The Du Bois Award is one of the highest honors at Boston Prep, awarded each week to one deserving student in front of the entire school community. Named after W. E. B. Du Bois, the award recognizes a student who embodies the core virtues of Boston Prep -- courage, compassion, integrity, perseverance, and respect. The award is an opportunity to highlight students who have shown high levels of academic achievement or growth along with a high level of character development. In essence, Du Bois Award winners are students who embody the mission of Boston Prep.
Every Boston Prep teacher has the privilege of presenting the Du Bois Award one time each year. As such, the selection of a student to honor is not taken lightly. Meet our recent Du Bois winners through excerpts of the speeches teachers gave while honoring them in front of the school community.
Aaron Nobles, Grade 7 - Honored by Ms. Tempesta, Ms. Edouard, and Ms. O'Dell
"This student has an incredible level of integrity. He is thoughtful in his responses in class and demonstrates an academic ability at the top of his class. He speaks volumes with his actions and effort. The best part about this student is that he is 100% himself all of the time, regardless if he knows people are watching or not."
Dyfan Plasival, Grade 10 - Honored by Mr. Peterson & Mr. Martin
"This week’s recipient possesses a mindset and orientation in life toward seeing what’s good and what’s possible in others. And in himself too. He also possesses other strong traits, such as a willingness to work hard, an honest curiosity about learning, a desire to improve, and a self-deprecating sense of humor. All of those traits exhibit someone who is open to learning and to self-improvement. And a critical part of that openness is how inviting and infectious it is for others to be in his company."
Luis Amezquita, Grade 8 - Honored by Ms. Torrey & Mr. Harvey
"Finally, we wanted to share an excerpt of this student’s own words taken from his ethics roundtable, which he will be defending next week: ‘Since my first day at Boston Prep, I have grown and changed because I went from being a kid who hated and never cared about school and cared about video games and doing what I wanted, to a young man that wants to do something with his life and change society while caring about education for me and for others as well.’"
Dayanka Augustin, Grade 10 - Honored by Ms. Gentile
"This student’s story is truly one of consistency. When I taught her in 6th grade, she was barely coming into herself. You know what I mean, right? Those first months of sixth grade where everyone is bigger than you and you’re trying to make sure you don’t earn demerits by doing the wrong thing? Or embarrass yourself in front of a high schooler? Math didn’t come easy to her, but I remember her efforts to reach out, ask for help, and keep persevering through new material. In the five years since I’ve taught her, she has consistently had a yearly average that ranges between a 75 and an 80, but she has worked her tail off for that."