Sophia Bennett - Southern Cayuga Central School
"She is nothing short of an incredible human being. She leads with grace and poise; her peers look up to her and admire her because she is selfless and kind."
- Elishia Hoatland
Joseph Borst Jr - South Seneca High School
"Joey emulates life lessons learned at home, clean living, honesty, and patriotism; his family is committed to service."
- M. Theresa Lahr
Finnegan Buckley - Ithaca High School
"Personally, Finn is the type of person one would want for a son: ethical, honest, motivated, ambitious, caring, and responsible. he is non-judgmental, open-minded, and sincere... clearly one of the sincerest young men whom I have had the pleasure to know and teach in the past fifty-one years."
- Frederick Deppe
Joseph Cataldo - Cortland Jr./Sr. High School
"It is very rare in my career that I meet a student with the aptitude, enthusiasm, and perseverance that Joseph possesses."
- Charles Canestaro
Alexandria Costich - Homer High School
"Resilient, unassuming, patient, kind, independent, self-starter, disciplined, strong, and empathetic; these are the first words that come to mind when I think of Alex."
- Serena Wadsworth
Henry Deitcher - Ithaca High School
"He is a born engineer, curious and full of creative ideas, and passionate about helping people and finding solutions."
- Steve Weissburg
Adowyn Ernste - Ithaca High School
"She is passionate, knowledgable, and curious about so many topics and she uses this information, these observations, this humor in poetry, cartoons, short films made with friends and also opinion pieces included in the Tattler, our school newspaper."
- Janet Bowman
Faith Flood - Charles O. Dickerson High School
"It is the constant positive attitude with which she approaches everything she does, the maturity she exhibits, and the leadership that she models for her peers."
- Jon Koeng
Sayed Ghazanfari (Masih) - Southern Cayuga Central School
"Masih is a student who when through experiences I can only imagine to get to where he is currently and has not for a second wasted any of the opportunities that have come his way."
- Peter D. Bakija
Alexandra Gier - Cortland Jr./Sr. High School
"Alexandra will be successful in whatever career path she chooses because she is innately curious, intelligent, self-motivated, and morally sound in character and integrity."
- Carol Brafman
Helena Griffin - Newfield High School
"She is a person to whom her peers naturally turn for guidance and is respected by everyone who knows her."
- Charles Githler
Madelyn Guido - Cortland Jr./Sr. High School
"Madelyn has shouldered additional responsibilities every year to ensure that her classmates are able to have enjoyable and memorable years while at Cortland High School."
- Melissa Norman
Gavin Hotchkin - South Seneca High School
"Gavin has continuously picked the path less traveled and has challenged himself by not only taking the challenging coursework we have to offer, but also has participated in many extracurricular activities."
- Sean Green
Lazim Jarif - Ithaca High School
"Overall, Lazim's curiosity, honesty, vulnerability, critical thinking skills and quick thinking are hard to find in a student his age. I believe these skills will serve the medical field well."
- Megan Omohundro
Peter Jesch - Homeschooled
"One of his goals and greatest passion is to conserve and protect our natural resources. His continued leadership for the Finger Lakes Conservation 4-H club, his letter to Senator Schumer, numerous 4-H awards for outstanding project work and his own personal choices support these values."
- Brenda Carpenter
Kate Keresztes - Ithaca High School
"Kate is the bass player in our Jazz Ensemble. It takes someone who is fearless, humble and self-motivated to play the instrument well. I don't know of any young person who is better suited to this role than Kate."
- Michael Treat
Mariah Loehr - Ithaca High School
"She knows how to relate to many different students in the group to include them in a friendly, understated yet affirming way."
- Suzanne Nussbaum
Ava Mendez - Ithaca High School
"Ava's leadership and active participation in the community is just as inspiring as her presence in the classroom."
- Patrick Hovey
Braeden Morrison - Marathon Jr./Sr. High School
"Sports give him a good outlet to be able to come up with different strategies that help assist the team."
- Jenny Camenga
Colby Sellen - Southern Cayuga Central School
"I have confidence that he will excel at the college level academically while maintaining a position as a role model and example to his peers."
- Peter Bakija
Clara Tagliacozzo-Lee - Ithaca High School
"The skills she has demonstrated, coupled with her sound emotional development, will easily be translated into success wherever she goes."
- Lana Craig
Booke Tillotson - Marathon Jr./Sr. High School
"Her effervescent personality, her work ethic, and her talents are bar to none."
- Sandra M. Jennison
Madeleine Wang - Herricks High School
"Since she has transferred to us from upstate New York, Madeleine has quickly plugged herself into the Herricks community and has made a strong impression as an outgoing, kind, and talented woman."
- Joseph Lee
Mason Zoner - TST Ptech Academy
"Mason makes the most of the opportunities he is given and works hard to make sure he lives up to the expectations he has set for himself."
- Jonathan Gordon
Violet Zoner - Charles O. Dickerson High School
"Violet combined photography and baking to create an extremely professional food blog. She created and continues to build content for the site which includes recipes, stories as well as her beautiful images."
- Paul Wlech
