April 18, 2006

THIRTEEN STUDENTS NAMED CUM LAUDE AT MOORESTOWN FRIENDS

MOORESTOWN, NJ – Thirteen Moorestown Friends students will be inducted into the Cum Laude Society, a national honor society for academically challenging independent schools.

The thirteen include seniors Caitlin Baiada of Moorestown, Danielle Chung of Moorestown, David Fischer of Cherry Hill, Nathan Harper of Port Republic, Benjamin Jones of Mount Holly, and Alexandra Stark of Moorestown.

Juniors selected for the honor are David Bankes of Mount Holly, Andrew Bernard of Merchantville, Sanjay Bhatt of Medford, Anthony Cordisco of Moorestown, Laurien Gilbert of Mount Laurel, Alexander Levy of Voorhees and David Sheffield of Mount Laurel.

Named to the Cum Laude Society last year were current seniors Ashley Alter of Collingswood, Allison Bernard of Merchantville, Greg Guthe of Moorestown, Ted Kreider of Moorestown, Ryan Mulligan of Westampton, Nina Schuchman of Mount Laurel and Ben Spielberg of Westmont.

Students are selected for membership based on their cumulative record of academic excellence in all subject areas. No more than 20 percent of a school’s senior class may be selected, with no more than 10 percent chosen during their junior year. Moorestown Friends received its Cum Laude charter in 1962.

The students will be honored at a May 9 dinner during which the speakers will be two members of the Class of 1997 who founded the Upper School’s Agenda Committee – the group that leads Moorestown Friends’ student government, which is conducted according to Quaker practices. Speaking will be Megan Parrington, now performance manager for the city of Philadelphia’s Office of Adult Services, and Sarah Weiss, a therapist and research coordinator at the Penn School of Medicine Center for Studies of Addiction.

Parrington is responsible for the development of an innovative performance management system for all city homeless and housing services. She is a graduate of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., where she majored in English Literature, with a minor in sociology. While there, she was elected to the national honors society Alpha Kappa Delta.

Parrington went on to earn a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania. During her studies there, she was an intern social worker at Philadelphia's Northeast High School and later with Philadelphia's Office of Emergency Shelter and Services. Prior to attending Penn, she worked in London at the national headquarters of the Carr-Gomm Society, a provider of social housing across the United Kingdom. She is a resident of Philadelphia.

Weiss’s main professional interests are addictions and the criminal justice system.  She has extensive clinical and research experience. She is a graduate of Muhlenberg College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and graduated on the Dean’s List. As an undergraduate, she was a four- year varsity defensive lacrosse player, both winning the “Player’s Player Award” her senior year and serving as captain of the team.  She also served on the student athletic advisory committee and organized sports and social activities for her sorority.

Weiss went on to earn a master’s of science degree in counseling and clinical health psychology from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She now is pursuing a Ph.D. in criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a resident of Ardmore, Pa.