Deerfield High School Class of 2022

Graduates in Class of 2022: 420

Graduation ceremony: Wednesday, May 25, at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.

Class Speaker: Jonah Simon

Class Marshals: Simone Orleans and Max Kaufman

National Merit Finalists: Annaliese Choi, Jeremy Chung, Ally Geren, Varun Goel, Daniel Guller, Aishwarya Kuzhiyil, Timothy Nagel, Celeste Rodriguez, Jessica Shade, Jonah Simon, Varun Goel.

U.S. Presidential Scholar Semifinalist and Coca-Cola Scholars Regional Finalist: Varun Goel

Extracurricular achievements:

• Jack Gordon - National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Chicago/Midwest Chapter)

• Student Production Awards - Crystal Pillar, Arts & Entertainment/Cultural Affairs; Midwest Media Educators Association Annual High School Video Festival, Commercial - 5th Place, Comedic Narrative - 5th Place, News Program - 5th Place

• William Love - National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Chicago/Midwest Chapter) Student Production Awards - Crystal Pillar, Public Affairs/Community Service; Midwest Media Educators Association Annual High School Video Festival, Documentary - 4th Place

• Sam Brody-Goldberg - Midwest Media Educators Association Annual High School Video Festival, Natural Audio News Package - 2nd Place; Dramatic Narrative - 3rd Place; News Program - 5th Place; Cinematography - 3rd Place

• Cole Bernstein - Midwest Media Educators Association Annual High School Video Festival, Dramatic Narrative - 3rd Place; News Program - 5th Place

• Aidan Culver - Midwest Media Educators Association Annual High School Video Festival, Dramatic Narrative - 3rd Place

• Riley Schimanski - Midwest Media Educators Association Annual High School Video Festival, News Program - 5th Place

• David Fisher - Midwest Media Educators Association Annual High School Video Festival. News Program - 5th Place

• Ari Eisenberg: DECA National Qualifier - Third place: Written Event - Innovation Plan

• Jessie Peck: DECA National Qualifier - First Place: Apparel and Accessories Marketing

• Varun Goel: DECA National Qualifier - Third place: Written Event - Innovation Plan

• Jonah Satyr: DECA National Qualifier - Third place: Written Event - Innovation Plan

• Madeline Trella: EIU Academic Challenge State Championship - 2nd Place Biology

• Varun Goel: EIU Academic Challenge State Championship - 3rd Place Chemistry

• Tim Nagel: EIU Academic Challenge State Championship - 4th Place English

• Juliet Simon: Broadway In Chicago Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards - Best Actress Nominee (Fiddler on the Roof)

• Model UN: 34th Annual University of Chicago MUNUC Conference - Outstanding Large Delegation

• EIU Academic Challenge State Championship - Team 5th Place

• Robotics: Illinois FTC Championship Tournament (Cog Champ Team 15118) Semifinalist and 1st Place Design Award

• School Chest (Annual Student-Led Charity Event): Raised $105,921.35 for the 2022 Beneficiary - Paws for Patrick

Athletic achievements:

• Lucas Moskovitz: Boys Cross Country State Championship - 10th Place

• Cole Bernstein, Ryan Bernstein, Eric Lakemaker, Evan Morris, Lucas Moskovitz - Boys Track and Field Indoor Championship - 4x800m Relay 2nd Place

• Ben Shvartsman: Wrestling Individual State Championship - 1st Place

• Kai Neumark: Wrestling Individual State Championship - 2nd Place

• Lucio Morgan: Wrestling Individual State Championship - 5th Place

• Stamos Tsakiris: Wrestling Individual State Championship - 6th Place

• Allison Lee: Girls Tennis State Championship Qualifier

• Madeline Trella: Girls Cross Country State Championship Qualifier

• Ava Turner: Girls Diving State Championship Qualifier

• Jakob Lipp: Boys Bowling State Championship Qualifier

• Hannah Agins: Girls Gymnastics State Championship - Vault -12th Place

• Sam Morris: Boys Diving State Championship Qualifier

• Matt Borovik: Boys Swimming State Championship Qualifier 100-yard Breaststroke

• Boys Cross Country Team State Championship - 2nd Place

• Dance Team State Championship - 7th Place

• Wrestling Team State Championship - 2nd Place

• Girls Tennis State Championship - 5th Place Team Overall

Theater productions:

• "Antigone"

• "Noises Off"

• "Fiddler on the Roof"

• "Heathers"

What challenges did the Class of 2022 face as they returned to in-person school full time, and how did they overcome them:

Typically, our students have experienced three years of in-person learning and extracurricular before taking on leadership roles within the school. Despite having only one full year of in-person, during their freshman year, our seniors did an extraordinary job of taking on new leadership roles, making adjustments due to the pandemic, and creating new traditions and ways of doing things.

Principal's reflections on the Class of 2022: The Class of 2022 exhibited tremendous fortitude and tenacity throughout their high school career, not only as they navigated the global pandemic, but also as they continued their academic pursuits and extracurricular activities. Despite an atypical experience in high school, our students still persevered to become mentors to our incoming freshmen, leaders in the classroom and in extracurriculars, nationally recognized scholars, state champions, and much more. Furthermore, despite the serious individual challenges each student faced as a result of the pandemic, our students STILL continued to focus on ways to support one another in the school and local community. This year, our students led our annual charity drive to raise more than $100,000 for Paws for Patrick; hosted the annual Genocide Commemoration Day to honor the memory of victims and survivors of genocides and providing education about genocide, mass atrocities and hate crimes in all their forms; and the annual Jam for Justice event benefiting UNICEF for Ukrainian refugee relief. On behalf of the staff at Deerfield High School, congratulations to the Class of 2022 - dream big and continue to make an extraordinary impact on the lives of others.

- Principal Kathryn Anderson