Another set of seniors put high school behind them on June 20 when all three public high schools in Hamilton Township held their commencement ceremonies.
Steinert High School and Nottingham High School held ceremonies for the Class of 2024 at Cure Auto Insurance Arena on Hamilton Avenue in Trenton. Hamilton High School West held its ceremony at the Trenton War Memorial on Barrack Street in Trenton.
Most of this year’s graduates began their high schools career via remote instruction, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to wreak havoc in September 2020. With that period of their lives now consigned to the past, they are able to look forward.
Every year, the Hamilton Post highlights the top 10 graduating seniors in each high school class. Turn to page 10 to learn more about these high achieving seniors, including their future plans.
Nottingham High School
Zobia Chaudhry is this year’s top graduating senior for the Northstars.
Chaudhry finished her high school academic career with a weighted grade point average of 4.9966. She intends to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall, where she plans to study biology.
Nice Clenor, number 2 in the class with a GPA of 4.7888, is headed to The College of New Jersey to study nursing. Marialice Estrada, number 3 with a GPA of 4.7756, has her sights set on Rowan University in Glassboro, where she plans to major in writing.
Number 4 graduate Audrey Ford (4.7356 GPA) is headed to Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where she hopes to study digital media and marketing. Ryan Swieconek, number 5 with a GPA of 4.7217, and Jack Burke, number 6 with a 4.623 GPA, are both headed to TCNJ — Swieconek to major in computer science and Burke in business administration.
Number 7 graduate Johanna Alexis (4.6102 GPA) has decided on Rowan University. She intends to major in biology. Jaxon Filippi, 8th in the class with a GPA of 4.6027, has chosen Mercer County Community College, where he will major in computer science.
Rounding out the top 10 at Nottingham are Nathaniel Bergren, number 9 with a 4.5908 GPA, who plans to attend Ramapo College of New Jersey to study nursing, and Mark Tezak, who expects to become a University of Colorado Buffalo in the fall, studying engineering physics.
Hamilton High School West
At the top of the graduating class at Hamilton High School West is Zachary Kunkle. Zachary, who finished high school with a GPA of 4.9497, plans to attend TCNJ in the fall to major in computer science.
Kelsey Egan, number 2 in the Class of 2024, has decided on Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, where she plans to study occupational therapy.
Number 3 grad Sean Collins (4.9238 GPA) doesn’t plan to go too far. He is set to enter Princeton University in the fall to study mathematics. Number 4 Emma-Lee Lazo (4.9184 GPA) is also staying in-state, with plans to major in marine biology at Monmouth University.
Actually, across the top 10s of the three Hamilton public high schools, 17 of 30 students have chosen to stay in state next year. Of the other 13, 3 are headed to Pennsylvania, 2 to Ohio and 3 to New England.
Number 5 Hornet Sophia Lin (4.8813) is set to study accounting at the next level, while numbers 6 and 7 — Amira Taha (4.8782 GPA) and Aditi Nanda (4.8463 GPA) — have both chosen Rutgers University. Taha plans to enroll in the pharmacy program, while Nanda has chosen to study business law.
Number 8 Nataly Suquitana and her 4.8323 GPA will be off to the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science to study pharmaceutical science. Number 9 Henry Fanders (4.8134 GPA) has decided to enroll as a pre-med student at Thomas Jefferson University, and number 10 Daniel Cwalina (4.8126 GPA) at Rutgers, where he will major in engineering.
Steinert High School
Graduating number one in the Class of 2024 at Steinert High School this year was Jasraj Baweja, who ended her Spartan days with a 4.9803 GPA. Baweja has chosen to attend Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, with plans to major in computer science.
Second in the class Teresa Loh (4.9781 GPA) is TCNJ bound, and will study psychology over in nearby Ewing. Number 3 Michael Paternostro (4.96 GPA) meanwhile has his sights set on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, where he will study to become an engineer.
Number 4 Emily Kurland (4.9478 GPA) is State College, Pennsylvania bound, with plans to enter Penn State. There she hopes to study business management. Number 5 Jolea Terman (4.9375 GPA) has chosen to study biology at Mercer.
Number 6 Gabriela Belardo, who finished with a GPA of 4.9344, has selected Seton Hall University in West Orange as her future alma mater. Belardo intends to major in criminal justice. Number 7 Tyler Gilson, with a 4.9284 GPA, is set for Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Gilson will study computer science, which edges biology as the most popular major field of study for this year’s top 10s, edging out biology and engineering.
Rounding out the top 10 at Steinert are Claudia Szmyd (4.8962 GPA), who plans to study pre-law at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut; Mia Speno (4.8753 GPA), set to study nursing at Villanova University; and Dylan Caudle (4.8743 GPA, who plans to head to Columbus, Ohio to study electrical and computer engineering at The Ohio State University.
The Hamilton Post wishes the top 10 graduates and all of their classmates the best of luck as they prepare to embark on the next phase of their lives.
The Nottingham High School Class of 2024 top 10 graduating seniors are (front row) Audrey Ford, Zobia Chaudhry, Johanna Alexis, Nice Clenor, Marialice Estrada; and (back row) Jaxon Filippi, Nathaniel Bergren, Ryan Swieconek, Mark Tezak and Jack Burke. (Photo by Hamilton Township Public Schools/Laura Geltch.),
