Becker, a government major and public policy (urban and social) minor, a graduate of GA; Andrew Joseph Hylan, a government major and economics minor, a graduate of the William Penn Charter School; and Kerinne Marie Levy, a biological foundations of behavior: animal behavior and sociology double major, a graduate of GA.

State Sen. LeAnna M. Washington (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) has been named chairwoman of the Senate Aging and Youth Committee. Sen. Washington will also serve on the committees on: Public Health and Welfare, Local Government, Communications and Technology, Veteran Affairs, Finance and Policy.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association recently elected four new members to its board of directors: Neil S. Brown, of Flourtown; P. Randolph Gray, of Plymouth Meeting; Marsha Pearson, of Wyndmoor; and Mary Claghorn, of Lower Gwynedd.

Sarah Meade, daughter of Jeff Meade and Diane Dugan of Chestnut Hill, received the Medal for General Excellence in Art at the 144th commencement exercises at Gwynedd-Mercy Academy. Sarah was a member of the National Honor Society and a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student at GMA, as well as a member of the liturgical music group. She is also the recipient of the Benefactor’s, Dean’s and Holy Child scholarships from Rosemont College, which she will be attending in the fall. Sarah is a 2001 graduate of Our Mother of Consolation School, and is active in liturgical music ministry at OMC.

Kate Chesney, an MSJ grad, made the dean’s list at Fairfield University for the spring semester.

Alexia Hudson, of Mt. Airy, is a 2005 Masters of Library and Information Science degree recipient from The University of Pittsburgh online. She was recently appointed the Frederick Douglass reference librarian and instructor at West Chester University.

The Crefeld School recently honored Eugene Caffrey and Rena Harris who, together, have given a total of 36 years of service to The Crefeld School. Caffrey, of Chestnut Hill, retired from the school’s board of directors after 21 years of service. After 15 years as both a teacher and an administrator, Harris is leaving Crefeld to pursue an Ed.D. at The University of Pennsylvania.

 

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