Benjamin Franklin High School Graduates 237 Members of the Class of 2022

Benjamin Franklin High School Graduates 237 Members of the Class of 2022NEW ORLEANS (May 23, 2022) – Benjamin Franklin High School held its annual graduation ceremony on Monday, May 23, at 4 p.m. at UNO Lakefront Arena.

“We are honored to have played a role in launching these 237 exemplary students into the world beyond high school,” said Head of School Dr. Patrick Widhalm. “We can’t wait to see what they will do in the coming years, and we know they will make us proud as alumni.”Our valedictorian is Anita Rose Zahiri, the daughter of Kavin and Mojgan Zahiri and sister of Keyana Zahiri ’19. While at BFHS, Anita served as president of HOSA – Future Health Professionals, Mu Alpha Theta, Key Club, and Academic Games and captain of the swim team. She also has been active in National Honor Society, Science Olympiad, From Student to Scientist, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans, Amnesty International, SWENext, and the DEI Committee. A National Merit Scholar, Jack Kent Cooke Scholar, Elks National Most Valuable Student Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, Regeneron ISEF Finalist, and Presidential Scholar Semifinalist, Anita was named 2022 Louisiana High School Student of the Year. In the fall, she will attend Brown University in the Program in Liberal Medical Education, or PLME, where she earned dual acceptance to Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She plans to double major in computational biology and applied mathematics-computer science.

Our salutatorian is Jennifer Anh Tran, the daughter of Dau and Jonathan Tran. She is the president of Interact Club and active in student government and National Honor Society, as well as Asian Pacific Club and Mu Alpha Theta. She has served as a peer tutor for all four years at Franklin, even tutoring on Zoom during the pandemic. She was awarded the Peter A. Waring Scholarship Award through the Rotary Club and is a National Merit Finalist and an AP Scholar with Distinction. Next year, she will attend New York University’s College of Arts and Science Presidential Honors Scholars Program, where she plans to study biology on the pre-health track, along with a minor in a creative field through NYU’s Open Arts Program. Jennifer is also the winner of the 2022 Key Award, the award given to the graduating senior who best exemplifies the life of Benjamin Franklin and our core values of honor, service, justice, and wisdom.
A full list of our graduates is below:

Summa Cum Laude (4.0 and above): Annabel Allen, Alejah Andrews, Anamaria Bao-Loc-Trung, Bella Berckes, Trey Bowen, Kimvy Bui, Sarah Christopher, Hieu Chu, Fiona Collins, Anderson Cox, Cosima Curran, Ricky Dao, Bjorn Dearie de Oliveira, Chloe Deitelzweig, Esenia Delgadillo, Itohan Dennar, Jacey Denny, Delphine Dop, Liyah Ernest, Annabel Ewing, Majdi Farhoud, Ian Faul, Henry Fitzgerald, Jay Garcia, Amani Garrison, Courtney Gill, Alexandra Givens, Autumn Grieb, John Hammett, Ellington Hemphill, Sydney Hill, Ryan Hoang, Christian Hoffmeister, Norman Hughes Jr., Effie Inglefield, Sahana Jaligam, Hannah Johnson, Sydney Jones, Christian Jordan, Aurora Juarez Lopez, Miles Katzen, Onyx Kennedy, Iris Kobrock, Zoe Kolenovsky, Clara Kreutziger, Ethan Le, Elizabeth Lottinger, Mia Luquet, Paul Mai, Andrew Mazier, Troy Meredith, Ella Michna, Colette Minor, Anna Mobley, Andy Nguyen, Christina Nguyen, Dominic Nguyen, Jason-Trung Nguyen, Madeleine Nguyen, Thuy-Van Nguyen, Robert Nogueira, Cecelia Occhipinti, Logan Palmer, Joseph Pham, Audrey Phillips, Kaia Pobocik, Elise Poché, Kristian Prevost, Ingrid Roberson, Kayla Robertson, Tierney Saltzman, Clare Sanders, Felix Schafer, Claire Schmit, Camila Sequeira Zavala, Claudia Simeone, Wiktoria Sobera, Angela Tran, Christina Tran, Christine Tran, Daniel Tran, Hanh Tran, Hannah Tran, John Tran, My Ky Tran, Nina Tran, Ryan Ho Tran, Helena Usey, Priya Valipe, Claire Vogel, Johnny Vu, Alex Wang, Jaime Welsh, Jordan Williams, Micah Wolfson, Alinna Xue, and James Zink

Magna Cum Laude (3.5 – 3.9): Aidan Adler, Justine Allen, Lillian Apffel, Kyle Ayres, Tyrone Bartholomew, Bailey Barton, Johnathan Bordenave, Taelyn Boyd, Cook Brown, Lauryn Brown, Aidan Carney, Chloe Chin, Anthony Clawson, London Cooper, Jalen Crittendon, Grace Delpit, Charlotte Dimitri, Andy Do, Emily Do, Jackson Downey, Fallon Emmer, Darian Eugene, Henry Francis III, Mia Geauthreaux, Julia Gelpi, Hanni Gerowin, Kush-Amen Hamilton-Ned, Larry Honeywood III, Emani Hood, Muhammad Hoque, Julian Huddell, Isaac Jacobs, Amelie Karas, Braylynn King, Roxanne Klumpp, Caroline Laderer, Vinh Le, Olivia Lemond, Isabella Lopéz, Mary Lynch, Christiana Magee, Leilah McCallister, Quinn McKay, Stoney McKnight, Aidan McNamara, Maya Meister, Juliette Montz, Sanaii Moore, Robert Moreau IV, Benjamin Myers, Alex Nguyen, Alicia Nguyen, Emily Nguyen, Gabrielle Nguyen, John Nguyen, Khiem Nguyen, Minh-Hieu Nguyen, Sophina Nichols, Ava Nicol, June Olivier, Catherine Osterfeld, Solveigh Perrilliat, Janisha Peters, Reagan Peters-Roussell, Ethan Powell, Zoe Primm, Matthew Quirk, Adel Rahman, Riya Roberts, Paisley Rooney, Abdellatif Salem, Kennedie Smith, Myana Smith, Caleb Soria, Mollie Terrill, Elizabeth Tran, Ryan Tin Tran, Carly Vu, Dylan Vu, Jada Washington, Abigail Welch, Simon Whatley, Tamia Williams, and Sasha WoodsAll other 2022 graduates: Eli Barron, Shelby Bennette, Tahj Bourgeois, Luka Brekalo, Anthony Bui, Liv Burkhardt, Bailei Butler, Nolan Butler, Roberto Carcamo, Tristan Carter Jr., Zoë Carter, Allan Chavez Almazan, Dylan Clementine, Jarvin Coleman, Tane Dearie de Oliveira, Kayla Do, Victor  Dominguez, Lauryn Duckworth, Noelle Fan-Brinson, Zaire Freemon, Nicholas Gonzalez, Parker Gopaul, Gavin Graves, Angelique Harris, Caleb Harris, Alex Herzog, Brett Katner, Keegan, Aolani Lancelin, Jodi Ledesma, Kashys Lyons, Ronald Markham III, Vitoria Mbeky, Zaire Moore, Anthony Nguyen, Dan Nguyen, Shawna Nguyen, Carmen Pedesclaux, Clara Pierce, Nylah Quillens, Ily Rae, Nikolai Raeder, Christian Randolph, Behrens Richeson, Bernard Robertson IV, Nathan Rogers, Kyle Vaccaro, Kayla Venson, Vivian Vo, Michelle Vu, Paris Washington, Antone Westbrook, John Wetzel, and Xavier Williams For more information, please contact Eve Peyton at (504) 503-0062 or  epeyton@bfhsla.org.About Benjamin Franklin High SchoolBenjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans’ most outstanding public charter school, has been preparing students for success through academic  achievement since its founding in 1957. Consistently ranked as a “top public  high school in the nation” by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, and Business  Week, Ben Franklin is repeatedly named a National Blue Ribbon School, most recently in 2021, and produces Presidential and National Merit Scholars each year. The exceptional students,  faculty, and staff at Ben Franklin are the best and the brightest in New Orleans. For more information, please visit bfhsla.org.