MMI recognized students during the Upper School Awards Convocation.

The Freeland VFW recognized Paul Neyhart Jr. (Hazleton), Jessica Zheng (Jim Thorpe), Brayden Harleman (Jim Thorpe), Abigail Sparich (Weatherly), Caylee Herseim (Hazle Township), and Diane Arias-Tejeda (Hazleton) for their excellence in the 2021-2022 Voice of Democracy Audio Essay Program.

The Freeland American Legion honored Amelia Minzola (Drums) with the Freeland American Legion Good Citizenship Award.

The Greater Hazleton Area Polonaise Society presented the 2022 Jake Kislan’56 Polonaise Society Award to Morgan Strecker (Mountain Top).

Diane Arias-Tejeda (Hazleton) was honored for her second place finish in the school level competition for Poetry Out Loud and Jillian McGeehin (Sugarloaf) was honored for her first place finish.

Students who placed in the Pennsylvania School Press Association Student Journalism competition were also honored. Khristian Banks (Drums) earned a 1st place regional award for Yearbook Caption Writing and for placing 4th in the state-wide competition. Ty McDermott (White Haven) won a 1st place regional award for Literary Magazine Artwork and placed 3rd in the state-wide competition. Jayden Bonham (Sugarloaf) earned a 1st place regional and state award for Literary Magazine Poetry.

MMI students who placed in the 27th Annual Israel T. and Mildred Klapper Memorial Holocaust Essay Contact were recognized. Jillian McGeehin (Sugarloaf) earned first place and Andrew Blasko (Mountain Top) earned second place.

National Spanish Exam award winners were:

• Alexander Composto (Freeland), Brayden Harleman (Jim Thorpe), and Michael Kranyak (Freeland) earned Spanish 1 Honorable Mention Scholar Awards in the Classroom Experience Category.
• Angelica Jimenez (Hazleton) earned the Spanish 2 Gold Award in the Bilingual Category.
• Lex Lispi (Lake Harmony) earned Spanish 2 Honorable Mention in the Classroom Experience Category.
• Manal Muhammad (Mountain Top) earned the Spanish 3 Bronze Award in the Classroom Experience Category.
• Jeffrey DeAngelo (Sugarloaf) and Jessica Zheng (Jim Thorpe) earned Spanish 3 Honorable Mention Scholar Awards in the Classroom Experience Category.
• Emely Lopez-Rodriguez (Hazleton) earned Spanish 3 Honorable Mention in the Bilingual Category.
• Rachael Betz (Tamaqua) earned Spanish 4 Gold Award in the Classroom Experience Category.
• Amelia Minzola (Drums), Olivia Bartholomew (Jim Thorpe), and Sandra Abdulrahman (Hazleton) earned Spanish 4 Honorable Mention Scholar Awards in the Classroom Experience Category.
• Daniella Vasquez (Hazleton) and Randy Zea (Hazleton) earned Spanish 4 Honorable Mention Scholar Awards in the Bilingual Category.
• Andrew Burns (White Haven) won the 2022 ACS Susquehanna Valley Local Section Outstanding High School Chemistry Student Award.
• Dustin Paul (Jim Thorpe) was presented with the 2022 MMI Ambassador Service Award for his dedication and longevity in the MMI Student Ambassador Program.

Best of the Best Assembly Winners were freshman Jason Roberts (Freeland) for his topic “Lucid Dreaming”, sophomore Diane Arias-Tejeda (Hazelton) for her topic “Bilingual in America”, and junior Jessica Zheng (Jim Thorpe) for her topic “Club Fair”. Each student demonstrated excellence in their speaking and presentation skills.

Students in 9th through 12th grade received subject awards, which are given to students who show outstanding contribution, achievement, and dedication to an individual subject. Winners are:

• Ninth Grade – Kendall Orozco, Zion Grove (English and Chinese), Alexander Composto, Freeland (History, Science, and Spanish), Xavier Bleiler, Mountain Top (Mathematics), and Joshua Witner, Freeland (Visual Arts).
• Tenth Grade – Caylee Herseim, Hazle Township (English), Nathaniel Neidlinger, Weatherly (History, Mathematics, and Chinese), Diane Arias-Tejeda, Hazleton (Science), and Angelica Jimenez, Hazleton (Spanish and Visual Arts).
• Eleventh Grade – Jillian McGeehin, Sugarloaf (English and Chinese), Jessica Zheng, Jim Thorpe (History, Science, and Spanish), Manal Muhammad, Mountain Top (Mathematics), and Ty McDermott (Visual Arts).
• Twelfth Grade Eckley B. Coxe Jr. Memorial Subject Award winners – Connor Spencer, Mountain Top (Chinese), Alexandra Tierney, Freeland (Visual Arts), Rachael Betz, Tamaqua (English, Mathematics, Science, History, and Spanish).

Other award winners are: Brenna Eckhart, Lehighton (George Eastman Kodak Young Leaders Award & Scholarship), Khristian Banks, Mountain Top (Bausch & Lomb Honorary Science Award). Jillian McGeehin, Sugarloaf (Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award in Humanities and Social Sciences), Caden Pease, Drums (Xerox Award for Innovation and Information Technology), Jessica Zheng, Jim Thorpe (The Rensselaer Medal Award & Scholarship), Erica Kline, Mountain Top (The Bryn Mawr President’s Book Award), Ava Putnam, Sugarloaf (Chatham University Rachel Carson Healthy Planet Award), Manal Muhammad, Mountain Top (University of Pennsylvania Book Award), Emely Lopez-Rodriquez, Hazleton (Elmira College key Award), Lucille van den Berg (Mountain Top) Rochester Institute of Technology Innovation and Creativity Award, Evelyn Lacombe, White Haven (Alfred University Outside of the Ordinary Award).

Several awards were given to multiple winners. Anden Karlick (Freeland) and Ty McDermott (White Haven) earned the Wells College 21st Century Leadership Award. Kate Malay (Jim Thorpe) and John Schwear (Sugarloaf) earned the Sage Colleges Student Recognition Nomination. Ashley Bonifacio (Hazleton), Jeffrey DeAngelo (Sugarloaf), Gianna Moisey-Hoover (Sugarloaf), and Kasia Svendson (Drums) were presented with the Wilkes University Emerging Leader Award.

Photo Caption: MMI honored the upper school Eckley B. Coxe Memorial Subject Award winners during its Upper School Awards Convocation. Pictured are, from left: Connor Spencer (Mountain Top), Alexandra Tierney (Freeland), Mr. Justin Kleinheider, Head of School, and Rachael Betz (Tamaqua).