Hamilton Students Recognized with Princeton Book Award
Photos submitted.
Aashi Iyengar
In 2023, Hamilton High School senior Maggie Kidd was selected as one of ten winners of the Princeton Book Award across the state of Wisconsin. This year, junior Derek Zhang was selected as one of six recipients of this prestigious award.
The Princeton Book Award is awarded to juniors who display a concern for the opinion of others while demonstrating exceptional leadership, talent, and competence in both academic and non-academic pursuits. Both Kidd and Zhang were nominated for this award during their junior year, allowing them to apply. Mrs. Melody Williams from Student Services is the Hamilton employee who nominates students.
Kidd, when asked about the award, says, “I was extremely honored to be nominated for this award. I was able to write about a topic that was meaningful to me, meet other accomplished students, and learn what their interests were. I found it to be an insightful opportunity as the culmination of all of my hard work.”
Applicants submit their grade-point average, subject interests, PSAT score, future career goals, and a personal essay. The Princeton Club of Wisconsin then determines the winners from this applicant pool and invites them to an awards ceremony. The ceremony begins with a cocktail hour for award recipients to talk to Princeton alumni and other winners. It then shifts to a dinner where each winner is individually recognized for their accomplishments and presented with a book written by Princeton alumni. Last year’s award recipients received a book entitled, How to Intern Successfully: Insights & Actions to Optimize Your Experience, by Robert J. Khoury ’90 and John Selby ’68.
This is an extremely selective high honor, and Hamilton High School should be very proud to have had two recipients of this award in the past two years.
Regarding the award, Zhang says, “Being recognized for the program presented me with a brilliant opportunity. Altogether, it was a fantastic way for me to pull together and present everything I have accomplished.”
Kidd will be attending Tufts University in the fall and Zhang will be a senior at Hamilton High School. Both of them have accomplished so much, and this is an honor that they can carry with them throughout their future careers.
