West Hartford Students Inducted Into Loomis Chaffee Cum Laude Society

Submitted by Loomis Chaffee School.

Loomis Chaffee School has announced that four West Hartford residents have been inducted into the Cum Laude Society. They are Loomis Chaffee seniors David Calafiore, Anne Ferreira, Katherine Fotos, and John Macdonald.

Loomis Chaffee students with the highest academic standing in the senior class are honored each year with induction into the prestigious Cum Laude Society. On April 26, 44 students were honored for their academic achievements during their junior and senior years at a special convocation as fellow students, teachers, and families applauded their accomplishments.

Young scholars at Loomis Chaffee and in secondary schools across the United States, Europe, and Asia are elected to the society each year. Incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1906, the Cum Laude Society's purpose is to promote learning and sound scholarship in secondary schools - a mission it seeks to accomplish through its recognition and honoring of academic excellence at the secondary level.

The honored speaker for the convocation was mathematics and philosophy teacher and legendary debate coach Curtis Robison, who used the school theme for the year, "Doing the Right Thing," as the basis for his in-depth talk on morality and the dilemma of "Why Be Moral?"

"Each of us must choose what kind of person we want to be," he stated. "It is the ultimate decision and affects the choices we make on a daily basis."

The Loomis Chaffee School, located in historic Windsor, Connecticut, is an internationally recognized college preparatory school for grades 9-12 that fosters critical thinking and a global perspective in talented students from around the state, the country and the world. Since 1914, the school has offered educational opportunities for boys and girls regardless of religious or political beliefs, national origin, or financial resources. Academically challenging, the school promotes active learning within a respectful and civil community. This year, Loomis Chaffee awarded $7.7 million in financial aid to 34 percent of the student body. The school's 650 students represent 31 countries and 30 U.S. states.