NDA celebrated its annual Academic Honors Ceremony on Monday night. The ceremony is held each year during the second semester and celebrates outstanding academic achievement.

The Top Ten of the Class of 2016 was announced, as well as the National Merit Scholarship Finalists and Commended Students. The IB Diploma Program Candidates also received special recognition.

Students who make both Honor Roll and High Honor Roll were recognized. To make Honor Roll, according to the NDA Student and Parent Handbook, a student must “have a GPA between 3.660 and 3.000 with no grade lower than a ‘C-’.” High Honor Roll students must have a GPA of at least 3.670 with no grade lower than a ‘B-’.

Dr. Ravizza began the ceremony with a quick introductory speech. He compared NDA’s values of Faith, Service, and Academics to Vince Lombardi’s God, Family, and the Green Bay Packers – “in that order.”

“Our faith and our using of God’s gifts and talents in the world for service are central to NDA, but the academics are also important and central to the ministry of this institution. This is what we celebrate tonight,” Ravizza said.

To kick off the night, Honor Roll students from each grade were awarded with an academic pin for their academic achievements. The High Honor Roll students were then recognized with either a medal for his or her first time on the High Honor Roll, or a cloisonné pin for subsequent years.

This ceremony also announced the Top Ten, determined by the highest cumulative GPA. Nicholas Shade was named valedictorian, and Christian Zimonick salutatorian. They were followed by Andrea Ball, Ingrid Hirte, and Marissa Rahn. Matthew Budde and Sophie Harpt tied for Six, and Cole Chronowski and Evan Haas tied for Seven. Jack Martzke was Eight, followed by Maxwell Roitstein and Gabrielle Otto.

National Merit Scholarship Program Finalists Matthew Budde, Cole Chronowski, and Christian Zimonick were also recognized. Liam Edgar and Elise Witmer were also recognized as  Commended students.

Finally, all the IB Diploma Program Candidates were announced. These students include: Caitlin Aude, Andrea Ball, Quinn Bowman, Sam Brada, Cole Chronowski, Andrew Dellamater, Aidan Glaser Schoff, JiHyeong, Ko, Megan Landwehr, Michael Linehan, Jack Martzke, Dominic McClain, Colin O’Toole, Jacob Re, Nicholas Shade, Cadell Van Den Heuvel, Matthew Wendricks, Elise Witmer and Christian Zimonick.

“I would definitely say this year’s ceremony was a success. We’re very proud of all the hard work that our students do, and the Academic Honors Ceremony is a great way to celebrate that,” Ravizza said.

Mary Clare Matthews contributed the photos for this story.