PHOTO COURTESY OF RUDY BRANDL Rhona Eserner of Edison, Upper School head, presents the W-H Pin to Stephanie Smyczek of Edison. The award is presented to the student who, while maintaining his or her own academic level, has exhibited loyalty, generosity, dedication and helpfulness to promote the spirit and philosophy of the school. EDISON — The class of 2013 at the township’s Wardlaw-Hartridge (W-H) School gathered with parents, faculty, staff members and administrators at the annual Senior Farewell Dinner on June 13.
Rhona Eserner of Edison, Upper School head, welcomed the guests. Andrew Webster of Edison, head of school, made opening remarks.
Seniors Kimberly Son of Woodbridge, Katie Buchbinder of Scotch Plains and Billy Nolan of Colonia provided musical entertainment on piano, flute and vocals, respectively, during the early part of the dinner hour.
Three faculty members gave representative addresses covering the three divisions of the school, with Ellen Colandrea of North Plainfield addressing the Lower School, Corinna Crafton of Edison addressing the Middle School, and Roland Marionni of Scotch Plains addressing the Upper School.
Nolan led a senior toast to teachers, and Student Council President Zach More of Scotch Plains led a toast to parents. Editors Max Hernandez-Webster of Edison, Haley Needle of Scotch Plains and Stephanie Smyczek of Edison made the yearbook dedication to chemistry teacher Roland Marionni, and Nolan and More presented the senior class photo to Eserner. Students who excelled in their internship and thesis projects, as well as new Cum Laude Society members, were recognized. The senior departmental subject awards for outstanding achievement in academics, athletics and the arts followed.
Senior Awards of Distinction were presented to Smyczek (W-H Pin), Ashni Mehta of Piscataway (Alumni Association Award), Needle (Parents Association Award), Son (Stevenson Award), Vanessa Santana of Iselin ( Headmaster ’ s Cup) and Noah Ganz of Westfield (Upper School Head’s Award).
The evening concluded with dessert and a retrospective senior video presentation.