“These awards honor the students who have stretched themselves over the course of the year, and who have stretched our program,” said Upper School Principal Max Delgado as he introduced the 2023 Upper School Awards Assembly on May 19 in the Leach Center for the Performing Arts. “Many of the awards are deeply rooted in our school’s values and history, and represent our legacy of scholarship and citizenship. Caring deeply about doing our best work has always been part of what it means to be a student at Colorado Academy.”
Delgado continued, “As educators, we know that every student in this auditorium has stretched this year, and we want to honor and thank you for that. You’ve shown innovation when it would have been easier just to follow the dotted line. You’ve been brave when it would have been easier just to be silent. You’ve spoken up, even if you didn’t think you had a place to do it. We hope that you’ll take a moment to acknowledge what you’ve all done to make this a better school this year.”
Delgado got the ceremony underway by presenting the Courage Award to Jamie Wallace and Ana Yáñez.
The Jennifer Wu Memorial Fellowship Award was presented to Georgia Burstein by Sue Burleigh.
The Peggycita-Hill Enthusiasm Award in Chinese was presented to Fraser Smith by Julie Wei.
The Peggycita-Hill Enthusiasm Award in Spanish was presented to Claire Arney by Sonia Sitja.
The Peggycita-Hill Enthusiasm Award in French was presented to Kai Wang by Brigitte Debord and Stephanie Turner.
The Griggs Dayton Excellence Award in French was presented to Fabi Frenz by Brigitte Debord and Stephanie Turner.
The Griggs Dayton Excellence Award in Spanish was presented to Garrett Davidson and Desi Silverman-Joseph by Sonia Sitja.
The Griggs Dayton Excellence Award in Chinese was presented to Olivia Harris by Julie Wei.
The Excellence in English Award was presented to Noah Sohn by Ali Kittle.
The Excellence in Writing Award was presented to Ella Walsh by Stuart Mills.
The Curiosity in English Award was presented to Campbell O’Neal by Stuart Mills.
The Theatre Acting Award was presented to Naomi Gillis by Maclain Looper.
The Technical Theater Award was presented to Grant Kenney by James Meehan.
The Carl and David Kumpe Instrumental Award was presented to Desi Silverman-Joseph by Phil Jones.
The Dance Award was presented to Sasha Yuffa by Melissa Zaremba.
The Cindy Jordan Award was presented to Joanna Rydberg by Dr. Kevin Padworski.
The Visual Art Award was presented to Sofie Henry by Stashia Taylor.
The Social Studies Award for Academic Excellence was presented to Heidi Schmid and Piper Adams by Liz Sarles and Elissa Wolf-Tinsman.
The Social Studies Award for Academic Curiosity—now to be called the Elissa Wolf-Tinsman Award—was presented to Kaitlin Johnson by Liz Sarles and Elissa Wolf-Tinsman.
The Pat Hogan Award in Science was presented to Kaitlin Johnson and Xianhao Ou by Martha Smith and Lisa Boes.
The Senior Science Award was presented to Maya Vendhan by Amanda Zranchev.
The Richard Kelly Award was presented to Maya Vendhan by Elliot Chase.
The Math Achievement Award was presented to Andrew Koclanes and Emma Carpenter by Dr. Michael Huntington.
The Computer Science Award was presented to Ella Walsh by Kyle Gillette.
The Simms Alumni Award was presented to Claire Arney and J.T. Timmers by Wes Kirk and Beth Folsom.
The Senior Athlete of the Year Award was presented to Anna Jordaan and Andrew Koclanes by Bob Ulrich and Jon Hill.
The Zach Hills Award was presented to Anna Colpack and Elliot Rutherford by Katie Schneider and Randy Colley.
The Chris Babbs Leadership Award was presented to J.T. Timmers by Max Delgado.
The Service Recognition Award—recognizing 100+ hours of service this school year—was presented to Jake Ammann, Dori Beck, Zoe Cope, Sophia Gomez, Ashley Hagen, Andrew Koclanes, Sydney Leach, Lila Paton, and Katherine Pulido by Lisa Dean.
