In addition to the valedictorians and salutatorians at the John L. Miller–Great Neck North High School and William A. Shine–Great Neck South High School, who were featured in last week’s edition of the Great Neck Record, these noteworthy graduation awards, including the annual Barstow and Scott Moss Memorial awards, plus three new awards, the Cultural Diversity Program Scholarship, SHIELD Award and Shirin Shakir Memorial Scholarship, were awarded to the following outstanding students.
Barstow Awards
Established in 1962 by Françoise and William Barstow, prominent Great Neck residents after whom Barstow Road was named, the coveted Frederic Duclos Barstow Award was created in memory of their only son, who died of pneumonia at age 35. Recipients of the annual Barstow Awards must be in the top 10 percent of their class and be “outstanding in leadership, citizenship, scholarship and service.” Each recipient receives a monetary prize.
North High School’s Barstow Award winners are traditionally the school’s valedictorian and salutatorian, who include Co-Valedictorians Graelin Mandel and Isabelle Sehati, and Salutatorian Leael Alishahian. South High’s Barstow Award winners are Stephanie Chang and Samuel Stephen Go.
Stephanie Chang is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction and a National Merit Commended Student. She took First Place in a Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) competition, earned a Nassau County Interscholastic Mathematics League Gold Certificate and was a High Scorer in the Nassau Mathematics Tournament. Chang earned a Silver Medal in the National Spanish Exam and took a Bronze Medal at the New York State School Music Association Festival competing with the school band. She played flute in the school Concert and Symphonic Bands. Chang was named a Scholar Athlete for maintaining high grades while participating in varsity sports as a four-year member of the swimming and badminton teams. She was Math Team president, Music Community Outreach vice president, a member of HOSA and sports editor of the school yearbook, designing the sports section. She will be attending Cornell University in the fall.
Samuel Stephen Go took 11 Honor and Advanced Placement science and mathematics courses including AP Physics, AP Computer Science, AP Statistics and AP Calculus. He participated in the National Student Leadership Conference, exploring several fields of engineering. Go was president of the Chess Club/Team, secretary of the Robotics Club/Team and participated in the Contemporary Music Club’s Battle of the Bands event. His summer experiences included working in the product development lab at Nielsen-Kellerman in Philadelphia, attending the Carl Benz School of Engineering in Germany, the Milwaukee School of Engineering in the Discover the Possibilities Program and the University of Illinois Aerospace Institute. Go will also be attending Cornell.
Scott Moss Memorial Award
The Scott Moss Award was established in 1977, in memory of an outstanding South High student who lost his battle with cancer. The award is given to the graduating senior who exemplifies the “service, concern, interest and ability of Scott Moss.” This year’s Scott D. Moss Memorial Award, given at South High School, is Valedictorian Emily Bae.
Cultural Diversity Program Scholarship
The Cultural Diversity Program Scholarship is a new award established by the Korean Association of Great Neck. This annual scholarship is presented to the graduating South High School senior who brings awareness to and encourages a positive attitude towards the school’s multicultural environment.
The first recipient of this award is Jennifer Guo, an Advanced Placement Scholar and a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student. She was cochair of the Asian Culture Club, class representative on Student Government and a member of HOSA. Guo was a photographer and buying/selling facilitator for the school’s Facebook page. She summer interned at a lab at the National Institute of Health. Guo was a member of Varsity Swimming, Varsity Cheerleading and Varsity Badminton. She will be attending SUNY Stony Brook University.
SHIELD Award
The SHIELD Award is the second of three new awards for South High graduating seniors. This annual award was established by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. SHIELD stands for Service (altruistic or charitable), Honesty (truth and justice), Integrity (highest ethical standards), Excellence (academic achievement), Leadership (moral leadership among his/her peers) and Duty (positively impacting her/his community).
The recipient of this award is Eddy Min, who excelled in sports at South High. He was captain of the Boys Varsity Swimming Team and swam on three teams outside of school: LIAC, LaGuardia and Express. He also participated in Swim for a Cure. Min was a lifeguard at North Middle School and for the Girls Varsity Swim Team, Teacher’s Morning Swim, Kid’s Morning Swim and Water Aerobics. He was an active participant on both the Spring Track & Field Team, making Top 12 and County for discus, and the Junior Varsity Tennis Team. His photography has been shown at LIU Post Tilles Center. Min is fluent in Korean and Spanish. He will be attending CUNY Baruch College, where he plans to major in finance.
Shirin Shakir Memorial Scholarship
The Shirin Shakir Memorial Scholarship was established in memory of South High graduate Shirin Shakir, who died in a whitewater rafting accident in Peru in 2006. She was a graduate of Williams College and was attending Harvard Law School at the time of her death. Shakir was a strong French student and had an affinity for the French language. Her family established this annual scholarship to benefit a South High graduating senior who is academically strong in the French language, has a passion for life, works toward academic success and has participated in community service.
The recipient of this scholarship is Jacqueline Liao, an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction, a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student and an award winner in the National French Exam (Le Grand Concours). She was a writer for the school newspaper, The Southerner, and a member of Math Team, Quiz Bowl and Science Olympiad. Liao was a four-year member of the field hockey and badminton teams. She has a passion for traveling, having visited 44 states, with plans to visit all 50, and has also traveled to some 30 countries. Liao will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Learn about the 2016 valedictorians and salutatorians here.
Find out about other 2016 award winners here.
Read the complete graduation speeches from the Great Neck North Class of 2016: Adir Vegon, Graelin Mandel, Isabelle Sehati and from Great Neck South: Annabelle Golden, Annie Yang, Emily Bae, Haley Roach, Lance Kim and Michael Shen.
See who the 2016 Great Neck North graduates are here.
Find out who graduated from Great Neck South here.
For a list of The Village School graduates, click here.
