“Dewey has such a welcoming atmosphere — helping me experience the ‘True New York’ with these unique people that I’ve met in this school,” said senior Mirali Hajiyev.
He isn’t the only one to think this way; many of our students of Dewey share similar sentiments on how Dewey shaped their perspective of the world we live in, especially our Class of 2025.
The Class of 2025, with its wealth of experience, is among the best minds who can enrich the Dewey experience, whether through action, discussion, or other means.
Their effects are among what made this year have some of the best school wide events, club highlights, and general impact throughout the Dewey community.
The Class of 2025 has consistently shown dedication to fostering a strong, supportive school community. Even before the start of their final year, many seniors volunteered for Dewey’s Summer Bridge program — a welcoming initiative for incoming students to get acquainted with the school.
Our seniors proudly took the lead, guiding tours, sharing personal experiences, and showcasing opportunities available at Dewey. As Tour Guide and JDHS junior Louis Savino puts it, “It was a fun experience to show these kids what Dewey offers, alongside the generous seniors, juniors, and others who demonstrated the uniqueness and collaboration of Dewey altogether”.
This spirit of connectivity and inclusivity is noted, as our senior brothers are taking part in this event alongside our younger classmates, being a critical element that the Class of 2025 will leave behind.
In addition, throughout the year, several seniors have taken initiative by leading peer mentoring sessions, academic workshops, and student panels that fostered dialogue across grade levels.
This was especially evident in programs like SEAL (Social Emotional Advisory & Leadership), where seniors, alongside juniors, “built community through bi-weekly outreach sessions where they would go to freshman classrooms with a stated objective: to keep students on track for graduation.
They would cover important topics like decision-making skills and other key topics that often derail freshmen. . . For all seniors on my roster currently, they’ve been in the program for two years, they have so much experience with them, and they are definitely handing off some of those skills. Next year, I plan to design a more formal role for seniors that directly involves mentoring the younger SEAL members, in addition to their duties for Dewey freshmen,” said SEAL Advisor Mr. Pagano.
Senior Zainab Amir (In Blue Sweater & Light Gray/White Pants) facilitates amongst her peer SEAL partner to orchestrate what will be a blind-folded duel where the two people will rely on instructions from their team in order to ‘tag’ out the other person. Exemplifying the importance of collaboration amongst these freshmen, for whatever future scenarios.
This just goes to show how dedicated some of the seniors of 2025 are with their persistent presence and leadership, which have helped foster an interconnected school environment. Taking not just into consideration their experience here at Dewey, but rather topics in which they could apply in future scenarios they may face. This all is leading to a more nuanced and connected future for these younger classmen—a legacy that will continue to inspire Dewey, even after graduation.
While the realm of Dewey events certainly has fostered a sense of culture and community amongst seniors, there are second to the places where seniors reside the most: the auditorium, the workshops, and the playing field.
Within sports, the boy’s table tennis team with their phenomenal season record of 10-0 in competition, and with their senior bidding farewell, they have began efforts like no other to foster the team “My seniors . . . . Muhammed Sidyan & Saimonayi . . . are definitely among the most helpful, one of them has 4 years [Muhammed] under his belt and acts like another mentor for me, teaching the younger players, the other one [Saimonayi] has only been here for a year and has made themselves into a solid role model for other students to look towards”- said Boys Table Tennis Coach Mr. Gross.
It is evident that his seniors, although small in numbers, are part of some of the greatest contributions, leading the next generation of table tennis players and setting the etiquette of playing sports in general.
The Dewey Robotics Team, with a considerable senior population, qualified this year from the NYC Regional, here in the city, and went to Houston, where they then competed in the Johnson Division. Even so, beyond the realm of competition, senior members have taken it upon themselves to demonstrate the wonders of robotics and STEM to their younger peers and the local community, alongside old and new help.
Cody Tan and Matthew Deng (Seniors in Black Shirts) are explaining the functions of the prior years’ F.R.C. robot (2023-2024) HAMMERHEAD to our to-be freshman applicants during a SummerBridge, one of the ways that the class of 2025 facilitated within their school community.
“I love going to middle schools [in the form of outreach sessions, one of the ways that JDHS Robotics makes connections with local schools/neighborhoods] where we show the key what Robotics is all about, . . . and I want to thank Matthew[Senior Robotics Member, Matthew Deng] for showing me how much events like these, mean so much to them[middle schoolers, parents, and other impacted individuals]. ” – said freshman and robotics club member Christopher Accurso.
Reflection like these serves as proof that these efforts resonate far beyond the classroom or competition field, forming lasting impressions on future students (regardless of whether Dewey-affiliated or not), families, and the broader community. It’s this cycle of learning and leadership that cements the seniors’ legacy in Dewey Robotics.
Freshman Chris Accurso (Wearing the Blue 333 shirt) encourages Saint Patrick Middle schoolers to test their LEGO EV3 robot in preparation for the day’s makeshift event, RoboRacers—a game where robots race without wheels. Shortly after, he offers the group suggestions on how to improve their robot’s stability and grip to help it move forward properly, showing how he is dedicated to taking on the work of his predecessor(s) and striving to foster the spirit of community.
Within this sphere of technical experiences, our theatre club, with their first production of “Game of Tiaras”, even within a short timespan, there is much to be said about the actions of the seniors for the production of this play. It is they who fostered a grander sense of what it means to be theatre, even while there had been no theatre action in the auditorium since the Covid years. “ I remember talking with the actors after rehearsals, and they would always seem so tense, so I went over and gave them tips to help them appear natural and how to project their lines cleaner, and I think it helped for some of them” said senior Hamdan Yafie, who played Smeagle/King’s Jester in Game of Tiara’s.
It just goes to show how the small things should resonate with someone, even in such a short timespan they had. It can also show these younger classmen how small habits should impact them, and they could use it for other younger classes to come and not just in the realm of theatrics.
From robotics workshops to theater rehearsals to the playing field, the Class of 2025 has left a mark that reaches far beyond awards or performances. Their leadership wasn’t categorized in organizing events or guiding peers — it was about breathing life and purpose back into Dewey’s community, especially in spaces that had gone quiet for years. Whether it be by mentoring during STEM outreach, offering performance tips backstage, or displaying dedication and heart in the sport, these seniors have reignited a spirit of collaboration, creativity, and support.
Their actions, amongst the many taken this year—both big and small—have paved the way for future students to lead, dream, and grow. As they prepare to graduate, they leave behind more than memories and spirit —they leave behind a legacy of purpose.
