Secondary honors

Mascoma Valley Regional High School freshman Coral Guaraldi was honored with the New Hampshire National Council for Women in Information Technology Award for Aspirations in Computing. Guaraldi was one of ten New Hampshire high school students honored at the nonprofit organization’s event in Manchester last month.

“We are proud of Coral’s accomplishment in receiving this prestigious award. Coral demonstrated leadership skills, creativity, problem solving, and iterative design skills while taking our Intro to CAD course this fall,” Joanna Marcotte, a computer science teacher at Mascoma and CSTA-NH board member, said in a news release. “Coral is the first student from MVRHS to be recognized for this award. MVRHS has added to its computer science course offerings for the upcoming school year, recognizing that exploring topics in computer science is a value to students’ future success.”

Two Upper Valley Waldorf School students were honored for their essays in The Friends of Hildene Foundation’s annual eighth-grade essay contest. The Manchester, Vt.-based nonprofit organization oversees the Lincoln Family Home, which belonged to Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert.

The theme of this year’s essay contest was the potential impact artificial intelligence could have on a subject of each student’s choosing. Declan Read-Murrell won first place for his essay about the effect AI could have on law enforcement and Ashton Perkins won third place for his piece about the effect AI could have on agriculture, according to a news release from the Quechee-based school.

Upper Valley Waldorf School fourth-grader Lyra Chin and fifth-grader Jasper Brooks were selected as winners of a Children’s Literacy Foundation two-sentence story writing contest.

Hanover High School students Oscar M. Solberg and Peter M. Stover were awarded $2,500 National Merit scholarships.

The following Upper Valley students who participate in the Upward Bound program at Vermont State University in Lyndon, Vt., attended the 2024 Green Mountain Scholars Bowl event hosted by Adirondack Community College in Queensbury, N.Y., earlier this month: Zofia Kosakowski, Rivendell Academy; Hunter Duval, Woodsville High School; and Tesia Kosakowski, Rivendell Academy.

Grants and other honors

■Westshire Elementary School in West Fairlee has received a $25,000 literacy grant from the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF). It is one of 12 elementary schools in the Twin States and the only in the Upper Valley to receive the Year of the Book grant for 2024-2025 school year, according to a news release from the Waterbury Center, Vt.-based nonprofit organization. As part of the grant, authors and illustrators will visit Westshire Elementary School for programs throughout the year, and the library and students will receive new books. 

■The Upper Valley Super Compost Project has received a roughly $400,000 grant from the Composting and Food Waste Reduction program, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to continue its efforts to support and expand composting sites at the region’s schools. There are currently 24 schools enrolled in the project according to a news release from the South Strafford-based program. 
“Our overarching goal is to grow Vermont's community and ecological resilience through more effective, diversified, and participatory organics management,” Cat Buxton, director of the Strafford-based nonprofit organization said in the release.

■Three Upper Valley elementary schools were in the top 20 of U.S. News and World Report “Best New Hampshire Elementary Schools” report.

Hanover’s Bernice A. Ray School came in third, Grantham Village School came in 12th and Enfield Village School was 13th on the list. The entire list can be found at https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/elementary-schools/new-hampshire.

Post-secondary graduations

The following Upper Valley residents graduated from Colby-Sawyer College on May 4: Margaret Flora Ackerman, Claremont; Natalie Austin, Sunapee; Karen L. Beinhaur, Newbury, N.H.; Haley M. Besaw, New London; Anna Marya Bieszczad, Grantham; Tanner Raegan Brown, Claremont; Jonathan Cioffi, Etna; Lisa Marie Ferland, New London; Olivia Paige Fielder, Lebanon; Stephanie A. Galambos, Sunapee; Megan Grivois, Enfield; Raphael L. Harriman, Lebanon; Haley Anna Hathorn, Georges Mills; Erin M. Howell, Lebanon; Karen S. Hsu Blatman, Hanover; Casey Daniel Robinson, Claremont; Lauren Ann Ilsley, Hanover; Kayla Kupstas, West Lebanon; Thomas R. LaCasce, Claremont; Courtney E. Lampert, Sunapee; Briland Leigh Laycock, Hanover; Merranda Lenahan, Canaan; Grace Marie Lister, Orford; Sheldon Mathurin, Enfield; Abagayle Margaret McMahon, Canaan; Grant David Meador, Etna; Olivia Barbara Faith Merrill, New London; Sierah Miles, Newbury, N.H.; Allison Mobilia, Enfield; Meghan Mullane, Claremont; Stanton Nelson, Grantham; Nicole Lynne Salls, Claremont; Amy T. St. Pierre, Canaan; Gavin Lessard Terwilliger, Grantham; Janet Trottman, West Lebanon; Zoe Mae Utton, Charlestown; Caitlin Vecchio Taylor, New London; Brendan John Dangelo, Windsor; Braley Grace Dorr, Newbury, Vt.; Rachel A. Dow, Norwich; and Nadine Renee Spigel, Springfield, Vt.

Post-secondary honors

Adara Greenstein, of West Lebanon, was inducted into Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Honor Society for Sociology, at Curry College in Milton, Mass.

Olivia Kaplan, of Randolph, made the president’s list for the 2023 Winter Practical Nursing term at Vermont State University’s Randolph campus.

Swan Clawson, of Fairlee, and Summer Keramis, of Wilder, made the dean’s list for the 2023 Winter Practical Nursing term at Vermont State University’s Randolph campus.

Jackson Smith, of Wilder, who is studying aviation flight technology at Lewis University Aviation Science Technology in Romeoville, Ill., made the dean’s list for the fall 2023 semester.

Sydney Gonyea, of Lebanon, made the dean’s list at Simmons University in Boston for the fall 2023 semester.

The following Upper Valley residents made the dean’s list at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., for the fall 2023 semester: Rosa Barden, Randolph; Charis Bouton, White River Junction; Ellie Camp, New London; Berkeley Chamberlain, Hanover; Halla Chappell, New London; Vivvy Davis, Randolph; Caroline Hamilton, White River Junction; Blake Heston, North Pomfret; Cameron Kennedy, Randolph; Erica Kurash, South Royalton; Christopher Perriello, Plainfield; Katrina Randall, Lebanon; Lainey Rockacy, New London; Eric Seltzer, Hanover; Jack Simack, South Royalton; Ellie Stannard, Hanover; Katie Stannard, Hanover; Zoe Starkey, Hanover; and Charlie Umpleby, Tunbridge.

Email academic accomplishments to schoolnotes@vnews.com.