GCC honors 22 outstanding high school students in ACE program
Photo courtesy of GCC – Genesee Community College honored the following high school students in GCC’s Advanced Studies program: First row, from left: Emma Snyder, Emily Radford, Taylor DeSimone, Erin Tiede, Abigail Bleier and Megan Saile. Second row: Theodore Benjovsky, Daniel Kocher, Tania Arellano, Trevor Noon and Dylan Servos. Third row: Victoria Giglia and Megan Bullard.
Press Release, GCC
BATAVIA – Genesee Community College honored 22 high students from across Western New York as finalists for Outstanding Scholar Awards in GCC’s Advanced Studies program.
The awardees were honored at a ceremony and reception in the Stuart Steiner Theatre at Genesee’s Batavia campus.
Advanced Studies is part of the College’s ACE program, or Accelerated College Enrollment, and allows high school students the opportunity to earn college credit from Genesee while attending class within their high school.
High school teachers approved as Genesee adjunct faculty teach all Advanced Studies courses. Some of the most enterprising young students earn enough transferable Advanced Studies credit to enter their first year of college as sophomores.
This year’s Outstanding Scholars Award program featured a keynote address by Tim Tomczak, GCC’s professor of psychology and the director of the GCC’s Social Sciences department. He is a two-time SUNY Chancellor’s Award winner.
In his address to the ACE scholars, Professor Tomczak discussed his experiences and struggles in finding a path in life. Despite a discouraging start to his education as a young boy, he found his niche through the help of a concerned guidance counselor who found him an opportunity to take some college courses while in high school.
“I was one of the original ‘ACE’ students,” he said. “I liked college so much that I wanted to find a job that would let me stay there for the rest of my career.”
His address encouraged students to “keep being scholars – individuals who are passionate about learning new things and taking their thinking to higher levels.”
The 22 finalists were selected from more than 165 nominations in the five subject areas of mathematics, science, social science, foreign language and English. As in years past, a committee of academic professionals from GCC selected the following award winners, listed by school within their subject areas:
ENGLISH
Abigail Bleier, Notre Dame; Emma Snyder, Keshequa; Gabriella Giunta, Gates-Chili; Emily Radford, Holley; and Madhuri Vihani, Attica.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Austin Morgan, Pioneer; Hannah Smart, Pavilion; Tania Arellano, Kendall; and Alexandria Barber, Letchworth.
MATHEMATICS
Daniel Kocher, Alden; Olivia Marchese, Notre Dame; Jack Mann, Keshequa; Theodore Benjovsky, Albion; and Michael Safford, Perry.
SCIENCE
Dylan Servos, Alden; Abigail Bleier, Notre Dame; Megan Bullard, Caledonia-Mumford; Taylor DeSimone, Holley; and Erin Tiede, Warsaw.
SOCIAL SCIENCE
Victoria Giglia, Alden; Megan Saile, Batavia; Megan Bullard, Caledonia-Mumford; Trevor Noon, Newfane; Taylor DeSimone, Holley; and Sierra Greene, Letchworth.
