Jump to content

List of Commonwealth School awards

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ThinkingInBinary (talk | contribs) at 21:14, 13 October 2005. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The following is a list of awards traditionally presented by seniors at the Commonwealth School on the last day of school. It is important to note that these are UNOFFICIAL awards created, given out, and received by students! The administration did not create them, and should not be held responsible for them.

Each award is presented by the senior who had won that same award in a previous year. Who to give their awards to is entirely up to the award bearer, though the opinion of friends is usually asked. Leadership roles in school groups such as Commonwealth Cares are ceremonially passed on as awards and sometimes new awards are given out. Note that not every award is given out every year because some years there is no senior with the award to give out.

Exploding Apple

The exploding apple is given annually to the most well adjusted new sophomore. There were traditionally many new sophomores as many local middle schools ended in 9th grade. Because most of these schools have switched to a middle school system ending with 8th system, the competitors for the smashed apple have become few. The receiving sophomore is given a hammer and an apple and gets to try their best to kill the apple. As good hand-eye coordination is rare among Commonwealth School students, the apple is usually missed on the first few tries.

Flaming Banana

The flaming banana is given annually to the most original freshman. The banana is stuck on a skewer set on fire, usually with great difficulty. After it has been dunked in water, the recipient traditionally takes a bite of the extinguished banana, peel and all.

  • 1999: Lele Yu and Liz Dresner
  • 2000: William Collis
  • 2001: Athena Sasaki
  • 2002: Alex George
  • 2003: Wesley Morgan
  • 2004: Garrison Inge
  • 2005: Sam Davis

Dead Bunny

The dead bunny award is for the most disgustingly cuddly couple. The award is a stuffed animal bunny. The official origin of the award is a passage in Wuthering Heights in which a character sees a pile of small furry animals on a chair and remarks on how cute all the cuddly puppies are sleeping together. At this point the animals are revealed to be not puppies but dead rabbits. The term may or may not be related to the old pregnancy test, described in rabbits in culture and literature.

  • 2000: Midori Gleason and Jon Myers
  • 2001: Jon Myers and Cara Bayles
  • 2002: Jeff Kaufman and Micheline Heal
  • 2003: Josh Hasselkorn and Emily Kan
  • 2004: Tanner Tillotson and Rachel Pavia
  • 2005: Not awarded. Joshua Hasselkorn stated that the couple had "gone overboard" in their affection. The "orb of love" for the "most tastefully affectionate couple" was given instead to the married English teachers, Eric Davis and Judith Siporin. Davis and Siporin previously received the award in the mid 1990's.

David Pfau Memorial

The David Pfau Memorial Award was created in 2002 by Chris Edley "in an altered state of consciousness." Every year, it is given to the junior who most resembles David Pfau, a student, in the spring of 2002, his junior year. David Pfau was, not surprisingly, the first recipient. The award itself is a paper plate with the title scrawled upon it. Also, if the recipient wears glasses, his/her glasses are removed before the awards and given back as a "prize."

Attention Whore

Created in 2001, this award offers a rhinestone-covered hat as a prize. It was decorated with glittery glue, but that came off in the washing machine. Nominees each stand in a different corner of the assembly hall and do something to seek attention; whomever has the most people looking at them at the end of a certain time gets the prize.

Cherry Pop Tart

Given to the best dressed sophomore virgin. It is also an implicit part of the award that the recipient is expected to soon lose his/her virginity. This award was thought to have been banned by the administration as "inappropriate", though it is apparently still given out.

Best Dressed Freshman

This award goes to the freshman with the best inner sense of style. Note that an excellent inner sense of fasion does not always translate into an excellent outer sense. The award is a flannel shirt.

Most Under-appreciated Junior

This award is a roll of toilet paper on a stick, given for reasons clear from the title.

  • 2000 : Dave Diamante
  • 2001 : Ed Lessard
  • 2002 : Ihor Yaskiw
  • 2003 : James Palmer
  • 2004 : Roswell Thomas
  • 2005 : Norris Wong

First Freshman Couple

As soon as the first freshman couple becomes known to the sophomores, the two sophomores who were the previous year's FFC present their successors at announcements.

  • Class of 2003: Jon Corey & Sola Hafthorsdottir
  • Class of 2004: Will DeSmit & Bethany Corcoran
  • Class of 2005: Johan Janesch & Suzanne Hatfield and Emily Kan & Rostam Mothaseda
  • Class of 2006: Thomas Wickersham & Rebecca Kennedy
  • Class of 2007: Eric Hanss & Kate Harrington-Rosen
  • Class of 2008: Maxwell Ehrman & Bryndis Hafthorsdottir
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Commonwealth_School_awards&oldid=25458312"