School NewsJun 2, 2023

updated Nov 20, 2023

Honoring Outstanding Students

Celebrating two decades of Pickett Scholars

Congratulations to Grey Carmel ’23 and Annais Vallejo ’23, this year’s recipients of the Mansfield Pickett Scholarships awarded by the Lenox School Alumni Association.

This is the twentieth year the association has honored Miss Hall’s students with the scholarships, which are named in memory of Mansfield E. (Peter) Pickett, a longtime teacher at the former Lenox School and at Miss Hall's. The awards are presented annually to two MHS students who exhibit outstanding performance in academics and in extracurricular activities.

Both Grey and Annais are active members of the MHS community, and they received the scholarships from LSAA representatives Paul Denzel and Robert Sansone during a schoolwide Community Meeting.

Grey performed with the MHS Theater Ensemble and worked on the Technical Theater crew, serving as Stage Manager for the 2021 Fall Play, Men On Boats, the 2022 Winter Musical, Mary Poppins, and the 2023 Fall Play, The Misanthrope. They interned this year with the Berkshire Center for Justice, through the Miss Hall’s School Horizons program, and Grey also volunteers with the Berkshire Humane Society. They plan to attend Nichols College in the fall, majoring in Criminal Psychology.

Annais is a Big and a Proctor, was captain of the JV volleyball team, co-Leader of the Criminology Club, and a member of Spectrum and the Latinx Affinity Group. Her Horizons internship this year was at the Sonsini Animal Shelter in Pittsfield. As a junior, she was a member of the MHS Environmental Research Action Group. During her free time, Annais can usually be found in the art studio creating things. She will attend Brandeis University this fall as an Environmental Studies major.

Mr. Pickett, who died in 1996, was beloved by students and faculty alike. The father of Tabitha Pickett Vahle ’78, and grandfather of Wendy Panchy ’85, Mr. Pickett taught Latin and English at Miss Hall’s from 1973—when the Lenox School closed—to 1992. He also served as MHS Director of Development from 1973 to 1975.

The Lenox School Alumni Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the spirit and camaraderie of Lenox School, which was an independent, all-boy secondary school founded in 1926. The school operated on the grounds of what is today the home of Shakespeare & Company.

Pickett Scholars Through the Years

2020-21 Keely O’Gorman ’22 and Hadear Rizq ’22
2020-21 Muhiim Ali ’21 and Shannon Foster ’21
2019-20 Lomesia Allen ’20 and Nicole Forman ’21
2018-19 Mitzy Mauricio ’19 and Ayla Wallace ’20
2017-18 Nikky Abreu ’19 and Jayme McGuigan ’18
2016-17 Diamond Best ’17 and Izabella Nunes ’18
2015-16 Jamie Flynn ’16 and MaryCatherine Balcom ’17
2014-15 Emma Bullock ’15 and Nanya Okeke ’15
2013-14 Seema Amin ’14 and Faith Smalley ’14
2012-13 Callie Atwell ’13 and AnaMei Boyd ’13
2011-12 Allaina Ray ’12 and Morgan Wagner ’12
2009-10 Jessica Garzon '10 and Geneva MacDonald '10
2008-09 Kristina Delgado '09 and Joi Ward '09
2007-08 Janice Brea '08  and Sheniqua Marie Little '08
2006-07 Cedar (Niles) Manganiello '07 and Jasmine Mickens ’07
2005-06 Ryann Wolf ’06 and Sophea Yath ’06
2004-05 Häna Kenny ’05 and Ariel Sims ’05
2003-04 Maria Montefusco Miller ’04 and Nikita Turner ’04
2002-03 Julia Fisher ’03 and LaDonna Flynn ’03

Other Lenox School Awards to MHS Students

2018-19 Haylee Gleason ’19 (Fawcett Scholarship)
2010-11 Kyanna Joseph ’13 (Rev. Robert L. Curry Scholarship)