ToIvy 2025–2026 Year-End Ceremony: From Elementary Stars to MIT

Elementary students from Grades 2 through 5 were recognized first. For many families in the room, this was the stage they knew best: the years where daily habits, reading fluency, and mathematical confidence are built. The youngest honorees on stage that morning carried their certificates with unmistakable pride.

Middle school students came next. Many of them had spent months inside the SHSAT preparation programs, working through practice problems, sitting full-length mock exams, and refining strategy week by week. For several, the preparation had paid off with admission to New York City's specialized high schools.

Then came the high school students. Their achievements spanned Advanced Placement courses, standardized tests, science competitions, and college applications. A number of them had accepted offers from universities ranked among the best in the world.

Before the award presentations began, New York State Senator Stephen T. Chan stepped to the microphone. His words were directed at the students. He spoke about the work required to earn the certificates they were about to receive.

For many of the younger students in the auditorium, it was the first time they had heard an elected official speak directly to them about academic effort. Senator Chan also acknowledged ToIvy's broader contribution to the Brooklyn community, recognizing the center's role not only in test preparation, but in opening access to opportunity for families who might otherwise not know where to start.

Two students were chosen to address the ceremony. Their stories were different in scale but connected by the same thread: the willingness to keep working when it would have been easier to stop.

The first was a fifth-grade student from ToIvy's elementary program. On stage, in front of a full auditorium and an elected official, she spoke clearly, without notes, without hesitation. Senator Chan later singled her out for her composure. What the audience saw was not a rehearsed performance. It was the kind of confidence that comes from a learning environment that takes young students seriously.

The second speaker had taken a longer road. She arrived in New York in the sixth grade as a new immigrant with limited English. She attended a regular public high school and had no family history of college applications. By every conventional measure, she was starting far behind.

She began her college planning work with ToIvy in the tenth grade. From course selection to essay drafting, from extracurricular positioning to long-term strategy, her preparation was deliberate and sustained over two and a half years.

On May 31, 2026, she accepted her certificate having already received her acceptance letter from MIT.

Following the speeches, the award presentations moved through three groups: elementary, middle school, and high school, with additional recognitions for specific academic milestones.

Each student came to the stage. Each one received their certificate from a presenter: a moment that lasted about thirty seconds but had usually taken months or years to earn.

For the elementary students, the recognition was about consistent progress and good academic character. For the middle school students, it was about the discipline required to master one of the city's most demanding examinations. For the high school students, it was about what happens when a long-term plan is followed through.

ToIvy's sponsors for the event (Guling Wang Law Firm, Safe Path Immigration, and Outback Steakhouse) reflected the community the center serves: families navigating education, immigration, and opportunity together.

Their presence was a reminder that student success is rarely the product of a single institution. It happens inside a community that chooses to invest in the next generation.