earing the end of the 2017-18 school year, students in grades 9-12 were honored for academic excellence, active community service, athletic achievements, and other accomplishments across the board. Please see Head of Upper School Blair Peterson’s opening remarks at the end of this article.

The salutatorian and valedictorian awards are determined after the 2nd semester midterms from the students holding the highest weighted core grade point averages. The medals will be worn during the baccalaureate and graduation ceremonies. We are incredibly proud of the academic accomplishments of these individuals and could not be more excited for their future.

Salutatorian (second highest weighted core GPA): Mia Whitney and AJ Whitney

For the first time in history, Mount Vernon has two students tied for Salutatorian. These co-salutatorians have worked alongside one another for their entire lives and for the first time will be parting ways to attend Vanderbilt University and Duke University, respectively.

EXCELLENCE IN ENGLISH
Humanities 9: Grace Keller, Harriet Middleton

Grade 10: Katie Thompson

Grade 11: Grace McCarthy

Grade 12: Maggie Mixon

EXCELLENCE IN MATH
Grade 9: Lauren Waters

Grade 10: Maddy Long

Grade 11: Cam Bennett

Grade 12: Kate Thomsen

EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE
Grade 9: Dhailijha Dubique

Grade 10: Maddie Long

Grade 11: Cam Bennett

Grade 12: Chris Smith

EXCELLENCE IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
Grade 9: n/a

Grade 10: Jill Parker

Grade 11: Abigail Emerson

Grade 12: Mia Whitney

EXCELLENCE IN FRENCH
French Award: Gabby Wilson
French Honors Society: Dani Mulunda

EXCELLENCE IN LATIN
Latin Award: Arial Strode
National Latin Exam: Anna Weber “cum laude”
Latin Honors Society: Jacob Buck, Steven Butz, Emily Moseley, Anya Roman, John Traurig, Emme Watkins, Andie Weathers

EXCELLENCE IN SPANISH
Spanish Award: Colton Matovina

National Spanish Exam Honors: Townsend Phelps, Ruthie Roberts, Luka Kapeskas, Sofia Lew, Madeline Jakes, Katie Jones, Josie Meade, Charlotte Nickell, Katieanne Peterson, Skyler Tiffin, Daniela Jimenez, Ivan Mo (Honor), Carter Thompson (Honor), Maxine Peterson (Honor)

Bronze: Alex Thomas, AJ Whitney (Bronze)
Plata: Nick Piecre
Orzo: Eliza Bruno
Spanish Honors Society: Ian Cox, Grace Griffin, Sam Lovejoy, Marisa Mecke, Emmy Scheaffer, AJ Whitney, Mia Whitney, Brittany Whitstine

EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS
Grade 9: Katie Goodwyn

Grade 10: Shannon McCarthy

Grade 11: Will Sharkey

Grade 12: Marisa Mecke

Overall Artisan Award: Anya Smith Roman

National Thespian Honor Society Honor Cords: Emily Moseley, Anya Roman, Michael McConnell, Sam Lovejoy, Mao Mao Guo, Kaylyn Winters, Will Armstrong

Honor Thespian Award + Artisan Award: Anya Roman

Harvard Book Award: Arial Strode

AP Scholars w/ Honors: MaoMao Guo, Marisa Mecke, Emme Schaeffer, Luke Waller

AP Scholars w/ Distinction: Jacob Buck, Steven Butz, Wells Maley

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program offers several AP Scholar Awards to recognize high school students who have demonstrated college-level achievement through AP courses and exams. Only 22 percent of the 2.2 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a level high enough to earn an AP Scholar Award. The AP Scholar designation is awarded to students who earn scores of 3 or above on three or more AP exams. The AP Scholar with Honors designation is granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. The AP Scholar with Distinction designation is awarded to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.

Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Good Citizen Award: Emme Watkins

The Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award is a nationally recognized scholarship competition. Each year, a Mount Vernon faculty committee chooses one senior based on these criteria: dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. For the second year in a row, Mount Vernon’s award recipient went on to represent the Sandy Springs Chapter in the district-wide competition.