Hats off to the Class of 2021!

 

Despite a year unlike any other, our Class of 2021 wrapped up their college careers successfully and graduated in both virtual and in-person ceremonies. Congratulations to our five graduates, all of whom are first-generation college graduates! 

 

CLASS OF 2021

Nicole Lara Granados – Mt. Holyoke College 

Genesis Lara Granados – Mt. Holyoke College 

Alexandra Limas – St. Lawrence University 

Mariela Mendoza – Bowdoin College 

Bianca Troche – St. Lawrence University 

 

 

It’s Never Quiet on the Placement Front 

 

As another school year comes to a close, we are thrilled to celebrate the many acceptances our college seniors and those applying to private schools received. All eight of our graduating seniors are headed to four-year colleges next year and three of them will continue their squash careers and suit up for their school’s varsity teams. Another seven students gained acceptance to private high schools, bringing CitySquash’s total of successful school placements to 105. Congratulations to all and we can’t wait tto follow you through your next chapters! 

 

COLLEGE PLACEMENT 

Elizabeth Barroso – Colby College 

Anthony Cruz – SUNY New Paltz

Roberto Cruz – SUNY Oswego 

Fatima Hernandez – Lehman College

Dalia Hipolito – Siena College 

Alan Lopez – Colby College 

Xitlaly Santos – Lehman College

Dainalee Velez – Bates College 

 

PRIVATE SCHOOL PLACEMENT

Ashanti Amastal – Loomis Chaffee School 

Jesus Fierro – Trinity-Pawling School

Randy Guzman – Berkshire School

David Paxtor – White Mountain School

Pablo Paxtor – Tabor Academy

Aaliyah Sampson – Kent School

James Vasquez – Indian Mountain School

 

 

Year-End Awards & Leadership Positions

 

Dainalee Velez was awarded the inaugural Casertano Cup at the Millbrook School Commencement ceremony. A special Commencement prize, the Caserano Cup is given for growth and perseverance in pursuit of the best self and the common good. 

 

Giselle Ciriaco was voted Student Body President at Suffield Academy for the 2021-2022 school year. A rising senior at Suffield, Giselle has served as Class President for the past two years. Giselle says she is “honored and excited to represent the Suffield student body” and wants to “focus on mental health awareness and being united.”

This year’s CitySquash Reads was based on Jonah Winters’s book “Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx”. The event was held on June 3^rd virtually, and team members from the Bronx and Brooklyn came together to discuss the book and engage in activities based off the book including jeopardy, crossword puzzles and a poem writing session.  Luke, an 8^th grade team member, said his favorite activity was “the jeopardy game because that’s when we got to go against each other to see who knows the book better” while Samantha, another 8^th grader, said “my favorite part of CitySquash reads was being able to interact with our friends in various ways!

 

Thank you to all who participated and helped make the event a success.

 

Starting this winter, as part of our Mentor Game Night series, a Baking Club for mentors and mentees was started. Mentors and mentees learned new recipes and fun facts about baking, such as the different kinds of flours and the difference between light and dark brown sugars. Team members received the ingredients they needed for each recipe so anyone could join to participate in the baking. Some of the favorite recipes we did were Ginger Bread Cookies, Oatmeal Raisins Cookies, and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Our most challenging recipe was Fudge Brownies. Thank you to all of the mentors who joined us. We had a great time connecting with you and your mentees while learning to bake together!

 

 

 

Three CitySquash team members were recognized as College Squash Association (CSA) Scholar Athletes for the 2020-2021 season (see list below). The Scholar-Athlete Award is given to varsity juniors or seniors who have earned at least two varsity letters, achieved a high academic standing with a GPA of 3.5 or above and would have been eligible to compete this season. Congratulations to Genesis, Nicole & Luigi for this achievement and their hard work throughout the school year! 

 

Genesis Lara Granados	Mount Holyoke College ’21
Nicole Lara Granados	Mount Holyoke College ‘21
Luigi Pasquariello	Connecticut College ’21

 

Photo Above: (L to R) Luigi Pasquariello, Genesis Lara Granados & Nicole Lara Granados

 

Another seven team members gained acceptances to private schools for the 2021-2022 school year. With these acceptances, CitySquash has had 105 successful school placements to selective independent schools since our founding. We are proud of the hard work this group put into their applications, and are excited to be sending students to Church Farm School and White Mountain School for the first time. The full list of school placements is as follows:

 

Randy Guzman	Berkshire School
Pablo Paxtor	Church Farm School
James Vasquez	Indian Mountain School
Aaliyah Sampson	Kent School
Ashanti Amastal	Loomis Chaffee School
Jesus Fierro	Trinity-Pawling School
David Paxtor	White Mountain School

 

Congratulations again to our accepted team members! We can’t wait to cheer you on as you begin this next chapter.

 

Photo Above: Aaliyah Sampson & James Vasquez showing off their acceptance letters! 

From October 5^th-10^th, we held our annual Black & Orange competition virtually. Usually a one-day event held at Fordham University, this year’s Black & Orange mixed virtual academic and athletic activities and challenges for team members and their families to complete on a daily basis, and culminated with World Squash Day!  Team members participated in the Facemask Challenge, Words Unscramble Challenge, Juggling, and Volleyball, among other activities. In celebration of World Squash Day, our closing challenges were “Hit Us with Your Best Trick Shot” & “Squashing It on World Squash Day,” where team members showed off their squash skills from home!  At the end of the week, Team Black came out on top and took the win with 1160 points! Congratulations to Team Black and thank you to everyone who participated and made the most of this year’s virtual format! To see more photos and videos from the week, check out our Instagram page (@CitySquash).

 

Elementary school team member Jhonny masked up with his stuffed animals at home to complete the Facemask Challenge!

 

Six CitySquash team members earned the US Squash Scholar Athlete Award for the 2019-2020 academic year (see list below). The Scholar Athlete Award recognizes high school students who have excelled in the classroom by maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher throughout the year, and on court by playing in at least three US Squash accredited tournaments. Caleb and Giselle were both recognized as Scholar Athletes for the second year in a row, while Alan, Elizabeth, Madalein and Sachary earned this recognition for the first time. Congratulations to our six Scholar Athletes for their hard work throughout the school year!

 

Madalein Amoako	Episcopal High School ’22
Elizabeth Barroso	Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics ’20
Caleb Boateng	Brunswick School ’22
Giselle Ciriaco	Suffield Academy ’22
Alan Lopez	Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics ’20
Sachary Rodriguez	Celia Cruz High School for Music ’23

 

Photo Above: Top Row (L-R): Elizabeth Barroso, Sachary Rodriguez, Caleb Boateng, Giselle Ciriaco; Bottom Row (L-R): Madalein Amoako, Alan Lopez

 

Extracurricular clubs have become a staple of CitySquash’s normal programming, and clubs offered have included Art Club, Music Club, Game Club and more. When CitySquash transitioned to virtual programming as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, two of our dedicated mentors, Stephanie & Ali Butera, came up with a plan to continue offering clubs to CitySquash team members virtually! With the help of Ali and Stephanie, mentors to Malika (7^th grade) and Stephany (6^th grade) respectively, we have been able to add Activity Club to our weekly schedule, and continue to provide team members with a creative outlet during this difficult time. Stephanie & Ali help plan easy, arts-based DIY projects on a weekly basis that require very few materials so all team members can participate at home. Projects have included making fortune-tellers and origami figures. A portion of Activity Club is also dedicated to thanking those working on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis. Students have written thank you letters to workers at City Meals on Wheels who are continuing to deliver food to the elderly, and to doctors and nurses at Jacobi Medical Center. See below for photos from Activity Club and a huge thanks to Stephanie & Ali Butera for making Activity Club possible!

 

Photo Above: Rodrigo tries on his new mask! 

 

 

Nicole shows off her fortune-tellers!

 

3^rd grader, Brianna, focuses while writing a thank you note to a doctor at Jacobi Medical Center!

 

The weekend of March 6th-8th, 70 CitySquash team members traveled to New Haven to compete in the SEA  Team Nationals, held at Yale University and Choate Rosemary Hall. Organized annually by the Squash + Education Alliance, the tournament brings together programs from across the country. After an exciting weekend of match play, the CitySquash team advanced to the 4 out of the 5 championship finals, and ultimately took home 3 championship titles. 

 

Congratulations to our Elementary School Team, our Middle School Boys Team and our High School Boys Team for bringing CitySquash’s tally of SEA National Titles to 110. We are also proud of 8th grade team member, Jasmine Rodriguez, who won the Middle School Academic Contest for her essay on how squash has impacted her life. 

 

If you would like to see more photos from CitySquash from SEA Team Nationals, please Click Here. 

 

Pictured above: The High School Boys Team (L to R) of Yoskart, Alan, Alex, Jesse, and Caleb was all smiles after defeating StreetSquash 4-1 in the Championship Final!

 

CitySquash’s Elementary School Team took home top honors for the second consecutive year. 

 

CitySquash’s boarding school students traveled home to compete in the tournament for the first time! Brianna (Rectory School ’20) and Angelina (Loomis Chaffee ’23) caught up with Bronx teammate Dalia between matches.

 

The winning Middle School Boys Team was coached throughout the weekend by CitySquash alum Will Pante, who will graduate from Fordham University later this spring. 

 

Middle School team member Jasmine with her Academic Contest trophy! 

 

The Middle School Girls’ Finalist Team (L to R) of Ashley, Diana, Ariana, Chasity and Stephany fought hard throughout the weekend!

Our team members had a busy month of squash in February, training for and competing in Middle School Team Nationals in New Haven, CT and High School Team Nationals in Hartford, CT. Ten players traveled to New Haven to represent CitySquash and partner school, MS 45 at Middle School Teams. Our Middle School Boys Team finished 2^nd in Division III and our Middle School Girls Team finished 4^th in Division II. Both results were some of our best in recent years at Middle School Teams and we are proud to have had four players who went undefeated throughout the tournament weekend.

 

A total of 31 CitySquash team members competed in High School Nationals just a few weekends later. Fifteen of CitySquash’s boarding school students were in attendance playing for their schools’ varsity teams, and CitySquash had a boys and girls team representing our local partner high school in the Bronx, Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics. Congratulations to Millbrook junior Dainalee who helped her team capture the Division V Title and Mercersburg senior, Alex, and Loomis Chaffee freshman, Angelina, who helped their respective teams finish 2^nd in Division V.

 

Congratulations to all of our team members for their effort and sportsmanship throughout these tournaments weekend, and thanks to all who helped make the weekends possible, including our generous tournament hosts!