Senior Awards 2016
The Departmental Awards were presented to students of the Class of 2016 at their Senior Dinner, held on May 20.
Vulkan Dechev received the English Language and Literature Department award for his consistent work over the last years in the development of his English skills. Genuine love of literature, active presence in class, highest quality written work, strive to use the best English when speaking, and excellent contributions to College Life were mentioned among the many merits that impressed his teachers. In fact, Vulkan was nominated by all three of the ELL teachers he’s had in the College.
Nedialko Bradinoff got the Mathematics and Computer Science Department Peter Vassilev Award. Nedialko was distinguished for participating in many math competitions, qualifying for the second round of the National Math Olympiad in both 8th, 9th and 10th grade and reaching all the way to its last round in 12th grade. One of his big prizes was a second place at the Spring Math Competition in 2015.
Galena Sardamova was presented with the award of the Bulgarian Language and Literature Departmentfor her outstanding performance, excellent ideas, opinions, questions, and research, her genuine interest in Bulgarian literature and culture, and her exceptional academic achievements, in classes and at Olympiads. Many of her academic essays have been published in The Fountain literary magazine. At this year’s national round of the Bulgarian Language and Literature Olympiad, she received one of the highest results in the country.
The Science Department award was presented to Ivana Andreeva for her high level of academic pursuit in the fields of science at all grade levels, her special interest, creativity, and desire to learn beyond the classroom. Over the years, Ivana developed specific experimental and analytical skills, demonstrated enthusiasm and leadership qualities as member of the Science, Red Cross, and Medical Clubs and performed with punctuality, responsibility, and integrity in a number of school-wide, as well as national and international Olympiads and competitions. In three consecutive years, Ivana qualified for the national round of the chemistry Olympiad. She took part in the European Union Science Olympiad in Klagenfurt and won a silver medal, and received a gold ribbon recognitionat at the Vienna International Science and Engineering Fair 2016.
The Liberal and Fine Arts Departmental Award went to Stoyan Trenchev for his diligence, commitment, excellence, and true passion in the field of humanities. As Department Chair Dr. Zornitsa Semkova pointed out, “given the extreme diversity of subjects varying from History, Geography and Economics, through Psychology and Philosophy, to the sophisticated realms of art and music, it takes a really extraordinary personality to excel in each field and to satisfy so many teachers. Stoyan did this by challenging himself consistently, producing outstanding papers, projects, and debates, promoting a better community among his peers from all over the country through the debate competitions he took part in and even organized.”
Kamen Velichkov received the International Baccalaureate Department award for his natural curiosity,in-depth knowledge accumulated across a broad and balanced range of disciplines, serious and ethical approach in solving complex problems, open-mindedness, self-reflection, team spirit, integrity, and strong sense of fairness. In and outside the classroom, Kamen showed empathy, compassion, and respect toward the needs and feelings of others.
Galena Sardamova was also the recipient of the Foreign Languages Department, for having given “all efforts and heart to studying foreign languages at the College, reaching beyond grammar structures and showing curiosity about different foreign cultures.“ Galena represented ACS well at various national competitions.Having begun to study Spanish only at the College, with 3 periods of language instruction per week, in 10th grade, she managed to beat all twelfth grade participants from all bilingual schools in the country in the last round of the National Translation Competition.
The Sports Department award was presented to Radostin Mitkov, for his constant and “remarkable support for the College’s sports program, sportsmanship and fair play, leadership and responsibility”, for being a leader on the volleyball court and the basketball team, being one of the most valuable players in soccer, too as well as an excellent athlete, responsible for the school’s brand new long jump record (305 cm).
The recipient of the 2016 Arts Award was Venezia Georgieva, who has been an active member of the ACS arts program, involved in all activities of the Art Club in and outside the College. Among Venezia’s achievements is a gold medal received at the 6th International Digital Art Competition Art without Boundaries.
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At the commencement ceremonies on May 21, these special awards were presented:
The Irwin T. Sanders Award for Service was presented to Ivana Andreeva, Tsveta Kamenova and Mihail Georgiev of the FISSION team for their work to make the College a better community, for reaching beyond the borders of the school campus to help others in the greater community, and for contributing to the student life in and outside the College.
The Margaret R. Sanders Award for Student Life was presented to Stoyan Trenchev for his involvement in various aspects of the extracurricular life of the College and taking full advantage of the opportunities that the College has to offer outside the classroom.
The Floyd Black Award was presented to Tsveta Kamenova and Kamen Velichkov, whose academic performance, personal characteristics, and general deportment represent the values and standards which the College aims to foster: hard work, honesty, respect, responsibility, and a love for learning.
Tsveta Kamenova received the Valedictorian Award, presented to the student with the highest cumulative grade point average for grades 9 through 12, as well. Tsveta’s GPA is 6.00.
The President’s Award was presented to Rosen Vutov, who through his leadership by example, tenacity of purpose, and care and concern for the community made truly distinctive contributions to the life of the College.
Congratulations, everyone!