The Pennington School graduated 91 seniors representing four states and five countries outside the United States in commencement exercises for the class of 2015 on June 6. Niral Ramesh of Princeton Junction and Nathan Zavanelli of Pennington were valedictorian and salutatorian respectively. Headmaster William S. Hawkey, Ph.D., granted the diplomas and Sintelle Taylor gave the commencement address.
Valedictorian Ramesh received the award for the senior excelling in science and shared the award for the senior excelling in mathematics. He will attend Rice University.
Salutatorian Zavanelli was presented the award for the senior excelling in German and shared the award for excellence in mathematics with Ramesh and Cedric Abano of East Windsor. Zavanelli will attend the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Commencement speaker Sintell Taylor, a Princeton resident, is an educator and diversity and inclusion specialist. In 1990 she co-founded the Steppingstone Foundation in Boston, a nonprofit organization that develops and implements programs to prepare underserved students for educational opportunities that lead to college success. She was the foundation’s executive director for six years before becoming a full-time diversity counselor.
