Students on the Bolles Upper School San Jose Campus gathered in Davis Gym on January 22 for the second semester Honors Convocation. One of the assembly’s highlights was an announcement of second quarter President’s List recipients, an honor recognizing student nominees who have made a significant contribution to the Bolles community or community-at-large during the preceding quarter.
Head of School Bradley R. Johnson ’79 named seniors Austin Eng ’14 and Katie Greene ’14 recipients of the second quarter President’s List awards. Stories of the students’ benevolence and community-mindedness were inspiring.
Eng established an anti-bullying organization within the local community and at The Bolles School thorough the Anti-Bullying Club. Additionally, Eng has formed his own nonprofit organization, Teens Stand Together, to combat the problem of bullying among children and teenagers in Northeast Florida. Eng took another important step with his nonprofit during the past few months, establishing relationships with mental health professionals and identifying board members to help guide the organization. He also holds monthly meetings at the Southeast Regional Library to discuss bullying issues and solutions. In the future, he wants to implement an educational program or peer counseling group at school for students on all four campuses and solicit involvement from other private schools in the area.
Katie Greene has put the same level of commitment and energy into a program supporting big cats in Jacksonville. During the past four years, Greene has volunteered at the Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary on Jacksonville’s Northside. The organization protects and maintains tigers, lions and other big cats from zoos and private owners who can no longer care for them. Greene has logged more than 635 hours in service to Catty Shack.
Bolles Associate Head of School/Academic Dean Scott Smith announced several other recent academic accolades during the convocation, including results from the December Bolles Science Fair, the 10th Annual National Chinese Essay Contest, Mu Alpha Theta’s first regional competition, the 33rd Annual Tri-State Honor Band Festival and the Northeast Florida Regional Division of the Scholastic Art Award program.
Smith also shared news of five students – sophomores Jack Cellar ’16, Joey Zimmerman ’16, Amy Song ’16, Nikita Raheja ’16 and Camile Furfine ’16 – who were named Joe Berg Scholars. Bolles Upper School San Jose Campus Principal Moya Marks announced sophomores Aaron Abel ’16 and Diarra Samb ’16 were named Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership program delegates.
Associate Head of School/Student Life Jack Milne began the mid-morning program by recounting the long list of recent athletic program successes by team.