Dylan Curran

Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy (Spanish and English): "The State Seal of Biliteracy is an award provided by state approved districts that recognizes high school graduates who attain high functional and academic levels of proficiency in English and a world language in recognition of having studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. Our vision is to help students recognize the value of their academic success and see the tangible benefits of being bilingual. The State Seal of Biliteracy takes the form of a seal that appears on the transcript or diploma of the graduating senior and is a statement of accomplishment for future employers and for college admissions."

James A. Short Award: "for service to the school and community, mathematics scholarship, and commitment to education." The highest honor bestowed by the Math Department. Nominated by Ryan Normandin (former/active mentor and Math Instructor at Newton South). He states: "In Dylan, there's a raw passion, an unbridled excitement with which young children share their latest interests. There's a beauty to the enthusiasm with which a five-year-old can regale a listener with every detail about a stegosaurus, and it's a beauty that tends to fade with age. Dylan Curran is an outlier, a model for what every student should strive to be, someone who continues to stoke that childlike zeal to learn and share. Dylan put together his own online calculus course over the summer, and when only one student signed up, he poured the same energy and fire into the course that he would have if a hundred had enrolled. His love of math and physics permeates everything he does - he makes YouTube videos about math, TikToks about physics memes, and, when he's atop a mountain in New Hampshire with his friends, looking out at the grandiosity of a forested horizon, his first instinct is to pull out his phone to record a joke about the earth being flat - "Look! No Curvature!!!" The habits that Dylan has learned through his studies have made him the ideal classmate. Someone who is empathetic, who celebrates the struggle that comes with learning something new, who is at home in the uncertainty and discomfort of stretching his understanding, and encourages others to do the same. It has been an honor to watch this young man never stop growing over the four years of his high school career. And I know that twenty, thirty, sixty years from now, Dylan will still be talking about power series solutions, stress-energy tensors, and even just the simple beauty of the derivative with the same innocent passion that a five-year-old talks about dinosaurs."

Science Book Award Awarded to a Newton South High School student who best exemplifies Newton South's extreme passion for, commitment to, and excellence in science. - The highest honor bestowed by the Science Department, nominated by Brandon Schmidt (AP Physics C: Mechanics + E&M Teacher)

Outstanding Achievement in Science: For excellence in AP Chemistry

Investigative Curiosity in Mathematics