The Dwight-Englewood School (D-E) community will celebrate Commencement for the Class of 2013 on Sunday, June 2. Senior students will be awarded diplomas by Head of School Dr. Rodney V. De Jarnett, Upper School Principal Joseph Algrant, and Board of Trustees President Dr. John Hajjar. The ceremony is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at Leggett Field on the D-E campus.

Keynote remarks during Commencement 2013 will be provided by D-E Alumna Cyma Zarghami ’80, President of Viacom Inc.’s Nickelodeon Group. Ms. Zarghami has been with Nickelodeon since 1985 and was named President in 2006, overseeing all creative and business operations for the company. Nickelodeon is the world’s most widely-distributed kids’ channel, with 50 channels reaching more than 350 million people in 25 languages. The channel manages educational shows including the network ‘classic’ Dora the Explorer; Go Diego Go!; The Bubble Guppies; and the recently-launched Peter Rabbit.  Nickelodeon also features a lineup of internationally popular animated characters including SpongeBob SquarePants; The Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles; Kung Fu Panda; and Avator: The Legend of Korra, among others. Ms. Zarghami recently commissioned Nickelodeon’s Animated Shorts Program, from which 12 features were created that air on the network and/or appear on a highly-anticipated, new Nickolodeon App. In live action she has introduced a new slate of shows for post-millenials and their families, including Sam the Cat and The Haunted Hathaways.

Alumni from the Dwight School for Girls, the Englewood School for Boys (ESB), and Dwight-Englewood School will also gather during the celebratory weekend from Friday, May 31 - Saturday, June 1, for 50th and other milestone reunion years and to honor select alumni.  A full schedule of both major ceremonies and private class parties is planned.

The 2013 D-E Distinguished Alumni Award, which honors exemplary professional and/or volunteer accomplishments, will be presented to Charles Kordula, M.D., ESB ’63 and Claudia Weinstein ’78.

• A retired surgeon who maintained a private clinical practice in Bergen County for 14 years, Dr. Kordula currently serves as President of NOVA Hope for Haiti, Inc., or NOVA. He is a past founding board member of the Bergen Volunteer Medical Initiative and a past president of Valley Regional Medical Center. Proficient in French and Spanish, Dr. Kordula has his M.D. from the Universite de Montpellier (France) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Muhlenberg College. He trained in general surgery at St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York City, and in thoracic surgery at Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, New York, and Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center, Hyde Park, NY. A D-E “legacy” parent, Dr. Kordula has two sons, Konraad ’95, and Kristian ’97, both of whom attended the School.

• Claudia Weinstein ’78 has worked at the celebrated news program 60 Minutes for 20 years, first as a reporter with correspondent Steve Kroft, and most recently in senior management as Story Editor, responsible for every story aired each week. As of this year Weinstein is also the head of social media at 60 Minutes, and she works with the broadcast’s online show, 60 Minutes Overtime, which produces original pieces based on each week’s broadcast. Prior to 60 Minutes, Weinstein was a print journalist for more than a decade, largely with Steve Brill at The American Lawyer. In 2010 Weinstein was named a finalist for the UCLA’s Gerald Loeb Award, which is given in recognition of “Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism."

Alumni will also be inducted into the Dwight-Englewood School Athletic Hall of Fame, established in 1996 to honor those individuals who have achieved a high level of athletic success as students and/or coaches, or through significant contributions to the school’s athletic program.

• This year, alumnus Timothy Farrell ’83 will be inducted into the D-E Athletic Hall of Fame. From 1979-1983 Farrell received 11 varsity letters in football, wrestling, and lacrosse, and he served as captain of the D-E Varsity Football and Varsity Lacrosse Teams in that same time period. In 1981, 1982 and 1983 he was on the team that earned a MAAPS League Wrestling Championship. He was personally recognized with the School’s Luke Ward Trophy in 1982 and the Charles J. Hardy Award in 1983. He is a graduate of Lehigh University, where he was on the Varsity Lacrosse team from 1983 – 1987.

• D-E Alumnus Christopher Herko ESB ’73 will also be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. Between 1971 and 1973, Herko received 11 varsity letters in football, basketball, track and baseball. He was the captain of the Varsity Football, Basketball Baseball, and Track teams from 1972 – 1973. In football, Herko made 1st team All-Prep League Division, Honorable Mention in All-County, and 1st Team All State, all in 1972. In baseball, he made 1st team All-Prep League Division and received Honorable Mention from All-County, all in 1972 and 1973. He also was the 1973 recipient of both the Track MVP award from ESB and the Luke Ward Trophy. Herko is a 1977 graduate of Gettsyburg College, where he was on the Varsity Football team from 1973-1977. In 1991, Chris Herko established the Dwight-Englewood School’s Nick Herko Memorial Award in honor and memory of his father. Chris continues to remember his father through his annual support of this award, which is given to that senior boy and senior girl who have improved the most over their athletic career and exhibit good sportsmanship and fine character.

For a full schedule of 2013 Alumni Reunion events, to register online, and to find a list of local hotels at which to stay, please go to www.d-e.org/alumni.  Questions about Reunion may be directed to Maria Sanchez Gardner '78, D-E's Alumni Relations Director, at sanchm@d-e.org.